diff --git a/releng.wtpbuilder/distribution/wtp.tests/testScripts/wtp-junit-tests.xml b/releng.wtpbuilder/distribution/wtp.tests/testScripts/wtp-junit-tests.xml
index ee2a21da8b682a2ea00af8efd6bfa0cf4737ab6c..8eccce38c95df5a6fe43f3b2c4ae2d5864a9e9d9 100644
--- a/releng.wtpbuilder/distribution/wtp.tests/testScripts/wtp-junit-tests.xml
+++ b/releng.wtpbuilder/distribution/wtp.tests/testScripts/wtp-junit-tests.xml
@@ -46,11 +46,20 @@
         <property
             name="testRoot"
             value="${testRoot}"/>
-    	  <!-- temporarily changed from 30 minutes (1800000) to 2 hrs (7200000) 
+    	  <!-- temporarily changed from 30 minutes to 1 hrs 
     	  to help spot problematic tests -->
+      <!--
+        Some common values, of milliseconds to more recognizable units: 
+        14400000: 4 hours
+        7200000: 2 hours 
+        3600000: 1 hour  
+        1800000: 30 minutes 
+        600000: 10 minutes
+      -->
+
         <property
             name="timeout"
-            value="7200000"/>
+            value="3600000"/>
         <property
             name="junit-report-output"
             value="${junit-report-output}"/>
diff --git a/releng.wtpbuilder/scripts/build/buildutilities.xml b/releng.wtpbuilder/scripts/build/buildutilities.xml
index 138340bc6e03d3828f12fcbc2eb7cfd5bda0b3f6..b3138170212f6933f08ec1629de49be645681405 100644
--- a/releng.wtpbuilder/scripts/build/buildutilities.xml
+++ b/releng.wtpbuilder/scripts/build/buildutilities.xml
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@
     <!-- if not otherwise set, use these default properties -->
     <property
         name="debugOptimization"
-        value="true" />
+        value="false" />
 
     <!-- we should always normalize ("-repack") jars. For ones which are not supposed
         to be normalized, such as pre-existing jars, they need to be added to the pack.properties file
@@ -350,7 +350,7 @@
     <target
         name="makeBackupCopyForDebugging"
         if="keepIfDebug">
-        <!-- temporary copy while confirming build to be able to do side-by-side comparisons -->
+        <!-- temporary copy while confirming build to be able to do side-by-side comparisons --> 
         <mkdir
             dir="${buildDirectory}/backuporiginalzips" />
         <copy