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| SN100C proves its high reliability even for industrial equipment, used under severe conditions |
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PCB of PLC soldered with"SN1OOC" |
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The Industrial Automation Business Company (IAB) of OMRON
Corporation, has declared its policy to make its control equipment lead free,
a first for the industrial automation equipment business. Up to now, 26 of their
products have already been changed to lead-free. According to their plan, all
of their new products will be lead-free by April 2003.
For their current products the first step will be to introduce lead-free solder.
Other materials will be changed to lead-free alternatives by the end of March
2005.
In their Mishima Factory, which is the main IAB factory, in which OMRON manufacture
PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers), they started to study the change to
lead-free around 1998. The requirements for OMRON’s control equipment for
industrial use are much more severe than those for any equipment for domestic
use; it must survive, for example cycling to elevated temperature and vibration.
And if there is a failure in such equipment the consequences can be enormous.
Soldering
materials have to meet these severe reliability requirements and, for example,
joints must survive at least 2000 cycles of -40 to +105 .
OMRON collected samples of lead free solders from all the major manufactures
of solder in Japan, and evaluated them under the same conditions. On the basis
of the results of this evaluation they chose SN100C as one of the standard solders
for wave soldering.
"The key consideration in this decision", said Mr.Ken-ichi Kusui, the
production
group manager of Mishima System Factory, "is its final condition after soldering.
In
a nutshell, we loved SN100C’s beautiful face." OMRON IAB adopted SN100C
for commercial use in May 2001. Shipments of products made with SN100C
total 5000, "but no circuit failures in any of these products have
been reported."
"And with about one and a half year’s experience in the use of SN100C," he
noted, "there are less dissolved impurities in the solder bath with SN100C
than with any other lead free solder. That confirms how easy it is
to
maintain an SN100C solder bath." |
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Interviewed by The Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, Ltd. |
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![[CASE8] OMRON CORPORATION](images/voice08_title.gif){kind=small}
