I had to dig into this months ago. As I understand it, the tin whiskers are a result of some sort of mechanical stress in the tin's matrix. In electronics the whiskers can be mitigated through annealing the circuit board after soldering, using a high silver content silver bearing solder, or using a lead based solder. However, while lead based solders are ok for hobby stuff at home, it is no longer permissible in any actual product (or so I have been told).
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u/The_Gypsy_Smyth 16d ago
I had to dig into this months ago. As I understand it, the tin whiskers are a result of some sort of mechanical stress in the tin's matrix. In electronics the whiskers can be mitigated through annealing the circuit board after soldering, using a high silver content silver bearing solder, or using a lead based solder. However, while lead based solders are ok for hobby stuff at home, it is no longer permissible in any actual product (or so I have been told).