ROHS - PCB fabrication choices

[Al Clark]

Like just about everyone else, we are looking the how we are going to
migrate to lead free manufacturing.

Our pcb fabricator currently offers Chemical Ni/Au plated or OSP pcbs.

In our case, we use a mixture of hand soldering (SMT) and automation.

My only experience with tin plating was horrible.

Does anyone have a strong point of view on this topic?



--
Al Clark
Danville Signal Processing, Inc.
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Purveyors of Fine DSP Hardware and other Cool Stuff
Available at http://www.danvillesignal.com

 

[PeteS]

As one who moved back to my native UK a year ago, I had to come up to
speed on ROHS in a hurry (and made all the mistakes one might expect).

For BGA packages, I use Ni/Au finishes (because they have better
coplanarity characteristics) which work well for IR reflow, I have had
no failures due to soldering failures within 6 months [I know that's
not a long time] using lead free lines with this finish, although I am
using a CM that invested in the proper line equipment.
As I rarely have anything without a BGA, that's my preferred finish.

It *is* more expensive, but the cost is coming down.

There is a report by AMD on this subject:

http://www.amd.com/us-en/assets/content_type/DownloadableAssets/Pb-free_Board-level_reliability_study.pdf

Cheers

PeteS