Scott, With the change-over to lead-free electronics-- forced by the European Union's RoHS Directive which took effect on July 1, 2006-- I saw the manufacturers' warranties for many electronic products plummet from several years down to 3 months to 1 year.... And I heard from some of my clients who bought computers and related equipment for their companies, that many of these new "RoHS-Compatible" electronics would start having massive failures after just 13 to 14 months of use.
Personally, I cut way back (to about 20-25% of my previous level) on my electronics purchases right after the post-Christmas sales in 1995-- when I bought a laptop computer and other stuff that I *hoped* was built with good, tin-lead solder (and I'm still using some of these products today!) Now, if I'm buying something inexpensive like LED flashlights or Arduino boards, I'll usually buy at least 3 at a crack in the hope that at least one will still work when I need it. If I'm buying expensive electronics, like a computer monitor, I'll spend about 1 day doing research for every $100 that I expect to spend. And when I come down to the short-list of products that will meet my needs, a long manufacturer's warranty period will be THE major factor in what I buy. I also have about 60 to 70 pounds of tin-lead solder saved up, of various diameters and fluxes, to fix my old electronics when they break after 20+ years of service. Since late 2004 I've collected well over 22,500 documents on lead-free electronics-- see my bibliographies at: * http://www.dbicorporation.com/rohsbib.htm * http://www.dbicorporation.com/whiskbib.htm * http://www.dbicorporation.com/tinpest.htm and I *still* don't trust lead-free, RoHS-Compliant electronics for quality, reliability, or longevity. I recommend to my friends that if they buy new electronics of any significant cost, that they: 1. Buy them at a local store. 2. Have a clerk/tech at the store take the product out of the box, power it up, and *prove* that this specific unit comes up completely before they buy it. John Barnes Lexington, KY author of Robust Electronic Design Reference Book, Volumes I and II - ---------------------------------------------------------------- This message is from the IEEE Product Safety Engineering Society emc-pstc discussion list. To post a message to the list, send your e-mail to <[email protected]> All emc-pstc postings are archived and searchable on the web at: http://www.ieee-pses.org/emc-pstc.html Attachments are not permitted but the IEEE PSES Online Communities site at http://product-compliance.oc.ieee.org/ can be used for graphics (in well-used formats), large files, etc. Website: http://www.ieee-pses.org/ Instructions: http://www.ieee-pses.org/list.html (including how to unsubscribe) List rules: http://www.ieee-pses.org/listrules.html For help, send mail to the list administrators: Scott Douglas <[email protected]> Mike Cantwell <[email protected]> For policy questions, send mail to: Jim Bacher: <[email protected]> David Heald: <[email protected]>
