[robomartin]

One of the problems is that the onset of tin whisker growth is stochastic. In other words, we can't predict when they will start growing, it's random. Which means they can start growing in a day, a week, a month or three years.

If I remember correctly, once they start growing the growth rate is reasonably constant and can reach many millimeters per year.

If that doesn't sound bad at all, keep in mind that fine pitch integrated circuit pads in modern electronics could be in the order of 0.2 mm apart. Which means a tin whisker that grows at a rate of 10 mm/year could bridge that gap in about one week.

I could be wrong on this, but it is my opinion we will eventually discover the RoHS initiative backfired and we generated more consumer waste than we every had before RoHS. I still have my 30+ year old HP-41C calculator (as well as a small collection of other HP calculators). They all work perfectly. They don't have lead-free solder. I doubt any RoHS era calculators will be able to survive that long and still work. In other words, we are likely filling our trash dumps at a faster rate than ever before due to RoHS.

RoHS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restriction_of_Hazardous_Subst...