The ammoniacal etchant must be controlled very closely during the etching cycle, remember most ammoniacal etchants carry chlorides, what is happening is attack of the nickel under the gold via the side walls, leading to a weakened gold layer, resulting in peeling. Good Luck Lenny Kurup EMX Enterprises Ltd Markham, Ontario ################################################################ TechNet E-Mail Forum 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://jefry.ipc.org/forum.htm) for additional information. For technical support contact Hugo Scaramuzza at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.312 ################################################################