Annie, Since you said oxidized, I'm afraid the condition you describr is due to high lead content in the gold bath. Almost all automatic Ni/Au machines drag in a small amount of lead into the gold bath, regardless of how well everything is run. Because of this the gold bath itself must eventually be either treated for lead or replaced. I'm realy not sure if there is a functional impact. Robert E. Welch Process Specialist Email: [log in to unmask] Modem: 804-239-9120 Fax: 804-237-3048 ############################################################## TechNet Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8c ############################################################## To subscribe/unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the body: To subscribe: SUBSCRIBE TECHNET <your full name> To unsubscribe: SIGNOFF TECHNET ############################################################## Please visit IPC web site (http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm) for additional information. For the technical support contact Dmitriy Sklyar at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.311 ##############################################################