Switch makers deal with RoHS
Staff -- Purchasing, 2/23/2006
The European Union’s Restriction on the Use of Hazardous Substances is having a big impact on the global switch industry. The law, which goes into effect July 1, bans the use of lead and five other substances from being used in electronics equipment sold in Europe.
The real challenge is for companies that focus mainly on printed circuit board-mounted switches because a lot of those have tin/lead terminals, says Peter Brouillette, general manager for North America Region at Apem Components Inc., Haverhill, Mass. Switch makers have to design new switches that can withstand the high-temperature processing of lead-free boards. Kiyoka Toyama, president of NKK Switches, in Scottsdale, Ariz., says that eliminating cadmium is currently the biggest challenge. While there is an exemption today for cadmium (which is used in high-power contacts), the issue is finding a substitute material. There hasn't been a comparable material that doesn’t compromising the quality and integrity of the product, she says. However, other suppliers still say the biggest technical challenge is tin whiskering, which can cause electrical shorts. To alleviate the problem, many suppliers have chosen to use matte tin versus a bright tin as its plating material, which tends to reduce whiskering, says Brouillette. Managing the transition is going to be the big project for most manufacturers, says David Webber, worldwide product line manager, ITT, Electronic Components in Newton, Mass. To help, ITT has published its RoHS roadmap online to let its customers know which products are compliant or not compliant. "RoHS compliance is a two-part question," says Webber. "There is RoHS compliance and there is compatibility to RoHS temperature profiles. Customers need to know the answer to both of those questions because they aren't always the same," he says. As for handling part numbers to designate lead-free and/or RoHS-compliant parts, switch makers have chosen several ways to deal with it. Some have maintained the same part numbers; others have changed the nomenclature for termination style, while still others have added a suffix to designate lead free and/or RoHS compliant.
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