Mr. Kretsch: If your company is obligated to meet IPC-A-610 requirements your hands are tied. IPC-A-610 does address this on page 47, Table 3-5. The minimum protrusion requirement is that the lead end must be visible in the solder; however, there is a NOTE which allows an exception for PCBs greater than 2.3mm thick. The obvious recommended solution is change the design to allow for sufficient clearance. Without any further information, this appears to be a design oversight. If this is not an option at the moment you need to make sure that whatever inspection you have in place looks 100% at the top side joints to ensure that a lead is at least going into the hole on the primary side of the board. In circuit test, functional test or system test is going to be the real check to ensure you have a functional product. Good Luck Bruce Wooldridge DSC Communications IPC-A-610 Task Group Vice Chairman [log in to unmask] ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________ Subject: ASSY: Short leads in a PWA Author: [log in to unmask] at SMTPLINK Date: 3/27/96 6:45 AM We're trying to stuff 10 lbs of components into a 5 lb bag. Due to a "non-existent" clearance between a PWA and a shielded case, we would like to have certain components with lead lengths that are not long enough to protrude through to the secondary side of the board. Thus, there would be no fillet for a solder joint. Has anyone had experience with this type of situation? There is nothing shown in IPC-A-610. Any other recommended solutions? Any special inspection considerations? John R. Kretsch, P.E. Engineer, Design Assurance ADC Video Systems [log in to unmask]