"ian field" wrote in message
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"Arfa Daily" wrote in message
...

"mc" wrote in message
.. .
Given that it's desirable to do repairs with the same type of solder as
was used originally, in order to avoid alloy mixing or partial melting
problems...

(1) How do I recognize lead-free solder when I see it?

(2) What temperature should I set my iron to, when working with SnSb or
SnAg solder?

Thanks!


It has been recommended by the creators of the half-arsed RoHS directive,
that manufacturers mark their boards with the alloy that has been used.
To date, I think I have probably seen about 2 or 3. In general, boards
made with lead-free, look as though every joint is bad ( and often, this
is pretty much the case !! ). Instead of the joints having a shiny
appearance, and being domed or meniscus-shaped, they are dull and grey,
decidedly 'crystalline' looking, and tend to be volcano-shaped, with
straight sides.

snip

Any chance the half-arsed RoHS directive was thought up by the stuck up
gits who pepper the countryside with 12bore lead shot?

Most shot used in clay shooting is no longer lead, I seem to recall. Anyway,
the point is that if it is, it is not recycled, so remains lying where it
is. Solder accounts for less than 1% of the world's mined lead, over 80%
going to car battery manufacture. The car battery industry have managed to
organise virtually 100% safe recycling, so are allowed to carry on using
lead on this basis, and the contention that there is no suitable
alternative. With the coming of the WEEE directive shortly, end of life
electronic equipment will have to be safely recycled in much the same way,
so where's the difference ? If the car battery people can do it, I'm sure
that the electronic people can also do it with less than 1/80th the volume.

The point about the RoHS directive as it stands with regard to leaded
solder, is that it is forcing a changeover from a mature, tried and tested
technology, which had reached the point of almost perfect reliability, to a
less than satisfactory alternative, with at best, woolly reasoning to try to
justify it. This is well understood by such people as the US military, who
refuse to use the stuff, the avionics industry, who have obtained
exemptions, and the medical instrument industry, likewise. Any ecological
advantage from the poisoning angle, will probably be outweighed in the long
run by the additional energy budget worldwide to run all those solder
production lines and hand soldering irons 50 degrees hotter, and all the
extra recycling brought about by electronic equipment being junked earlier
due to owners getting fed up with all the intermittent problems from bad
joints ...

Just keep your fingers crossed that avionics are not finally forced down
that route, coz that'll be the day that I stop flying.

Arfa