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  • 1 Posted by rogueist on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:49PM EDT Report Abuse

    This is why I warned that RHOS will fail in the end - but that is okay, when the first fully electronically controlled vehicle crashes for "no discernable reason" and more and more follow, eventually they will figure out its the tin whiskers causing a problem. I live in an environment where tin whiskers grow faster than anywhere else (or at least I think so). The life span of most new electronic devices is about 2 to 3 years, then they have to be thrown out and replaced. I just tossed out 6 pieces of stereo equipment yesterday because of this problem. Hopefully someone is actively researching all this.

  • 2 Posted by somebodys_here on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:32PM EDT Report Abuse

    I wouldn't count on it. People are more concerned with the environment now than they are at keeping hardware safe. And that is a bigger problem with RHOS compliant hardware as it will fail sooner, thus needing more space for recyclig.

  • 4 Posted by smokey2000@sbcglobal.net on Sun Oct 14, 2007 11:08AM EDT Report Abuse

    Posted by Smokey2000 My plaza TV crashed before it was 2 years old. Every time they put in a new board, it blows a fuse..Could this be from tin wiskers?

  • 5 Posted by frede12540 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:03PM EDT Report Abuse

    #3 Outside of the higher temperatures, silver is just as bad or worse than tin. It is called "Silver migration", and caused severe problems for TI, as well as other manufactures, about 25 years ago.

  • 6 Posted by piearesquared2001 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:11PM EDT Report Abuse

    Interestingly enough, any chemist with or without a background in crystallography can tell you why tin whiskers form. The Wiki article actually covers it, but in complex terms and with a lot of hand-waving. When you heat a substance, you are causing the molecules and atoms to vibrate faster. If you heat a solid substance enough, the attractions between the molecules break down, forming a liquid. This is pretty obvious, right? Well some of those molecules and atoms when heated enough become free-floating, IE a gas. Now, the inside of a computer is hot - but not hot enough, as a general rule - to spontaneously sublimate (go from solid to gas) every atom in every component. That said, a -few- atoms and molecules do get knocked loose all the time. They "float" around until they find a surface to "land" on. Like sugar crystals in a jar with a string, they begin to accumulate on the available surface (substrate) in re-formed solid state (crystals). Why they grow "straight" as opposed to dendrite-like would take another long explanation that would bore most readers to tears. This is a horribly simplistic explanation of a particularly complex process. The Wikipedia article does a good job of explaining the problem and a few of the proposed solutions. To be blunt, though, entropic forces are constantly at work in any system of any complexity. The more complex and detailed a system, the more entropy can and will play hob with the components. Perhaps our best bet is not to attempt to circumvent the inevitable, but to embrace it and create recyclable micro components.

  • 7 Posted by djbrazier59 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:44PM EDT Report Abuse

    Would a non-conductive coating like plastic stop the growth of tin whiskers?

  • 8 Posted by brianwrx on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:13PM EDT Report Abuse

    I wouldn't say that tin whiskers are being ignored. Any company that is selling a world class product is well aware of the risks of tin lead and other compromises imposed by the RoHS legislation. Proper testing is being done to ensure that there is enough spacing between pins or "wires" to prevent a problematic shorts or that mechanical forces are not promoting whisker growth. I would be worried about cheap toys and gadgets though. Small or cheap companies likely don't have the resources to properly design and test RoHS products. RoHS is interesting in general. It is supposed to be good for the environment, but if you look at solder in electronics, the net effect is a loss for the environment. Tin solder must be heated an additional 40C than lead solder which means more energy is being used to produce RoHS electronics. Also, that lead is being replaced with other elements such as Silver which is not banned under RoHs and are just as harmful to animals. Lastly, the number 1 user of lead in consumer products is the battery industry and they are exempt from RoHS requirements. Batteries introduce 85-90% of lead in new products each year. By comparison, electronics are only responsible for 0.5% of lead introduced in products (before RoHS). RoHS was well intentioned but a failed piece of legislation.

  • 10 Posted by auricman on Thu Sep 3, 2009 2:59PM EDT Report Abuse

    Tin alloyed with bismuith, copper and silver have all been developed as alternatives for tin/lead. All have drawbacks and "none" are whisker "free". BTW, not even tinlead is 100% whisker free. Reduced smaller and once they develope they tend not to continue to grow. The most effective means of control is in design and processing. Stress in the deposit and design of conponets are a huge contributing factor in whisker growth rate. certainly, time, temperature and humidity are other major factors

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