Vactrols Gone?

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rlaury

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Joined
Jun 5, 2004
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331
Location
Nashville, Tn
I found out Perkin Elmer sold their Vactrol line. Who ever bought it has since sold it again.
Does anybody know if anybody is making them now?
 
It looks like they stopped making the Vactrol brand, mostly thanks to the EU doing a total ban on the Cadmium used in LDRs.

I think this thread has the most current info:
https://groupdiy.com/index.php?topic=63974.0
 
I think the last company holding the brand was "Excelitas" - and yep, I think the above thread explains all.

All you can still get are Chinese vactrol lookalikes, but they are becoming VERY unpredictable lately, after "real" sources dried out, and prices sky-rocketed.

Jakob E.
 
I am in need of two VTL5C3's.  Anyone willing to part with them?  For a Mutron III pedal build. 

Thanks.

Ry
 
maplins in uk are doing the vtl5c3 for £3 at the moment

xvive brought the factory line and are doing rohs versions

i have had a big batch of samples they dont use the same led but a brighter one which gives them a longer release you have to trim the current to get them to perform the same so there not direct drop in replacement but for new circuits they work great.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/poa9pu684oyes19/Down%20Like%20Rain%201.wav?dl=0
 
jhulk said:
xvive brought the factory line and are doing rohs versions

Sadly, the rohs-compability seems to be an outright lie - there has never yet been any compliant optos. Yes, some companies claim to be compliant, but it always turns out to be by cheating on certification - like e.g. "Macron" who tried to corner the market by claiming compatibility at the EU stakeholder hearings (and who later was found to be fraud).

Jakob E.
 
gyraf said:
Sadly, the rohs-compability seems to be an outright lie - there has never yet been any compliant optos. Yes, some companies claim to be compliant, but it always turns out to be by cheating on certification - like e.g. "Macron" who tried to corner the market by claiming compatibility at the EU stakeholder hearings (and who later was found to be fraud).

Jakob E.

That mean the dead of opto based gear?
 
Nah, You can still buy LDR's from china by the metric tonne if you want them.
It just means your gear won't be ROHS compliant...But who cares about that crap anyway?

A little bit more cadmium or lead (or whatever) is nothing compared to regular lungfuls of city air.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-38529928
 
Well yes, you can still get the crappy ones from China.

But.

You can't get the predictable and known-good types. And you can't sell anything that uses them.


Jakob E.
 
"Well yes, you can still get the crappy ones from China"

Redesignate Vactrols as  Solar powered as they have"approximately 23 grams of cadmium per kilowatt installed for CdTe panels." and advertise them as Low in Cadmium, and Gluten free
 
ROHS is self compliance. Commercial products that don't regularly end up in the dumpster
can contain trace amounts of restricted elements. The spirit of the rule is to restrict consumer
items like PC's, Cell Phones, and other consumer throw away items.

gyraf said:
Well yes, you can still get the crappy ones from China.

But.

You can't get the predictable and known-good types. And you can't sell anything that uses them.


Jakob E.
 
ROHS is self compliance. Commercial products that don't regularly end up in the dumpster
can contain trace amounts of restricted elements. The spirit of the rule is to restrict consumer
items

No, you're probably confusing ROHS with the CE-marking, which is self-certified. Rohs/Weee is mandatory for any and all electronics imported into or sold inside EU. In short, optical compressors can no longer be sold in the EU.

In the case of LDR's, acceptable "trace amounts" means less than 100ppm Cd in what is called " separable components" - that is, what you can get to with a sharp knife. That can't be done, as the Cd must be in an uniform layer just below clear coating (and thus easily separated mechanically)

And again, NO ONE has EVER demonstrated a LDR that proved compliant at a closer look.

I'm planning on trying to get around this in upcoming G24 by having a separate module containing the optronics, and only lease this to customers, on recall when (Read:if) an alternative is eventually found. This probably not all easy, but the best i can do for now.


Jakob E.
 
Harsh-use photo-Rs were in a metal can with a glass window.

Photoresistor-300x300.jpg
 
5329mm_Metal_Cap_Photoresistor.jpg
 
Photoresistor-Ldr-Photo-Resistors-Light-Dependent-with-Metal-Case-HW-MJ55-.jpg


If you can get (or make) such packaging today, and put the clear-dip-coat photo-R inside, will it pass the sharp knife test?
 
I hear different interpretations on rohs and what it means from different people...
Like most government paperwork it's hard to follow.  From my experience we have yet to run into an issue with our optical compressor designs. we are using vtl5c1's across the line  and have yet to have any issues with stuff going across the pond and points beyond in Europe.

Could it be that this is due to designs that would have been grandfathered in, i.e. old designs? We try to be as rosh compliment as possible but we still use  the above mentioned vtl5c1 ldr's

Having talked with various engineers I get the impression that  anyone from the U.S. is not real clear as to what the law states other then use lead free solder and lead free components. 

Some say that you can't  use ldr's, others say that a tiny % of the design can have none rosh stuff. For example you can't sell an LDR in europe if it is none rosh but you can use  a none rosh in a design.

I have no idea what it really is supposed to be, can't say it's been a problem as of yet but you never know.
 
It would be interesting to read official statements of the bigger manufactures still using them (Avalon, Manley, Millenia Media).
My guess is they either don't know, or don't care.
I pointed a german magazine to this situation, but I don't know if they will do a research and article about it.

Besides legal stuff there is still the fact that we can't buy them anymore since they are not manufactured anymore (with the China versions not being the same).
 

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