[Elecraft] KPA800/KPA1500 Status Update

[Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft]

Hi Jesse,

Fortunately this hasn't been a problem for us. While I think it has been 
overblown as an issue we certainly are paying attention to it. For all 
our kits you should still be soldering with regular lead based solder, 
which eliminates any potential problems with with whiskers even when it 
is used on lead free tinned component leads. The lead in the solder 
dominates the connection.

For lead free soldered connections on pre-built boards we see no real 
problem with most widely spaced components on the IC's we currently use. 
Most of the discussion has centered on very fine pitch surface mount 
parts. If we use any fine pitch surface mount parts on future lead-free 
boards we will try to insure that the type of lead free solder used will 
not cause this type of problem. (The industry is currently addressing 
this issue with commercial solders used in manufacturing.) Also, as a 
back up, we can conformally coat the connections on any fine pitch parts 
with a non-conducting coating that will prevent these issues.

73, Eric

Jesse Justiss wrote:
> How does lead free affect long term reliability? 
>
> An article I read some months ago pointed out the
> problems of whiskers growing inside the components
> without lead. 
>