AMPHENOL
EU-RoHS FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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 ?
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,
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 ?
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EU Directive 2002/95/EC (RoHS) |
Maximum Concentration Value by |
Maximum |
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Banned (Restricted) Substance |
weight in HOMOGENEOUS materials |
ppm |
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禁用(受限制)物质 |
最高浓度值 |
最高百万分之 |
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Lead - Pb |
铅 .1% max concentration |
1000 ppm |
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Lead - Pb using Exemption No. 6 Copper Alloys |
铅豁免六铜合金 4.0% max concentration |
40000 ppm |
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Mercury - Hg |
汞 .1% max concentration |
1000 ppm |
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Cadmium - Cd |
镉 .01% max concentration |
100 ppm |
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Hexavalent Chromium – Cr6+ (V1) |
六价铬 .1% max concentration |
1000 ppm |
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PolyBrominated Biphenyls - PBB |
多溴联苯 .1% max concentration |
1000 ppm |
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PolyBrominated Diphenyl Ethers - PBDE |
多溴二苯醚 .1% max concentration |
1000 ppm |
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DecaBDE |
十溴二苯脂 Exempted
from PBDE value |
Allowed |
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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
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 RoHS Exemptions but only
some affect CONNECTORS.
13) Does Exemption No. 7 (see below in italics) apply to Amphenol
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, signalling,
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 Amphenol Canada 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. 7b, 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
Yes, we do. However,
please note that
Amphenol Canada 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 3rd 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. 7b.
17) How long will the existing (standard
Non-RoHS) SnPb connectors be available ?
Amphenol
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 RoHS Exemptions
Note: Connectors using Exemption No. 11 are
considered RoHS Compliant (using an exemption) but are NOT normally referred to
as RoHS 5.
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
Since all Amphenol Divisions operate separately, Amphenol Canada Corp can
only answer questions about the parts from our division. However, 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 ours.
Please find the link to Amphenol Corporate site for
all Amphenol Divisions >> Amphenol World Headquarters世界总部
21) Does Amphenol
Although not mandated by the
legislation we will provide a RoHS C of C after our Quality Assurance
Department verifies the individual component compliance record.
NOTE: An AMPHENOL
RoHS CofC is accepted world-wide as certifying EU RoHS COMPLIANCE.
22) Does Amphenol
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
Amphenol
Like other manufacturers we have
asked all of our vendors to provide their own RoHS C of Cs and/or Third Party
Test Reports for their RoHS processes.
Our own Quality Assurance Lab
then confirms their processes as being 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 of these records is maintained
at Amphenol
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 5 yrs.
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
At present, there
are no legislated RoHS requirements for individual
part marking to indicate RoHS compliance and Amphenol
As a minimum, all OUTER CARTONS containing RoHS Compliant products will have
a unique
Amphenol label affixed to the outside similar to the examples below.
NOTE: We regret that
Amphenol Canada 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
Amphenol
27) How did Amphenol
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
29) How do I know how to order a RoHS Compliant connector
from Amphenol
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" or "E" p/n for RoHS
Compliant parts.
See our
Product Family listings >>>>
Amphenol Canada Data
Telecom RoHS Product Series or contact an Amphenol Canada Product Manager.
30) What is the process capability of Amphenol
All Amphenol Canada Data Telecom
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 Amphenol Canada 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
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 Canada
Data Telecom Connectors containing LEDs
32) Is the
flammability rating of RoHS Compliant parts affected ?
No,
all Amphenol Canada connectors will maintain the requirements of UL 94 V-0.