Pb-Free Soldering Iron Temperature Controller

Abstract

Recently, much importance has been attached to the environmental problem. The content of two directives to better control the management of waste electronic equipment was approved. The two directives are the Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and the Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS). These set phase-out dates for the use of lead materials contained in electronic products. Increasingly, attention is focusing on the potential use of Pb-free soldering in electronics manufacturing. It should be noted that many of the current solding irons are not suitable for Pb-free technology, due to the inferior wetting ability of Pb-free alloys compared with SnPb solder pastes. This paper presents a Pb-free soldering iron temperature controller using an embedded micro-processor with a low memory capacity.