Written by: David Duross on January 17, 2009.
Last revised by: David Duross on November 4, 2011.

You can build a printed circuit board and solder it through a lead free soldering temperatures. It is not advisable! I know some designers that use standard FR4 for lead free soldering applications. The designs are simple single and double sided boards. The companies that they work for have done the due diligence to prove out their design and manufacturing process. On moderate to complex designs they specify lead free soldering compliant laminates in place of FR4. The compliant laminates are much more expensive than standard FR4. They made the upfront investment system by doing the testing and evaluating to save money down the road. They know what they can get away with and have the test data to prove it. However, the results are specific to their designs and their assembly process. When in doubt, play it safe and specify lead free soldering compliant laminate. In order to justify the cost of the more expensive laminate you need to understand what happens to the material at high temperatures.

The main challenge faced by a laminate system is

The remaining content is restricted to registered site members only.

MEMBERSHIP IS FREE!!!

If you are an existing user, please login.

New users may register below. Please register with a valid email address since we shall be emailing your login password to you.