Hi, TechNetters!
I would like to know how contract manufacturers prepare themselfs for the new lead free era.
Thank you,
Gaby

"Davy, Gordon" wrote:

> In a recent posting Erik de Kluizenaar discussed the attractiveness of pure
> plated tin as a component termination finish and offered his thoughts on the
> effects of various additives in preventing the one big concern, whiskers. He
> commented that billions of products have been Sn100 plated over the past
> twenty years by his company and others, without any reports of whiskers. He
> stated his belief that the risk of using "modern Sn100 finish" is therefore
> "low." On the other hand, he stated that the finish is not "mature" and
> asked for forum participants to share what they know about the problem. He
> also is seeking a good whisker test, which in spite of this record of
> success would seem to be highly desirable to confirm that a given "modern"
> plating process is also "mature" and safe enough to use in a
> high-reliability application.
> The lack of such a test has been commented on in most discussions of the
> whisker problem, and I have nothing to offer other than to repeat the
> reference which others have made to NASA's web site that serves as a
> compendium of what is known, http://nepp.nasa.gov/whisker/. But I am
> interested in contrasting Mr. de Kluizenaar's discussion of metallurgy
> (which is original, I think, and offers the prospect of some confirming
> experiments) with the statement he made twice in the first paragraph that
> nickel and noble metals are "extremely environmentally hostile", and that
> "lead-free, tin-based solderable component finishes are seen as the
> environmentally friendly alternative for tin-lead."
> These statements are not in the domain of metallurgy but of environmental
> science. Perhaps he would be willing to share with us what (or who) caused
> him to arrive at his belief about nickel and noble metals, especially since
> it seems so counter-intuitive. (People carry coins made of nickel in their
> hands and pockets to no one's harm that I know of. People wear jewelry made
> of gold and platinum and eat using silverware. Palladium is used in
> catalytic converters to reduce air pollution. Just what is it in the
> environment that is being harmed by the use of these metals in electronics?
> People? Fish? Do we have any statistics? Is it getting worse? Does the risk
> to the environment exceed the risk of product failure from using tin
> plating?)
> The use of the passive-voice "are seen" avoids the need to tell us who sees.
> In the absence of any further information, I would conclude that those who
> think that nickel, silver, platinum, palladium, and gold in electronics are
> bad for the environment are the same ones who have decided that lead in
> electronics is bad for the environment, but who have failed to provide the
> data to support their decision. I have expressed my concern before that the
> people who want to take away lead from electronic products won't stop there,
> and these statements heighten that concern. So far, they appear willing to
> accept tin, but how much longer before they add copper to the
> "environmentally hostile" list? If most people - especially technical people
> - don't demand supporting data before giving their assent and engaging in
> research to figure out how to comply, what is to stop it? Common sense? Or
> perhaps the unfeasibility of getting by without it - should that be the
> determinant? It wasn't long ago that technical people were saying that they
> couldn't get by without lead.
> We don't know their names, but somehow these opinion makers seem to have a
> great deal of power to decide what is politically correct, to convince some
> and impose these beliefs on others, supposedly for the good of us all and
> our progeny, and to brand those of us who oppose them as hostile, not to
> their ideas and tactics, but to the environment. This means of achieving a
> desired end is not new, of course. It continues to be used because it is so
> effective.
> Companies other than Mr. de Kluizenaar's have been spending a lot of money
> recently investigating a whole range of finishes trying to appease people
> who have decided that we need to learn to do without lead in electronics,
> and now it would appear based on his statements that these companies should
> have searched out and checked with these powerful people first to get
> approval of these projects. In any case, now that the unacceptability of
> these finishes is "known", is it not only logical that these companies
> should abandon their efforts and focus on making tin work? What a waste!
> A few leadfree forum participants have expressed dismay that political
> expressions such as this are cluttering up their inbox. (I'm guessing that
> these people would categorize an unsubstantiated claim about an
> environmental risk as "technical" and the analysis of the claim as
> "political.") These people do not want their attention diverted from the
> business at hand, which is to find a technical solution that will satisfy
> the new "reality" - never mind whether there is any technical justification
> for their efforts. However, if nameless people can adjust reality at will,
> and can declare as unacceptable the solution that others have just invested
> time and money in, those participants need to be warned that they may need
> to switch promptly to working on a solution that remains acceptable, at
> least for a while longer.
> The alternative is for people who do not share the desire for such a
> political environment to take the risk and challenge the elite who would
> deprive us of our freedoms so as to achieve their version of a brave new
> environmentally sound world with them in control.
>
> Gordon Davy
>
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Leadfee Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d
> To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in
> the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Leadfree
> Search previous postings at: www.ipc.org > On-Line Resources & Databases > E-mail Archives
> Please visit IPC web site (http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm) for additional
> information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315
> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Leadfee Mail List provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8d
To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in
the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Leadfree
Search previous postings at: www.ipc.org > On-Line Resources & Databases > E-mail Archives
Please visit IPC web site (http://www.ipc.org/html/forum.htm) for additional
information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.5315
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------