Re: Lead Based Solder Alternatives

From: Robert Baer (robertbaer_at_earthlink.net)
Date: 11/07/04 

Date: Sun, 07 Nov 2004 07:02:45 GMT

"Paul Hovnanian P.E." wrote:
>
> Robert Baer wrote:
> >
> > H Brown wrote:
> > >
> > > The November 2004 issue of Printed Circuit Design and Manufactire has an
> > > editorial that says theat the European Union is banning the importation of
> > > electronic products containing lead, mercury, cadmium, etc. starting 1 July
> > > 2006.
> > >
> > > Does anyone have any leads on what alternates there are available to use
> > > instead of lead based solder? Sounds like a real problem to me. With the
> > > quantity of posts on this forum, and my not knowing about the problem before
> > > I may have missed past discussions on this subject.
> > >
> > > Any directions 0n where to find more about this subject would be
> > > appreciated.
> > >
> > > Harry
> >
> > Here are the solders that i know about:
> > 1) Sn63, Pb37 MP is 183C (361F) with a max recommended use to 149C
> > (300F).
> > 2) Sn95.8, Ag3.5, Cu0.7 MP is 217C (423F)
> > 3) Sn96.5, Ag3.5 MP is 221C (430F)
> > 4) Sn65, Sb5 MP is 232C (450F)
> > I have only personally worked with #1 and #4 and one needs a rather
> > hot iron to not get cold solder joints with #4.
> > That makes it a bitch, as that heat tends to make problems with the
> > ICs one is soldering...
>
> What about various alloys of gold? Back in my days in the aerospace biz,
> one vendor proposed using a gold alloy solder. Although it wasn't our
> job to review this part of their design, we did toy with the idea of
> asking them to ship us a couple of pounds of the proposed solder, 'for
> certification purposes'. ;-)
>
> --
> Paul Hovnanian mailto:Paul@Hovnanian.com
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
> IRS: We've got what it takes to take what you've got.

  Do you have any info (element ratios and melting points)?

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