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Contact Frost 19-21 Great Hampton Street,
Birmingham, West Midlands,
B18 6AX, UK.
T: 0121 236 4135
F: 0121 236 5823
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Previous Issues

Electroless Nickel
Frost eNews 02
July 2004
Frost eNews 01
May 2004

End-of-Life Vehicle Regulations & Removal of Hazardous Substances

 

 

e-News

Issue 03

March 2005

 

to the Frost Electroplating newsletter. We offer a comprehensive subcontract electroplating service to customers nationwide. Finishes include Gold, Silver, Tin, Tin/Lead, Nickel and Electroless Nickel. Processes include Barrel, Reel to reel and Vat. Click on our web site link for more information.

» visit our web site here

» contact us here


News

Head Office

If you're an existing Frost customer then we're sure that you will know Sharon Rigby. Sharon deals with the majority of costings and quotations, as well as helping resolve customer's queries and problems. She also looks after a lot of the important 'behind the scenes' administration.

 

Sharon starts her maternity leave on February 26 and we all wish her the very best - we'll miss her (and hope that she chooses to return ).

 

Paula Kelly and Karen Adams will take over much of Sharon's work, assisted (or hindered in some cases) by Michael Griffith and Hedley Fairbotham. While everyone settles into their new roles we'd ask you to bear with us if the quotation turnaround is a little slower than you've come to expect.  We'll do our very best to ensure that our customers are not hindered in any way.

 

 

 

If you would like to speak with our sales team directly please call us on

+44 (0)121 236 4135

 


 

 

The Implications of End-of-Life Vehicle Regulations & Removal of Hazardous Substances

William Southall, 11th January 2005

 

On 3rd November 2003 the End-of-life vehicles regulations came into force in the UK.  From this date producers should have ensured that materials and components of vehicles put on the market do not contain lead, mercury, cadmium or hexavalent chromium except in the cases listed in Schedule 1 of those Regulations.  This schedule of exceptions includes:

Lead containing solder in electronic circuit boards and other electric applications, however it may need to be labeled or made identifiable in accordance with Article 4(2)(b)(iv) of the Directive. NB It is not clear whether this exemption applies to tin-lead electroplating.

 

Hexavalent chromium in corrosion preventative coatings until the 1st July 2007.  NB This exemption applies to hexavalent chromium passivates used on copper, silver and zinc.

A maximum concentration value up to 0.1% by weight and per homogeneous material, for lead, hexavalent chromium and mercury and up to 0.01% by weight and per homogeneous material for cadmium shall be tolerated, provided these substances are not intentionally introduced .  "Intentionally introduced" shall mean "deliberately utilised in the formulation of a material or component where its continued presence is desired in the final product to provide a specific characteristic, appearance or quality".

This requirement has a particular implication for most electroless nickels where cadmium and lead are "deliberately used in the formulation" at a parts per million concentration to achieve brightness and bath stability, although it could be argued that their subsequent inclusion in the deposit is unintentional.

The EC Directive on the Restriction of the Use of Certain Hazardous Substances in Electrical and Electronic Equipment (RoHS) should have been transposed into UK law by 13th August 2004 ( interestingly this has not yet occurred ). This requires that from 1st July 2006 new electrical and electronic equipment put on the market does not contain lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, PBB's or PBDE's.  As yet there are no maximum concentrations per homogeneous materials defined and further exemptions are currently under review. NB If maximum concentrations are not defined, zinc and tin plating would be prohibited due to the very low percentage of cadmium and lead present.

With regard to the finishes Frost Electroplating currently offers we can say the following are compliant;

Specification

Critical Additives

RoHS

LEV

Gold

 

 

 

Hard Gold

Cobalt

ü

ü

Pure Gold

Arsenic

ü

ü

Gold SS Strike

Cobalt

ü

ü

Silver

 

 

 

Semi-bright Silver

Selenium

ü

ü

Semi-bright Silver

Organic

ü

ü

Bright hard Silver

Antimony

ü

ü

Silver Passivates

 

 

 

Degussa 328

Chromium VI

x

x

Evabrite WS

Organic

ü

ü

Bright & Dull Acid Tin

Organic

?

ü

Bright 60/40 & 90/10

Tin-lead

Organic

x

x

Electrolytic Nickels

Lead

ü

ü

Electroless Nickel

 

 

 

Slotonip 2010

Cadmium & Lead

x

?

Slotonip 2110

Organic

ü

ü

Copper

Organic

ü

ü

We aim to eliminate the Degussa 328 passivate within a very short timescale.

Slotonip 2010 will remain until it is clear where it stands in relation to the end of life directive. The alternative is significantly more expensive and produces a much less bright finish.

The ongoing review of exceptions and concentrations with regard to the RoHS directive means that the situation may well change. We aim to provide updates in future newsletters.    

We HOLD precious metal prices each month

A significant amount of our plating is in Gold and Silver. The prices of these precious metals fluctuate and our plating prices are adjusted in line. In order to try to achieve some stability for our customers, we set prices at the beginning of each month and hold them throughout that month. After significant increases in the Silver price in April, the price has stabilised at a much lower level over he following three months.

     

» visit our web site here

» contact us here

 

If you would like to speak with our sales team directly please call us on

+44 (0)121 236 4135 to contact:

Michael Griffith

Marketing Director  

Hedley Fairbotham

Sales Manager  

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N T Frost Ltd, Great Hampton Street, Birmingham B18 6AX