Indeed. For those of us in the UK: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/312232426709
Edit: to note, if I buy it through my Ltd company and then sell it to someone I can be fined up to £20,000. Fun fun fun.
You can work around it as RoHS exemption is possible under "Equipment designed for research and development"
So then, are they effectively saying that lead-free solder is effectively a one time use only and that if you need to do a repair on it, you're out of luck?
and this is progress ![Face Palm :palm:](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/facepalm.gif)
Ummm..... no. It is illegal for any business to repair ROHS-compliant electronics using lead-bearing solder and components. Has been for a decade or more over here; I expect you scone-eaters have similar lawyery on the books by now. You are expected to invest in tooling and training to properly repair lead-free soldered devices. Just because it's MORE DIFFICULT to perform repairs with lead-free doesn't mean it's impossible.
The problem case is older stuff that
shouldn't (not CAN'T) be repaired using lead-free because they use prehistoric phenolic PCBs and such crap. At some point those actually interested in protecting the safety of the public do have to write that ancient stuff off; for the most part it is already in landfills and it is only us weirdos who want to keep it working. We are the statistically insignificant outliers, and if we wish to continue to pursue our hobby, we need to either step up to the modern standard or devise something else (like high-silver-content lead-free solder and soldering techniques) that makes such repairs safe-ish.
I remember the same exact arguments going on decades ago when they took the antimony and volatile organic acids out of lead-bearing solder; people running around with their hair on fire screaming we'd never be able to fix things again.
![Face Palm :palm:](https://www.eevblog.com/forum/Smileys/default/facepalm.gif)
I've personally absorbed Ifni-knows-how-much-lead over the last 40 years; if we'd been half as concerned when the discovery of how much damage lead caused (which happened while I was still in diapers) as we claim to be now, I might not be a CRS-crippled old fart already.
mnem
WhaaWeTalkinAbout...?
mnem
Who are you and why are you on my TV?