Compliance with Electronics International Standards can be Fatal to Control Equipment

Electronic control equipment has been used for several decades to control processes and enhance yields in the pulp and paper industry.  Control rooms housing electronic equipment typically classify the environment by the ISA 71.04 standard for environments of electronic control equipment.  This has served the industry well for a period of time.

However, the RoHS requirements have caused many electronic equipment manufacturers to change from lead solder to other types of solder which are more susceptible to corrosion from the environment.  These include methods such as immersion silver.  These types of connections can fail quickly in low G2 and G1 environments, previously thought to cause problems only after long periods of time.

This paper will present the historical relationship of corrosion to equipment reliability and the more current problems that have occurred on RoHS compliant circuitry.