"flipper" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 06 Feb 2010 19:54:06 GMT, Bob Quintal
wrote:

Mycelium wrote in
m:

On Sat, 06 Feb 2010 14:44:53 GMT, Bob Quintal
wrote:

When I look at the picture labeled chip-cap.gif, i see 2 horrible
looking solder joints. There is insufficient solder. The solder is
crystallized. There is insufficient solder in the meniscus.and it
shows evidence of insufficient heating I do not see any
perceptible bulging out of the cap at either end.

You obviously are unaware of the new solder joint acceptability
spec
for RoHS assemblies.

I know what RoHS compliant solder joints look like, but I deal in
High Reliability products. We cannot use Sn plated parts (because of
the whiskers.

Grainyness is the norm. Also, "modern" motherboard houses have
been
using stencils that are too thin for years, so they have all been
low on solder for a long time.

There is no such thing as a clean, bright, shiny solder joint
any more.
Sure there is. NASA still insists on those criteria for any new
acquisitions.

The days of 63 / 37 perfection are gone.

Thank the capitalist ba*rds who convinced the EU to ban lead so that
product lifecycles would be shortened, enabling more sales.

The same "capitalist ba*rds" that ran lead out of gasoline and paint,
no doubt.

While I think banning lead in solder is a f***ing stupid idea, I recently
heard the figure for the weight of lead put into petrol every year in the US
alone - an unbelievable 200,000 tons, this lead is (was) emitted as
microscopic particulates for everyone to breath and settles on agricultural
land finding many routes into the food chain.

The lead in solder is a stable alloy that's relatively harmless compared to
the lead particulates - they're very toxic!