Milplex Circuit (Canada) Inc.

RoHS

The Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) is a European Union (EU) directive that promises to affect the complete electronic product supply chain in a most profound way

Effective July 1, 2006, RoHS restricts the import into the EU of electronic product containing levels of specific hazardous materials.

Maximum content levels have been established for the following substances:

• Lead (Pb)

• Hexavelant chromium (Cr6)

• Cadmium (Cd)

• Mercury (Hg)

• Polybrominated Biphenyls (PBB)

• Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDE)

Japan and the State of California will be adopting compliance laws similar to RoHS, with others expected to follow suit. Most, if not all, suppliers in the commercial electronic supply chain will soon transition to a RoHS-compliant product output, as non-compliance means no market access for any OEM’s products..

How is supplier compliance met?

OEMs will either request “generic” compliance, or product-specific compliance BUT, if an audit is requested, the OEM has just 4 weeks to provide a detailed “Material Declaration Sheet” .

Is Milplex Circuit (Canada) Inc. RoHS-compliant?

Prior to the July 2006 deadline, Milplex Circuit (Canada) Inc. deployed significant resources to ensure it was RoHS-ready. Our RoHS program included the following actions:

• Detailed materials research and analysis

• Collection of material content declarations from our own suppliers

• Information systems upgrades

• Manufacturing process verifications

Pb Free process compliance

A majority of RoHS compliant PWBs must withstand the elevated temperatures demanded by many of the Pb Free solder alloys.

Pb Free Testing

Milplex's Pb Free testing has been conducted in joint efforts with key accounts. Key accounts have requested that testing be conducted on their product, as design variables may effect various aspects of the results.

For the majority, testing has included:

• Material comparison

• PbSn Assembly thermal profiles vs Pb Free thermal profiles

• Surface Finish comparisons

• Thermal cycling to simulate assembly lead free

• Thermal stress testing

Milplex Circuit (Canada) Inc. recommends

A number of materials including Poly Clad FR-370HR, ISOLA IS 410/ IS 620, Panasonic 1750, Ventec VT 47, or equivalent, to meet the requirements of Pb Free assembly and rework thermal cycles.

IPC 1066

Milplex Circuit (Canada) Inc. follows IPC 1066 standard for Marking, Symbols and Labels for Identification of Lead-Free PWB.