Gripe with ROHS!

[altxf4]

So I am sick of repairing expensive stuff for family that should not have to been repaired to begin with!

My mom has a DV9000 series laptop from HP, and there is currently a class action law suit regarding that model. Problem is my moms laptop is exempt! So a laptop that is a smidge over a year old is now broken because there is a problem with the GPU.

I have been repairing electronics for close to 10 years now, but this ROHS lead free crap is pissing me off! I can't afford the few grand it cost for the super high end custom programmable rework equipment, so I have been able to make due with a custom hotplate and a hot air rework station for the 63/37 and the 60/40 solder based products.

So back to repairing my moms GPU. I have the board foil masked with the gpu exposed. The board is pre heated to 66c. I am using my hot air station to slowly bring the gpu up to 220c. I get up to 220c and hold for 1 min. then bring it up to the appropriate over shoot to 253c for 30 sec. I then slowly back off the temp down to 150c then remove hot air. Once everything was equalized in temp I shut off heat plate.

I just inspected the GPU, and It has bubbled!!!

Why have a damn solder so freaking close to the monolithic IC's max temp! Just retarded!

If you have an Xbox360 or a PS3 with the RROD or the YLOD you can blame ROHS lead free solder!

Rant over!

[karatebum]

c'mon its European, its gotta be a good standard.

the fact that medical devices and .mil get to dodge it doesn't mean anything. I'm sure that f-15 that crashed wasn't because rohs.

My TV hdmi connections all just went out, in a year of owning it. I bet, I bet its because of lack of lead.

PS you seriously have mad skills, you have a skill set that is dying/almost dead now.

[Scotty]

Auto industry and heavy industrial equipment is exempt too. I worked at an electronics company when RoHS started. You should have seen how much stuff we had to send to Europe to get it there before the ban. I've changed jobs to aerospace, it is so nice to be exempt from all that crap. We can still use hexavalent chromium in chem film (Alodine).

[altxf4]

c'mon its European, its gotta be a good standard.

the fact that medical devices and .mil get to dodge it doesn't mean anything. I'm sure that f-15 that crashed wasn't because rohs.

My TV hdmi connections all just went out, in a year of owning it. I bet, I bet its because of lack of lead.

PS you seriously have mad skills, you have a skill set that is dying/almost dead now.

EWWW!!! Tin Whiskers! Get away! Lets make a whole bunch of cat whisker detectors in our small electronics!

Wonder how much trouble we would be in if somehow the ROHS standard got applied to medical devices or even cars!

Thanks, I try! I learned from a man that has forgot more about electronics repair than I will ever lean in a life time!

Electronics are one of the many things today where the apt phrase "they don't make them like they used to" is quite fitting.

I have been working on more repairs since I made this thread, and I am pulling my hair out left and right. Before the economic down turn all the stuff I am fixing would have just been tossed. At least I have had success with a few items.