It doesn't really matter what the item is, the lead (or whatever) percentage
is applied to each material used.
So the cable is made of copper, steel, solder, a few different plastics and
each of these needs to have under 0.1% lead. Kinda makes sense when you
think about it, although documenting it would be "fun".
For hobbyist it doesn't matter much what you use. Lead-free solders seem to
have improved, I was at my soldering something at a friend house and only
after I'd finished I noticed the solder was lead free. I think, like many
things, the "lead free is terrible!!" rantings and raving are from people
just repeating what they've read on the internet.
Pretty sure it was this stuff:
, tin
with 0.7% copper. Whatever it was, it worked like normal lead-free, I'm
sure there are alloys that are terrible.
That said, I use lead free because I've still got heaps of it left. And
besides, why switch when it's still cheaper:
Tony
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-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf
Of Dave
Sent: Tuesday, 27 October 2020 10:24 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: [homebrewpcbs] RoHS question
I bought some USB cables and noticed the RoHS sticker on them and never
really read much about the standard so I have a few questions. It states
something about 0.1% lead is allowed but in the case of cables, does that
take in the whole weight of the cable?? Or on a circuit board, how is the
math
actually based for the allowable limit of lead in the solder. And last but
not
least, I have never ever used no lead solder.
Is is a good idea to buy some for future reference in case of reworking
something that followed the standard? And if yes, are all no lead solders
the
same or do the have choices using differing amounts of the ingredients to
make it?
Thanks
Dave
