Brigette, This effect (dark pads, slow plating, no plating) is often caused by inadequate copper activation prior to electroless nickel bath. Consider increasing activator (sometimes called initiator) concentration or dwell time/temperature in the activator. Be careful not to overactivate -- watch out for extraneous plating around the pads. Eric Yakobson Alpha PC Fab Brigitte Haugk <[log in to unmask]> on 07/09/99 08:25:56 AM To: [log in to unmask] cc: (bcc: Eric Yakobson/AlphaPCFabUS/Cookson) Subject: [TN] immersion nickel/gold On boards requiring immersion nickel /gold plating we are seeing a condition of several random surfacemount pads not plating at all. These pads appear to be free of contamination after chemical pre-clean. At times adjacent via holes and connected pads on the opposite side of the board also do not plate, indicating some kind of galvanic reaction. Some pads do plate but have a darker appearance after nickel /gold plating. Analysis of those pads show sufficient gold thickness but only 25% of the nickel thickness that the "normal" looking pads have. Some LPI soldermasks show this condition more than others. Has anyone seen this phenomenon before, what is causing it, and what can be done to correct or overcome it?