Solderfumes ?

[Juergen Knoop]

too much weight myself!
regards

[despotic931]

Originally posted by audio-kraut


Then stop soldering
Lead in gasoline was not lead as metal particles, it was lead as tetra-ethyl lead.

The combustion would lead to production of lead and lead oxide, fouling up the engine. Therefore lead was captured by substances "scavenging" the lead and pumping it out with the exhaust.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetra-ethyl_lead

Soldering does not "lead" to the production of airborne lead.

I never meant that soldering would produce airborne lead. I realize I never stated my opinion, and my post made it seem I believed it would, but I was really just proving that lead could become airborne. Granted it's not little particles of lead, but the element's atoms are still airborne, and that's what the post I was responding to was questioning. Hehe, sorry I had to respond to this so I didn't feel stupid.

[TroelsM]

OK. It might be harmfull and it might not.

I would still like to try and remove some of the fumes/smell/lead/whatever.

Do you think that the "carbon filters" that are used in range hoods would do any usefull filtering of the fumes?

Thanks for all the replys and oppinions.

Regards TroelsM

[peranders]

How much are you soldering?

If you work in production and solder a lot you should have a good ventilation but for hobby I'll guess it's more hamrful to smoke cigaretts.

If you are worried about lead you could switch over to lead free solder.

[TroelsM]

Hi.

I'm soldering very little these days, but I'm living with a GF that cares for me, and she gets a bit woried each time there's a "solder-sent" in the apartment.

In order to remove any (small) danger and keep the peace I would like to give it a try a fan+filter-thingy solution.

Yes, its most likely far more harmfull to smoke cigaretts, but what's the point? It would also be pretty bad to eat lead, but I don't do that either.

Regards TroelsM

[spzzzzkt]

I've found that soldering has been irritating my eyes, and that I was getting a nasty taste in my mouth the day after when using lead free solder.

In the end I decided either I get an extractor or give up soldering, so I gave in and bought a Hakko smoke extractor (and Hakko soldering station which is fantastic). The extractor has made soldering a whole lot more pleasant and seems to reduce the level of solder "scent". The GF is happier too.

http://www.hakkousa.com/detail.asp?C...PID=702&Page=1

It's pretty quite in use so I'm not tempted to turn it off when I'm mounting components between soldering sessions.

[dangus]

I've also gone with the computer fan (salvaged power supply fan), preferably with a grille on both sides. Run a 12V fan off 7 or 8 volts (from an old cellphone charger) and it is nearly inaudible, but still moves enough air to be helpful. My eyes would get irritated from the flux smoke/fumes when doing a lot of soldering (10 boards in a row).

[steenoe]

To get rid of the solder fumes in the apartment, you could do the soldering in the kitchen. Make a workspace on the cooking plates and start the cooker-hood (emhætte in danish), or whatever you call it, on full throttle and you will have clean air.

[tinitus]

I have used half a kilo in the last few years, but its on speakers where more is used, so the fumes doesnt bother me much

BUT, I handroll my cigarets and when having touched the solder, I can tell you that a cigaret taste real bloddy awfull...so I can only advice to wash hands after soldering

[valleyman]

As peranders said, whats the reason for not using lead free solder if you're worried? Surely thats a much cheaper and easier solution? Granted that doesnt solve the problem of flux fumes, but you seem more concerned about the lead