| FCT Solder & Fine Line Stencil October 2004 News | Serving
the EMS provider since 1995 |
Article: Another RoHS/WEEE Update |
Another RoHS/WEEE Update!
There has been increased interest in the European regulations relating to the elimination of lead so we are following up last month’s discussion with another update on how the industry experts are interpreting the regulations and how this will affect electronic assembly manufacturing. As the deadline approaches for the European regulations concerning limiting lead use in electronics, interpretations of the regulations are beginning to take shape. As with any law passed by a legislative body, it will be up to the courts to officially interpret the regulations. Recently, experts in the electronics field have begun making recommendations on how the new laws should be followed and this update includes a review of some of these recommendations. BACKGROUND: The RoHS and WEEE regulations have targeted a specific group of electronic products and the list includes the following: (1) Large household appliances (2) Small household appliances (3) IT & Telecommunication equipment (4) Consumer equipment (5) Lighting equipment - Light bulbs and luminaries (6) Electrical and electronic tools (7) Toys, leisure & sports (8) Medical equipment systems (with the exception of all implanted and infected products) (9) Monitoring and control instruments (10) Automatic dispensers The laws also specifically exclude a group of products as listed below:
The lists for the most part are clear with a few overlaps that will have to be clarified. These include dual use products such as car radios, and computing equipment used in aerospace. Clarification of the scope should be published by the end of 2004. One of the major questions to be answered is how the courts will interpret the definition of "lead free". The law states lead can not be present at a concentration greater than 0.1% by weight per homogeneous material. Homogeneous material is defined as “a material that can not be mechanically disjointed into different materials”. Mechanically disjointed means that materials can be, in principle, separated by mechanical actions such as unscrewing, cutting, crushing, grinding and abrasive processes. Previously, it was assumed that this meant the component including the solder would be a homogeneous material. The industry experts now interpret homogeneous to mean the actual solder joint alone. It also means the solderable surface on the component lead. This will require companies to maintain a maximum lead content in their wave solder pot of 0.1% which will require closer monitoring then previously anticipated. This may end up being one of the more costly wave solder process control steps in converting to lead free until all tin/lead coated components are no longer in use. It will be critical that all component lead finishes are lead free to eliminate solder pot contamination and to comply with the regulations. One of the questions then becomes whether tin/lead leaded components can be retinned with a lead free solder. There is some good news in all of the expert opinions. Previously, it was thought that the deadline of July 1, 2006 meant products could not be sold after this date. The experts now interpret the law to mean that “put on the market” will most likely be the time the product leaves the manufacturing site. This interpretation allows lead-containing stocks on the shelf and in warehouses of distribution to be sold after July 1, 2006. Another concern is how will the law be enforced? Every state (country) in the European Union is required to establish their own laws to meet the requirements of RoHS and WEEE. The RoHS laws can not be more restrictive but the state’s laws to cover WEEE can be more restrictive. It may be possible that each country has a different set of regulations that producers must meet. From a compliance standpoint, there are draft guidance measures being issued by some states. As an example, the UK Government recommendations are shown below.
Some of the recommended steps to meet compliance to the regulations may include:
Many questions still remain unanswered concerning interpretation of the law and how the laws will be enforced and very little time is remaining. It will be critical for assembly processes to be working towards a lead free process now in order to meet the requirements if their products are being offered for sale into the European Union in 2006. OMRON CORPORATION SN100C Proves It’s High Reliability Even for Industrial Equipment Used Under Severe Conditions Industrial Automation Business Company (IAB) of Omron Corporation has declared their policy to change its control equipment to lead free for the first time in the industry, which are used for industrial automation equipment. As of early 2003, 26 new products had been converted to lead free. The plan was to have all new equipment converted by April 2003. Moreover, their current products will be adapted to lead free by the end of March 2005. In the Mishima factory, where they manufacture PLC’s (Programmable Controllers) and similar products, they started to study the change to lead free in 1998. The requirements for these control instruments for industrial use are much more severe than typically required for consumer products. If and when some troubles occur, the influence can be enormous. Thus, the soldering materials must offer better reliability under these sever conditions. Thermal stress cycle testing to as much as –40°C /+105°C for more than 2000 cycles is required. IAB collected lead free solders from the major solder manufacturers in Japan, and tested them under the same conditions. After testing, IAB chose SN100C as one of the standard lead free solders for wave soldering. “The key of the decision”, said Mr. Ken-ichi Kusui, the production group manager of Mishima System Factory, “is its finish status after soldering. In a nutshell, we loved its beautiful face.” They adopted it for commercial use in May 2001. Accumulated shipment of the products with SN100C reached 5000, “but no circuit failures of the products have yet been reported.” “On top of that, with the experience of the use of SN100C for over 2 years,” he noted, “there are less dissolved impurities in the solder bath with SN100C than any other leads free solder, after impurities in the molten solder are checked. It means the easiness of maintenance of solder in the bath.” SN100C has been patented by Nihon Superior and is offered worldwide through licensed manufacturers including FCT Solder for North America. We offer SN100C for wave solder and lead tinning application and SN100CL for lead free hot air solder leveling (HASL) of P.C. Boards. We will be including in future newsletters, many of the advantages our current customers have discovered in switching to SN100C as their lead free alloy of choice and we welcome your comments and questions. We look forward to working with you to make your transition to lead free as successful as possible. |
For more information about our products, please visit our web sites at www.finelinestencil.com for stencil products and www.fctassembly.com for solder products. All files for stencils, templates and PCB carriers should be sent to sales@finelinestencil.com to assure immediate attention. |
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