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Would You Change RoHS Regs?

Posted September 11, 2008 8:53 AM

When the European Union issued the Restriction of Hazardous Substances directive, they intended it to be a work-in-progress. It was to be a moving target, to be adjusted based on feedback from the businesses involved, regulators, and other interested parties. But modifying the directive is proving more complicated than its designers intended. What has been your experience with RoHS? Has your company been constrained? Penalized? Have you changed your target markets or product mixes because of the regulations? If you had the clout, how would you change it?

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Guru
Canada - Member - Specialized in power electronics

Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Montreal, Canada.
Posts: 1372
Good Answers: 80
#1

Re: Would You Change RoHS Regs?

09/12/2008 10:38 AM

As far as electronics is concerned, ROHS cannot be applied to any product that have an expected life longer than a few years or that needs a high reliability. The reports of tin wiskering shorting electronics components scare me. The industry hasn't solved this problem yet. This means that any safety related application must avoid ROHS compliant electronics assemblies. Same thing for industrial equipment expected to operate for more than twenty years. What about your car or your TV? How long do you want them to last?

Basically, ROHS can only be safely applied to your cell phone or the likes that will be obsolete before five years and will end up in the trash can.

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