Soldering
Lead-free

Lead free soldering requires higher soldering temperatures than lead/tin soldering. Sn Pb 63/37 eutectic solder melts at 183 °C. SAC lead-free solder melts at 217–220 °C.Nevertheless, many new technical challenges have arisen with this endeavor. To reduce the melting point of tin-based solder alloys, various new alloys have had to be researched, with additives of copper, silver, bismuth as typical minor additives to reduce the melting point and control other properties. Additionally, tin is a more corrosive metal, and can eventually lead to the failure of solder baths.

Lead-free construction has also extended to components, pins, and connectors. Most of these pins used copper frames, and either lead, tin, gold or other finishes. Tin finishes are the most popular of lead-free finishes. Nevertheless, this brings up the issue of how to deal with tin whiskers. The current movement brings the electronics industry back to the problems solved in the 1960s by adding lead. JEDEC has created a classification system to help lead-free electronic manufacturers decide what provisions to take against whiskers, depending upon their application.
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