| Our Lead-Free Process |
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| > The lead-free process that we use is a 99% silver finish. Silver plating is more expensive than the tin plating most of our competitors are offering, however we believe that our silver alloy produces a board that is easier to assemble and looks more professional. See a Lead-Free Board |
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| Manufacturing Options |
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| > ExpressPCB offers six manufacturing choices: Standard, Miniboard, Production, ProtoPro, 4 Layer - Standard, and 4 Layer - Production. All of these choices remain available with the traditional tin/lead solder plating. |
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| Our Production and 4 Layer - Production PCBs can be ordered with a tin/lead, or a RoHS complaint lead-free plating. There is no difference in price between the plating choices. |
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| Manufacturing Service |
Tin/Lead |
Lead-Free |
| Standard |
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| MiniBoard |
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| Production |
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| ProtoPro |
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| 4 Layer - Standard |
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| 4 Layer - Production |
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Version 5.6.0 or newer of the ExpressPCB program must be used to have the option of ordering lead-free Production boards. Download Current Release |
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| Assembling Lead-Free Boards |
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| > You will find that our lead-free boards assemble very nicely using the same tin/lead solder that has been commonly used for decades. |
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| If you wish to manufacture a finished product that is lead-free or RoHS compliant, you must use a lead-free solder and select lead-free components. We recommend using a solder with a 96.5% tin, 3.0% silver, 0.5% copper alloy, such as Kester 24-7068-7600 (Mouser part number 533-24-7068-7600). |
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| Storage note: PCBs plated with a tin/lead solder finish can be stored almost indefinitely before they are assembled. Our lead-free boards also store well, but we recommend keeping them wrapped in plastic if they will be stored for more than one month prior to being assembled. |
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