good post Bro. As an electronic tech for 40+ years and learning to solder when I was about 8 (56 now) I have seen so many solder / production problems. Nowadays almost all cards and boards are wave soldered, and I can tell you as a tech that used to babysit these machines it is a pain to get them running the way YOU, and all of us would like to see. As you recommend, LOOK at your boards ! you can see where there is sloppy work, take your time and FIX them, (it's really not hard to learn to solder) before applying power. But hey, it's your money ... just a thought.

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