AMPHENOL COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS

EU-RoHS FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQ)

1) What is EU RoHS?

RoHS is the acronym for  " Restriction Of Hazardous Substances " as defined in the European Union directive

"EC Directive 2002/95/EC" (See full text at the EUROPA website:>> European Union Journal RoHS Directive

2) Is EU RoHS compliance mandatory throughout the world ?

EU RoHS compliance is only mandatory on any products shipped into the European Union of member countries.

However, since many other jurisdictions have similar or pending legislation and since many manufacturers products

may eventually find their way into the EU it is having a global effect.

3) Can individual EU states ask for requirements more restrictive than the stated requirements ?

As an example, Denmark cannot ask for a more stringent limit for Cadmium than Italy even though it did have a lower limit previous to the EU Directive.
All EU member states must meet the same requirements – there are no variations to EU RoHS.

4) What are the specific requirements ?

The Directive requires the substitution of various heavy metals (Lead, Mercury, Cadmium and Hexavalent Chromium plus Brominated flame retardants (polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) or polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) in new electrical and electronic equipment put on the market from 1 July 2006.

5) What does the Directive mean by “put on the market”.

From the EU Guide to Directives “Blue Book”, it would be making a product available for the first time on the Community (EU) market, with a view to distribution

or use in the Community (EU).

6) What are the specific amounts permissible of these 6 substances by the EU RoHS Directive ?

EU Directive 2002/95/EC (RoHS)	Maximum Concentration Value by weight	Maximum
Banned (Restricted) Substance	in homogeneous materials	ppm
禁用(受限制)物质	最高浓度值	最高百万分之
Lead - Pb	铅 .1% max concentration	1000 ppm
Lead - Pb using Exemption No. 6 Copper Alloys	铅豁免六铜合金 4.0% max concentration	40000 ppm
Mercury - Hg	汞 .1% max concentration	1000 ppm
Cadmium - Cd	镉 .01% max concentration	100 ppm
Hexavalent Chromium – Cr6+ (V1)	六价铬 .1% max concentration	1000 ppm
PolyBrominated Biphenyls - PBB	多溴联苯 .1% max concentration	1000 ppm
PolyBrominated Diphenyl Ethers - PBDE	多溴二苯醚 .1% max concentration	1000 ppm
DecaBDE (was exempted previously)	十溴二苯脂 Exemption is annulled	Incl in PBDE

7) Where were the 6 restricted substances found in past manufacturing processes or products and what hazards are now avoided by RoHS?

Lead (Pb)  may be found in Lead based solders or in plating such as Tin-Lead on electrical contacts.

Hazard: Reproductive, Liver, Kidney, Brain and CNS damage particularly dangerous to children.

Mercury (Hg) may be found in alloys, lamps, thermometers.

Hazard: Brain and nervous system damage, and known for hundreds of years as toxic.

Cadmium (Cd) may be found in solder, alloys and semiconductors and as a stabilizer and colorant in plastics.

Hazard: Highly toxic, it is a carcinogen and a teratogen.

Hexavalent Chromium (Cr6+ [V1]) may be found in Zinc plating, chromate conversion processes and alloys.

Hazard: This substance is considered carcinogenic.

PolyBrominated Biphenyls (PBB) [Halogen] Brominated Fire Retardant (BFR) may be found in plastics.

Hazard: Systemic effects on humans causing a range of internal symptoms.

PolyBrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDE) [Halogen] Brominated Fire Retardant (BFR) may be found in plastics.

Hazard: Systemic effects on brain and nervous system affecting memory, learning and development.

8) How does EU RoHS define HOMOGENEOUS material ?

This would be a material that cannot be mechanically separated into different materials. So, it would have “UNIFORM COMPOSITION THROUGHOUT” .

Examples of “HOMOGENEOUS” materials are individual types of: plastics, ceramics, glass, metals, alloys, paper, board, resins, coatings.

An assembled Connector is NOT homogeneous, but the component parts of this connector such as contact alloys, pure tin plating,

metal shells or cages and plastic moulded housings would be.

9) How does this influence the calculation of concentration levels in a part?

If any one of the components does not meet the requirement of 0.1% Lead then, even though that might be only 0.001% of the total part’s weight, the part would not be considered RoHS Compliant. This is not the same as China RoHS.

10) Do Amphenol Commercial Products RoHS Compliant connectors meet the definition of “Lead-Free”.

Yes, insofar as they will be within the permissible limits defined by RoHS AND none of the substances will be “intentionally added”. Any traces of these substances

result from other processes that are limited by their own process controls.

11) Do all Manufacturing segments have to meet RoHS requirements ?

No, Medical, Military, Aerospace, and some Telecommunication applications (servers and storage arrays) are exempt from RoHS and may use Non-RoHS connectors.

12) Are there many exceptions to the RoHS Directive ?

There are now 29 (originally 10) exceptions listed in the ANNEX of the Directive >> Current EU RoHS Exemptions but only some affect CONNECTORS.

13) Does Exemption No. 7 (see below in italics) apply to Amphenol Commercial Products connectors.

a) Lead in high melting temperature type solders (i.e. tin-lead solder alloys containing more than 85% lead).

b) Lead in solders for servers, storage and storage array systems, network infrastructure equipment for switching, signaling,

transmission as well as network management for telecommunication.

Lead in electronic ceramic parts (e.g. piezoelectronic devices).

Exemption No. 7 may be used by the Purchaser of an ACP connector but we can not certify it as it applies to the end user of the connector.

It can apply to connectors used in this equipment (underlined) or connecting directly with the equipment but it does not apply to peripherals.

Note that it refers to Lead in solders and electronic ceramic parts only and NOT other types of components or Lead in plating except termination plating.

14) What does it mean when a company using Exemption No. 7, refers to RoHS 5, RoHS 6 or RoHS 5/6 compliance ?

The EU RoHS Directive makes no mention of the terms RoHS 5 or RoHS 6. However, some companies that are intending to use Exemption No. 7 use

Terms RoHS 5 or RoHS 5/6 to indicate that the other 5 substances are not present but Lead in Solders above the threshold is, on TERMINATIONS ONLY.

15) Does Amphenol Commercial Products supply “RoHS 5” connectors?

Yes, we do. However, please note that ACP can ONLY certify that parts have been MANUFACTURED to RoHS 5 requirements. The CUSTOMER may then use Exemption No. 7b when supplying the parts to the ultimate end user as it is only available for the specific application referred to in the legislation.

Note: Connectors using Exemption No. 11 are considered RoHS Compliant (using an exemption) but are NOT normally referred to as RoHS 5.

16) How do I order this 3^rd type of connector referred to as RoHS 5?

Please contact the appropriate Product Manager for the existing part number and inquire to the availability of parts meeting RoHS 5 by using Exemption No. 7.

17) How long will the existing (standard Non-RoHS) SnPb connectors be available ?

Amphenol Commercial Products is NOT phasing out our previous standard(incorporating SnPb plating) connectors-they will continue to be available for the immediate future until further notice. We will continue to support those industries or geographies that are exempt or not participating in RoHS or similar legislation at this time.

18) Specifically, do Compliant Pin (Press-fit) Connectors have to be fully RoHS compliant ?

NO, not completely. They are now included (Exemption No. 11) in the Annex (List of Exemptions) as of Oct 21/2005. >>> Current EU RoHS Exemptions

19) If RoHS only mentions 6 substances, why are some companies interested in concentrations for up to 100 substances?
Individual companies may have there own substance control requirements but RoHS Compliance does not require more than the 6 listed substances.

There is however, a dangerous substances directive in the EU and other jurisdictions may have similar controls on other dangerous substances.

20) How does Amphenol Commercial Products handle questionnaires sent by Customers regarding the RoHS Compliance of Amphenol parts ?

Since all Amphenol Divisions operate separately, Amphenol Commercial Products can only answer questions about the parts from our ACP. If you know the

ACP Division (go to List) that supplied the P/N go directly to that ACP Division. However, if you still need assistance, we will either forward the documentation

or direct you, as far as possible, to the appropriate Amphenol Division that relates to the parts in question if they are not related to ACP.

Please find the link to Amphenol Corporate site for all Amphenol Divisions >> Amphenol World Headquarters世界总部

21) Does Amphenol Commercial Products provide RoHS CofCs (Certificate of Compliance) for RoHS products ?

Although not mandated by the legislation we will provide a RoHS C of C after our Quality Assurance Departments verify the individual component compliance record.

NOTE: An AMPHENOL RoHS CofC is accepted world-wide as certifying EU RoHS COMPLIANCE.

22) Does Amphenol Commercial Products provide RoHS Material Declarations for RoHS products ?

Although not mandated by the legislation we will provide Material Declarations upon request. We can only comply with addressing the 6 named substances

on these declarations and kindly ask that Customers limit their requests to RoHS at the present time.

23) How does Amphenol Commercial Products assure EU RoHS compliance from its vendors?

Although it is difficult to have absolute guarantees of RoHS compliance, ACP does perform the necessary ‘Due Diligence’ to confirm RoHS Compliance.

Like other manufacturers we request all of our vendors to provide their own EU RoHS CofCs or Third Party Test Reports for their RoHS processes.

Our own divisional Quality Assurance Labs then confirm the vendor’s processes as being EU RoHS compliant.

Also, we audit all of our world-wide suppliers regularly with planned on-site inspections with ratings given to each vendor.

A vendor database is maintained by Amphenol Commercial Products divisions.

Note: We do not normally supply copies of our Third Party Test Reports to our Customers but they are retained on file with us for 5yrs.

24) Do RoHS products have to be identified with a label to say that they are RoHS compliant ?

At present, there are no legislated RoHS requirements for marking or labeling to indicate RoHS compliance.

JEDEC has issued a standard, JESD97, which outlines identification standards for lead-free assemblies, components and devices,

which can be found at >> JEDEC - JESD97

25) What labeling is Amphenol Commercial Products using to identify it’s EU RoHS Compliant products ?

At present, there are no legislated RoHS requirements for individual part marking to indicate RoHS compliance and ACP does not do this.

As a minimum, all OUTER CARTONS containing RoHS Compliant products will have a unique Amphenol label affixed to the outside.

NOTE: We regret that Amphenol Commercial Products cannot apply Customer specified RoHS Labels.

This will be the customer’s choice for any additional in-house labels.

26) What terminal finish material is Amphenol Commercial Products using for its RoHS compliant connectors ?

ACP decided to use PURE, (Matte) TIN(Sn) Plating over NICKEL(Ni) Underplating as the finish of choice for its commercial connectors.

27) How did Amphenol Commercial Products decide to use Pure (Matte) Tin to replace Tin-Lead ?

A consortium composed of major connector manufacturers including Amphenol has published a joint research paper supporting the use of pure tin.

Proceedings of IPC/JEDEC 4th International Conference on Lead-Free Electronic Components and Assemblies, 21-22 October 2003.

(Pure Tin – The Finish of Choice for Connectors) >> Joint Position Paper

28) Is Pure (Matte) Tin “Backward Compatible” in soldering processes that still use lead-bearing solder ?

Yes, is it and is one of the reasons Amphenol Commercial Products chose Pure Tin as the Finish of Choice for Connectors.

29) How do I know how to order a RoHS Compliant connector from Amphenol Commercial – do you use Unique Part Numbers for EU RoHS ?

In compliance with National Electronic Distributors Association (NEDA) and National Electronics Manufacturing Initiative’s (NEMI) recommendations,

most of our product families have a new "Unique Part Number" p/n for RoHS Compliant parts.

For other RoHS Compliant parts please contact an ACP Product Manager at an appropriate division.

30) What is the process capability of Amphenol Commercial Products connectors with the high temperatures of Lead-free soldering ?

All Amphenol Commercial Products connectors are Wave Solder capable to 260°C for a maximum of 10 seconds.

For High Temperature Reflow processing, most connectors are capable to 260°C or 240°C depending on the p/n. This is related to several factors,

however, including the type of plastic used so please contact the appropriate ACP Product Manager for more information for

specific families or individual parts numbers. (Some connectors containing PBT as insulating material will have to be wave soldered at lower temps).

31) Are there any process limitations that might affect how Amphenol Commercial Products RoHS connectors are used ?

There is a limitation on the use of connectors containing through-hole LEDs processed using High Temperature Reflow processes.

These should be processed using wave solder or hand soldering techniques to avoid damage to the LEDs.

See our LED advisory page. >>>> Amphenol Commercial Products Connectors containing LEDs

32) Is the flammability rating of RoHS Compliant parts affected ?

No, all Amphenol Commercial Products connectors will maintain the requirements of UL 94 V- 0.