If the relay is soldered to a thick PC board there should be little problem with trimming the excess terminal material. Rick KC0OV Which is why this is such an interesting question. Soldered to the PCB, I couldn't see how trimming the leads could harm the relay, yet the manual cautions against doing that. I'd love to see a definitive answer from the Elecraft gang about this one! Ron AC7AC K2 # 1289