pB-Free: The Craze Has Begun
Kirt's Cogitations #65

RF Cafe University "Factoids," "Kirt's Cogitations," and "Tech Topics Smorgasbord" are all manifestations of my ranting on various subjects relevant (usually) to the overall RF Cafe theme. All may be accessed on these pages:

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pB-Free: The Craze Has Begun

Motivated by reports of lead leaching into ground water from landfills, some manufacturers of electronic equipment have begun using lead-free solder processes. Japan is at the forefront with a year 2003 target for 100% lead-free soldering. Europe is targeting 2006, and N. America has a voluntary compliance date of 2004. Studies in N. America show no increase in ground water lead content after 50 years, but Japan claims increases. The most common lead-free solder in use today is Sn-3Ag-0.5Cu, which melts at 219°C. 63Sn-37Pb melts at 183°C. Paradoxically, net environmental impact could be worse for lead-free due to the increased fuel-fired energy required to run oven soldering equipment! Some analysts predict the industry will abandon lead-free solder by 2008, due to minimal environmental impact and much more difficult processes and costs. Storage batteries use 79.0% of all lead mined, while electronics solder uses only 0.6%

Innovative Power Products (IPP) RF Resistors & Terminations - RF Cafe Website

RF Cafe began life in 1996 as "RF Tools" in an AOL screen name web space totaling 2 MB. Its primary purpose was to provide me with ready access to commonly needed formulas and reference material while performing my work as an RF system and circuit design engineer. The World Wide Web (Internet) was largely an unknown entity at the time and bandwidth was a scarce commodity. Dial-up modems blazed along at 14.4 kbps while tying up your telephone line, and a lady's voice announced "You've Got Mail" when a new message arrived...