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FAQ’s CONCERNING RCD’S LEAD FREE POLICY
What is RCD's RoHS (Restrictions on Hazardous Substances) Commitment? RCD offers RoHS-compliant construction on essentially all of its products, ensuring that RoHS restricted substances are not present or limited to 0.1% of lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, PolyBromoBiphenyls, PolybromoDiphenylEthers, and 0.01% of cadmium. Did
RCD change its part numbering system to distinguish the lead-free design? Yes, RCD
added a termination code at very end of each p/n. “W” indicates lead-free,
“Q” indicates Tin/Lead. When
did
RCD
switch its product line over to lead-free? RCD
switched most of its products during the 2002 - 2004 timeframe (some products
have always been lead-free). What is the composition of RCD’s “standard” lead-free plating material? RCD employs pure matte tin (Jedec code e3) for the plating
material of most of its products. Some specialty and power components products
utilize gold (e4), palladium silver (e4), SnCu (e2), or SnAgCu (e1). For
customers requiring traditional tin/lead plating, RCD continues to offer this as
an option on most products. Is 100% tin plating material compatible with non-lead-free PCB assembly materials and processes? Yes, pure matte tin is compatible with all current leaded solder assembly processes and all lead-free solder alloys and processes. How will the customer know when they are receiving lead-free products? RCD has changed p/n designation to include termination code so that customers can readily identify the product. Termination code “W” indicates lead-free. . Did all products transition to lead-free materials at the same time? No, this was phased in over
a multi-year period. Is there
a possibility of receiving both standard and lead-free products within a given
order or shipment? Yes. For some products where inventory exists of non-leadfree products, RCD will continue to ship these unless a customer specifically requests termination “W” lead-free design. . Is there any expected cost adder for lead-free products? There was a cost adder on some products initially. At this point there isn’t a cost adder and in fact, customers that require Tin/Lead plating (option “Q”) will likely experience rising costs as these products become less popular. . What if I
can use either lead-free or non-leadfree, which one should I specify? Customers
who don’t require a specific type can leave the termination code blank when
requesting pricing and availability, or when placing orders. This way, RCD’s
staff will select the parts which offer best pricing and/or availability. Should the customer expect any differences in performance or reliability? There are no expected changes in electrical performance or reliability of RCD's products due to the change to leadfree plating. Will RCD supply a test qualification summary? Yes, test summaries are
available to customers. Please contact info@rcdcomponents.com. Will
RCD make recommendations for the PCB assembly process for leadfree assembly ? Yes RCD can assist by supplying recommended solder profiles, etc. Will the change to lead-free plating require obsolescence of any devices. RCD continually reviews it's product lines to ensure that active products are maintained. There are occasions where limited sales may be the cause for obsoletion. Leadfree processing will not directly cause the obsoletion of any RCD part numbers, but may prompt a review of the sales history of each part to ensure that there are active sales. What controls are in place to prevent whisker growth? Whisker
growth is believed to result from stress imparted to the tin layer. Electroplated
stress is linked to high plating currents & rapid electroplating process.
RCD’s electroplating processes are optimized accordingly. In addition, RCD
utilizes tight controls on tin purity and plating thickness, and achieves good
match of CTE when electroplating Tin (Sn) onto Nickel (Ni) or Copper (Cu). The
process of preconditioning the tin plating (heating and cooling) relaxes the
molecular lattice structure eliminating stress. Here’s a summary of the
controls utilized on RCD’s MC series of chip resistors to prevent whiskering-… 1. Matte Sn finish 2. Heavy Ni barrier thickness 3. A precisely controlled plating process for: a. plating bath parameters: current density, voltage, acidity, b. plating bath chemistry and material contamination c. plating thickness d. plating stress e. plating grain size (large grains reduce whiskering) f. plating crystallographic texture (well polygonized) g. plating carbon content typ.below 0.05% and copper content typ.
below 0.5% NOTE:
Tin (Sn) plated component terminations utilizing low temperature conductive
adhesive, remain a risk for whisker growth. As such, it is recommended that
customers utilize RCD’s palladium silver terminations when using conductive
epoxy instead of soldering technology. Can samples of lead-free products be obtained? Please contact your local representative to request samples or contact our sales department at 603-669-0054 sales@rcdcomponents.com. Who should customer contact for additional lead free questions or information? For further technical inquiries and information, please contact RoHS@rcdcomponents.com. Is the lead free material be compatible with other lead free materials (such as Sn/Ag, Sn/Ag/Cu etc) for PCB assembly and processes? Yes, our components are designed to be compatible with all common leadfree solder alloys. Are RCD's products totally lead free? All RCD products are completely leadfree (according to the RoHS definition) when termination code “W” is specified. . Will there be any changes in storage conditions or moisture sensitivity ratings for RCD products? Electronic
devices encapsulated or coated with plastic compounds and organic materials,
absorb moisture. Humidity enters the package by diffusion, collecting at
dissimilar material interfaces. Device
sensitivity to moisture is classified by Moisture Sensitivity Level (MSL) in
accordance with IPC/JEDEC J-STD-020B. Rapid heating during soldering creates
internal vapour pressure and
accelerated expansion within the device. Higher temperatures associated with
lead-free processes can compromise moisture resistance particularly where
existing procedures were marginal. RCD doesn’t anticipate any changes in the
Moisture Sensitivity Classification for the vast majority of its products. The
list of parts (if any) will be made available on the RCD website as testing is
completed. Moisture sensitivity levels are ranked from level 1 (most resistive
to moisture) to level 5 (least resistive to moisture). The vast majority of
RCD’s products are classified as MSL-1, indicating that no special
anti-moisture packaging or handling is required. What is e1, e2, e3 etc. second level interconnect? JEDEC Standard No. 97 has developed a series of Pb-Free
categories to describe the 2nd level interconnect terminal finish/material of
components and/or the solder paste/solder used in board assembly.
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