Q : Is Luxeon compliant with RoHS ?

New K2 is said to be 'RoHS/WEEE compliant' but how is Luxeon as it is now ?

MCPCB : RoHS compliant ?
Emitter : RoHS compliant ?
(I am asking Emitter because Hex Star need to be solder by Pb or Pb Free.)

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/help.gif Any advice would be highly appreciated.

Warren,

the star and emitter are not compliant presently. [ i do RoHS and WEEE as part of my job ]. As a general rule if the datasheet does not have a RoHS statement either stamped or defined in the datasheet, 99% of the time the part is not RoHS compliant.

if you purchase from a franchised disti and you want to insure the part is RoHS make sure you request RoHS compliant parts as well as the ROHS paperwork ( documentation ) in your Purchase order. [ half the electronics industry is offering new part numbers for Pb-free while the other is a mix of date codes and lot numbers with no changes to the part numbers as to the RoHS rollout - its a logistic nightmare ]...the big players like National, TI, On-Semi, for example can give you a good idea of what it takes to met the RoHS compliance...visit their web sites and do a search for RoHS.....

the new leds, like the K2, have a better moisture sensitivity level, 2a per jedec ( means you can have it out of its package for some time before soldering it )..you can use higher temps to solder but your soldering iron has to be lead free, special flux, Pd-free solder and cleaning methods have to be taken into account....

Fortunately for now you can solder Pb-free with Pb solder…………and later if RoHS is not a requirement in your application and your not selling product inside the EU after July 2006. hope this helps.


rob

Rob,

Very well understood. I may drop a PM to you later if I have more question. But I will search more by myself. Thank you.

warren,

[ QUOTE ]
robstarr-lite said:
………and later if RoHS is not a requirement in your application and your not selling product inside the EU after July 2006. hope this helps.

[/ QUOTE ]

well...then, all the LED flashlight manufacturers will be adopting Pb-Free soldering process before July 2006 ? Or are they giving up the export sales to EU ? AFAIK, Pb-less soldering process is accompnied by a very HIGH TEMPERATURE, which is an enermy of LED....

warren, /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif

Warren, i don't claim to know what all the manufacturers in the world are going to end up doing

If I did I'd be playing the stock market!!

But I reckon most will comply, in the long run its less $ to have 1 process instead of 2.

"Lead free or Die" is the new motto!



many companies are having trouble understanding what to do as a result of losing so many industrial/electrical/component/manufacturing, etc engineers these past 5 years due to outsourcing

this is a shock for now these companies have to figure out how to approach this, a lot of upper management is lacking in technical knowledge………."i have to spend $ to get the what Pb out of what"? …. lol

Distributors are going crazy as well with WEEE right now, having to have bodies and $ to document a crossed out wheelie bin for recycling products (that have hazardous material )..but


the electronics industry in general is going to have to adopt RoHS for EU business, and in 2007 California will have something similar under SB50 (an off version of SB20) ( probably adopt RoHS )

Japan has 26 or 29 chemical banned and has for a couple of years vs. the 6 in RoHS. China is following with their own RoHS.

how much pollution is going to be generated as a result of the "savings" has of yet not been determined...or may not ever be....(same case as EV vs. oil )




for the Pb-free soldering typically requires a short dwell time (4-6 sec) up to 260 Cel for reflow, with prebake around 160 to 220 Cel, standard ramp-up depending on the assembly size, # of components, board thickness, etc.

i haven't hear that manufacturers are not going to be able to met this, most will ...its high temp, but for a very short time period.



the trade industry is claiming ya need to hit 280 deg Cel for 3 second. Your soldering iron tip temps should be around 343 Cel for Pb-free compared to 315 for Pb.

finishes will be grainy instead of shiny.

quite a few smt components have been around w/out PB for years, smt ceramic caps, resistors for example
most of the industry is going with tin matte plate for leads w/out the Pb.....the difficult part for semi packages is after plating the lead frame is chopped off and oxidation begins at the edges..and that makes it even harder to get a good joint with that extra oxide, ( Pb was added to help, lower temp more time to burn off the oxide))…moisture plays a part with the higher temps causing cracked packaging, thus look for the 2a Jedec spec

then there's tin whiskers and tin plack to worry about....(hot and cold effects on the Pb-free solder joint). ( i think its called plack)

For the sensitive components there is always the hand assembly option, [but i did not read that in the Lumileds datasheet]

there is lots more and tons of literature to read, trade magazines have info/articles every issue, big time for consultants as well….i think a lot of companies are hoping the date will get pushed out for another year.

rob

You are right that it is a challenge to meet the full compliance to ROHS. While there often are component solutions, sometimes it means abandoning your current supplier if they are missing the deadlines. In some cases, there still are not fully compliant solutions.

So far, pricing is also an issue. I had some PCBs made which are ROHS compliant, and at the time of the order, that meant gold plating. Now, some offer a Pb free solder leveling process, but costs for this compliance might approach the original design cost for many products.

The Pb free solder we use costs just under 2x the original Pb based formula, and soldering with it does not appear to have any clear technical advantage. One can only hope that this compliance will actually have some environmental benefit.