The Truth About Solder:

[Grainger49]

There are a lot of things being said about solder.  Let

[earwaxxer]

Ya but Granger, you are taking the 'mystique' and mad scientist thing out of the activity!

I play that whole thing up as much as possible! First of all I have no less than 2 pair of glasses on, my usual ones as well as my readers and possibly a a magnifier.

Second, you have the spotlight shining on the 'project'. No other lights around. So the smoke that comes up, usually comes in a puff. With that puff you move your head out of the way, like you are dodging a cloud of radioactive smoke. A few expletive's help, especially if looks like the smoke got in your eye!

If you happen to whiff a bit, all the better. Whats the alternative? Bull shit thats on TV? Give me the toxins!

[Grainger49]

Eric,

I forgot to mention a short length of "Wonder Solder" I had.  I wonder why?

The horrible headaches I got in the late 80s while disassembling a number of Dynaco pieces made me think of a way to get the fumes away from me.  That was when I was beginning to get migraines.

[Paul Joppa]

For us amateurs, I think the flux fumes are a bogger problem than the lead. Lead is present, as lead oxide, but at very low levels. But the flux (mostly it's what's left over after pine resin is distilled for its turpentine) is a serious irritant. Google gives a number of references, many from Weller and other respected solder station makers.

Great topic, thanks for starting it!

[johnsonad]

Get yourself one of these fancy masks.  As I solder in a closed space it makes a world of difference

[4krow]

well, that explains my loss of third grade math

[Grainger49]

Aaron,

That might scare the children in the neighborhood.

I have the lucky arrangement that my fan blows across my table into a bathroom with an exhaust fan.

Paul,

Are you saying that flux gives you boogers   ; ) ?  (No, I got you)

So you are saying that it is the flux rather than the lead that causes headaches?  I had connected the demon lead with the headaches.  I'll change the OP.

[johnsonad]

Grainger,

If you feel your headaches are attributed to lead, you have a bigger problem and should get you blood levels tested.  It's easy to do and will rule it out quickly as the source of your problem.  Rosin flux on the other had causes a lot of problems thus my respirator not just to lungs but your eyes and skin too. 

I learned to solder from an old EE (a little younger than you who still has a cool job for the Navy and attended the NASA solder school when they still offered it.  He passed on to me that they recommended 63/37 for the best flow. In my personal experience Multicore solder (as recommended by a couple of mentors) flows beautifully for PP work and is my go to solder over the Cardas stuff and is much cheaper. 

Regards,

Aaron

[Grainger49]

Does anyone have anything to add to the solder descriptions in the OP??

Aaron,

The headaches were in the late 80s.  They, and the migraines have passed long ago.  As for a respirator, I don't need one with the fans, blowing and exhaust.

But thanks!

[earwaxxer]

Eric,

I forgot to mention a short length of "Wonder Solder" I had.  I wonder why?

The horrible headaches I got in the late 80s while disassembling a number of Dynaco pieces made me think of a way to get the fumes away from me.  They were the beginning of my migraines.

Granger - wow, de-soldering! That has to be my least favorite activity next to banging my head against the wall! I always fry the tracing and it separates from the board. Then I end up clipping the tracing off and inserting a wire in its place.

I can respect the skill required to do it right though!

[Grainger49]

I lifted a few traces.  Luckily not too many.  These were old boards, say early 60s.

[VoltSecond]

You learn that solder dissolves copper by trying to strip fine gauge magnet wire in a solder pot.  The copper goes away almost as fast as the enamel.

The Tenma solder fume extractor does a reasonable job at extracting the fumes.

[Grainger49]

I have been using the small fan to blow away fumes since the late 90s.  It is just enough to blow the smoke to the right. It is a cheap Wal-Mart clip on fan.

[dbishopbliss]

The Tenma solder fume extractor does a reasonable job at extracting the fumes.

+1 

I tried the fan, I like the extractor more.

[Doc B.]

I like the extractor too. PB and I were sharing one extractor between two stations a while back and it was quite effective. When you see all the rosin smoke residue that gets collected on the filter it kinda makes you think about breathing the stuff.