"Paul B" wrote in message
...
Thus spake Pete Cross:
Just wait till after the deadline, a new argument will start in the
hi-fi circles..........

Which amp sounds best, the leaded or the lead free !

And on the lead free subject, what will eventually replace car
batteries ? a starting handle ?

NiCad batteries!

Servicing will become more interesting! Older single-sided boards without
plated through holes will suffer from lifting tracks but leaded solder
will no doubt be available for sometime yet. Leadless certainly ain't fun
to use & one soon learns why lead was put in solder in the 1st place! Wire
wrapping anyone?

The NiCad suggestion for a car battery is interesting. Apart from the fact
that NiCads are being phased out as part of the RoHS thing anyway, I have
seen it suggested that nickel metal-hydride batteries could be used, as
these are so good now, that manufacturers can easily produce a 40AH 12v
battery to fit in a car, and make it the same size as the current lead-acid
type. The trick is that you can't make one that will do ten times the
nominal max discharge rate, for brief periods. Remember, that your starter
motor, particularly if on a diesel engine on a cold day, is looking for
around 400A from that battery ...

For this reason alone, the lead acid battery, as the primary source of
stored electrical energy in a car, has been deemed an irreplaceable
technology, and as such, exempted from the RoHS directive. Because lead-free
solder makes crap joints, and is attempting to replace a tried, tested,
mature, and above all reliable technology, it is my contention that this is
irreplaceable as well. Sadly, I carry no weight with the EU ...

I wonder if anyone has actually worked out the additional energy budget,
world wide, to run all those thousands of production solder lines 50 degrees
hotter, and all of the millions of hand soldering irons. The overall
pollution from that is likely to be, I think, rather more seriously damaging
to the planet, than the small risk of environmental or personal poisoning
from a leakage of the tiny lead quantity in solder, into the ecosystem,
particularly if proper recycling mandates and procedures are in place.

Once again, I think that a whole set of industries are being made to suffer,
as a result of a misguided and ill thought out policy, produced by a
faceless euro committee, peddling a clean up the planet philosophy, and
earning too much money.

So when the front blows out of one of your £1000 speakers, when that nice
new amp that you've just bought goes KERBAAANGG !!! as a result of a dry
joint in the output stage, you'll know who to blame ... !!

Arfa