Hi Paul, I do not know what your inspectors are looking for, but here the general heartburn about manual soldering operations has to do about what they can do to plated-through vias, like barrel cracks and innerlayer separations. Those problems are typically found in areas were manual soldering operations have taken place. Werner Engelmaier Engelmaier Associates, L.C. Electronic Packaging, Interconnection and Reliability Consulting 7 Jasmine Run Ormond Beach, FL 32174 USA Phone: 904-437-8747, Fax: 904-437-8737 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 ################################################################