You say RoHS, I say Ross
With respect to the Editor’s View column in the October 20, 2005, Connector Specifier e-Newsletter, “A RoSE by any other name: you say RoSS, I say RoHS,” there may be a regional bias to pronunciation of the RoHS acronym. About a year ago, I asked a TI-Europe ESH expert how RoHS was pronounced in the European Union. Her feedback was that R-O-H-S or “Ross” is common in Europe, but that “ROW-hoss” is viewed as the typical U.S. pronunciation.
Ken Farrington
Program Manager
TI-SC Pb-Free Program Office
RoHS-compliant flex circuits
Dear CS Forum,
We are involved in flexible circuit design, fabrication, and assembly, as well as flexible jumpers. Are these products exempt from lead-free requirements? If exempt, where can I get confirmation of this to pass on to our customers? If not, do you know how we can assemble them and meet the lead-free requirements?
The problem is that flex circuits cannot withstand the assembly temperatures of lead-free solutions I have seen to date.
Joe D. Phares, president
ELMEC Manufacturing
Oceanside, CA
The RoHS directive does not mention flex-circuit exemptions, unless they fall within the exempted market segments, such as automotive, aerospace, or military. Information about current exemptions is available through our lead-free website at http://leadfree.ipc.org.
The issue of higher melting temperatures is troubling for both rigid and flexible materials. Some existing rigid materials will work at the higher temperatures. Many will need to have material sets change to a higher performing offering. Your material supplier would be the best source of information. Rogers Corp. has presentations online on lead-free and flex at www.rogerscorporation.com.
David W. Bergman, CAE
Vice President, Standards, Technology and International Relations
IPC, Bannockburn, IL
RoHS resources?
I have been tasked by my company to become our in-house expert on the Restrictions of Hazardous Substances (RoHS). Could you please steer me to a company that offers a one-day seminar on RoHS, in the U.S. in the near future?
A connector-company employee
U.S.
A RoHS-specific seminar that gives an overview is getting harder to find, with the implementation deadline of July 1, 2006, nearing. However, Connector Specifier’s online events calendar is a good resource for connector-related events that often involve RoHS segments, at http://cs.pennnet.com/events/events.cfm. Another good resource is the archives of the Lead-free Webcast series presented by Connector Specifier and sister publications Advanced Packaging and SMT. There is no charge to download and view the archives. To register, you must qualify as an individual in the industry who actively buys, specifies, or recommends relevant products. There are five presentations for you to choose from at http://cs.pennnet.com/webcast/list_webcasts.cfm. The next live events are “Lead-free Success Stories,” Dec. 13, 2005, and “Distribution in the Lead-free Transition,” April 11, 2006, both at 12:00 noon CST.
Another useful resource for particular RoHS topics are the Connector Specifier magazine archives, which are searchable on our website at http://www.connectorspecifier.com.
Further useful websites for RoHS information are http://www.leadfree.com, http://www.buyusa.gov/europeanunion/weee.html, and http://www.dbicorporation.com/rohs.htm#gov.
-Ed.
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