With the move to lead-free components upon the electronics industry, many companies are haunted with worry about tin whiskers produced by pure tin plating in solder.

The warnings are coming primarily from the engineering community -- particularly those in aerospace and military organizations. In the world of commercial electronics, there’s less concern with tin whiskers and more concern with complying new environmental laws that ban lead and other hazardous materials.

Two very real fears have gripped the electronic industry. One is the fate Sony suffered when The Netherlands held back 1.3 million of its PlayStation game consoles last December because there was cadmium in its cables. The Netherlands government, which has strict laws against products with cadmium, was tipped by a Sony competitor. And two is the fate of the $250 million Galaxy 4 communications satellite that shut down in its cold, empty space orbit. Engineers believe the cause was tin whiskers growing under the extreme pressures of space. When the whisker grows long enough, it can break off and create a short circuit.

Commercial electronics manufacturers are most fearful of Sony’s fate -- losing sales in markets that enforce Restriction of Hazardous Materials (RoHS) standards. Military, aerospace and hi-rel manufacturers are most concerned about the fate of Galaxy 4 -- potential equipment failure due to pure tin soldering growing tin whiskers that break off and short out the product.

The RoHS, passed by the European Union in 2002, bans the sale of products containing lead and other hazardous materials and goes into effect on July 1, 2006. But in order to make that deadline, the electronics industry is moving now to products that use tin soldering, which doesn’t contain the 2 percent or 3 percent lead that has proved over the last 50 years to dampen the whiskering phenomenon. RoHS applies to all electronic products, exempt those produced by the military and portions of the telecommunications industry.

By: DocMemory
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