RoHS - Are all sellers changing? Real implications for pedal builders?

[ulysses]

hey guys

was looking around online and people had to change to make their products rhos compliant.

i checked various rohs docs which were mainly for big guys i think.. looks like a whole load of boring reading..

they mentioned x-ray scanning and getting official approval.. and a whole bunch of other stuff..

sounds like a lot of work for a someone who may only sell a small ammount of pedals..

what are the short and curlys of rohs? what are your experiences with it? did you have to change procedures completly? pay for expensive tests?

i realise that if i want to be rohs compliant that i will have to change to lead free solder.. and make sure i buy all my components from mouser that say "rohs compliant"..

what about parts like the standard blue 3pdt switch everyone uses?

what about the stickers? can you just make your own? or screen rohs compliant straight on to the box?

cheers
ulysses

[Thomas P.]

As I see it every electronic device sold has to be RoHS compliant, but producers can be sure if all the parts they're using are.
Meaning if all the parts you buy for a certain pedal are RoHS compliant, so is your pedal...

...and to change to lead-free solder isn't bad at all I have done it years ago and didn't change my soldering in any kind.

[slacker]

Here's what Her Majesties Government has to say about it http://www.rohs.gov.uk/FAQs.aspx

RS has some good stuff as well
http://rswww.com/cgi-bin/bv/browse/Campaign.jsp?cacheID=uknetscape

Basically the gist of this all seems to be if you're selling a product it has to be rohs compliant, which for stompboxers probably just means using rohs compliant parts.

what about the stickers? can you just make your own? or screen rohs compliant straight on to the box?

according to the RS website you don't have to mark your product as rohs compliant. Presumably this is because the product has to be compliant so there's no need to state it.

[Meanderthal]

 Sooo... germanium fuzzes are now illegal to be sold in Europe? That's nice.

Good thing I don't sell pedals and live in EU... I'd be lookin' to move, but I'd miss the 7 week vacations.

Sorry bout that, couldn't help myself.

[R.G.]

"In a mature society, the term 'civil servant' is semantically equivalent to 'civil master'."

Lazarus Long (Robert A. Heinlein)

[The Tone God]

i checked various rohs docs which were mainly for big guys i think.. looks like a whole load of boring reading..

...

what are the short and curlys of rohs?

Yeah I hate it when then give us too much information. It makes it so tough to figure things out. Why could they give us too little information or atleast a cliff notes version.

Basically if you are planning on selling outside of the U.S. you have to use materials (i.e. boards, parts, solder, etc.) that are cleared by RoHS. If you are just selling a couple of effects here and there to your buddies you are ok. They are not interested in you.

what are your experiences with it? did you have to change procedures completly? pay for expensive tests?

I had been switching over to RoHS compliant materials for over a year now knowing that it was coming and I did not want to run into any trouble when it came. Back then it was harder to get RoHS parts because most manufactures wanted to continue their production process not stopping and changing for something that was not in strong demand. Now that RoHS has come in effect it has become easier to get parts that comply.

You don't need to pay for tests, unless you really want to, like you do with safety related things as being RoHS compliant is not considered an operational safety concern. You are just expect to be RoHS compliant and if not then you can have the government come down on you. Once again we pedal builders are way too small for them to really come down on us that is not to say you should still not comply. As long as you use materials that are stated as compliant you should be ok.

For the small builders besides using correct materials probably the only thing will have to change is their solder technique as some may find the lead free solder alittle odd to use.

what about parts like the standard blue 3pdt switch everyone uses?

...

Sooo... germanium fuzzes are now illegal to be sold in Europe? That's nice.

Part of RoHS states that parts that there are no compliant equivalent will be exempt. I don't know of any Ge transistors in production that are RoHS compliant that are suitable for our uses thus I think the Ge fuzz are fine. I have heard somewhere that RoHS compliant 3PDTs are on the way.

It should be pointed, yet again, that RoHS is not intended as a legal strong arm control method. It is very reasonably written in a way to make sure it does not impede the production of any devices meaning no loss of people gizmos or jobs. This was required to make RoHS acceptable to everyone for adoption.

Andrew

[puretube]

RoHS compliant (blue) 3PDT stompswitches are obtainable through New Sensor... 

[puretube]

Part of RoHS states that parts that there are no compliant equivalent will be exempt

I wouldn`t dare to claim that statement "as is" in public, IMHO/AFAIK... 

[puretube]

btw: building for oneself, and keeping it, is in no way underlying any RoHS regulations!

[The Tone God]

I wouldn`t dare to claim that statement "as is" in public, IMHO/AFAIK... 

Yes that statement should be cleared up somewhat. Non-compliant no equivalent parts have to apply for approval to the RoHS organization to be cleared for use. Part manufactures have to apply to get their non-compliant parts approved by the RoHS organization before you can use the part with confidence. I suspect there is a large list of parts applying so it may take awhile to get through all the paper work. I'm thinking several parts like LDRs and tubes would be on that list.

So you are taking your chances selling an effect with a non-compliant non-approved RoHS parts like Ge transistors. For personal use you are still ok as RoHS really only applies to manufactures. That point to should be made clear.

Hobbyists do not have to comply with RoHS, only manufactures.

Andrew

[puretube]

I'm thinking several parts like LDRs and tubes would be on that list

some LDR manufacturers in fact are "pending" with their products...

but/and:

SOVTEK/Electro-Harmonix tubes are RoHS compliant 
(independant of what Brussels is going to decide about possible future exemptions...)

[The Tone God]

some LDR manufacturers in fact are "pending" with their products...

I heard that as well.

SOVTEK/Electro-Harmonix tubes are RoHS compliant 
(independant of what Brussels is going to decide about possible future exemptions...)

Thanks for the update on that! I figure you would jump in to let us know.

Andrew

[Geoffrey Teese]

Hi Everybody,

Don't hope that you can skate by on any EU regs just because you may be small.  If you have stuff on a store shelf in the EU you are responsible for following all regulations.  A few years ago, when my EU export numbers were still fairly small, my stuff was pulled off the shelves in Germany because I did not have CE certification.  You can bet your bum that I got all that in order in short time.  I had to show lab reports, full documentation, the whole deal, to get my product released and restocked on the shelves.

I temporarily ceased EU/UK sales on RoHS Day.  My whole line now is RoHS compliant, with the docs to match, and is now re-entering the EU/UK marketplace.  Getting nailed for CE certification taught me one heck of a lesson.  I thought I was too small to notice.  Man, was I wrong.  If you're on the shelf, you have to have all the "i"s dotted and your "t"s crossed.

No options, no problems...

Peace, Love, and Wah,
Geoffrey

[smallbearelec]

SBE RoHS-Compliance Status:

My present remaining stock of 3PDT blue switches is not compliant. Compliant switches are on a boat that left Keelung port 2/8 and will be here 3/8. I will be selling down the non-compliant gradually and switching over to 100% compliant.

Alpha pots: I still have some 24mm non-compliant. Again, I am replacing those with compliant parts gradually. 16mm parts shipping now are all compliant.

Enclosures: All of the New Sensor Hammond clones are compliant. I have a few hundred left of the old 125-B with the ribs, which are not compliant. When those are gone, all orders will be filled with the new ones made from my mold. They have no ribs and are compliant.

All of the other critical parts currently shipping are compliant. Ask me if in doubt.

Regards
SD

[Dai H.]

from the little bit that I've read, it seems you need more heat to solder with lead free solder so if that leads to burning more fossil fuels, then... hmm

also, some of the platings for parts are apparently not compatible with lead free solder, so obviously that could lead to problems.

[slacker]

I've only ever used lead free silver solder, never had any problems.

[gez]

from the little bit that I've read, it seems you need more heat to solder with lead free solder so if that leads to burning more fossil fuels, then... hmm

Good tip design concentrates the heat better.  Buy an Antex Iron, or some other brand intended to be used with lead-free solder, and you shouldn't have any problems.  I have a few from that brand, all fairly low wattage (they're excellent for SMD), so I doubt that lead-free is having an impact on the environment in terms of wasting more fossil fuel.

also, some of the platings for parts are apparently not compatible with lead free solder, so obviously that could lead to problems.

When in doubt, cover the buggers in flux...

[The Tone God]

also, some of the platings for parts are apparently not compatible with lead free solder, so obviously that could lead to problems.

I found sanding/grinding/scoring the surfaces down to the base metal then soldering helped. Treat it as almost a very dirty part.

As for tips I have separate tips for my irons for different solder. I just pop them in and out as needed.

Andrew

[brad]

I wonder if fishing sinkers also banned in the EU?

[The Tone God]

I wonder if fishing sinkers also banned in the EU?

Hehehe, I still have a bunch but I threw out my mold recently. Maybe I can send them in to get approved ?

Andrew