RoHS Compliance

< ** Bound to start a feud.

** Very likely, even a milligram of Cadmium does the trick.

One tiny CdS photocell wipes out approval in the EU.

.... Phil

Leaded solder alone is most probably enough. There are some exemptions for medical and measurement/control equipment, but even those will be much tighter starting 2021-07-22.

Other parts to check are any special components (power RF transistors, optoelectronics and any older components - I would give the whole BOM a quick check - component manufacturers and distributors generally have easily accessible data.

From other parts like metal parts and connectors, look especially for cadmium and hexavalent chromium platings.

Some aluminum alloys like 2011 (easy to machine) contain too much lead.

This is not a comprehensive list, but hopefully will help you find something to CYA.

--
mikko OH2HVJ

ROHS means no lead...on anything.My old company had to reball 'leaded only' BGAs (e.g.) with lead free balls to maintain ROHS compliance... Seems ROHS is the least of your worries... FCC CE etc.

--
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. 
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

As i vaguely remember, the idea was to sow that the amount of prohibited stuff did not exceed so many TONS per year... So,,,,if you sell only a few pounds of a thinggie per year you are safe.

lead solder = fail. There - saved you looking up the components, saved you testing.

Your remaining hope is if the non-compliant product falls into a category that is exempt, but you shouldn't get your hopes up too much.

You might find something useful here, though likely out of date:

I think the exemptions are on page 17.

Also:

I think you might get away with putting the loose parts and PCB into a bag and telling your customer that it is a "kit" to assemble themselves, but it doesn't sound like that sort of a product!

If you don't have a representative or office or dealer in Europe, then the liability would fall onto whoever imported it, presumably the customer, i.e. not your problem, but depending on the country it is fairly likely to get impounded, especially in Germany.

Mikko OH2HVJ wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@mspro.home:

Leaxed solder is NOT permitted, and few get exempted. Military (not medical AFAIK)gets exempted. Oddly enough, leaded solders are still permitted for repairs. That allowance may have since been killed too though.

snip

0.2 % is too much?

ser Manual. Problem is, that has not been tested. (And we're unlikely to. )

f of them unique). The engineer who designed it did so without any attenti on whatsoever to RoHS. It is 6-layer surface mount RF4 (from China), with lead solder throughout.

hat idea outright? And if it doesn't, which other components should I chec k first to rule in/out RoHS compliance, to save some time. In other words, which common PCB RF components, or cabinet/enclosure parts typically have trouble meeting RoHS?

AR stretch to the point of breakage, FCC emissions, exaggerated performance specifications, etc....) This isn't a consumer product, so I'm not /that/ worried about liability, but if this baby is going to fail RoHS --- and I' m betting it will spectacularly --- I would like to be able to point to som ething definitive and say (with absolutely no grey area!), I TOLD YOU SO!

Lead solder? No chance, unless it's an exempted product. For RoHS complianc e you need something demonstrating compliance of every part you use. The od ds of random stuff bought anywhere complying are almost zero. Note that tak ing a Chinese supplier's word for it is not permitted in a lot of cases. So me plastics you can wave through if the Chinese mfr says so, but the ones t hat are liable to contain banned substances you can't. You can however take the word of reputable domestic companies.

NT

A comment.

Is there a practical test for lead solder? I mean, if I have a board and I need to check, is there anything I can do without expensive equipment? Some sort of indicator paper?

It's particularly important for high temperature work because of the melting points, lead-free being considerably higher than tin/lead (though very high melting point solder is nearly all lead).

Cheers

--
Clive

Yup. That's a hardcore fail. End of the game unless this is re-designed.

[...]

--
Regards, Joerg 

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

Lead-free has other issues as well and is, therefore, not used for some hi-rel jobs.

--
Regards, Joerg 

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

You can use the '3M leadcheck' test kit, only a few bucks. I've used it on pcb blanks to check for HASL lead solder. Tests positive right away if lead is in the HASL finish.

Cheers

Huh, Let's say* I'm a small company selling a small amount of stuff to Europe. (~10% of total sales) I've got a low leakage front end... ~pA. That uses Kester 44, on the sensitive bits. When selling to Europe, should we change solder (and flux!), charge more, and worsen the specs and performance? I can't imagine a small company, wanting to jump through to hoops of an exemption. George H.

*this is all purely hypothetical.

George Herold wrote in news:ba71d4c5-8137-43ca- snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com:

How does it do that? Other than long term reliabilty?

conductivity difference? A non issue.

So what differs? Tin whiskers?

How does the Rohs flux increase the leakage? I'm not sure.

Does it matter? George H.

Other than long term reliabilty?

George Herold wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@googlegroups.com:

No. How does it "worsen the specs and performance"?

You are the one who said it, so it must matter.

Thanks Joerg, That's what I thought.

I suspect the boss is going to claim RoHS anyway. And I'm not going to go to war with him over it. ... nor am I going to sign any paperwork.

He's a know-it-all type, and always has at least 50 different options or ve rsions of any one product iteration in his head at any one time (none of wh ich he effectively communicates to the entire team, just portions here and there as ideas (and that's a graceful way to put it) pop into his head. Ve ry frustrating to work with somebody like that. He does not listen, (I ass ume that's because he already knows everything?)

And then, when things blow-up spectacularly (as they nearly always do, like this morning when an eval board shipped prematurely without the correct fi rmware loaded), he likes to point everywhere but inward. Conveniently, he completely forgets the "I told you so's". Because by his sheer will, everyt hing will work fine - or so he believes. No appreciation for doing things correctly. If there's a shortcut, he'll take it. No doubt about it.

Add to this, he has completely unrealistic timelines for new product develo pment. I think if he could, he'd want that invisibility cloak out by next Thursday, even if the product manual isn't quite ready by then. He's kind of an asshole when you stop to think about it critically. Just successful enough to boast, money-wise, but anyone in the know would expect revenues a nd profits of at least 30x better, if he'd just run it right. "Con-man" c omes to mind. All talk, but no substantive engineering.

I might have to find something else to do pretty soon. It's all starting to wear on me a bit. The pay is actually pretty good, or I would have already left! :)

Thankfully, not all my eggs are in this particular basket.

Visit a paint store, they have a cheap DIY test for lead.

leaded and lead free solders are available at a variety of melting points. some low some high

--
  When I tried casting out nines I made a hash of it.

Yebbut off-the-shelf 99C is good for 180'C ambient operation with plenty of margin for self heated parts, off-the-shelf 60/40 isn't. Also lead free parts don't need to be re-tinned, the whole RoHS lead thing has made life easier for some.

Cheers

--
Clive