Thank you for all your responses on this subject!! I summarized the responses and created a small list of vendors and reference material that might be useful to some of you. I am still looking for more information on this subject and would appreciate your comments and suggestions. A group reported a 30,000 PPM defect rate with hot bar soldering. I wonder if someone can comment on this!! Crtical Factors to consider for Hot bar Application: - Cycle Time - Temperature Control - Loading Mechanism (alignment) - Pressure Control - Tip Life - Programming Potential Vendor Teka Interconnection Sys. (401)-781-5730 Unitek Miyachi (818)-303-5676. Palomar Products (619)-931-3622 Todco General Inc. (619)-549-9229 Pace Miniwave (???) Literature Reference "Development in Hot Bar Reflow", by Larry Robert Circuits Assembly, Aug. 1991 "Fine Pitch Hot bar Reflow with low temp solder and thick PWB", by Donald C Burr, Nepcon West 1992 "Hot Bar Lead Attachment Process Optimization for TAB OLB", by Foo- Ming Fu, Larry Dodson, IEPS 1991 You may also try the following web sites: PCMCIA sponsored PC CardLink http://www.pc-card.com http://www.pc-card.com:80/ AMP's web http://www.amp.com/ SanDisk http://www.sandisk.com/sd/educate/abc_gen.htm Thanks Michael Yuen [log in to unmask]