Tin Whiskers

[bryan]

Interesting Article

https://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/apr/03/research.engineering

 

[Hero999]

There are many applications which are exempt from the regulations such as the aerospace, nuclear and military industry.

The problem can also be mitigated by conformal coating the boards or adding other elements to the solder like silver.

 

[Pommie]

Interesting article. I still find it hard to come to terms with the fact that I had two very intelligent parents who got all their water through lead pipes. I often wonder how intelligent I would have been had it not been for lead pipes.

Going from lead pipes that carried drinking water to no lead in my TV seems a little extreme.

Mike.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Interesting article. I still find it hard to come to terms with the fact that I had two very intelligent parents who got all their water through lead pipes. I often wonder how intelligent I would have been had it not been for lead pipes.

Going from lead pipes that carried drinking water to no lead in my TV seems a little extreme.

It's a pretty stupid idea, about what you expect of the EU!.

Where my wife used to live at a place called Darley Dale there's a lead smelting plant, which used to be a lead mine in the past, but now recovers lead from batteries. When she was a child the smelter provided free milk for all children within the area, and as far as I know probably still does? - milk is supposed to be helpful in preventing lead absorbtion. There are also monitoring stations all over the area, monitoring the lead levels (which, as far as I know, have never given any cause for concern), and they have planted large wooded area around their facility.

I suspect the free milk is probably more a 'bribe' than anything else?

 

[Roff]

OT - sorry.
And then there's mercury. I don't mean to imply that mercury isn't dangerous, but I remember playing with it several times as a kid, and my mother would treat cuts and scrapes with Merthiolate or Mercurochrome, both of which contain mercury. I have suffered no ill effects (does mercury poisoning cause one to become a serial killer?).
I won't even get into the issue of mercury and compact fluorescent lights.

 

[blueroomelectronics]

Actually the Mad Hatter was insane apparently due to mercury poisoning.
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**

 

[killivolt]

Actually the Mad Hatter was insane apparently due to mercury poisoning.
**broken link removed**
**broken link removed**

Hey how'd you get a picture of me...............?

 

[ericgibbs]

In the 'good old days' they used mercury to cure NSVD.

If it didn't cure you, you were too brain damaged to care or worry about the VD.

 

[killivolt]

Sorry I haven't had en ought coffee yet.

But, we had this problem from stuff we sent out to military bases that were the dew point was a little higher. In addition there was a problem from Ionized Air from jet air craft that would raise hell.

If you didn't spray the board it would come right back.

 

[Hero999]

I'm afraid I agree with the EU on lead solder. The lead doesn't cause any problems when the equipment is in use, it's when it's disposed of that the problems start. The lead leaches out of the rubbish buried in landfill sites and poisons the groundwater.

I'd like to see landfill abolished and replaced by incineration and the heat used to generate power. Any lead that evapourates can be filtered using scrubbers and any lead in the ash can be also removed and recycled. The environmentalists can STFU about CO2 emissions because the power would only be produced from burning fossil fuels anyway.

 

[Pommie]

I'm afraid I agree with the EU on lead solder. The lead doesn't cause any problems when the equipment is in use, it's when it's disposed of that the problems start. The lead leaches out of the rubbish buried in landfill sites and poisons the groundwater.

Where exactly do you think this lead came from? How does it leache? What compounds of lead are soluble in water?

Lead is also one of the easiest elements to remove from water.

Mike.

 

[Hero999]

Lead reacts with other acidic compounds in the rubbish forming lead salts.

Lead may be easy to remove from water but stopping it from entering rivers and poisoning the fauna and flora isn't easy.

 

[3v0]

The ban is wrong. Keeping the stuff out of the landfills is the right answer.

In regard to lead pipes. I think that if the pH is kept below 7 (non acidic) they are harmless. The people who run water systems have know this for years and adjust the pH to keep the lead out of the system and their pipes from rotting away.

 

[Krumlink]

I still wouldn't use Lead pipes

 

[Hero999]

Neither would I but most tap water is alkaline so it doesn't matter.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

I still wouldn't use Lead pipes

How do you know you're not?.

Most lead pipes are probably underground, so there may be lead in the distribution system before it gets to you?.

Didn't seem to hurt the Romans, and their's were all lead!

 

[Krumlink]

It wouldnt hurt until the lead mineralized!

We use PVC Pipes

 

[bryan]

Didn't seem to hurt the Romans, and their's were all lead!

Maybe it did, the Roman civilization quickly crumbled <G>

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Maybe it did, the Roman civilization quickly crumbled <G>

I think it lasted considerably longer than Canada (or the USA) has existed?

 

[mwtheplumber]

As a plumbing and heating engineer, I can tell you that the use of lead pipe and leaded solder has been prohibited in the UK for many years for potable water. Leaded solder is still allowed on gas pipes or central heating pipes. As most of the UK has hard water, the limescale actually slows down the absorbtion of lead compounds into the water, soft water is more corrosive. I think the amount of lead used in electronic sildering is pretty insignificant in the great scheme of things. Most campaigns to ban anything are fuelled more by hype and the need to be seen to be doing something than any conclusive scientific facts. Look at global warming, there is plenty of evidence that global warming is a natural cyclic phenomenon, in Roman times they grew grape vines in Scotland! But the green lobby has jumped up and down and governments want to appear to be doing something.