Really RS Components, I am not allowed to order solder anymore??

[m98]

In our country, it seems all you need is a license number (in fact you can be a freelaancer - with your own VAT number, but you still need to register a license for electricals, meaning you need at least an official electrical education -  meaning a random Joe can't get that kind of license).

So you need to be a licensed professional of a profession that doesn't usually solder?

[penfold]

As children, we smashed old batteries, shook the plates out of them with our bare hands, and melted them on the bonfire... 

My generation is not impressed by anything. But people are getting weaker and more afraid of everything. 

No, people are getting stronger by eliminating completely unnecessary toxins.
....
....

Being less afraid does allow for a much greater degree of pragmatism and avoidance of blanket rules, and maybe a little understanding that perhaps the kind of consumer who who would intentionally purchase leaded solder from RS is probably knowledgeable enough not to start using it as salad garnish, and, even if they did, is unlikely to use the remainder to hand solder a sufficient number of boards to cause any significant contamination

[Yansi]

In our country, it seems all you need is a license number (in fact you can be a freelaancer - with your own VAT number, but you still need to register a license for electricals, meaning you need at least an official electrical education -  meaning a random Joe can't get that kind of license).

So you need to be a licensed professional of a profession that doesn't usually solder?

Strictly looking at the law, you need to be registered as a person working as a licensed electrician. To be one of them, you need a formal education related to electrical.  So the license really covers a broad  spectrum of people from "real electricians", across "electrical project managers" up to those electronics guys working in a lab enviroment with hteir soldering irons and osmellocscopes.

But to be honest, I am not sure, that is my explanation of the law. It may even be, that a "lead proffessional" may only be a licensed chemist wearing hazmat suit. One does not really tell, with that kind of shitlaws we have (or the SU is trying to push).

[themadhippy]

The EU would shit a brick if the job my dad spent 10+years doing still existed,he spent 8 hours a day  chucking lead ingots into a melting pot  to make lead oxide,his H+S gear was a pair of gloves , a dust mask and  a pint of milk a day.Regular health checks were carried out on all the staff and i don't recall there ever being any problems

[S. Petrukhin]

I think that in Europe and America there are already quite a lot of people from another culture, where they are not so sensitive to the environment. Therefore, it is not reasonable to rely on culture and it is necessary to regulate it by law.

In addition, it is necessary to keep the business on a leash, without this, for the sake of profit, no one will limit themselves.

The human body is a fairly stable and protected system, capable of recovery within certain limits. Therefore, playing at home with a solder coil can be completely safe, but a nearby factory that regularly exudes pollution for a long time is a problem.

[woody]

The human body is a fairly stable and protected system, capable of recovery within certain limits. Therefore, playing at home with a solder coil can be completely safe, but a nearby factory that regularly exudes pollution for a long time is a problem.

If i am not mistaken the whole anti-lead-solder policy is not meant to protect the people using it; it is primarily meant to prevent lead entering the environment when the devices in which it is used are scrapped and / or burned. But I could be wrong 

[DenzilPenberthy]

The human body is a fairly stable and protected system, capable of recovery within certain limits. Therefore, playing at home with a solder coil can be completely safe, but a nearby factory that regularly exudes pollution for a long time is a problem.

If i am not mistaken the whole anti-lead-solder policy is not meant to protect the people using it; it is primarily meant to prevent lead entering the environment when the devices in which it is used are scrapped and / or burned. But I could be wrong 

You are entirely correct.  Which is why lead flashing is not such a problem. It stays in large sheets which get recycled.  Domestic use of lead solder will end up in landfill.  All of my bench sweepings at work get dealt with in the same waste stream as other electronics waste.  How many home-gamers have a dedicated waste bin for solder scraps that gets properly dealt with by a licensed hazardous waste contractor?? 0%?

[Monkeh]

The human body is a fairly stable and protected system, capable of recovery within certain limits. Therefore, playing at home with a solder coil can be completely safe, but a nearby factory that regularly exudes pollution for a long time is a problem.

If i am not mistaken the whole anti-lead-solder policy is not meant to protect the people using it; it is primarily meant to prevent lead entering the environment when the devices in which it is used are scrapped and / or burned. But I could be wrong 

You are entirely correct.  Which is why lead flashing is not such a problem. It stays in large sheets which get recycled.  Domestic use of lead solder will end up in landfill.  All of my bench sweepings at work get dealt with in the same waste stream as other electronics waste.  How many home-gamers have a dedicated waste bin for solder scraps that gets properly dealt with by a licensed hazardous waste contractor?? 0%?

But The Man is infringing on our rights to not adapt our soldering techniques!

[penfold]

The human body is a fairly stable and protected system, capable of recovery within certain limits. Therefore, playing at home with a solder coil can be completely safe, but a nearby factory that regularly exudes pollution for a long time is a problem.

If i am not mistaken the whole anti-lead-solder policy is not meant to protect the people using it; it is primarily meant to prevent lead entering the environment when the devices in which it is used are scrapped and / or burned. But I could be wrong 

You are entirely correct.  Which is why lead flashing is not such a problem. It stays in large sheets which get recycled.  Domestic use of lead solder will end up in landfill.  All of my bench sweepings at work get dealt with in the same waste stream as other electronics waste.  How many home-gamers have a dedicated waste bin for solder scraps that gets properly dealt with by a licensed hazardous waste contractor?? 0%?

I live in an area where the non-recyclables go through an incinerator for heat and power... I'm not defending it, just being pedantic, at least I don't need to worry about my leaded-waste contaminating landfill leachate... I just hold me breath on days the wind is in my direction

[Syntax Error]

I just typed "lead free solder" into ebay, because I want RoHS solder, and found most sellers are still listing 60/40. One stated, "this [leaded] solder is suitable for all lead and lead free soldering electronics." So you might want to start looking there?

I wonder if anyone has some "low-alpha lead solder" going cheap?

[G7PSK]

And you're not even living in EU... those fuckturd want to even ban lead ammunition. (To be replaced by much more dangerous steel one)

The British army were considering banning lead 20 years ago due to it beeing "hazedous to health" Like it made much difference to you when travelling through you at supersonic speeds.

[magic]

IIRC this particular ban was enacted (3 years ago ) because some overzealous Swedish politician couldn't live with the cognitive dissonance that the EU has some general policy somewhere of banning sales of any teratogens to consumers and lead is a known teratogen. So its nothing really serious and without any explicit aim.

As others remarked, plenty of lead in all forms is still available on auction sites because nobody cares. If there is something that the EUSSR actually genuinely really seriously cares about, like nitric acid, rest assured you won't find it on auction sites.

[Monkeh]

And you're not even living in EU... those fuckturd want to even ban lead ammunition. (To be replaced by much more dangerous steel one)

The British army were considering banning lead 20 years ago due to it beeing "hazedous to health" Like it made much difference to you when travelling through you at supersonic speeds.

Actually the concern in that regard is lead dust on indoor ranges. Adequate ventilation is a sufficient solution, however.

[tooki]

The human body is a fairly stable and protected system, capable of recovery within certain limits. Therefore, playing at home with a solder coil can be completely safe, but a nearby factory that regularly exudes pollution for a long time is a problem.

If i am not mistaken the whole anti-lead-solder policy is not meant to protect the people using it; it is primarily meant to prevent lead entering the environment when the devices in which it is used are scrapped and / or burned. But I could be wrong 

Two regulations are at work:
RoHS (which required lead solder to be eliminated from new products) is about environmental protection.
REACH (which restricts the sale of lead solder to consumers) is about consumer safety.

[magic]

And neither applies to this case. Or maybe REACH does, I don't remember. It's not RoHS related, at any rate.

Yeah, sorry, it's REACH indeed.
https://ila-reach.org/2018/01/new-restrictions-and-labelling-requirements-affect-lead-from-march-1-2018/

Not sure how it applies to customers from Australia, I think it isn't supposed to

[Monkeh]

The human body is a fairly stable and protected system, capable of recovery within certain limits. Therefore, playing at home with a solder coil can be completely safe, but a nearby factory that regularly exudes pollution for a long time is a problem.

If i am not mistaken the whole anti-lead-solder policy is not meant to protect the people using it; it is primarily meant to prevent lead entering the environment when the devices in which it is used are scrapped and / or burned. But I could be wrong 

Two regulations are at work:
RoHS (which required lead solder to be eliminated from new products) is about environmental protection.
REACH (which restricts the sale of lead solder to consumers) is about consumer safety.

And realistically we're the unfortunate collateral in the latter. Realistically most 'consumers' using lead solder are not in any serious danger, however we're also a piddly minority. Industry has switched away from leaded solder and the world hasn't ended, so why should there be an exception to the rules for a few stubborn users?

[tooki]

Well, the big, legitimate exception is for repairs: since a) alloys with only trace amounts of lead (as happens when residual lead solder mixes into a lead-free joint) are brittle, and b) components and PCBs designed for lead solder may not withstand the higher temperatures of lead-free soldering, it is highly inadvisable to use lead-free solder to repair devices originally assembled with lead solder. That’s why RoHS expressly permits lead solder to be used for repairs, and for lead solder to be sold. (It only bans its use in new products.)

REACH, having entirely different ambitions, makes no such distinction. Stupid IMHO.

[S. Petrukhin]

REACH, having entirely different ambitions, makes no such distinction. Stupid IMHO.

It is not stupid, it fits into modern politics: you do not need to repair, buy new things, otherwise the economy will be sated and collapse, and the money bags will not be able to get their next billion. 

[CatalinaWOW]

Lead is harmful.  In sufficient quantities.  But even when lead was used freely everywhere most people saw no detectable problems with lead poisoning.  But those who lived near heavily travelled roads did suffer from the tetraethyl lead used in gasoline.  Some, but not all people who had lead pipe plumbing had problems. Depended on both the water chemistry and their usage pattern (water dwell time in the pipes).   And children who ate dirt around lead painted houses and chewed on the walls of such houses.

By quantity lead in gasoline was by far the most usage.  Orders of magnitude greater than others.  Paint and plumbing next.  Lead in ammunition was down the list.  Electronics some where down in the decimal places.  We have long since eliminated all of the real problems with lead exposure.  These residual attacks on any lead use at all are a combination of theater and lack of understanding.

[magic]

It's neither theater nor lack of understanding - it's bureaucracy. Once you create it, it gets a life of its own.
In this case, they made some rules, they follow the rules.  That's all it takes, nobody cares about lead.

[penfold]

...it's bureaucracy. ...

That's the trouble with society, we should have seen this coming, its always the bureaucrats who take the lead...

[S. Petrukhin]

It's neither theater nor lack of understanding - it's bureaucracy. Once you create it, it gets a life of its own.
In this case, they made some rules, they follow the rules.  That's all it takes, nobody cares about lead.

It seems to me from the outside that the European bureaucracy is successfully moving along the path of the USSR and is already surpassing it.

[magic]

...it's bureaucracy. ...

That's the trouble with society, we should have seen this coming, its always the bureaucrats who take the lead...

If I started a poll, most users of this forum would likely be in favor of banning sales of teratogens to consumers. Think of the children, think of the terrorist, think of
And it's the same everywhere and these are the people who then go on to elect those bureaucratic politicians and get what they deserve.

As they say, monarchy can be good or evil depending on the ruler, but democracy is always dumb

[themadhippy]

Next they'll be banning dihydrogen monoxide  ,i meen it sounds pretty nasty stuff as it  kills thousands of people every year.Prolonged exposure to its solid form causes severe tissue damage. Symptoms of dihydrogen monoxide ingestion can include excessive sweating and urination, and possibly a bloated feeling, nausea, vomiting and body electrolyte imbalance.  dihydrogen monoxide  withdrawal means certain death. And lets not forget it accelerates corrosion and rusting of many metals,it can cause electrical failures and decreased effectiveness of vehicle brakes.It  is the major component of acid rain and is used as an industrial coolant

[tooki]

...it's bureaucracy. ...

That's the trouble with society, we should have seen this coming, its always the bureaucrats who take the lead...

If I started a poll, most users of this forum would likely be in favor of banning sales of teratogens to consumers.

I very much doubt that. I think this forum leans quite heavily on the side of personal responsibility and away from heavy regulation.

What I think most people would agree with is banning dangerous ingredients in consumer products that people expect to be inherently safe, like toys, clothing, toiletries, food, etc.

So no lead allowed in toys, but lead solder allowed.