Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Tele man
...ask the military and aerospace boys about "tin whiskers" as we've been aware and fighting this issue since the 1980's. It's not a good thing to have a multi-billion dollar satellite sudden "die" in space because a 'whisker' has grown long enough to contact something it shouldn't; nor to have your air-to-missle go "ballistic" instead of chasing the enemy during an aerial dogfight.
...ironically, the medical business (pacemakers, defibrillators, etc.) hasn't had 'whisker' problems (yet).
|
Military and Aerospace has been dealing with it for far longer than that.
Medical equipment tends to be at a constant temperature and free from vibration where as Military/Aerospace, and many consumer products will see wide temperature swings as well as high vibration/shock which accelerates whisker growth. Also the lead free solders typically are less durable mechanically under those types of stress.