[tinwhiskers] Re: Reliability Concerns with the Use of Lead (Pb) Free Solder in Telecommunications Products
- From: "Bob Landman" <rlandman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <tinwhiskers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2008 08:49:18 -0400
Steph,
Yesterday I discussed this on the tin whiskers telecon and afterwards wrote the
author and also called him and told him we in the mil/industrial/aerospace
community feel the same way and want to support Telcordia's efforts. I'm
waiting for a reply.
I could not find a date on it so I used the Internet's Wayback Machine and
found it was posted on Nov 23, 2006.
Here's the link to the page when it was posted
http://web.archive.org/web/20061123192027/http://www.telcordia.com/services/genericreq/digest/notices.html
Bob Landman
From: tinwhiskers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:tinwhiskers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jayasinghe, Ryan
Sent: Wednesday, August 06, 2008 8:17 PM
To: tinwhiskers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [tinwhiskers] Re: Reliability Concerns with the Use of Lead (Pb) Free
Solder in Telecommunications Products
The notice is not dated but I recall being aware of it after October of 2006.
Ryan Jazz Jayasinghe
Canoga Perkins Corporation
Compliance Engineer x1198
( Tel: 818 678 3898
7 Fax: 818 678 3798
* E-mail: ryan@xxxxxxxxxx
**No one can make you feel inferior without your consent**
~Eleanor Roosevelt~
From: tinwhiskers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:tinwhiskers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Meschter, Stephan J (US
SSA)
Sent: Wednesday, August 06, 2008 10:17 AM
To: tinwhiskers@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [tinwhiskers] Re: Reliability Concerns with the Use of Lead (Pb) Free
Solder in Telecommunications Products
What is the date of this notice?
Steph
From: tinwhiskers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:tinwhiskers-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Bob Landman
Sent: Wednesday, August 06, 2008 12:09 PM
To: 'tin whiskers forum'
Subject: [tinwhiskers] Reliability Concerns with the Use of Lead (Pb) Free
Solder in Telecommunications Products
http://www.telcordia.com/services/genericreq/digest/notices.html
Notices to the Industry
Reliability Concerns With the Use of Lead (Pb) Free Solder in
Telecommunications Products
Reliability Concerns with the Use of Lead (Pb) Free Solder in
Telecommunications Products
The European Union "Restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in
electrical and electronic equipment" was put into effect in July 2006. Known as
the RoHS Directive, this legislation bans placing on the EU market new
electronic equipment containing more than agreed-upon limits of certain
chemicals that are perceived as hazardous in the manufacture, use, or
disposition of products. These restricted substances include:
Cadmium
Mercury
Hexavalent Chromium
Brominated Fluorocarbons
Polybrominated biphenyl (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame
retardants
Lead.
The RoHS directive currently applies within the EU. Other countries are
considering similar restrictions as are some states within the U.S. Most
telecommunications equipment suppliers are designing and building electronic
products to suit the world market. As a result, many geographic markets are
receiving products that have been made in accordance with the RoHS directive,
even where not required locally. It is not an attractive economic option to
design and manufacture one product for the EU and a slightly different product
for non-RoHS markets.
Included in the RoHS legislation is a ban on the use of lead (Pb) in solder.
Lead has been added to tin for use in soldering electronic assemblies for 50
years or more and has the following benefits:
Low melting point
Good wetting characteristics for better solder adhesion
Good ductility for resistance to stress and strain
Reduction of the growth of tin whiskers
Excellent overall reliability of the solder joint.
As a contrast, most lead-free solder alternatives that have been examined at
this time have:
Higher melting points resulting in more difficult processing
Poor wetting characteristics and increased joint failures
Reduced ductility making assemblies vulnerable to vibration and thermal stress
Undetermined ability to mitigate tin whiskers
Unknown reliability in telecommunications environments.
In short, the lead-free solder alternatives have not demonstrated suitability
or reliability in the telecommunications market. For this reason, the RoHS
legislation includes an exemption that allows for the continued use of lead in
solder for telecommunications and data server products until at least 2010.
Despite the exemption, the continued availability of parts compatible with lead
solder fabrication is a concern. In order to provide economical products,
telecommunications suppliers use many electronic devices shared across multiple
industries. Not all industries share the lead-solder exemption. For this
reason, some widely used devices such as memory are now being made almost
exclusively for lead-free soldering. In this form, the parts may be
incompatible with leaded soldering and may be ill suited for telecommunications
equipment applications.
In order to maintain high and predictable network reliability, it is the
expressed desire of the major telecommunications carriers within the United
States, as well as Telcordia, that:
Telecommunications equipment manufacturers shall continue to use leaded-solder
until alternatives have demonstrated reliability suitable for
telecommunications infrastructure, and
Component suppliers shall continue to make available components compatible with
leaded-solder manufacturing until alternatives have demonstrated reliability
suitable for telecommunications infrastructure.
It is anticipated that this position will be reflected in the next issue of
GR-78, Generic Requirements for the Physical Design and Manufacture of
Telecommunications Products and Equipment.
For further discussion, please contact Richard Kluge, Telcordia Director -
NEBS? Technical Services, at rkluge@xxxxxxxxxxxxx or + 1.732.699.5490.
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