Hi, This may not be the most appropriate forum but I am hoping somebody can help or at least steer me in the right direction. I am looking at plating Electroless Nickel on aluminum blanks that are to be subsequently plated, machined, and soldered. I have evaluated several different types of electroless nickel (hi, mid, low-phos) from several different suppliers. I have been told some wildly varying information with regards to the minimum surface area to be plated required to activate the electroless nickel bath. One supplier told me that "surface area to be plated used to be important, but is less so with some of these newer baths". One told me that surface area to be plated did not matter at all. One told me that I needed a minimum of 0.5 sq. ft. per gallon to activate the electroless nickel bath. I am not really sure who is correct. Can anybody help? Thanks in advance. --Mike Owens [log in to unmask] Bartlett, IL ################################################################ 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 ################################################################