I think the only reliable date will come from each individual manufacturer, but keep in mind there could have been hundreds of thousands of parts in the distribution chain that would need to be consumed before you actually saw the RoHS compliant parts.  This assumes that the FIFO stocking system is diligently adhered to at each stocking point.  Gathering these dates is no small task.

My 2¢.

Phil

-----Original Message-----
From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of - Bogert
Sent: Thursday, March 23, 2006 6:46 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [TN] Seeking date that part manufacturers started eliminating lead from part finishes

March 23, 2006

Folks, my understanding is that about 50% of the electronic part manufacturers have been eliminating Pb from their part finishes without also changing their part numbers.  I am concerned that because of this, we may inadvertently be getting lead-free parts and mixing these with lead-bearing parts.  Concerns are possible tin-whiskers (since pure tin is sometimes used in lieu of Pb for finishes) and solder joint issues when soldering lead-free using Sn63 solder.

We have a lot of delivered equipment that I am trying to determine if we could have these issues.  One way to bound the problem would be to determine a date by when most part manufacturers starting phasing out Pb from their part finishes.  Knowing this date, we may be able to accept equipment manufactured prior to this date with minimum risk.  One possible date may be the date RoHS started.

Do you folks know of a date that would give me a warm fuzzy that equipment delivered prior to this date should not be subject to the 
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lead-free issues?

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