I don't think it will go away anytime soon since the exemption is also used for die attach in high power semi-conductors used in power diodes, IGBT's and FET's. Power supplies, as well as many other applications, including power conversion for all the new alternative energy solutions, require high power semi-conductors. Best Regards, Bob White Director of Safety and Environmental Compliance Power-One, Inc. Tel: (805) 384-5391 Cell: (805) 469-4347 ________________________________ From: tinwhiskers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tinwhiskers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Fritz, Dennis D. Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2008 9:22 AM To: tinwhiskers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: RE: [tinwhiskers] Re: Exemption on high temperature lead solder What is being described here is the C4 technology of flip chips. Here is a Wikipedia link to the description of "Controlled Collapse Chip Connection" - the C4. High lead balls have been used in this application since IBM invented this in the 60's, and I think this is the basis for the RoHS exemption. Now that eutectic or SAC are being considered, I would expect the RoHS exemption to go away. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip_chip Denny Fritz, SAIC ________________________________ From: tinwhiskers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx on behalf of Mike Finczak Sent: Tue 8/26/2008 10:53 AM To: tinwhiskers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [tinwhiskers] Re: Exemption on high temperature lead solder Niki, Bert and Ed, Take a look at this article posted on TomsHardware regarding Nvidia GPU failures. The failures may have been caused by the use of High Lead solder. http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Nvidia-GPU-failure,6248.html Regards, Mike Finczak CopperCAD Design www.CopperCAD.com 905-488-8958 -----Original Message----- From: tinwhiskers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tinwhiskers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Parnagian, Ed Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2008 9:04 AM To: tinwhiskers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [tinwhiskers] Re: Exemption on high temperature lead solder Hi, Bert! Yes, it seems inconsistent with the stated objectives of RoHS, but it is a good example of what pushing back with data can achieve. These high lead-content solders all have very high melting points. They are used by device manufacturers to make internal interconnects in devices that have very high power densities. Best regards, Ed -----Original Message----- From: tinwhiskers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tinwhiskers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Mason, Bert Sent: 2008 Aug 26 8:32 AM To: tinwhiskers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [tinwhiskers] Re: Exemption on high temperature lead solder Abandon all rationality Ye who enter the world of RoHS and the EU. Welcome to our world Best Regards, Bert Mason Quality Engineer Formation Inc. Building 1 121 Whittendale Dr. Moorestown, NJ 08057 Phone: 856-380-2956 Fax: 856-234-5242 -----Original Message----- From: tinwhiskers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:tinwhiskers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Niki Steenkamp Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2008 8:24 AM To: tinwhiskers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: [tinwhiskers] Exemption on high temperature lead solder Hi, I have been looking over some of the official RoHS documents and have seen that there is an exemption on high temperature lead solder (more than 85% lead). Not having done any more research on the subject I was wondering: * Why the exemption exists? * Why not use more than 85% lead to circumvent the pure tin problem? Maybe the temperature is unacceptably high? I also noticed that mercury is limited but not banned in fluorescent lights. Just thinking of the millions of fluorescent lights being dumped in landfills each year I cannot see how this can be viewed as acceptable while ALL lead had to be removed from electronics. Furthermore, lead in batteries are exempt. There is probably more lead in my car battery than in a thousand PC motherboards and how many of these batteries end up in landfills each year? Just seems strangely warped... Regards, Niki E-mail Disclaimer http://www.sunspace.co.za/emaildisclaimer.htm The information contained in this message may be confidential and legally protected under applicable law. The message is intended solely for the addressee(s). If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any use, forwarding, dissemination, or reproduction of this message is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by return e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.