Have a box fan and, since not being satisfied with existing solder fume
filter because I have to be within 6" of opening, I purchased one of
these filters and placed across the box fan:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Filtrete-...ilter/36728389

Appealed to me since it already has built in charcoal filter as well.
Won't be tested until this week. Thoughts?

Thoughts?

Good idea given and if the goal is to capture the rosin fumes. Greater surface area will capture more fumes. My general approach is to run the ceiling fan in the room - it is a small room, so that is enough to move the fumes away from me. I do not solder enough to justify a dedicated system - perhaps when I retire not so long from now.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

On 4/18/21 10:51 AM, Peter W. wrote:
Thoughts?

Good idea given and if the goal is to capture the rosin fumes. Greater surface area will capture more fumes. My general approach is to run the ceiling fan in the room - it is a small room, so that is enough to move the fumes away from me. I do not solder enough to justify a dedicated system - perhaps when I retire not so long from now.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA


Thanks. I will be testing it out tomorrow for soldering. All I did
yesterday was light a match. My nose is normally not the greatest at
detecting odors, but I am sensitive to the burned off chemical from the
matches (I think it's phosphorus). Anyway, although not all the smoke
went in as I was standing about 4 feet away, within 5 minutes I could no
longer smell the phosphorus in the room. Normally, the smell would
persist for at least half an hour.

On 4/18/21 1:21 PM, JJ Lark wrote:
Normally, the smell would persist for at least half an hour.

I don't understand the obsession with soldering fumes.
I've been soldering for over 50 years now with no ill effects.
I certainly don't find the fumes irritating or obnoxious.

You're NOT breathing in lead fumes. Lead vaporizes at 3100F.

There are plenty of things I do that I do with good ventilation.
Just soldering isn't on my list.


--
"I am a river to my people."
Jeff-1.0
WA6FWi
http:foxsmercantile.com

On 4/18/21 1:21 PM, JJ Lark wrote:
Normally, the smell would persist for at least half an hour.

I don't understand the obsession with soldering fumes.
I've been soldering for over 50 years now with no ill effects.
I certainly don't find the fumes irritating or obnoxious.

You're NOT breathing in lead fumes. Lead vaporizes at 3100F.

There are plenty of things I do that I do with good ventilation.
Just soldering isn't on my list.


--
"I am a river to my people."
Jeff-1.0
WA6FWi
http:foxsmercantile.com

On 18 Apr 21 at group /sci/electronics/repair in article
(Fox's Mercantile) wrote:

On 4/18/21 1:21 PM, JJ Lark wrote:
Normally, the smell would persist for at least half an hour.

I don't understand the obsession with soldering fumes.
I've been soldering for over 50 years now with no ill effects.
I certainly don't find the fumes irritating or obnoxious.

You're NOT breathing in lead fumes. Lead vaporizes at 3100F.

There are plenty of things I do that I do with good ventilation.
Just soldering isn't on my list.

#MeToo

Still using a leaded tin (Sn60 ?, sticker unreadable)



Saludos (an alle Vernünftigen, Rest sh. sig)
Wolfgang

--
Ich bin in Paraguay lebender Trollallergiker reply Adresse gesetzt!
Ich diskutiere zukünftig weniger mit Idioten, denn sie ziehen mich auf
ihr Niveau herunter und schlagen mich dort mit ihrer Erfahrung!
(lt. alter usenet Weisheit) iPod, iPhone, iPad, iTunes, iRak, iDiot

I don't understand the obsession with soldering fumes.
I've been soldering for over 50 years now with no ill effects.
I certainly don't find the fumes irritating or obnoxious.

https://www.mgchemicals.com/download...S/sds-8342.pdf

Basically, the issue is paraffin waxes and tars precipitating in the lungs - from whence they are not ejected.

And, Jeff, where you solder, the rosin fumes would not stand a chance! Too much fresh air.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

On 4/18/21 7:53 PM, Fox's Mercantile wrote:
On 4/18/21 1:21 PM, JJ Lark wrote:
Normally, the smell would persist for at least half an hour.

I don't understand the obsession with soldering fumes.
I've been soldering for over 50 years now with no ill effects.
I certainly don't find the fumes irritating or obnoxious.

You're NOT breathing in lead fumes. Lead vaporizes at 3100F.

There are plenty of things I do that I do with good ventilation.
Just soldering isn't on my list.


Well, to tell you the truth, I used to not worry about it either in the
days when I could get true 60/40 solder from Radio Shack, but those days
appear to be long gone. The last 8 oz one I ordered this past winter
was from an Ebay vender who carried the "Chinese" 60/40. After some
past experiences with Chinese electronics from there (Ebay) burning up,
I am leery to trust the solder so decided to add a $13 filter to the box
fan.

And it isn't just solder fumes either. I use a fair amount of heat
shrink. Not sure what most use to heat it, but I like using a plain
match from a match pack. Of course, the phosphorus then smells up the
room for 30 min and sometimes I tend to overheat the heatshrink a bit
with plastic odor, so the other reason for the fan filter.

I'll definitely find out how it does today as I have a fair amount of
soldering in store as well as some heatshrinking.

On Sunday, April 18, 2021 at 7:53:41 PM UTC-4, Fox's Mercantile wrote:
On 4/18/21 1:21 PM, JJ Lark wrote:
Normally, the smell would persist for at least half an hour.
I don't understand the obsession with soldering fumes.
I've been soldering for over 50 years now with no ill effects.
I certainly don't find the fumes irritating or obnoxious.

You're NOT breathing in lead fumes. Lead vaporizes at 3100F.

There are plenty of things I do that I do with good ventilation.
Just soldering isn't on my list.


--
"I am a river to my people."
Jeff-1.0
WA6FWi
http:foxsmercantile.com

On Sunday, April 18, 2021 at 7:53:41 PM UTC-4, Fox's Mercantile wrote:
On 4/18/21 1:21 PM, JJ Lark wrote:
Normally, the smell would persist for at least half an hour.
I don't understand the obsession with soldering fumes.
I've been soldering for over 50 years now with no ill effects.
I certainly don't find the fumes irritating or obnoxious.

You're NOT breathing in lead fumes. Lead vaporizes at 3100F.

There are plenty of things I do that I do with good ventilation.
Just soldering isn't on my list.


--
"I am a river to my people."
Jeff-1.0
WA6FWi
http:foxsmercantile.com

Same here. If solder fumes are harmful I should have been dead 20 years ago. I solder six days a week.

On Monday, April 19, 2021 at 6:44:15 AM UTC-7, wrote:
Same here. If solder fumes are harmful I should have been dead 20 years ago. I solder six days a week.
I never had enough hands, so I would sometimes hold the solder in my teeth. I used to be smart....

Well, to tell you the truth, I used to not worry about it either in the
days when I could get true 60/40 solder from Radio Shack, but those days
appear to be long gone.

60/40 solder from any source is wretched stuff. From China or not.

What you want is true eutectic solder, 63/37. Accept no substitutes. Plenty of US sources as well.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

On Monday, April 19, 2021 at 12:24:56 PM UTC-4, Peter W. wrote:
Well, to tell you the truth, I used to not worry about it either in the
days when I could get true 60/40 solder from Radio Shack, but those days
appear to be long gone.
60/40 solder from any source is wretched stuff. From China or not.

What you want is true eutectic solder, 63/37. Accept no substitutes. Plenty of US sources as well.
Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

Just bought three pounds of vintage (BOW) 63/37 from ebay. $45 for all three including shipping, about as good as I can find.

Worked out well. Ran the box fan at both medium and high speeds with
the filter across the front. I'm a little hesitant running the fan at
max for extended periods because it seems like the filter constricts the
input air flow. In any case, I did soldering, heat shrinking with
matches since my lighter ran out of fuel, and even marked some wires
with nail polish. No trouble at all. I expected the most lingering
smell would be the nail polish, but even that I could barely detect.
For $13 and the cheap box fan I already had, job well done!

On Sun, 18 Apr 2021 10:07:59 -0400, JJ Lark
wrote:

Have a box fan and, since not being satisfied with existing solder fume
filter because I have to be within 6" of opening, I purchased one of
these filters and placed across the box fan:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Filtrete-...ilter/36728389

Appealed to me since it already has built in charcoal filter as well.
Won't be tested until this week. Thoughts?

When I was 16 I had a job in a TV factory. The PCBs were soldered by
floating them on solder baths. There was no sign of any smoke.
Soldering the components that had to be mounted by hand produced a
small amount gray smoke that was sucked up a vacuum pipe next to the
soldering iron. Almost everyone worked without the pipe because it got
in the way.

Steve

--
http://www.npsnn.com

wrote:
On Monday, April 19, 2021 at 12:24:56 PM UTC-4, Peter W. wrote:
Well, to tell you the truth, I used to not worry about it either in the
days when I could get true 60/40 solder from Radio Shack, but those days
appear to be long gone.
60/40 solder from any source is wretched stuff. From China or not.

What you want is true eutectic solder, 63/37. Accept no substitutes. Plenty of US sources as well.
Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

Just bought three pounds of vintage (BOW) 63/37 from ebay. $45 for all three including shipping, about as good as I can find.

Is there a good test to determine what mix a solder is? I came across pounds of
large diameter solder likely from a plumber. Not sure what old leaded plumbing
solder was. 50/50 by chance?

In article ,
says...

Is there a good test to determine what mix a solder is? I came across pounds of
large diameter solder likely from a plumber. Not sure what old leaded plumbing
solder was. 50/50 by chance?



The best easy way it to check the melting point. Heat someting up and
measure the temperature then touch the solder to it. Raise the
temperature 10 deg F at a time . There are charts to tell the melting
temperature of the mixes. Most plumbing solder is the 50/50 mix and
usually too thick to do much electronic work.

Standard plumbing solder is flux-free and 50:50 tin to lead. Then, there is Acid Flux plumbing solder that should not be allowed in the same county as electronic solder. You can determine which is which by cutting off the end. Acid flux solder will have a visible core containing the acid. Typical acid-core solder is 40:60.

If the solder in question is either of those *DO NOT* use it for electronics under any circumstances. And if it is vintage tin/lead solder *DO NOT* even use it for plumbing.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

On Monday, April 19, 2021 at 12:24:56 PM UTC-4, Peter W. wrote:
Well, to tell you the truth, I used to not worry about it either in the
days when I could get true 60/40 solder from Radio Shack, but those days
appear to be long gone.
60/40 solder from any source is wretched stuff. From China or not.

What you want is true eutectic solder, 63/37. Accept no substitutes. Plenty of US sources as well.
Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

Why is 60/40 Sn/Pb bad? Have had Kester 60/40 as general purpose solder for years.

Why eutectic solder? AFAIK, the only difference is the single melt/freeze point at 183 degrees C vs a melt range of 183-192 C.
J

Why is 60/40 Sn/Pb bad? Have had Kester 60/40 as general purpose solder for years.

Why eutectic solder? AFAIK, the only difference is the single melt/freeze point at 183 degrees C vs a melt range of 183-192 C.

It is the plastic state that leads to cold-solders. The smallest bit of movement during the cooling period (and for 9 degrees C, that can be several seconds) can and will lead to failures as soon as immediately, but more typically over time. Further, many will be invisible. prior to that failure. Further, these sorts of problems tend to include a lot of heat at the bad joint, leading to the potential for cascade failures. Using a true eutectic solder eliminates the concern.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

On 4/18/21 10:07 AM, JJ Lark wrote:
Have a box fan and, since not being satisfied with existing solder fume
filter because I have to be within 6" of opening, I purchased one of
these filters and placed across the box fan:

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Filtrete-...ilter/36728389


Appealed to me since it already has built in charcoal filter as well.
Won't be tested until this week.Â* Thoughts?

This is what I've been using for quite some time after getting tired of
comparing and contrasting filter fan set ups made for the purpose.

With these filters, I just shell out about $12 every 3 months or so,
place over the box fan opening, and forget it.

I can be 2-3 feet away from the set up and smoke still gets drawn in.

At first, I had concerns that the vacuumed air, which you can definitely
feel as it works, might interfere with the solder temp and make
soldering more difficult, but I found that not to be the case.

As you found out, there is a certain amount of stress placed on the fan
motor of course as the filter over the front restricts air flow slightly
due to the filtering action, but I run it many hours each day with no
issues.

Had initial problems with where to place the rather large set up, but I
designated a special spot out of the way just beyond the end of my
workbench.

I couldn't be happier and sure beats the commercial solder fume fans on
many levels!

Peter W. wrote:

Well, to tell you the truth, I used to not worry about it either in the
days when I could get true 60/40 solder from Radio Shack, but those days
appear to be long gone.

60/40 solder from any source is wretched stuff. From China or not.

What you want is true eutectic solder, 63/37. Accept no substitutes. Plenty of US sources as well.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA

Never had a problem with kester #44 60/40. Works great, every time. How
life changing can this this 63/37 stuff be?

Never had a problem with kester #44 60/40. Works great, every time. How
life changing can this this 63/37 stuff be?

I do not trust in pure blind luck being 100% effective 100% of the time. 63/37 solder removes some of that need.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA