Homebrew PCBs

You may think that you have a good connection. The top manufacturing 
company who made the bad boards that I had to repair over and over again 
certainly did. But you can not trust it. PERIOD. The brass is swagged 
over the copper trace with a solder coating on it. Both brass and solder 
alloys are soft metals and expansion/contraction cycles will open a gap 
large enough for oxygen and other corrosive gasses in the air to 
penetrate. You will get oxidization and other forms of corrosion and 
eventually the joint may/will fail. And it will be HELL to find and 
repair especially with low level, high impedance signals. You could wind 
up completely replacing a PCB that cost hundreds, thousands, or even 
tens of thousands of dollars. I have seen it. I have fought it. Brass 
tubing or hollow brass rivets MUST be soldered for reliability and there 
is NO way to inspect that solder joint. It will look perfectly normal on 
the outside while it is was never a proper joint underneath and 
corrosion sets in. That is, assuming that the brass was not coated with 
corrosion before it was inserted in the hole.


USE soldered Z wires so you can see and inspect the solder joint if you 
want a dependable joint. Or get a board made with plated holes.



        :


      "Dale Chatham
      <mailto:dale.chatham@...?subject=Re%3A%20brass%20tube%20vias>


        said,


> The one thing one could do with the brass tubing is to make a conical
> tool for both sides which will flange the tubing.� Done right, it would
> produce an airtight seal and solder would be superfluous (though highly
> advised).