Well, Digikey (where the part was purchased from) says that it is a Sn/Pb part. They say just like Genny said earlier, the "N" would be right at the end of the part number in the top line. They say that the "N" in the second line is a code for what line the part was manufactured on. We didn't buy but 10 parts, and you can see that they were in a tape. The label on the outside of the bag was a Digikey label and it said that it was a non RoHS part... What is really frustrating about this, is that I think this is a legitimate question, and there's no easy way to talk to anyone at Altera to get what I think is a relatively simple question answered. This kind of customer support really p%sses me off! But we all put up with it... -Steve Gregory- -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Stadem, Richard D. Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 12:09 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] Altera BGA, lead-free or not? Darn. And here we spent all this money for an XRF! -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Peter Wong Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 11:27 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] Altera BGA, lead-free or not? Hi Steve, We've found a simple test to determine the basic composition of the balls for BGA's to determine if they were lead free of not is to try and "write" with the balls on a piece of paper. If they mark the paper like a leaded pencil, then they are Sn-Pb. If they don't mark the paper, they are lead-free. Peter -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Steve Gregory Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 6:19 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [TN] Altera BGA, lead-free or not? Mornin' Everyone! I've got a picture of the top of an Altera BGA to see if anybody knows if this is a lead-free BGA or not: http://stevezeva.homestead.com/files/Altera_BGA.jpg We're thinking that maybe the "N" on the second line of numbers on the part below the part number might be designating it as lead-free, but we're not sure. Good luck trying to call Altera and talk to a human being to find out for sure, because it ain't happening! -Steve Gregory- --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e 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 or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 ----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e 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 or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 ----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e 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 or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 ----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8e 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 or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 -----------------------------------------------------