> Funny, the simplest thing to do there, and relatively cheap, is to lacquer the whole device after it's soldered. This is done on military grade hardware - or

> Funny, the simplest thing to do there, and relatively cheap, is to lacquer the whole device after it's soldered. This is done on military grade hardware - or even tougher conformal coating. That helps avoid tin whiskers, but those aren't the only problem with lead free solder. It doesn't flow as easily as tin-lead, so dry joints are more common. It's relatively brittle, so it's more susceptible to vibration and thermal fatigue. Melting point is higher so components are more likely to be damaged during soldering. Military hardware is exempt from RoHS for good reason.