Ron, Where are you first seeing this condition? Is it on the bare boards? Are the the assembler or fabricator? How have you 'cleaned' these boards up in the past, if at all? (cleaned or made the gold look better) I'd like to offer whatever I can, your first message just did not have enough information. Franklin -----Original Message----- From: Hollandsworth, Ron <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> Date: 12 October, 1999 7:54 AM Subject: Re: [TN] Black Plague Franklin, POD, & Paul You say there are ways to get around the Black Plague. Would you elaborate please. Once again I see messages where others are experiencing this problem but no absolute solutions. I have read the articles, tried the erasers, stronger fluxes, and pad scraping. No relief. I have learned to dislike Electroless Ni/ Immersion Au boards. I am thinking that HASL or precision pad technologies are much better. At least you can perform your soldering operation. A Circuit Card Assembly (CCA) with the Black Plague can run up scrap costs real fast. Not to mention the possibility of late shipment to the customer because of inability to solder. This is a real problem if you are using Ni/Au boards. So far there are few comments and the issue simply drops out of sight. Are platers/fabricators not controlling their processes or is this a inhouse process issue. We have checked our processes and find no change. Ron Hollandsworth ############################################################## 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 ##############################################################