kik me..but what is RoHS ?

[petemoore]

  stupid question, I'm sure you know...
  I just read the wiki link on "WEEE', wheech I've seen around and for some reason I thought was a synonym for 'frolic'.
  So..although I don't exactly know what that Rohs stands for, I get the idea it's something I have mixed feelings about.

[CGDARK]

Hi

Check this out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ROHS

CG

[pjwhite]

Reduction Of Hazardous Substances.  Europe has adopted a set of rules about what may be sold or imported.  The thing that affects the electronics industry most is the fact that anything containing lead is effectively banned.  That means that circuit boards made with tin/lead solder can no longer be sold there.  "ROHS" products are made without any lead, and there are some problems that must be overcome.  One is that soldering with no-lead solder requires a higher heat and different flux.  A major problem is the formation of "tin whiskers" that can occur after some time.  Tin-only solder can spontaneously form crystalline growths that can eventually cause short circuits between closely spaced leads.

[The Tone God]

Just for the official record hobbyist do not need to comply to RoHS. Only manufactures and then only in EU and CA.

So to keep it clear here is a quick Q & A.

Q. I am building an effect for myself, do I need to be RoHS compliant ?
A. No.

Q. I am building an effect to give to someone, do I need to be RoHS compliant ?
A. No.

Q. I am building an effect to sell to someone in NA but not CA, do I need to be RoHS compliant ?
A. No.

Q. I am building an effect to sell to someone in CA or EU, do I need to be RoHS compliant ?
A. Yes. CA has similar rules called EWRA that are in relation to RoHS.

Andrew

[Dan N]

How would you like to die?

Death by ROHS thread would be too cruel. How about some nice poison?

Edit- Oops, I thought the subject title was "kill me..but...". Just the same, I'll let my post ride.

[The Tone God]

I think he meant "kick me" which he may deserve for not using the likes of Google and Wiki before posting.

Andrew

[Renegadrian]

that's what I found googling...



Do you really understand what RoHS means?

It means you can now throw electronics in the trash instead of recycling them.

More important, it means that there is no more lead in the solder used to make electronic devices. Good, yes?

No. Very much no.

It means that a TV or any other device made from now on will last from 5 to 10 years, 10 years max, before it fails, and then it will be thrown away. It is a boondoggle for electronics manufacturers. And it's because solder without lead makes whiskers. This used to be a small problem when parts were large and well separated, but now parts are very small and close together. So when a tiny whisker grows from the tin, which it always does, it has a very good chance of touching another trace or part. And then, things stop working. Right now. No repair is possible.

RoHS is bad. Wasteful. And the manufacturers love it, because every TV, radio, cell phone, and even satellite, will have to be replaced in 5 to 10 years, instead 20 or 30.

Thank you European Union

[Paul Marossy]

Do you really understand what RoHS means?

It means you can now throw electronics in the trash instead of recycling them.

Bingo! That way, the whole world can be united in the "everything is disposable" paradigm.

You know, I think that movie "Wall-E" is prophetic. This sort of mentality will cause the earth to be overrun with trash one day. That is if everyone doesn't starve from worldwide famine, die of thirst because there is no more drinking water, die from a pandemic of some sort or die in some kind of the increasing number of natural disasters before any of that happens. Yeah, lead is far more of a threat to mankind.  

[oldschoolanalog]

Let's not forget about our "friend" tin whiskers.
http://www.tinwhisker.us/

[aziltz]

Let's not forget about our "friend" tin whiskers.
http://www.tinwhisker.us/

i was hoping for a nasty close up of a tin whisker.... no such luck.

[wavley]

Let's not forget about our "friend" tin whiskers.
http://www.tinwhisker.us/

i was hoping for a nasty close up of a tin whisker.... no such luck.

http://nepp.nasa.gov/WHISKER/ Here you go...

Nasa won't let us build anything for them without lead/tin/silver solder

[jrod]

Have ya'll seen this: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=4586903n

[WhenBoredomPeaks]

Huge ass PCBs for avoiding the failures caused by tin whiskers.

I can see a new boutique slogan along the lines.

Let's add a new section to the debug sticky: Did you checked whiskers?

[Skruffyhound]

I was going to make a flip comment about Nasa having a tin whisker homepage, they are kind of scary looking, then I watched the 60 minutes video, which is not at all funny.
I collect a lot of junk, I love taking it apart both for parts and to see the weird architecture on the inside, especially the older pieces. I'm kind of miffed that I can't collect more from the dump here in Denmark, but once it gets dropped in the electronics bin it's off limits because they make money exporting it to a recycler in Germany. When I asked they told me that 90% is recycled. Now I'm wondering if the other 10% is CRT units poisoning kids in China, or indeed if 90% is recycled, just in a medieval fashion in some toxic village in China.

[trendyironicname]

'Tis a brave new world..

I love the environment but I've never understood the risk of putting lead back where it came from.  ( I know it's more nuanced than that) If people were really trying to save the earth, I would stand behind them. Most of it looks more like money making opportunities for biz's that back legislators. Especially looking at the cfl situation and the demise of the incandescent...

[Brymus]

Do you really understand what RoHS means?

It means you can now throw electronics in the trash instead of recycling them.

Bingo! That way, the whole world can be united in the "everything is disposable" paradigm.

You know, I think that movie "Wall-E" is prophetic. This sort of mentality will cause the earth to be overrun with trash one day. That is if everyone doesn't starve from worldwide famine, die of thirst because there is no more drinking water, die from a pandemic of some sort or die in some kind of the increasing number of natural disasters before any of that happens. Yeah, lead is far more of a threat to mankind.  

When I first started DIY stuff I noticed that the mojority of DIYs seem to be outside the USA...
Because Americans for the last several generations are born into a society dominated by consumerism,and commercialization.
IMO this has made "us" lazy as a whole.
We have become a "throw away" society - eventually Wall-E may in fact become a reality...
This is why I dont allow my kids to watch regular TV/cable/satellite only DVDs ,therefore they are happy with what they have ,not what the TV (corporations) tells them they need to be happy.

[Paul Marossy]

Do you really understand what RoHS means?

It means you can now throw electronics in the trash instead of recycling them.

Bingo! That way, the whole world can be united in the "everything is disposable" paradigm.

You know, I think that movie "Wall-E" is prophetic. This sort of mentality will cause the earth to be overrun with trash one day. That is if everyone doesn't starve from worldwide famine, die of thirst because there is no more drinking water, die from a pandemic of some sort or die in some kind of the increasing number of natural disasters before any of that happens. Yeah, lead is far more of a threat to mankind.  

When I first started DIY stuff I noticed that the mojority of DIYs seem to be outside the USA...
Because Americans for the last several generations are born into a society dominated by consumerism,and commercialization.
IMO this has made "us" lazy as a whole.
We have become a "throw away" society - eventually Wall-E may in fact become a reality...
This is why I dont allow my kids to watch regular TV/cable/satellite only DVDs ,therefore they are happy with what they have ,not what the TV (corporations) tells them they need to be happy.

We appear to think along similar lines...

[Cliff Schecht]

There are also monetary benefits to using RoHS parts if you are a builder or manufacturer selling to the public. You get a small tax break for using RoHS parts even if you just sell in the US.

that's what I found googling...



Do you really understand what RoHS means?

It means you can now throw electronics in the trash instead of recycling them.

More important, it means that there is no more lead in the solder used to make electronic devices. Good, yes?

No. Very much no.

It means that a TV or any other device made from now on will last from 5 to 10 years, 10 years max, before it fails, and then it will be thrown away. It is a boondoggle for electronics manufacturers. And it's because solder without lead makes whiskers. This used to be a small problem when parts were large and well separated, but now parts are very small and close together. So when a tiny whisker grows from the tin, which it always does, it has a very good chance of touching another trace or part. And then, things stop working. Right now. No repair is possible.

RoHS is bad. Wasteful. And the manufacturers love it, because every TV, radio, cell phone, and even satellite, will have to be replaced in 5 to 10 years, instead 20 or 30.

Thank you European Union

Lead solder does have an advantage in that it is a well known and understood technology but with the modern advances in materials and production techniques, whiskers really have become a thing of the past. There are additives they use now in the tin solders (I think bismuth is one) that have completely eliminated the tin whiskers as a problem with production manufacturing.

But tin solder still does suck for hobby use. The joints come out dull and ugly and it's hard to tell a good joint from a bad one. It also takes more heat to get the solder to flow properly. I always use 60/40 lead/tin or similar solders on my personal projects and will continue doing so until it's unavailable anymore (at which point I will spend a couple of hundred dollars on a lifetimes supply).

[Skruffyhound]

Bismuth is fairly poisonous I read, so it's kind of full circle.

I dont allow my kids to watch regular TV/cable/satellite only DVDs

Same.

[oldschoolanalog]

Bismuth is fairly poisonous I read, so it's kind of full circle.

Hmmm...
Read the section on uses. In fact, read the entire page. Fascinating stuff, that Bismuth.
http://www.mii.org/Minerals/photobis.html
BTW, that pink upset stomach medicine (that many will need tomm. morning ) has some form of Bi as its active ingredient.
Happy New Year!