Back when I was working in a electronics company in 2004, we had a new directive coming in - RoHS. Since then, we were forced to use Lead Free solder. I understand the dangers of lead poisoning. But we always had trouble using the lead free solder. It melts at a higher temperature, so we had to heat up our iron to a higher temperature, but then, the copper tracks on the pcb became easier to peel off due to this. Further more our iron tips got corroded way faster. But i read about lead free specific iron tips recently, guess that is no longer a problem. But how is the latest lead free solder these days? Does it still need a higher temperature to work with? Is there any latest technology in lead free solder that maybe allow us to use at similar temperature as the leaded one?

Back when I was working in a electronics company in 2004, we had a new directive coming in - RoHS. Since then, we were forced to use lead free solder. I understand the dangers of lead poisoning, but we always had trouble using the lead free solder. It melts at a higher temperature, so we had to heat up our iron to a higher temperature, but then, the copper tracks on the PCB became easier to peel off due to this. Further more our iron tips got corroded way faster. I read about lead free specific iron tips recently, guess that is no longer a problem. How is the latest lead free solder these days? Does it still need a higher temperature to work with? Is there any latest technology in lead free solder that maybe allow us to use at similar temperature as the leaded one?