| Lead Free PCBS - RoHS and WEEE Compliance |
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| Electronic Interconnect, is offering an In-house Lead
Free Solder as a default finish on all printed circuit boards.
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| The lead-free boards are produced using a lead-free alloy
consisting of 99.3% tin and 0.6% copper with a trace of nickel SN100CL that
meets all legislation requirements for the European Union’s RoHS directive. |
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| Benefits of Electronic Interconnect’s lead-free
solder:
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A lead-free finish at NO additional cost.
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Provides an enhanced solderable finish for assembly,
providing little or no assembly barriers. |
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Flatter pad surfaces than leaded solder. |
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| Electronic Interconnect provides a variety of higher
temperature laminates which are designed to withstand processing temperatures
between 260 degrees to 288 degrees for use in conjunction with the lead-free
solder finish. |
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| EI manufactures LEAD FREE boards using customer
specified RoHS compliant materials and below listed surface finishes:
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Lead Free Solder (SN100C) |
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ENIG (Electroless Nickel Immersion Gold) |
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Electrolytic Ni/Au |
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Immersion Silver |
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Immersion Tin |
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OSP (Organic Surface Preservative) |
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Soft Wire-Bondalble Gold |
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And more |
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| Below are some commonly
asked questions to EI ? |
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| SN100C At A Glance |
| What is RoHS WEEES
Standard? What is the affect? |
| What is EI doing to
maintain RoHS and WEEE standards? |
| Lead-Free Soldering -
Why? |
| What cost increase
can be expected between “standard” and RoHS circuit boards? |
| Are there any
special layout concerns when designing RoHS compliant boards? |
| How do I order Lead
Free PCBS from EI ? |
| Is there a special
marking on the boards that would indicate RoHS compliance? |
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| SN100C (Lead
Free Solder) At A Glance
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Does not contain silver or bismuth. |
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Eutectic alloy.
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Bridge-free and icicle-free soldering. |
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Smooth, bright, well-formed fillets, free of gross
micro-cracks, irrespective of the cooling rate.
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Good through-hole penetration. |
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Good topside fillet formation.
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Dross rate equal or lower than tin-lead solder.
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Does not require a nitrogen atmosphere.
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Does not erode copper from holes, pads and tracks.
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Low rate of copper leaching makes it easy to control the
copper content of the solder bath.
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Lower aggressiveness to stainless steel and other solder pot
materials as compared to tin-silver-copper alloys.
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Thermal fatigue resistance and creep strength better than
tin-lead.
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Slow, even growth of the intermetallic layer at the
solder/substrate interface.
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Also performs well in selective and dip soldering.
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| Customer experience over several years is that the TOTAL cost
of running a standard wave soldering machine with SN100C when all factors are
taken into account can be up to one third the cost of running the same machine
with tin-silver-copper alloys. The actual saving in each case will depend on
the number of factors that apply, but the cost of running a line with SN100C is
always lower than the cost of running the same line with tin-silver-copper. |
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| What is RoHS
WEEES Standard? What is the affect?
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| The Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS)
2002/95/EC was adopted in February 2003 by the European Union (EU). The RoHS
directive took effect on July 1, 2006, but is not a law; it is simply a
directive. Each European Union member state will adopt its own enforcement and
implementation policies under the directive as a guide. RoHS is often referred
to as the “lead-free” directive, but it restricts the use of six substances:
lead, mercury, cadmium, chromium VI (also known as hexavalent chromium), and
PBB and PBDE (flame retardants used in some plastics). |
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| RoHS is closely linked with the Waste Electrical and
Electronic Equipment Directive (WEEE) 2002/96/EC which sets collection,
recycling and recovery targets for electrical goods and is part of a
legislative initiative to solve the problem of huge amounts of toxic e-waste.
The directive applies to equipment as defined by a section of the WEEE
directive. These are: large household appliances, small household appliances,
IT equipment, consumer equipment, electonics and electrical tools, just to name
a few.
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| What is EI
doing to maintain RoHS and WEEE standards?
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| EI is committed to the goal of producing products in
accordance with scientific and legislative standards established to protect
human health and maintain a sound environment. Therefore, EI resolved to begin
integration of RoHS- approved technologies and materials in June 2005 and was
fully compliant with the provisions of RoHS before July 1, 2006. Effective
August 1, 2006 EI offers an in-house lead-free solder as an default finish on
all printed circuit boards. The lead-free boards are produced using a lead free
alloy of 99.3% tin and 0.6% copper with a trace of nickel SN100CL that meets
all legislative requirements for the European Union’s RoHS directive. |
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| Lead-Free
Soldering - Why?
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| The main reason is of producing products in accordance
with scientific and legislative standards established to protect human health
and maintain a sound environment. The most simple explanation for the
tremendous interest in lead-free soldering is FEAR: Fear of Legislation, Fear
of Trade Barriers, and Fear of Competition. Most companies do not necessarily
want to change to lead-free, but rather are motivated by a combination of these
three fears.
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The WEEE/RoHS directives in Europe and similar mandates in
Japan have instilled fear that a legislative body will prohibit the use of lead
in electronics soldering. |
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If a particular country disallows lead in electronics, a
trade barrier is created between that country and anyone not capable of
providing lead-free electronics solutions. Of course, this also could take
place between individual companies. |
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Some companies already are producing electronics products
with lead-free solder alloys and marketing them as such. This has led to fears
of being caught behind commercially. |
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| What cost
increase can be expected between “standard” and RoHS circuit boards?
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| EI provides RoHS Compliant circuit boards at no extra cost. |
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| Are there any
special layout concerns when designing RoHS compliant boards?
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| No |
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| How do I order
Lead Free PCBs from EI ?
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| If you have a lead free design and want a quote, we offers
Instant Quote Online or if you send us the file at
sales@eiconnect.com we will send you a quote within 2 business
hours. |
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| Is there a
special marking on the boards that would indicate RoHS compliance?
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We can add “ROHS” Text or a “Pb” Logo on a PCB
upon request by customer. The criteria needed for this is to indicate the
Gerber Layer (copper, silk, etc.) and an approx. Location |
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