G'Day, my name is Gary for the youtube
channel simple audio tips.
Is soldering smoke bad for your health?
Is it lead gas, or another toxic substance.
Stick around and find out the answer and
Get some tips on how you can
make soldering a little safer.
The solder we use for general soldering
projects is made up of a combination of
substances- 60% tin, 40% lead and a
wetting agent to aid solder flow called flux.
Flux is added to help clean the surfaces
you are hoping to weld together. (The
metal must be clean of impurities or
the connection will be poor)
To get a better understanding of what
makes up the smoke we see lets start with
some basics. I don't claim to be a scientist
or chemist but I do remember some basic
principles I learned at school, a substance
like a liquid starts to give off gas when it is
heated and begins to boil.
Your soldering iron is usually set to
between 300 and 400 deg C
Even though solder made from tin and
lead starts to melt at around these
temperatures soldering irons are not
capable of heating the metals to their
boiling point to turn them to gas.
Tin boils at 2,603c Lead boils at 1,750c
By far the majority of fumes must be
boiling flux, and that is what it is designed
to do. as it reacts to applied heat it cleans
the surfaces you want to weld together.
Is flux smoke harmful if we breath it in?
One reference stated that when flux is
heated, it releases hydrochloric acid
and other gases containing benzene,
toluene, styrene, phenol, chlorophenol
and isopropyl alcohol. Put simply, its toxic
and has a cummlerative effect.
As with cigarette smoking, the effects of
breathing in solder, or flux smoke may not
become apparent for years, unless you
develop asthma or bronchitis early.
I was working with Cathy on a sound
installation in Brisbane and I asked her
why SHE was concerned about
soldering smoke.
It can make you sick and I was already getting
sick and I didn't want to add to it. So I really wanna
try to look after my health because we are so busy
I can't afford to get sick.
Even though the negitive effects of
breathing in solder smoke may not
become apparent for many years.
It is only sensible to do what
you can to reduce your exposure by
controlling this hazard is some way.
There are some great products you can
buy to suck up the smoke and filter the air
through carbon mats. these cost around
50 - $100
What can you do if your on a budget?
I asked Cathy what she has done
to reduce the chance of breathing
soldering fumes.
I bought a little fan. It has got a high and low speed fan
it has also got a light which is really handy and helps me see what I'm doing
It is battery operated so I don't have to run around looking for a power point.
So its really handy I can set it up however I want.
There are so many fans and exhaust
systems you can buy or you may even
want to jump on the internet and get
some ideas on building your own
smoke filter.
To minimise the risks when soldering:
1- Solder in a well ventilated area to minimise the risk of inhaling
the flux smoke.
2- Protect your eyes from spattering and Chemicals washing into your eyes
3- Wash your hands well after the project
and before you eat to remove any
traces of lead from your fingers.
By following these simple steps you will
reduce the risks working around
soldering smoke. But if you encounter
breathing difficulty or develop a reaction
to handling solder you should
immediately talk to your doctor.
I will leave some links in the description
below this video.
I'd like to find out what you have found
helpful in reducing the hazard of soldering
smoke or if there are some other cheap
alternatives to buying expensive
filtration devices. Please let us know by
typing them in the comments section
if you enjoyed our video you like to see more make sure you subscribe to our
YouTube channel
Until our next audio tip, catch you later.
[Bloopers]
To minimize the risks of smoking........
"to minimize the risks of smoking!!"
Don't want to be smoking solder!!
that would be the worst thing.
So let's get this right