Inrush current limiters & NTC thermistors achieve RoHS 2 compliance

Dangerous substances commonly used in electrical and electronic equipment — including heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, and hexavalent chromium, as well as flame retardants such as polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE) — pose environmental and health risks. The main objective of RoHS 2 (Directive 2011/65/EU) is to restrict their use in products sold in the European Union. Exemptions include:

• Exemption 7a: Lead in high melting temperature type solders (lead-based alloys containing 85% by weight or more lead).
• Exemption 7(c)-1: Electrical and electronic components containing lead in a glass or ceramic other than dielectric ceramic in capacitors (piezoelectronic devices) or in a glass or ceramic matrix compound.

"With the introduction of RoHS 2, restrictions on hazardous materials have been broadened to additional product categories — such as medical devices and monitoring and control instruments — and the first deadlines for subcategories are quickly approaching," said Eric Rauch, president and CEO of Ametherm. "For our OEM customers in Europe or who import to the region, it is essential to have a reliable supply of RoHS-compliant components in place. We are proud to be leading the way for the thermistor industry, offering a wide variety of our most popular NTC thermistors and inrush current limiters."

Ametherm's lineup of RoHS-compliant components includes the bigAMP, miniAMP, AS, MegaSurge™, and SURGE-GARD™ series of inrush current limiters for circuit protection. NTC thermistors include a variety of probe assembly types for high-accuracy temperature compensation and measurement.