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:
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Appealed to me since it already has built in charcoal filter as well. Won't be tested until this week. Thoughts?
Good idea given and if the goal is to capture the rosin fumes. Greater surf ace 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 - perhap s when I retire not so long from now.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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 mov ement during the cooling period (and for 9 degrees C, that can be several s econds) can and will lead to failures as soon as immediately, but more typi cally over time. Further, many will be invisible. prior to that failure. Fu rther, these sorts of problems tend to include a lot of heat at the bad joi nt, leading to the potential for cascade failures. Using a true eutectic s older eliminates the concern.
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