That is true, however, they are not always 100% accurate. I always try to double-check anything I am told by a distributor with the manufacturer information, before I fully accept it. -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Stadem, Richard D. Sent: November 7, 2006 1:40 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] Altera BGA, lead-free or not? I have always found the distributor or rep to be much more responsive than the component manufacturers in getting the information you need. -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Steve Gregory Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 1:15 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] Altera BGA, lead-free or not? Digikey sent us a picture of what an RoHS compliant BGA looks like: http://stevezeva.homestead.com/files/Altera_RoHS_BGA.JPG It's even got the JEDEC standard marking on it with the circled "e1" down in the lower right-hand corner: http://www.jedec.org/download/search/jesd97.pdf I've learned something today. The reason this all came up was that our customer was questioning our reflow profile for an assembly that used this BGA, and asked us; "Are you sure this isn't a lead-free BGA?". We said that we didn't think so, and then they asked about the "N" on the second line. Well, that got us questioning things. So now I know. I just wonder how long I would have waited to get the same kind of information from Altera that we got from Digikey? -Steve Gregory- -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dehoyos, Ramon Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 12:33 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] Altera BGA, lead-free or not? Texas Instruments has a much better customer service. After the information is rendered, the company ask you to rate their customer support. Not all component companies are the same. Ramon -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Steve Gregory Sent: Tuesday, November 07, 2006 1:26 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: [TN] Altera BGA, lead-free or not? 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 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