I would like to add to my comments in the last E-mail. The reduction from 7 thou to 6 thou stencil thickness will of course reduce the incidence of blocked apertures where the paste is held inside after release. The change in aspect ratio due to reducing the thickness is an approach. But the aspect ratio can be tackled by another approach. The length of the pads and therfore the length of the printed strips possible can be increased. If the printed strips are sufficient then the amount of adhesion of the paste to the pads will be greater than the adhesion to the inner wall. I personally feel 70 thou pads are the minimum length suitable for fine pitch. At 7 thou thickness 55 to 60 thou pads do yield blocked apertures and therefore unsoldered leads. This of course is dependant on the paste also. Many modern pastes have brilliant printing characteristics and will go through almost any aperture. So consider the abilitiy of your paste. What about the condition of your paste? Has it dried out after time? ############################################################## 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 ##############################################################