This is plenty explicable. The manufacturers of this equipment claim (with some validity) that there isn't much known about the long-term stability of the lead-free stuff, and since companies and governments and whatnot rely on reliable IT infrastructure they can't run the risk of switching over to a new technology.
robert
Actually no. Engineering's job is to specify the right part. Purchasing's job is to buy the right part. The vendor's job is to supply the right part.
If Engineering has a RoHS compliance cert for part ABC Engineering is OK.
If Purchasing requires the vendor to provide a RoHS compliance cert for inbound shipments of part ABC, Purchasing is OK.
If the vendor ships part ABC, and part ABC is compliant, the vendor is OK.
As long as you spec in a part and require it to be RoHS-compliant, any problems that happen with the RoHS side of things are a fight between Purchasing and the vendor.
The japanese were able to implement leadfree a decade ago.
Rene
-- Ing.Buero R.Tschaggelar - http://www.ibrtses.com & commercial newsgroups - http://www.talkto.net
|3. This Directive does not apply to spare parts for the repair, |or to the reuse, of electrical and electronic equipment put on |the market before 1 July 2006.
So that would seem to cover stocks of old chips. IC manufacturers are going to need to be lead-free after July 2006, for Euro sales, but 'put on the market' would seem to cover anything made/invoiced prior to that ?
and there are more exemptions here :
|(11) Exemptions from the substitution requirement should be |permitted if substitution is not possible from the scientific |and technical point of view or if the negative environmental |or health impacts caused by substitution are |likely to outweigh the human and environmental benefits |of the substitution. Substitution of the hazardous |substances in electrical and electronic equipment should |also be carried out in a way so as to be compatible with |the health and safety of users of electrical and electronic |equipment (EEE).
|7. ? Lead in high melting temperature type solders (i.e. tin-lead |solder alloys containing more than 85 % lead), |? lead in solders for servers, storage and storage array systems |(exemption granted until 2010), |? lead in solders for network infrastructure equipment for switching, |signalling, transmission as well as network |management for telecommunication, |? lead in electronic ceramic parts (e.g. piezoelectronic devices).
The target is mainly the high volume/short life/disposable consumer products, (rightly so). It seems other large industry groups have lobbied for exemptions...
-jg
Sort of a moot issue isn't it?
The Dutch just voted down the EU Constitution.
...Jim Thompson
-- | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona Voice:(480)460-2350 | | | E-mail Address at Website Fax:(480)460-2142 | Brass Rat | |
What about the rest of us that make electronics designed to last for decades? I fully understand the desire to remove lead from throw-away electronics, of which there is more and more these days. But there is a lot electronics produced that is a lot harder to replace than a network switch, or with greater consequences of failure than a typical server. A far more practical arrangement than a blanket ban on lead, except for groups with loud lobbyists, would have been a tax on lead-containing electronics along with obligatory marking of such cards. The tax would start small, and increase over the years, and be used to finance recycling plants. Then mass manufacturers would use lead-free to save their profits, while smaller and specialist manufacturers could choose.
That is very strange - what about industrial electronics; that has to last much longer than the average piece of IT gear.
What *is* known about lead-free solders, in the SMT context, is that their lack of surface tension makes the reflow process more critical, and one could do without that. SMT is a difficult process already, requiring everything to be spot on right. Unlike PTH soldering.
As I understand it, Industrial electronics appears to be exempt from the RoHS directive, at present. (But not from the WEEE one).
Agreed.
-- John Devereux
Hmmm. Interesting! Is there a reference to this somewhere? Currently, every customer is sending us a list of questions about this. Would "industrial" be anything "professional" e.g. professional broadcast equipment?
What is WEEE?
FWIW, here in Michigan, there is a core charge for lead-acid car batteries, though I believe it's much less than $400. I'm not sure of the exact amount, because the core cancels when you replace a battery (here's my old one, give me a new one).
[...]
PCB metals recycling has been around a long time. Usually, though, they're after stuff more valuable than lead.
Regards,
-=Dave
-- Change is inevitable, progress is not.
Hi Peter,
Checkout the "Re: A european question : RoHS" thread (in S.E.D). Links to the directives are:
and
See Article 2 section 1 of RoHS, which refers to Annex IA of the WEEE document.
I am *so* not an expert on this.... But as I understand it, WEEE is about making sure manufacturers bear the cost of recycling products made with "hazardous" substances. For example, by providing recyling schemes, collecting the unwanted items etc.
RoHS on the other hand *prohibits* such manufacture in the first place, with some exceptions. It appears that industrial equipment is one such!
-- John Devereux
a little. It's apparently considered perfectly acceptable. Oh - never mind the
Yup, one of the irritating things for people who move from such places to more "civilized" countries is that you often *can't* speed things up by paying what is usually a pittance more. The civil servants are unionized, relatively well paid and generally incorruptable.
Best regards, Spehro Pefhany
-- "it\'s the network..." "The Journey is the reward" speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com
Peter schrieb:
"Waste of Eletrical and Electronic Equipment" - another new EU directive.
Basically, it is about that manufacturers of EE products must guarantie to take them back without cost. They also must be marked as devices that shall not be dropped into "normal" waste. This one applies to the companies that first sell anything to the (normally private) end customer, B2B is less concerned (if at all).
There surely are online documents about it, but I don't have links at hand...
-- Dipl.-Ing. Tilmann Reh http://www.autometer.de - Elektronik nach Maß.
Ship the remaining parts somewhere that hasn't gone lead free yet.
Non-Eu countries in Europe. Dump all the lead components to Bulgaria , Romania, Ukraine, Albania and former Yugoslav countries.
or elsewhere Asia , Australia ,Central and South America , Africa ?
Alex
The alternative would be the very counterproductive/ludicrous:
"Oh, we have to dump that product now; Can't repair it as we cannot get parts anymore. Send it to the land-fill!"
..and a heap of lead that would not have otherwise been in the land-fill, gets there much earlier, because of the lead-free directive....
-jg
In India you can pay 'rush money' to get the wheels of bureaucracy to speed up a little. It's apparently considered perfectly acceptable. Oh - never mind the business with customs at Bombay airport !
Graham
That probably produces dioxins !
I've seen stuff about 'recycling' pcbs and I can't believe there's any sense in it.
Graham
single
conform
finish
I suspect, since I was looking at some RoHS stuff today, that's intended to allow high lead solders for die attach in semiconductors.
I rather though that was *low* melting point though !
Check this out.
Graham
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive.
Graham
up a little. It's apparently considered perfectly acceptable. Oh - never mind the
That is broadly true.
I was however quite impressed that when I once needed to - I was able to get a 'next day' passport by going to one of the Passport Offices ( London was the nearest to me ) in person at no extra cost IIRC - other than my travel cost of course. Had to show my airline ticket though. In very urgent cases I believe they can do 'same day' too !
Graham
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