> One last thought, several people have pointed out that certain classes of > equipment will be exempt i.e. Military, medical etc but if all the assemble > companies have switched to lead free who is still going to do lead based > assembly (and at what premium)? I know that once we have gone lead free we > will probably never be able/ willing to go back.
"Lead-ful" is a term I've coined for lead-containing PCB assemblies. As opposed to "lead-free". I think lead-ful will become a manufacturing niche. The article that Dennis posted a link to predicts that many shops will go out of business if they don't change to lead-free. However, it could go the opposite way. Those lead-ful shops may experience a solid market niche for all of those automotive, industrial, and military items for which one wants to risk failure. It will make obtaining components more difficult, however, and there will be entire categories of components that will not be usable in lead-ful assemblies because they only come in lead-free versions. For example, want to use that nice new ARM chip in your embedded design? Forget it, it's available only in lead-free finish. Want to use that cool new 20-bit audio codec? Nope, it only comes in lead-free. Still lead-ful and loving it... Best regards, Ivan Baggett Bagotronix Inc. website: www.bagotronix.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Peter Smith" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "'Protel EDA Forum'" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Friday, August 13, 2004 3:52 AM Subject: Re: [PEDA] tests for Pb in solder > My last email seemed to take over 12 hours to appear on the list, if this > one is the same its going to be a slow conversation :-o > > >You're right, I haven't noticed the difference in a measly 3-4 years. > > I agree with your thoughts but it does indicate that it's not a complete > disaster. I know several people with Sony TV's that are over 20 years old > and still going strong, I hope Sony (and the others) are convinced that the > change will not affect the long term reliability. > > >I like Sony VCRs (VHS, not Beta) because they are easy to setup and > >program. > >But it seems they've given me a reason not to buy anymore. > > Again I agree but you will find that any stuff made in Japan is now probably > lead free and they are starting to spread, a quick search on Goggle > yesterday indicated that a couple of Sony plants in Mexico are also > completely lead free and have been for several years. > > One last thought, several people have pointed out that certain classes of > equipment will be exempt i.e. Military, medical etc but if all the assemble > companies have switched to lead free who is still going to do lead based > assembly (and at what premium)? I know that once we have gone lead free we > will probably never be able/ willing to go back. > > Regards, > Peter Smith > > Raster Vision Ltd > Unit 1 > Crundalls > Gedges Hill > Matfield > Tonbridge > Kent > UK > TN12 7EA > > emal: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > tel: +44 (0) 1892 722 228 > fax: +44 (0) 1892 724 228 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * To post a message: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * To leave this list visit: * http://www.techservinc.com/protelusers/leave.html * * Contact the list manager: * mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * Forum Guidelines Rules: * http://www.techservinc.com/protelusers/forumrules.html * * Browse or Search previous postings: * http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
