To whom can help. PRINTED BOARDS "GOLD PRINTED CONTACT" CONTAMINATION. The IPC- 600 (par. 1.5 accept. criteria) recommend 1.75 X magnification to inspect the applicable attributes and in case of doubt increase the magnification up to 40 X. Then the par. 2.7.1 (surface plating - general) defines which are the criteria / dimensions for: Target - Acceptability and Non Conforming. QUESTION: In my opinion two possible interpretations are applicable: 1) If the inspector doesn't see any surface defect at 1.75 X magnification, the part is acceptable. In case something (potential defects) is observed, the inspector has to increase the magnification up to 40 X max and determine the size of the defects for acceptance or reject. 2) The inspector has always the objective to determine the size of the printed contact imperfection regardless from the magnification degree. It means, he has to inspect always the printed contact surface up to 40 X max, to verify that any possible imperfection be acceptable against the criteria. WHICH ONE OF THE TWO INTERPRETATIONS IS CORRECT ???? Thank you very much for your help. Michele MANCINI Quality Eng. Mgr. IBM Italy - Vimercate e.mail: [log in to unmask] ################################################################ 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's web site (http://www.ipc.org) "On-Line Services" section for additional information. For technical support contact Hugo Scaramuzza at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.312 ################################################################