3 ms·

Soldered Pb-Free connections don't last as long under what conditions? High-vibe? Large and frequent temperature excursions? High mechanical loading (high-mass

Soldered Pb-Free connections don't last as long under what conditions? High-vibe? Large and frequent temperature excursions? High mechanical loading (high-mass components or bulky ones with leverage?) What solder are you using? I think there's been a learning process since the adoption of Pb-free processes. Solder alloys have improved, package sizes have conveniently shrunk, you have underfill for BGA if necessary. Also when designing for high-vibe or large ∆temp, there's lab testing (shaker table, env. chamber) work that gets done esp. for safety-related hardware Like, yes, Pb-free has considerations, but so does any other component of a system. I find that I usually don't have to give it much thought these days, and the fracture failures I've seen could have been mitigated by design changes rather than returning to Pb solder.

analog31 6y ago
It's interesting that during the switch to Pb-free, other changes occurred in the electronics industry almost concurrently. Those were a switch to water based fluxes and cleaning processes, and a shift to production facilities in China, both of which involved a certain learning curve. I remember a year or two of boards with high failure rates, yet we looked and looked for things like solder whiskers to no avail.
- Gibbon1 6y ago
  The funny thing is the claim that the switch to PB free was some sort of sudden thing imposed on the industry from the outside instead of a 15-20 year long process where the industry have heavily involved in decision making. First rumblings I remember about phasing out lead was around 1988 or so. Same time they also had to deal with switching to surface mount packages and the phase out of Freon. The electronics industry didn't want the liability of having to deal with lead solder, lead contaminated waste, and worker safety. Seriously in 30 years I've never heard any complaints from the PCB manufacturers about phase out of lead. Only from people with no attachment to the industry.

analog31 6y ago

It's interesting that during the switch to Pb-free, other changes occurred in the electronics industry almost concurrently. Those were a switch to water based fluxes and cleaning processes, and a shift to production facilities in China, both of which involved a certain learning curve. I remember a year or two of boards with high failure rates, yet we looked and looked for things like solder whiskers to no avail.

Gibbon1 6y ago
The funny thing is the claim that the switch to PB free was some sort of sudden thing imposed on the industry from the outside instead of a 15-20 year long process where the industry have heavily involved in decision making. First rumblings I remember about phasing out lead was around 1988 or so. Same time they also had to deal with switching to surface mount packages and the phase out of Freon. The electronics industry didn't want the liability of having to deal with lead solder, lead contaminated waste, and worker safety. Seriously in 30 years I've never heard any complaints from the PCB manufacturers about phase out of lead. Only from people with no attachment to the industry.