Yes. I still have a dotted line of carbon tattoos in my left hand from a horizontal output tube with a cracked anode cap. That happened in 1971.Soldering burns is not a problem. Most of the time it heals
On the other hand a 300VDC cap discharging via your thumb is another story.
If you're a big girly wuss - you can buy a little can of burn-eeez spray, its used immediately and partly freezes the burn to take the heat out of it.Today I was using my soldering iron and I moved my left hand and touched it by accident when I was desoldering. (I know it was stupid) It hurt for a while and I had my burnt thumb under cold water for 5 minutes. The burn made my skin turn white and I put on a band-aid. 30 minutes later I noticed it didn't hurt anymore and the white skin became a white blister. Should I do anything else to treat it? It currently feels a little numb but nothing to bad. I also applied solar Cain (again, I don't know why I thought that would do anything xD) I never burned myself before with a soldering iron and it would be nice toknow if I should do anything else. Thanks!
Speaking of burning skin. When I was young and reckless I had a ham transmitter with 3000 volts on the plate supply. Well I got my right finger to close to the plate cap on top of the final output tube. I kind of remember the arc to my finger and somehow I ended up in my big easy chair with smoke from my left knee to match the smoke from my finger. Terrible smell and took forever for the RF burn to heal.That smell, that burning skin smell on the finger tips is the sign of a true electronics addict.
We saved a guy once who did much the same thing. He touched a live transmitter tube that ate part of his hand and cooked the spot on his arm at the exit point while we were working inside the HF transmitter room of a ship. The smell of the smoke from the RF burn inside his arm (there was little blood and skin where the current flowed , just a burned tunnel of thick dust) was something you never forget. He had an almost total recovery of the usage of that hand and arm after about a year of surgery and skin grafts.Speaking of burning skin. When I was young and reckless I had a ham transmitter with 3000 volts on the plate supply. Well I got my right finger to close to the plate cap on top of the final output tube. I kind of remember the arc to my finger and somehow I ended up in my big easy chair with smoke from my left knee to match the smoke from my finger. Terrible smell and took forever for the RF burn to heal.
But it could have been a lot worse.
Similar thing while adjusting the horizontal oscillator on an old hybrid CTV - a long thin arc had found my knuckle, the first I knew of it was the smell of burning flesh. It was seriously sore once I noticed it, and the burn took ages to heal.Speaking of burning skin. When I was young and reckless I had a ham transmitter with 3000 volts on the plate supply. Well I got my right finger to close to the plate cap on top of the final output tube. I kind of remember the arc to my finger and somehow I ended up in my big easy chair with smoke from my left knee to match the smoke from my finger. Terrible smell and took forever for the RF burn to heal.
But it could have been a lot worse.
Not just early learning - couple of days ago the side of my thumb found a dollop of hot melt glue I didn't notice I'd spilled!He had a post in both, I picked this to stay.
It does seem to be one of the early learning experiences a lot of us go through with this hobby/profession.
That burn turned white and yellow and black and continued to feel like fire for a long time. In the center, the skin was burned too badly to really "blister"; it blistered around the edges, but in the center it just bled and scabbed over. I ripped the scab off (as I always do) and saw hand meat inside. It was pretty gnarly. Then I healed like a champion after getting grease and filth in the wound.I was holding the soldering iron like I always do - like a pencil. then, like I always do when I'm holding a pencil (and deep in thought about something), I flipped the iron over and palmed all 750 degrees of it. I actually held it like that >1sec. I heard the sizzle and actually had to look to see where it was coming from. Then I dropped it in my lap.
The best soldering iron holder is the one that you slot the iron into a spring that encloses the hot bit.A hot iron is like a loaded gun and if you are careless, you (or someone else) can get hurt big time.
Unless it's being used, I always keep it in the holder.
The worst case is when you have to do soldering "in the field" instead of on the bench and the iron just gets laid someplace. Get a holder with a magnetic base that can be attached to a vertical surface.