Eddy Electronics does things differently, for good reason (How and why)

Durable Copper Plating

Conventional pattern plating in an acid bath is a difficult process to control.  The surface to be plated must be computed accurately, and limitations are placed on applications that require durablity or operate at extreme temperatures.  Also, brighteners and additives can cause unseen failures like cracking, due to Z axis expansion or separation of the plated copper from the base copper or hole wall.  Further, the waste products with additives from acid baths are difficult to dispose of.

Eddy Electronics avoids all of these problems by implementing a pyrophosphate copper plating bath as opposed to the acid bath.  Pyrophosphate plating produces copper of exceptional ductility and elongation strength (i.e. elastic, will not crack).  In a pyrophosphate bath, panel plating is used as opposed to pattern plating, which avoids the need for any calculations.  Pyrophosphates are far less damaging to the environment, as they are easily recycled and replenished, rather than routinely flushed.

Efficient Copper Etching

Compared with conventional methods, our high efficiency etching consumes less energy and chemicals per ounce of copper, is less toxic and is completely recycleable.

High Performance Surface Finishes

The electronics packaging industry is keenly pursuing new alternatives to tin/lead plating and solder.  As a conventionally made panel cools after reflowing, warpage can occur if there is a difference in conductor density between sides.  A ground plane on one side of a board can cause a bend as the solder freezes.  Large areas of solder can cause areas of soldermask to chip off and allow potential shorts during wave soldering.

Eddy Electronics' silver immersion process offers high quality alternatives to tin-lead.  Our silver coating outperforms nearly all other lead free alternatives: tin, organic coatings, palladium, nickel gold, nickel tin, and bare copper.

Environmentally Safe Materials

Tin-Lead plating is no longer the only option for surface finishing.  Environmentally, this old standard has been our industry's greatest liability.  A conventional circuit shop produces hazardous toxic waste from plating, rinse, reflow and etch which all contain lead.  The boards become hazardous waste even as they come to the end of their service life.  This waste takes the form of gaseous exhaust, liquid effluent and solid waste and can be very complicated to treat.  Unfortunately, in many countries this waste is simply discarded.

Our silver has none of these environmental hazards.

Recyclable Waste Products

Our claim is probably unique: all of our metallic waste is recyclable.  In our processes, waste exists only in recyclable form.  Our competitors accumulate metal solids and sludge.  All of our processes are selected for their lowest possible environmental impact and highest possible quality.