So soldering...(Health Hazards?)

[MonoTekETeA]

Sorry, give me a day or two, and I will post what kind I am currently using, it is a very fine strand coiled in a tube. I purchased it from Radio Shack (friggin gamestop of electronics)

[ProgrammingAce]

you could always just use electronics grade silver solder... i'm not even sure there's a difference in price.

[77punk]

just inhaile unlike clinton!

[ROTS MKII]

Just make sure your not close to iron when doing so and there should be some kind of guard .

[Robotron777]

I just use a small fan blowing crosswise to move the vapors away from me. If it bothers you too much, do your soldering in a larger room or with the door or windows partway open.

[aaron7]

Isn't solder lead-free now anyways? All mine is at least.

[jb143]

Isn't solder lead-free now anyways? All mine is at least.

Part of my job now is to help the company make a transition from leaded electronics components to lead free. This is a very slow transition and solder is probally one of the last things that will change.

Do you live in Europe by any chance? They're a bit more up to speed with with the transition.

[Cantaloup]

Found this video at YouTube. You guys might find it interesting.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=I_NU2ruzyc4

[phreak97]

usually the type of flux isnt actually printed anywhere. for modding work you should be using 60/40 tin/lead solder, (i didnt read if thats what you have) as lead free solder doesnt mix with lead solder, and will turn your mods bad. pretty much just get decent quaity stuff, it should be 5 core pine rosin if its good. i've been working with soldering irons alot for years and i have no problems with the fumes, the solder i have now just smells like burning pine sap, because holy crap thats what it is. lol. on the other hand i've used solder which made me feel like i was going to die at the first whiff.
and yeah, as said earlier, youll get more lead off your hands than from the fumes, but there are definately little desk fans with a filter in them if youll feel safer, also even harmless smells can ive you a headache (not sayin these fumes are completely harmless, i dont know for sure, but im pretty confident that a week worth of cigarettes would be like ten years worth of solder fumes.. just to put it into perspective.), so if you get any symptoms like that you should go get one of those fume extractor fans and save the bother..

you might notice i didnt read the last few posts, i might be repeating everyone.. but hopefully im just reinforcing them.

[mqt129]

Alright, so I am willing to throw money into a fan with filter, are those guys top of the line, where should I be looking for decent one?

-Jeremy Speer

Jeremy, I have done a quick research and it seems most of the ventilation hood and/or air cleaner out there are quite big and expensive. And then I came across this one company, LURACO, they have a bench smoke that is about the size of your serial box and it works fine. It doesn't make that much noise either. Try visiting their website www.luraco.com (under R&D tab). If I may ask, for which company are you working for?

[Compute]

Make sure your area is WELL-ventilated. In my factory we have high air flow but still have small fans at each solder station. Flux fumes don't irritate everybody, but small fans are pretty cheap. If you feel handy, just gang together a few old pc fans with a small filter in front so the blades don't get coated in flux.

[SnowKitty]

I typically just hold my breath while the soldering fumes are blowing past me, and turn my head to breathe fresh(er) air. I do have a fume fan with a filter, but it's not very convenient, and I only use it when I'm doing a lot of soldering. For soldering just a few minutes at a time while fixing stuff, holding my breath works fine.

DogP

couldn't resist XD

[megasdkirby]

Found this video at YouTube. You guys might find it interesting.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=I_NU2ruzyc4

Hey, thanks for that vid!

Learned quite a few things there! Thanks man!

[phreak97]

I typically just hold my breath while the soldering fumes are blowing past me, and turn my head to breathe fresh(er) air. I do have a fume fan with a filter, but it's not very convenient, and I only use it when I'm doing a lot of soldering. For soldering just a few minutes at a time while fixing stuff, holding my breath works fine.

DogP

you'll get worse fumes burning pine in an open fireplace, it's the same stuff in higher quantities afterall, assuming you didnt get really cheap solder with something other than pine resin in it..
do you stick your head out the window to breath if youre in a house with an open fire?


lol I was about to write that i agree with whoever wrote about different types of flux, but when I looked for the poster's name it turned out it was me in '07.. I read that whole post and didnt even realize I was the author. Reading it I even had a laugh at how well I could relate to it!