[tinwhiskers] Re: Exemption to the rule (so you are exempt from RoHS, so what?)
- From: <southworthrg@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: tinwhiskers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 15 May 2008 0:17:44 +0000
Thanks everyone for the information to date. As an end user, these days, of the
products you all develop and offer, I apreciate the effort in making "my"
equipment as reliable as we all know it can be.
Ron Southworth
---- Bob Landman <rlandman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> (re-post to fix typo added words "DO NOT") - Bob Landman
>
> http://www.emsnow.com/npps/story.cfm?pg=story&id=33018
> Exemption to the rule
> By Erin J. Shea, with the kind permission of IPC
>
> For those manufacturers exempt from RoHS and similar legislation, maneuvering
> through a lead-free world is as challenging as if the exemption didn't exist
> at all.
>
> For those navigating a business landscape that includes the Restriction of
> Hazardous Substances Directive (RoHS) and other lead-free regulations, being
> an exempt manufacturer may sound like a relief.
>
> But for those companies whose product categories DO NOT fall within the scope
> of the RoHS directive - which includes medical, military, industrial
> monitoring and control, automotive and elecommunications products - finding
> items such as tin-lead terminated parts in a lead-free world is just as much
> work.
>
> "We're publicly committed to using lead-free products, and we're
> investigating lead-free products," said Greg Henshall, Ph.D., global
> engineering services at Palo Alto, Calif.-based Hewlett-Packard (HP). "But
> some high-end products are still lead-based."
>
> During "Best Practices for Exempt Manufacturers in a Lead-Free World" on
> Thursday, April 3, during the 2008 IPC Printed Circuits Expo, APEX and the
> Designers Summit in Las Vegas, members from exempt manufacturers discussed
> how they balance reliability with availability.
>
> "Risk management is the overriding factor in transitioning to lead-free for
> automotive customers," explained Richard Parker, lead technologist for Troy,
> Mich.-based Delphi Corp., which supplies mobile electronics and
> transportation systems. "New programs have been more easily transitioned in."
>
> Parker explained that a vehicle's harsh environment makes it tough on
> electronics. "Automotive reliability requirements are tough," he said.
> "Product reliability requirements are too long, anywhere between three to 10
> years." Parker cited a narrower process window in soldering environments,
> warranty issues, component availability and lack of field data for harsh
> environment products as reasons for the slow conversion to lead-free.
>
> "Someone has to pay," he added. "There is a cost involved."
>
> At Rockwell Collins, similar challenges are at work. Dave Hillman,
> metallurgical engineer for the Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based communication and
> aviation electronics manufacturer, said issues such as significant use life
> play a major factor. "Those B-52s are still up in the air," he said of the
> subsonic jet introduced in 1955. "For our products to have a
> 20- to 30-year use is not uncommon."
>
> Henshall explained that ball grid arrays present the largest challenge for
> HP, as lead-free components can't necessarily withstand the high temperatures
> needed to sustain boards that can overheat. It's a task, he said, that the
> information technology corporation is ready to meet. "HP plans to transition
> complex business products to lead-free," Henshall said. "But there are
> challenges to be expected, such as service logistics and increased warranty
> costs."
>
> To meet its industry's concerns head on, Hillman said, the AIA-AMC-GEIA
> Lead-Free Electronics in Aerospace Working Group was formed in 2004.
> Made up of the Aerospace Industries Association, Avionics Maintenance
> Conference and the Government Engineering and Information Technology
> Association, the group has about 90 attendees and 10 active task groups.
> The group works on those issues that are unique to aerospace and military,
> and are within control. "The group puts together a series of best-practice
> guidelines to support lead-free electronics," Hillman explained.
>
> The group, he said, concluded that lead-free soldering is possible, but noted
> that it must be "conducted in a measured, controlled and methodical manner."
>
> For Delphi, transitioning from lead to tin for the termination finish on
> components has begun and is slated to continue beyond 2015, unless
> legislation forces the switch sooner. Parker said his OEM component database
> must track the finish and processing temperature capability.
> "Error-proofing the entire flow is important," he said.
>
> In end, Parker said, you just can't leave anything to chance, and the
> transition is not a simple matter. "Test everything," he advised. "Don't
> assume you can just switch solders."
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
Other related posts:
