RoHS

[Andy Le Blanc]

If one was to build an amp in compliance with RoHS.....
how would it effect the Build?

[billyz]

The Solder Sucks!

[Andy Le Blanc]

got to love it
the future is brite

[Andy Le Blanc]

what it is ...... you have to provide documented proof that
all of the parts that go into your build are RoHS compliant
this isnt too bad..... but it means ALL the parts....
the amp it self is actually easy.... JJ tubes carry the sticker....
mercury magnetic.... and hammond trannies will provide a statement
of compliance..... xicon..... IC caps..... beldon wire.....etc
tolex?....... dyed leather?....... contact cemet?...... the wood?
the chromed metal corners?...... its a real comitment that carries
a real responsibility...... if someone buys your amp and it is found
to be non-compliant its your liability

[VacuumVoodoo]

ROHS is peanuts. You need to do this documentation job once and keep it updated.
Now look at the crossed waste bin symbol on some of your electronic equipment. Look up what it means for the consumer and what it requires from manufacturer/importer. It's the WEEE directive.

[CaseyJones]

RoHS, schmorro-H.S..

The way I see it freedom means I have the right to swing my fist anywhere it doesn't hurt anyone. I have the right to piss in a river and the integrity not to exercise that right.

RoHS is intended to keep nasty material out of the waste stream. I build my amps to last forever so it doesn't apply, if they never go to the dump what's the point?

Chrome is virtually banned under RoHS.

But... look at the Euro motorcycle scene. Those guys will hot-rod a shopping cart, they'll build stuff that makes people say, "There oughtta be a law!" Some of those machines look like refugees from a Mad Max movie, they're deliberately ugly but they're safe. Of course they're safe, you'd be an idiot to build a deathtrap. That's Step One. Step Two is that if you build a deathtrap it will take you out of the gene pool almost instantly, end of problem!! Darwinism at its finest. Bikers manage to dodge the law in places like Finland and Germany where modifications are virtually illegal. Building custom machines is freedom of expression, freedom of expression is sharply curtailed in some places.

If anyone should worry about RoHS it should be the Chinese. Those are yer Piss In The River Poster People, where else can ya buy toys for yer kiddies that are pretty much made outta lead?!!

[VacuumVoodoo]

Just get your amp classified as work of art and you'll be ok. Getting recognized as a bona fide artist is another story.

[CaseyJones]

Just get your amp classified as work of art and you'll be ok. Getting recognition as an artist is another story.

Bein' an artist is primarily a matter of havin' character. No shortage here!

The way I see it:

A functional world economy includes all sorts of businesses. Manufacturing is an important part of any economy. 100 years ago it was pretty easy to be a manufacturer, dig a hole in the gound and smelt metal in it, dig a hole in the creek bed and stick a water wheel in it. Get ahead on capital and you're in business.

No one understood back then how persistent some of the compounds they were dumpin' were and are. That's where it all went wrong.

Nowadays we have layers and layers of legislation that act as a major impediment to profitability in any business. Entire industries have cropped up where unemployed managers (who were useless in the first place, that's why they were unemployed!) create consulting firms to "help" businesses through the increasingly complicated legalities of business in The Modern Age. Mostly they "help" themselves to your hard earned capital. Good luck gettin' ahead of the game bucko, your capital will evaporate faster than you can earn it.

The name of the game is Value Added. Manufacturing is a firm foundation for a functional economy. Small businesses produce as much in aggregate as big businesses. But hey, screw all that, it's irrelevent. Let's just create legislation so the only legal business is countin' money, we'll call it a "Service Economy". I'm good with that, I don't have a whole lotta money to count and no one is payin' me to count it. I'll just roll outta bed at noon and go fishin'...

[BJF]

Hi,

ROHS and WEEE would not affect the tone or function of an amplifier but will affect the parts to use and the price of those parts aswell as possible selection of parts, but then if only this or that part can be used.........what do you do with the part?

Hands on if you have a ready product and then need to convert that to apply to ROHS and WEEE, then each part will have to be examined for compliance and it may effect what you charge for the end product just because, but if you are a qualified technician you can work around this as it's not the first time the part you'd like isn't made or available at any reasonable cost or at all.

Oh well just another set of rules to apply to or not give a .............about, depending on how seriously you'd need to market your product in ROHS/WEEE countries

Have fun
BJ

[Andy Le Blanc]

Thank you BJF....
Ive connections in the organic farms and gardens in my area...
and have watched it grow from an out there idea to a more mainstream
concept..... the RoHS is demanding compliance of manufactures as a
course of business ...... being compliant even at this level and in this forum
is a fundamental choice...... Im in an area (country) of economic decline.....
any and all chances toward growth need exploration..... with the current
exchange rates one can ask the real cost in US dollars, and get it ....
while still being realistic to the buyer.... and that means being compliant
with RoHS and WEEE.... have to keep eyes open.... it is not a good to
develop a product that the local economy can't support and look around
to find that other doors are closed to you....

[CaseyJones]

Ive connections in the organic farms and gardens in my area...

Oh, no... not another Greenie!!

While I'd like to live in a yurt and raise registered dairy goats fer a livin'... primarily because a side benefit is gettin' to screw hippy chicks... civilization as we know it ain't gonna come to a screeching halt so we can save a tree or two. It's not gonna happen, what we have is too big, too ponderous, no matter what we have for brakes we can only slow it down.

Sure, greener is better. Hardcore green is perhaps a noble goal but we've spent the last, oh, 1000 years or so workin' on our military/industrial complex and our increasingly urban lifestyle. That ain't gonna stop on a dime or turn around for an endangered reptile in the road.

From a practical standpoint what we need is sensible use and preservation of natural resources balanced against social needs, that means we need jobs. Leave the raisin' of the goats and the buildin' of the straw bale houses to the Trustafarians, them 'r' white trust funders wif dreadlocks.

The net result of Green legislation is the outsourcing of jobs to "less Green" nations. Well, as long as it ain't in my backyard WTF?!!

BTW hilariously enough "organic chemistry" is often enough fuel chemistry, the study of hydrocarbon compounds...

[Andy Le Blanc]

its not that bad.... and not quite the point..... if your old enough you may remember.... heck the worries about the air in china for the olymipics is a good example..... that used to be the way it was here.... they only just lifted the safty restrictions on some of the rivers here in maine just to have contact with the water..... it takes time for an idea to be accepted...... im old enough to remember the whine and moan when they took the lead out of the gas....
in the long run RoHS and the like will be the norm....

I do know some hippy chicks ...... if your into goats that is.....( )

[strato17]

Because of the removal of lead from solder due to RoHS, the tin that makes up the new solder will now develop tin whiskers, which in time contact other electrical components causing shorts and catastrophic failure.

Perhaps they havent considered the fact that only one half of a percent of lead usage in the US can be attributed to electronics, while roughly %80 of it comes from lead-acid batteries.... those big batteries in your car.


Also, be wary of the new lightbulbs they are switching to. Yeah they are more efficient, but clear the house for 30 min if one was to break. They are filled with mercury!

[Andy Le Blanc]

hadnt heard of tin whiskers...... sounds like a bad cover band
are there any good refferences about it and a way to deal with it

[Abstract]

http://nepp.nasa.gov/WHISKER/background/index.htm