The only legal definition of a lead free alloy was established for the plumbing industry by the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1986. This law set the maximum allowable lead at 0.10%. The electronics industry has defaulted to this definition of a lead free alloy.

There are numerous lead free alloys available today; some of which have been available for many years. A drop in replacement for 63%tin / 37%lead has not been found. Two alloys are emerging as the front-runners in this search;
96.5%tin / 3.0%silver / 0.5%copper adopted by the Japanese,
95.5%tin / 3.9%silver / 0.6%copper adopted by the North American Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (NEMI).

"IPC-SPVC-WP-006, Round Robin Testing and Analysis of Lead-Free Alloys Tin, Silver and Copper", Report published July 2003, found no significant difference in the alloys. Also, assembly performance testing data did not find a statistically significant difference between the alloys. Long term reliability comparison testing is ongoing.

There is a steady flow of lead free articles being published about the restrictive process window for their use. The change over is occurring faster in Japan and Europe, but it will be required in the US at some date.

Bow Electronic Solders has manufactured lead free solders for many years for the medical and food services industries. Our facility has equipment specifically dedicated to lead free alloys to eliminate any possible contamination and provide the highest purity. This extensive experience with lead free alloy processing guarantees that our solder paste, bar, flux-cored wire and fine wire will meet and exceed the requirements of all specifications.

We offer the technical assistance of our metallurgist to assist our customers with a smooth transition to lead free soldering.