cameron marical Posted February 24, 2009 Posted February 24, 2009 well, my title kind of says it. i was just wondering how bad it is to breath this stuff in. i like making stuff, and when im using electricity i use saughter alot. so im wondering how bad it is and where it affects. thanks.
Phi for All Posted February 24, 2009 Posted February 24, 2009 Solder is lead-based, and the fumes can cause asthma and chronic bronchitis, iirc. Flux may have some bad fumes too. Can you use a mask or ventilate better when you solder?
Phi for All Posted February 24, 2009 Posted February 24, 2009 what on Earth is "saughter" supposed to be?It must be the smoke you create when you solder something.
tvp45 Posted February 24, 2009 Posted February 24, 2009 At the least, Buy or make a little fume exhaust hood (you can use cardboard and a muffin fan for a cheap one) and blow into a filter/outside. Get a mask. Wash your hands thoroughly afterwards.
swansont Posted February 24, 2009 Posted February 24, 2009 I've corrected the spelling in the title to cut down on potential confusion. If that's not what was meant, let me know solder: any of various alloys fused and applied to the joint between metal objects to unite them without heating the objects to the melting point.
CharonY Posted February 24, 2009 Posted February 24, 2009 There are also lead-free solders. Slightly more expensive, though (and you may need a different solder station).
YT2095 Posted February 24, 2009 Posted February 24, 2009 I Soldered 8 hours a day everyday for many years, never had a problem. in fact I can recognise certain brands of solder by smell alone (I even have Favorites), although the smell is largely from the rosin flux running through the core of the solder, some have multiple cores. it never did me any harm!
Sisyphus Posted February 24, 2009 Posted February 24, 2009 it never did me any harm! Except, of course, that you're clearly quite mad.
Phi for All Posted February 25, 2009 Posted February 25, 2009 oh Hush you, I`m eccentric that`s all What, you eccentric?!?!
Cap'n Refsmmat Posted February 25, 2009 Posted February 25, 2009 I have a soldering gun that looks almost exactly like that.
cameron marical Posted February 25, 2009 Author Posted February 25, 2009 ha. i use a wood burner and a little wound up solder strip.
John Cuthber Posted February 25, 2009 Posted February 25, 2009 I Soldered 8 hours a day everyday for many years, never had a problem.in fact I can recognise certain brands of solder by smell alone (I even have Favorites), although the smell is largely from the rosin flux running through the core of the solder, some have multiple cores. it never did me any harm! If you replace solder by words like smoke or tobacco in that quote you get exactly what lots of people used to say about smoking- till they got cancer. There are legal limits to the amount of solder flux fumes permitted in workplaces in the UK and US (and I guess elsewhere too). http://www.hse.gov.uk/coshh/table1.pdf (listed under "rosin") http://www.osha.gov/dts/chemicalsampling/data/CH_266137.html It's not good for you and you ought to minimise the amount of fume you breathe in. BTW, unless the soldering iron is really hot, the amount of lead in the fume is minimal.
CharonY Posted February 25, 2009 Posted February 25, 2009 On the plus side, solder is not addictive. With the possible exception of YT, of course.
insane_alien Posted February 25, 2009 Posted February 25, 2009 On the plus side, solder is not addictive. With the possible exception of YT, of course. Yeah, took us ages to get him off injecting liquid solder into his veins. i've done a fair bit of soldering too. although, i don't have a proper soldering iron, just used a screwdriver and a butane torch. worked well enough.
DrDNA Posted February 25, 2009 Posted February 25, 2009 I've soldered for years without any ventilation. It's never bothered me.
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