Genny, About 5 years is as long as you can store components and expect them to still work afterwards. If they're "exercised" on a regular basis while in proper storage (say every 6 months), they can last a lot longer, but it's impossible to say how much longer. If you can be assured that the components have bee properly stored and you can use them up quickly enough, maybe he has got a good deal. I'ld check their provenance pretty thoroughly first before buying, though. Peter Genny Gibbard <Genny.Gibbard@W To: [log in to unmask] AVECOM.CA> cc: (bcc: DUNCAN Peter/Asst Prin Engr/ST Sent by: TechNet Aero/ST Group) <[log in to unmask] Subject: [TN] How old is old? > 02/19/02 11:19 PM Please respond to "TechNet E-Mail Forum."; Please respond to Genny Gibbard One of the purchasers has asked if they can purchase some parts with a 2000 date code on them for 'a really great deal!' The part is an 8 lead uSOIC package At what point do you say they are too old? I would appreciate info specific to this package or, just in general, guidelines for chip or standard SM components. We do not use BGA's yet. We aren't trying to do lead free. We generally spec 60/40 HASL finish on our boards. Thanks for your time. Genny Gibbard (mailto:[log in to unmask]) Product Transition and Support --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Technet 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 Technet To temporarily halt delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest 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 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- [This e-mail is confidential and may also be privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete it and notify us immediately; you should not copy or use it for any purpose, nor disclose its contents to any other person. Thank you.] --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Technet 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 Technet To temporarily halt delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest 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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------