switch to lead free solder- how difficult?
switch to lead free solder- how difficult?
(OP)
An OSHA inspector visited our place the other day and she really didn't like that we were using leaded solder. She referred me to a Federal OSHA website that lists what you need to do in order to use leaded solder and keep OSHA happy. I spent about 10 minutes navigating through it and then gave up. Is lead free solder still a pain to use? We do about 30 fairly small boards in the solder pot per month spend about 5 minutes hand soldering on each.





RE: switch to lead free solder- how difficult?
RE: switch to lead free solder- how difficult?
It's much harder to get a "good looking" joint. The products can be subject to tin whisker problems though I have never seen any and I'm using some pretty fine components and traces.
Since I'm shipping to Europe I started using lead-free and now do most everything that way because it just nice to not have to wash one's hands every time you get up from soldering.
Rework with tin is about 2x harder.
Keep tip cleaner around - that milky zombie-white paste that you dig the oxided tips into to de-oxide them and keep a box of new replacement tips on hand.
Keith Cress
kcress - http://www.flaminsystems.com
RE: switch to lead free solder- how difficult?
Oh for an edit function!
RE: switch to lead free solder- how difficult?
Do you have customers that require or standards that require lead free?
We are actually required to NOT use lead-free due to reliability/ROHS exemption.
For such a small volume and assuming you have nothing forcing you leadfree then I don't see the point in spending the money to switch. Now if your customers are going elsewhere then there is a valid financial reason to switch.
OSHA cannot force you to lead free. They have zero say in the matter. She is just looking at it from an "industrial hygienist" point of view and probably had very little else to say about your facility so just brought that up.
That being said the switch to lead free isn't that bad at all. Its been made out to be a huge deal but its really not.. Just a few simple steps and slightly higher costs due to increased maintenance/slightly shorter tip life,etc...
RE: switch to lead free solder- how difficult?
Some of my dealers are sending my product to Europe. I don't know how they get past the regulations. Also, my hazardous waste inspector doesn't like the leaded solder. If the technical headaches balance the regulatory headaches then maybe it's time to change over.
RE: switch to lead free solder- how difficult?
Dan - Owner
http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com
RE: switch to lead free solder- how difficult?
RE: switch to lead free solder- how difficult?
Keith Cress
kcress - http://www.flaminsystems.com
RE: switch to lead free solder- how difficult?
Nothing like having the pot dissolve and it pouring molten solder out onto the operator..
OSHA REALLY won't like that.
http://www.leadfreedod.com/images/fig4.jpg
http://www.kester.com/kester-content/uploads/2013/...
Also I'd expect the circuit boards you are using now are not "lead free" either and are probably just hot air solder leveled with tin-lead solder so that will require a different PCB/substrate/finish on those too.
Not to mention increased dross levels in the pot..increased frequency of solder analysis due to more rapid contamination,blah blah blah..
RE: switch to lead free solder- how difficult?
Dan - Owner
http://www.Hi-TecDesigns.com
RE: switch to lead free solder- how difficult?