Allen No wonder that no maximum thickness is defined, since Werner states that the solder joints are more reliable the thicker the solder between pad and pin is. I can't fully agree with this statement however. We saw in various experiments that shear bands at the interfaces ( Tin/pad; Tin /lead) occur that are approx. 15um wide on either side. This results in a maximum thickness for reliability predictions of 30um ( I'm sure Werner and I could have endless discussions about this ) . But also this does not imply a maximum allowances for the solder thickness. Best regards Guenter ############################################################## TechNet Mail List 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 web site (http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm) for additional information. If you need assistance - contact Gayatri Sardeshpande at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5365 ##############################################################