Hi Jan! I can't begin to list the bismuth references that would help you out but I can fill in some info. Bismuth solders have been used around the industry for a long time. Most of the uses have been in select applications and not on a broad scale. Roger Wild of IBM lead the charge with implementing a wave soldering operation with 42Sn/58Bi and I think it was Unisys in Minneapolis that was doing a similar process on a huge (30 some layer) computer mother board. I have not heard of any other "mass" operations. One drawback of using a Bi alloy is that if you solder to a surface that contains lead (Pb) you have a chance of forming a Pb/Sn/Bi phase that melts at 96C resulting in "hotshortness" which makes the solder joints go to pieces. The NCMS Lead Free Study that will be published soon has some great information on the performance of Bi alloys with both thermal cycling and process data. I can't disclose those results prior to the release of their report but let's just say bismuth can cause you some serious problems under different conditions. I know of several applications of alloys 50Sn/40Pb/10Bi and 43Pb/43Sn/14Bi that are working very well but one caveat - the max temperature the assembly is exposed to is 95C. Give me a call and we can discuss the topic of Bi further. Dave Hillman Rockwell Collins [log in to unmask] 319-295-1615 ______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________ Subject: ASSY: Bismuth Solder Author: [log in to unmask] at ccmgw1 Date: 7/30/96 5:39 PM We have a customer who wants to use Bismuth solder (20% bismuth, 40% tin, 40%lead) on one of our products. He wants to solder a stranded wire to a thin silver surface (commercial job) and believes that the lower melting temp of bismuth solder will aid his process (we normally recommend SN62). He asks if I know of any problems with bismuth attacking silver. (if it has any sulphur in it, it will). I have never used bismuth solder and don't recall reading anything recently about it. Has anyone had any experience with it and what are the drawbacks if any?? Thanks. Jan Satterfield Edo Corp [log in to unmask] (801) 486-7481 ext 315 *************************************************************************** * TechNet mail list is provided as a service by IPC using SmartList v3.05 * *************************************************************************** * To unsubscribe from this list at any time, send a message to: * * [log in to unmask] with <subject: unsubscribe> and no text. * *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** * TechNet mail list is provided as a service by IPC using SmartList v3.05 * *************************************************************************** * To unsubscribe from this list at any time, send a message to: * * [log in to unmask] with <subject: unsubscribe> and no text. * ***************************************************************************