I'll give you my favorite engineering answer - It depends. If you are trying to determine if a fabrication or assembly process is Bellcore-compliant, the answer is no. Bellcore compliancy is only obtained through the SIR and Electromigration testing in Chapter 13 of TR-78. If you are trying to determine if a vendor has acceptable product, and you don't really care about Bellcore compliance, then I would say the answer is yes. The seven day SIR test, IPC-TM-650, method 2.6.3.3 rev A, is an alternative. The Bellcore electromigration test is 85C/85% RH, so is the SIR method. The Bellcore test goes 96 hours before the first measurement in an unbiased state, then a bias of 10 volts is applied. The SIR test is biased from the start with a 50 volt bias. The Bellcore test is not tied to an absolute resistance value. The SIR test has a minimum of 100 megohms. I'm not really trying to bash the Bellcore electromigration test, but I understand the time constraint. In my opinion (that and 50 cents gets you a Diet Coke), you are best to do both methods concurrently. The SIR test should be able to allow you to make the decision in 7 days vs. 25 days. Alternatively, you could interrupt the electromigration test after 7-10 days and see if you have any signs of corrosion or metal migration. It has been my experience that if you have not seen electromigration and corrosion after 7 days at 85/85 and a 50 volt bias, you would not see it in 500 hours. Again, my opinion. Hope this was helpful. If you want to discuss it in greater depth, give me a call at (317) 457-8095. Doug Pauls CSL, Inc. [log in to unmask] *************************************************************************** * TechNet mail list is provided as a service by IPC using SmartList v3.05 * *************************************************************************** * To unsubscribe from this list at any time, send a message to: * * [log in to unmask] with <subject: unsubscribe> and no text. * ***************************************************************************