New "DigiKey Standard" Items (and a RoHS warning!) - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: cestevens
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: May 01, 2025, 07:05:04 pm
content: Per a marketing email earlier today it seems like DigiKey is trying to go the route of Amazon Basics white labeling items.While I have no issue with this in theory, I happened to be looking at solder pastes and discovered you will have to be careful to double check even DigiKey's own items against their datasheets.The "DigiKey Standard" solder (which is a slightly worse ChipQuic SMD291AXT4 for the record) is listed as RoHS compliant, despite their own datasheet saying the opposite!Granted, reading the datasheet I imagine perhaps nobody at DigiKey did so, as it is nearly a word for work copy of the ChipQuic part they are white labeling.It seems likely they copied the part information wholesale as well, given the ChipQuic part is also incorrectly marked as RoHS compliant.I did my duty as a good samaritan and sent in the incorrect product data reports, but figured it warrants spreading the word (even if I can't imagine many here mistaking lead as RoHS compliant).

author: Rat_Patrol
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 01, 2025, 07:12:31 pm
content: Interesting. I'll have to check out their solder.

author: cestevens
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: May 01, 2025, 07:25:59 pm
content: To each their own I suppose. I haven't looked at the spool they sell, but the paste is a poor deal I think.T3 mesh vs T4 on actual ChipQuic, and more expensive at anything less than QTY 25 (DigiKey $23.55usd vs ChipQuic $17.99usd for QTY 1 as of writing).Given the full scale copy paste of datasheets occurring I'd be near certain it is that ChipQuic part though.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 01, 2025, 07:29:40 pm
content: No link to the product, no datasheet. Complains about guess what. This one clearly says it's not rohs complianthttps://mm.digikey.com/Volume0/opasdata/d220001/medias/docus/6658/4957_DKS_SolderPaste_15G_DS_v2.pdf

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 01, 2025, 07:47:50 pm
content: I assume the email says more or less the same thing as their press release:https://www.digikey.com/en/news/press-releases/2025/may/digikey-unveils-digikey-standard-product-portfolioWhat is perplexing to me is that they only made the announcement today, since the announcement itself says that their first DigiKey Standard product was introduced in 2022, which according to my math…isnottoday.What I at least appreciate about it is that they made it absolutely unmistakably clear that it is their house brand, as opposed to every other distributor with a house brand (except for RS), which come up with one (or many) brand names for its house brands, to make you not realize it’s just their house brand.DigiKey: DigiKey StandardRS: RS Pro*Farnell: Multicomp Pro (formerly: Multicomp, Duratool, Tenma, Pro-Power, Pro-Elec and Pro-Signal)Distrelec: RND (old)**, RS Pro (new)*Reichelt: RND (old)**Conrad: Voltcraft, Reely, sygonix, toolcraft, renkforce, speaka, TRU Components, basetech (old), maker factory (old)*RS recently acquired Distrelec, so is transitioning it away from its previous house brand**For a little while, Distrelec and Reichelt were owned by the same company, so Reichelt briefly carried a few RND products. Most RND products have been discontinued and put on clearance, so I assume it’s dead.What surprises me about RS Pro in particular is that they really are just rebadging (or sometimes just repackaging!) name-brand products. They’re rarely cheaper, and often even more than the name brand, so what is the point?!? I assume DigiKey Standard is going this route.I, for one, am always hesitant to buy house brand stuff, simply because of long-term availability and consistency, and usually inferior datasheets. I’d rather pay a smidgen more to know exactly what I’m getting, without the risk of them changing suppliers down the line that changes the product in some subtle way.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 01, 2025, 07:53:00 pm
content: Quote from: cestevens on May 01, 2025, 07:25:59 pmFYI, it’s ChipQuik, not ChipQuic.But yeah, I don’t see the point, either, price wise.As for solder paste mesh: Don’t make the mistake of assuming that because a finer mesh costs more, that it is better. You want to use thecoarsestmesh you can get away with for your application. Finer mesh leads to more solder ball formation, and reduces the paste’s shelf life because of the higher surface-area-to-volume ratio (because the solder balls do oxidize in the paste, so small balls get attacked much worse). So if you are using fine-pitch components thatneedthe finer mesh, by all means use it, but don’t intentionally choose it for applications that don’t need it.

author: cestevens
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: May 01, 2025, 09:12:19 pm
content: QuoteMy apologies on lacking links, as you can see I haven't posted much so I defaulted to hesitancy with adding links.I'm quite aware though that the part in question(https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/digikey/DKS-SOLDERPASTE15G/16619300) had that information in the datasheet, that's what I listed in the incorrect information report.The issue was it showed up while filtering for RoHS compliant solder paste due to the wrong attribute in their system for "Environmental & Export Classifications" on the product link, same as the ChipQuik(thank you for the catch tooki).While luckily DigiKey fixed the information within ~1hr from the report, I've had the occasional overzealous purchaser who buys items without me responding to their email if it would be a usable equivalent, who I could see being duped into assuming the product page is correct given the house brand.Perhaps I've just been unlucky on that purchaser front.QuoteGood to know!

author: thm_w
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 01, 2025, 09:30:43 pm
content: https://www.digikey.com/en/supplier-centers/digikey-standardThe breadboards make sense. Ordering generic parts from Adafruit/etc like this and then reselling them on digikey doesn't add up. How can you make money on a $2 item like that?https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/adafruit-industries-llc/1957/6827090https://www.adafruit.com/product/1957Solderpaste makes no sense to me as wellhttps://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/chip-quik-inc/SMD291AX/1160002https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/digikey/DKS-SOLDERPASTE15G/16619300

author: mtwieg
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 02, 2025, 11:36:35 am
content: Somewhat related, if you care about REACH compliance, then you should know that Digikey does have a "REACH Status" attribute under "Environmental & Export Classifications," just like "RoHS Status". ButDigikey's REACH status is not to be trusted, under any circumstances.For example, for that same solder it says "REACH Unaffected," completely ridiculous. Their own datasheet doesn't screw this up, but their product attributes doMouser also has a field for REACH compliance, and IME is more reliable. The field is often blank or missing, meaning they don't have an answer. But when the field is present, it seems to be correct. Digikey on the other hand seems to have just defaulted everything to "REACH unaffected".

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 02, 2025, 12:28:41 pm
content: Quote from: cestevens on May 01, 2025, 09:12:19 pmDunno what was there on the product page but datasheet has it correctly. Also one need to be totally clueless to think SnPb solder can be actually RoHS compliant. Overall one should never trust those descriptions anyway and check the datasheet as errors in distributor's descriptions are very common. They're only good for a quick glance when searching for selection candidate items.

author: Simmed
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 02, 2025, 01:09:34 pm
content: Quote from: mtwieg on May 02, 2025, 11:36:35 amenforcement fines are lowi think if it was higher, things would become too expensiveend users ultimately pay for all these costs anyway

author: woody
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 02, 2025, 02:12:15 pm
content: Quote from: mtwieg on May 02, 2025, 11:36:35 amI was under the impression that REACH only was of interest when I either produce or import more that a 1000 kg per year of a given compound, so I figured that the 300 grams of solder I use per year does not fall under this direction.And indeed, Digikey does state 'REACH unaffected' for TS391SNL50 in a 50 gram jar, which makes sense. However, the DS of the same solder states that it is REACH compliant, not unaffected, for the same jar size. Now I am confused.

author: mtwieg
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 02, 2025, 03:23:21 pm
content: Quote from: woody on May 02, 2025, 02:12:15 pmMy understanding is that the 1 ton minimum is only relevant only to your obligation toregister with the ECHA. All the other regulations of REACH still apply. For example, you are still obligated to inform recipients/consumers of any SVHC over 0.1% perarticle 33.QuoteREACH is really confusing. Do not think of it as being similar to RoHS.My view is that REACH "compliance" is meant to describe suppliers/manufacturers, not the goods/substances they produce. For example, if I make a request to ChipQuik for information on SVHC content in part number TS391SNL50 (a lead-free paste), and they don't comply within 45 days, then ChipQuick is not in compliance. On the other hand, if I make the same request about part number SMD291AX50T3 (a leaded paste) and they respond "Yes you idiot, this has a bunch of lead in it", then ChipQuick is in compliance.Describing the articles/substances themselves isn't a simple binary of compliant or not (unless the supplier just can't provide any info, in which case I would describe it as not compliant). You describe them by whether they contain any SVHC, and what lists/articles those SVHC fall under (candidate list, authorization list/restricted list, etc).