Hi all,
Might one of you know if Esstech's A/D & D/A converters (http://esstech.com/) are ROHS compliant - or have some other environmental certification?
Greetings,
Jesper
Might one of you know if Esstech's A/D & D/A converters (http://esstech.com/) are ROHS compliant - or have some other environmental certification?
Greetings,
Jesper
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As they are used in commercial products that are RoHS compliant I would say yes, though without access to a data sheet I could not confirm 100%. But nearly ALL components these days are RoHS compliant, I occasionally have to try and get non RoHS components (ie tin/lead finish on the leads to avoid re plating or process problems) and it is almost impossible to find them these days.
An interesting affect of RoHS components and solder is the increased use of energy to achieve the correct soldering temperature has increased the carbon footprint to build an assembly
An interesting affect of RoHS components and solder is the increased use of energy to achieve the correct soldering temperature has increased the carbon footprint to build an assembly
Have you noticed BGA chips fail quickly if lead free solder is used and tin used in micro electronics grows little whiskers and short circuits the legs of some 200pin or more chips!As they are used in commercial products that are RoHS compliant I would say yes, though without access to a data sheet I could not confirm 100%. But nearly ALL components these days are RoHS compliant, I occasionally have to try and get non RoHS components (ie tin/lead finish on the leads to avoid re plating or process problems) and it is almost impossible to find them these days.
An interesting affect of RoHS components and solder is the increased use of energy to achieve the correct soldering temperature has increased the carbon footprint to build an assembly
Spent 3 years doing research into component finishes, lead free soldering and reliability for a project I worked on, we stuck with tin/lead solder and had ALL our component re-tinned or in the case of BGA's re-balled at 2.3p per ball.
Tin whiskers is why you will only get a 10 year life expectancy from todays electronics.
Tin whiskers is why you will only get a 10 year life expectancy from todays electronics.
Hi both,
& thanks for replying. Hmm .... I've heard about this lead "challenge" before - actually from one of the people putting the cradle-to-cradle philosophy in words (Michael Braungart). So would like to thread carefully here ...
@marce: I have some of the Esstech datasheets, however, as far as I can see there's no mentioning of ROHS or environmental topics in them whatsoever. Neither on their website. So ... But I reckon you have a point in saying that they should be ROHS compliant - otherwise - to my knowledge it wouldn't be possible to get a CE mark in Europe, right?
BTW: One of you know of a relatively low diameter solder that doesn't cause/"help" my solder iron tips scale/oxidize? With the current solder I use ("no clean" Sn, Ag, Cu) the tips only last a few days (assuming this is the culprit)
Cheers,
Jesper
& thanks for replying. Hmm .... I've heard about this lead "challenge" before - actually from one of the people putting the cradle-to-cradle philosophy in words (Michael Braungart). So would like to thread carefully here ...
@marce: I have some of the Esstech datasheets, however, as far as I can see there's no mentioning of ROHS or environmental topics in them whatsoever. Neither on their website. So ... But I reckon you have a point in saying that they should be ROHS compliant - otherwise - to my knowledge it wouldn't be possible to get a CE mark in Europe, right?
BTW: One of you know of a relatively low diameter solder that doesn't cause/"help" my solder iron tips scale/oxidize? With the current solder I use ("no clean" Sn, Ag, Cu) the tips only last a few days (assuming this is the culprit)
Cheers,
Jesper
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Hi marce,
It's this one I use (Weller WSP 80 & WSD 80):
Catalog No. LT1L Product Detail
BTW I've just finished one of the projects you've helped with suggestions for (the HF add-on amplifier) And it looks as if the amplifier's intrinsic noise is less than the oscilloscope's at 2mV vertical resolution (input grounded) meaning that I should be able to measure down to ~6 uV noise levels up to about 150 MHz. I'm sort of in awe - a bit unreal & yet ... 
Thanks a lot for your suggestions on the ground plane, marce
Cheers,
Jesper
It's this one I use (Weller WSP 80 & WSD 80):
Catalog No. LT1L Product Detail
BTW I've just finished one of the projects you've helped with suggestions for (the HF add-on amplifier)
And it looks as if the amplifier's intrinsic noise is less than the oscilloscope's at 2mV vertical resolution (input grounded) meaning that I should be able to measure down to ~6 uV noise levels up to about 150 MHz. I'm sort of in awe - a bit unreal & yet ... Thanks a lot for your suggestions on the ground plane, marce
Cheers,
Jesper
One of the problems with lead free solder is the leaching of iron (I have seen solder pots with holes in them), and I suspect this may be your problem! How to solve it, I don't know of the top of my head, maybe the Weller site will have some info.
Glad I could help with the layout, buzzing at the moment as I went down to London to change some PCB designs were they were failing EMC tests, just got the results back and my redesign passes up to 18GHz susceptibility. it will be interesting trying to pass on the design techniques to some as it used ferrite beads, and some audiophiles think these destroy the sound, yet also moan about RF spoiling the sound!
If anything comes to mind on soldering iron tips I will let you know, I have a large (but unsorted) library of all things related to PCB design and assembly so I will have a look through that.
Glad I could help with the layout, buzzing at the moment as I went down to London to change some PCB designs were they were failing EMC tests, just got the results back and my redesign passes up to 18GHz susceptibility. it will be interesting trying to pass on the design techniques to some as it used ferrite beads, and some audiophiles think these destroy the sound, yet also moan about RF spoiling the sound!
If anything comes to mind on soldering iron tips I will let you know, I have a large (but unsorted) library of all things related to PCB design and assembly so I will have a look through that.
Hi marce,
18 GHz! ta-da ... would make for ~DSD524288 ;-)
Greetings,
Jesper
I have searched on the Weller site and they do have some information, however, it's mainly aimed at solder containing lead and I'd rather not use this as I don't have an efficient exhaust system. So now I have written to them to hear if they can recommend a non-lead solder - that still works.
... Probably at a completely different level I've used ferrite beads on the transistors for years. Discovered some years back that the sound with the beads on some of the transistor legs was more relaxed and coherent - my assumption was that it cured ever so slight tendencies towards oscillations ...
18 GHz! ta-da ... would make for ~DSD524288 ;-)
Greetings,
Jesper
I will dig some stuff out, but mainly isolation and avoiding capacitive coupling.
I was working on site with an RF engineer brought in to advise on high frequency EMC, the 18GHz requirements is for military stuff, so I cant be to specific. it one of those strange areas, the information is common knowledge and covered by people like Henry Ott and others, but because you work on certain projects you have to be very non specific in what information you give out.
Basically all lines have a Pi filter with cap-ferrite-cap, the dirty side (the side the cable plugs in) is isolated from the clean side by a clear moat of no copper, also avoiding any overlapping planes etc. it is basically standard EMC engineering taken to the next level, where every detail is important. Another method I have seen is the use of common mode SMD ferrites instead of single ones per line, still with caps either side to form a pi on each line. The devil is in the detail, you also have to avoid any dirty side cables traveling over any clean areas of PCB etc. Think isolation and filtering and you cant go wrong...
I was working on site with an RF engineer brought in to advise on high frequency EMC, the 18GHz requirements is for military stuff, so I cant be to specific. it one of those strange areas, the information is common knowledge and covered by people like Henry Ott and others, but because you work on certain projects you have to be very non specific in what information you give out.
Basically all lines have a Pi filter with cap-ferrite-cap, the dirty side (the side the cable plugs in) is isolated from the clean side by a clear moat of no copper, also avoiding any overlapping planes etc. it is basically standard EMC engineering taken to the next level, where every detail is important. Another method I have seen is the use of common mode SMD ferrites instead of single ones per line, still with caps either side to form a pi on each line. The devil is in the detail, you also have to avoid any dirty side cables traveling over any clean areas of PCB etc. Think isolation and filtering and you cant go wrong...
@marce:
... These things are boggling in my mind these days - somehow fascinating, maybe like a game of chess (which I otherwise don't play) where thinking as many steps ahead -i.e. including as much knowledge on this in a sensibly balanced way - is a challenge.
I currently study parts of the Henry Ott book ... very informative and accessible I find.
Greetings,
Jesper
Thanks again for replying marce ...
... These things are boggling in my mind these days - somehow fascinating, maybe like a game of chess (which I otherwise don't play) where thinking as many steps ahead -i.e. including as much knowledge on this in a sensibly balanced way - is a challenge.
I currently study parts of the Henry Ott book ... very informative and accessible I find.
Greetings,
Jesper
BTW: One of you know of a relatively low diameter solder that doesn't cause/"help" my solder iron tips scale/oxidize? With the current solder I use ("no clean" Sn, Ag, Cu) the tips only last a few days (assuming this is the culprit)
Silver bearing solder is the worst for that. I found SN100C (made under licence from Nihon Superior of Japan) to be the best lead free solder. Keep your tip well tinned - all over - at all times and it will help reduce the problem. Make sure you do your wiping only prior to starting the joint, then a quick re-retin and do the joint.
Hi richie00boy,
Thanks for the tip. I'm currently looking into this as my tips using the non-leaded solder simply didn't last for more than ~ one hour before oxidizing to the extent that they were no longer easy to use. Never had this issue before ...
I've sent you a PM about this.
Best regards,
Jesper
Thanks for the tip. I'm currently looking into this as my tips using the non-leaded solder simply didn't last for more than ~ one hour before oxidizing to the extent that they were no longer easy to use. Never had this issue before ...
I've sent you a PM about this.
Best regards,
Jesper
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