"exray" wrote in message
.. .
wrote:
You mean the fumes from the flux. You don't believe you're breathing
solder vapors, do you? In the 40+ years I've been using solder, I
doubt I've used 5 lbs and I do quite a bit of soldering.
GG
I've never turned on my shop spectrometer to determine if it was the flux
or solder. I just know that the new stuff doesn't smell as friendly to my
human nose.
40+ years, 5 pounds, yadda,yadda...how much 'new' solder have you used? I
suspect you're just trying to pick a fight. I'm not playing. See ya.
-ex
I don't think that he's trying to pick a fight at all ... Depending on
whether or not he's talking 'professional' use, that might be a bit of an
underestimate, but not huge. I hand solder just about every day of my
working life. I use predominantly 0.7mm solder wire, which I buy in 500g
reels. I reckon that each reel lasts me probably 3 years, so in 35 years of
professional use, I have used perhaps 6kg or 13 pounds.
The reason that lead-free solder does not smell as nice, is that it is no
longer a basic natural rosin flux that is contained within the solder.
Because of the new stuff's vastly inferior wetting qualities with most
metals used in electronics, it has to contain a far more aggressive flux to
stand any chance of forming a metallic bond. That aggressive-ness is
achieved by making the flux slightly acidic, so the fumes, if you are
breathing them, are actually gently rotting the linings of your nose and
lungs. There was always a declared H & S issue about industrial asthma with
rosin flux fumes in quantity, but I suspect that this stuff is potentially a
far greater health hazard than rosin fumes ever were. So, if you're having
to use a lot of lead-free in your day to day work, I would suggest that now
is the time to install some fume management, even if it is just an old
computer fan blowing the smoke across to someone else ... :-)
Arfa