Beaky is 100% correct and I agree fully. That's why all of my replacement pinball PCB's all use through hole parts and much larger solder pads than are really needed. They will (should?) take repeated soldering over the years even from repairers using boofy large plumbers soldering irons....
I can't understand what these other guys are thinking making surface mount boards when it just isn't required??
It probably comes down to cost and also availability of suitable parts??
I have just had a hell of a job sourcing some of the parts needed for my new Bally MPU board - some capacitors I even had to have a special run done at the factory as they simply don't make axial caps in the values and style needed any more - so maybe I have answered the question right there???
