Hi Jack and all, We like to add nonfunctional pads to a design for two reasons: 1). To prevent burning of isolated runs/pads when we pattern plate 2). On multilayer boards, we do it on inner layers to strengthen the plated through holes Hans Air Force Material Command - We keep them flying! ~~~~~~~~ Hans M. Hinners WR-ALC/LYPME Bldg. 640 Materials Engineer 380 Second Street, Suite 104 Manufacturing Eng. Sec. Robins AFB GA 31098-1638 912-926-1970 (Voice) 468 - 1970 (DSN) 912-926-7974 (Fax) [log in to unmask] > It seems that most fabrication vendors prefer to remove the unconnected > pads > from inner-layers, in fact we do it for them before we send out the > gerbers. > > But I thought I overheard Gary Ferrari say there was some test results > that > showed the board to be more reliable with all pads included, but I don't > know where to find it or who did the testing. > > Does anyone know if it is significant enough to re-evaluate our process? > > Jack ################################################################ 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 ################################################################