TimesHi all Seems to be a hot issue. As a matter of chance I am involved in both aspects here. And I face the same problems in both aspects here. First I still work on the reliability of tin-lead solder joints on various pad-surfaces since some tests with isolated boards showed a somewhat faster growth of cracks in solder joints with pads covered with alternative surfaces. But never enough data to make a quantitative statement. But I can tell you it is damn hard to get any money for this kind of research. Everybody is whining about the lack of test data and reliability models. But when it comes to get some money.... Boy, discussing with the managers who have to say whether or not you may do anything ( e.g. whether or not you get some money ) can really drive you nuts. One half tells you that your approach is too academic, the other half says your plans are not scientific enough. I'm trying the third time now. Urged by process engineers of our partner companies. Wanna know the answer of the project reviewer? Yes? here it goes: >> There is no commercial nor technical evidence that a project concerning the reliability of soft solder joints on alternative pad surfaces other than HAL is justified. And anyway, all data necessary are easily found in literature<<<< OK, so much for reliability of solder. The other area I'm working in is recycling of electronic waste. Lots of people know, that compared to what nasties you find on a assembled PCB's, lead one of those that make us the least trouble. If one is looking at the technologies necessary to extract these substances it becomes clear that the extraction of lead is a piece of cake. Because of that, there are hard laws coming up in Europe concerning the disposal ( forbidden ) and recycling of electronic waste and there are a lot of European projects concerning the environmental aspects of electronic waste. But I can tell you it is damn hard....... I have some problems in understanding the whole fuss about the removal of lead. Anyway electronic waste shouldn't be looked at as waste and for sure it doesn't belong into a dump. It would be much cleverer to declare it as raw material. You see, one of the main sources of costs for recycling of electronic waste is the transport. And just because it is declared as hazardous waste and must be transported in transport equipment designed for the transport of hazardous waste. Also because of the lead in the solder joints. Did someone ever think of the transport of electronic equipment before it is out of use? And, coming back to ban lead, did ever someone look at the incredible amounts of lead coming into our environment by sources other than electronics ( we just had a case of high lead contents in game meat due to the lead balls used in hunting. Can you imagine how much lead is deposited UNCONTROLLED in our countries by means of ammunition? ) To make the long story short I must say that everybody is lamenting about hazardous substances in electronic waste, lots of people talk about guesswork when it comes to reliability of solder joints but nobody is willing to invest 5 cents to get facts. Gee, I think I got a bad morning today. Cheers Guenter ################################################################ TechNet E-Mail Forum provided as a free service by IPC using LISTSERV 1.8c ################################################################ To subscribe/unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the body: To subscribe: SUBSCRIBE TechNet To unsubscribe: SIGNOFF TechNet ################################################################ Please visit IPC's web site (http://www.ipc.org) "On-Line Services" section for additional information. For technical support contact Hugo Scaramuzza at [log in to unmask] or 847-509-9700 ext.312 ################################################################