Mike, A thermal relief on inner layers for surface mount connects is still used by those concerned with field removal of components. The removal process uses a hot air hood. The heat sinking effects of a straight connection over-rides the heat transfer of the hot air removal system. Thereby making it difficult if not impossible to remove the component. Regards, Gary Ferrari Executive Director IPC Designers Council ################################################################ 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 ################################################################