Circuits Assembly - February 2008 - (Page 8)

Letters Avoiding the PCB Bandwagon In response to Chrys Shea’s column on halogens and halides, a note of correction: I think the abbreviation PCB (in the context used) is for polychlorinated biphenyls, not bisphenols. My real interest in writing, however, is to question whether we are getting worked up over nothing, as we did with lead-free. Nearly two years after RoHS, I doubt anyone can show a statistical improvement in the safety of our environment. I still have lots of lead in my life – try the battery in my car. I’m prob- ably 1000 times more at risk from servicing the battery than I ever would be from the assemblies in my consumer electronics. I handle lead every year when Send your thoughts to Edimy family does our annual Thanksgiving Day shoot tor, CIRCUITS ASSEM(with live guns and lead-tipped ammo) – more than BLY, email: mbuetow@ I’ll touch in a lifetime in the electronics industry. upmediagroup.com. An article published a few years back shared my Letters must include the attitude about the tilting at windmills that characwriter’s name, address terizes RoHS and many of our other environmental and company affiliation escapades. The author noted there might be [italics and may be edited for mine] some small advantage to removing halides and length and clarity. halogens from our products – in contrast to removing lead, which is just about an environmental draw. But even that small benefit assumes a really ugly compounding of “what ifs” and “supposes.” OK, so we might have to be careful recycling assemblies, so as not to incinerate them at conditions where dioxyns are produced. With the movement afoot to have companies accept discarded products for recycling, I suspect we can manage to avoid making the nasties. It’s one thing to have a board here and there end up in the trash, and quite another when you manage tons and tons of refuse, all of similar construction and requiring similar, careful disposal. Shea also mentions the presence of these halogens and halides in a fire can produce toxic gases. Just how much equipment will produce enough fumes to be of consequence? Even in the fully decked-out home – several computers, printers, home entertainment devices, etc. – we are talking about a pound or two of actual PCB material (not counting components, etc.). And in the most tragic fire, it is not all going to go up in smoke simultaneously. In a small, closed room, there might be enough to be hazardous. But vented to atmosphere (and I’m assuming that the house is a total loss here), we aren’t going to One product line to exceed your expectations and take care of all your present as big a hazard as some other materilead-free rework and repair needs. als that burn: carpets, drapes, clothes, household chemicals, even the plastic cases on the All Chemtronics lead-free products are: products that house the assemblies. Engineered for high temperature lead-free applications I’m not jumping on the bandwagon on Specifically designed for all lead-free solder this one. If there is a technically superior way RoHS compliant of making PCBs (not the biphenyl kind) and CALL NOW! assemblies that avoids the use of chlorine, bromine, fluorine, etc., then great, let’s do it. Contact ITW Chemtronics today for more information about the new Lead-Free product I’m not suggesting we stop trying. But until line. Call our technical hotline at 770-832-4401, or there is a recipe that is, in all important ways, email us at askchemtronics@chemtronics.com. better, let’s not get too worked up over halogen windmills. Rework & Repair Nothing Cleans Like Chemtronics Soder-Wick®, Flux-Off®, Chemask®, CircuitWorks® and Chemtronics® are registered trademarks of ITW Chemtronics. ©2005 All rights reserved. 800-645-5244 / 770-424-4888 • www.chemtronics.com David Odenwalder 8 Circuits Assembly FEBRUARY 2008 circuitsassembly.com http://www.chemtronics.com http://www.chemtronics.com http://circuitsassembly.com

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Circuits Assembly - February 2008 Contents Caveat Lector Letters Industry News Market Watch Global Sourcing Better Manufacturing Maximizing Lean Copper As a Viable Solution for IC Packaging Embedded Active Components for High-Rel Products Cover Story: XRF Equipment As a RoHS Screening Tool Tech Tips Selective Soldering Test and Inspection Process Doctor Pb-Free Lessons Learned Product Spotlight Ad Index Assembly Insider Technical Abstracts

Circuits Assembly - February 2008

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