Solder burn stories

Thread Starter

Robin Mitchell

Joined Oct 25, 2009
819
Hi everyone,

Was soldering a second ago. I did not see that a component leg was held back like a catapult. I soldered a BIG blog of solder on and accidently pushed the component. All i saw was a big blob of solder turn into little specs in mid air and shot me in the face. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. A solder shot gun, that is the single most worst pain in electronics ever !

My chin and neck where on fire :D

Whats your solder burn story?
 

t06afre

Joined May 11, 2009
5,934
Ok do not ask why i did it....But once I did some soldering wearing only a T-shirt and lost a tiny drop of molten solder in my hmm lap
. Lessons learned. Do not do this at home kids.
 

Georacer

Joined Nov 25, 2009
5,182
Ouch... it can hurt really bad if you hurt your ...hmm... lap.

Personally, the worse burn I 've got in the lab, was when the solder slipped from my hands and I tried to catch it mid-air.
I had a blister in my thumb for a week.
 

Georacer

Joined Nov 25, 2009
5,182
Lately I have been working on a project with VERY extensive wiring and wire-to-wire connections. I have also found out that I 'm running out of swears...
 

retched

Joined Dec 5, 2009
5,207
Desoldering braid can give some decent burns if you are holding it too close to the iron.
Oooh.... I second that!

Also, trying to catch a falling soldering iron is a bad idea. Except when you are soldering in a room you are not even supposed to be in with expensive carpet. ;)

Hard to explain to the ladies...

If you are lucky you will catch it by the handle!

If you are REAL lucky, you wont drop it!

and

If you are REAL SMART, you wont be in that room to begin with ;)
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
13,079
My worst burn was while repairing a large RF tuning coil with one of these. Try having a teaspoon of molten silver solder fall on the backside of your hand. I invented a few new cuss words.

 

Wendy

Joined Mar 24, 2008
23,415
I was brand new, new soldering iron, new meter kit, around 16 or so. I was so focused on the meter I grabbed the wrong end of the iron. Didn't hurt (at first), just bubbled under my finger tips.
 

Dave

Joined Nov 17, 2003
6,969
I frequently burn my hands that none really stick in mind. Is it me or do solder burns sting more than other types of burns?!

Dave
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
13,079
A small solder burn hurts but heals naturally. Deep RF burns are the worst for healing but hurt the least with a weird itchy pain. It is cool to see the smoke coming from a rocky crater in your skin.
 

Georacer

Joined Nov 25, 2009
5,182
Not a solder burn, but I think it still counts:

When I was younger, in a school vacation, I had taken a few days off to my village. I had a chalk in my bag and I threw it in the fireplace (in the burning charcoal) to see if it would get red or something.
After a few minutes I couldn't notice any observable changes in the chalk, so I though it was temperature resistant and decided to pick it from the fireplace with my bare hands.
I had a blister in my index and thumb for a week.
 

Adjuster

Joined Dec 26, 2010
2,148
As a teenager, I had a very small soldering iron of a type which was quite popular at that time, which had a very slender handle. It looked nice and neat, and had a small tip suitable for what then passed for miniature electronics, but I think the handle was really a bit too narrow.

One day the iron began to slip through my fingers, so I grabbed at it... That was about forty years ago, but I have never made that mistake again.
 

R!f@@

Joined Apr 2, 2009
9,918
I used to feel the heat of iron to check if it is heating up by bringing it close to the nose and upper lip where our manhood mustache is visible.

This was like in the 90's I remember I felt it too close, for a week I have Burned Mustache. :mad:
 

electronis whiz

Joined Jul 29, 2010
512
my worst burn was when i was desoldering a part from a board and holding the board looking at that reached for the iron grabed it. i grabed it by the metal. ow lesson learned look before trying tograb somthing. have had some hot rosin core splash on me from the solder.
 

debjit625

Joined Apr 17, 2010
790
I used to feel the heat of iron to check if it is heating up by bringing it close to the nose and upper lip where our manhood mustache is visible.
I do the same but I never burned my nose or lip.

With soldering iron its very normal for me to burn my hands but once I burned my feet the iron was on the floor and I stepped on it,now you people could guess how I was walking for weeks after that.
 

Adjuster

Joined Dec 26, 2010
2,148
Your poor foot - but how come you had no shoes on? Safety shoes or even boots are a good idea, especially with long trousers so that there are no gaps at the ankles. Solder dripped onto some kinds of synthetic material socks melts its way through and sticks horribly.
 

retched

Joined Dec 5, 2009
5,207
That reminds me...

Not soldering, per se, but while arc welding I "sparks" (also known as chunks of red-hot metal) sparks like to jump from the rod when you strike an arc.. SO, this one time in-particular, I was welding a chain-point to a front-end loader, and when I struck the arc, the "sparks" jumped over my helmet and slid down the back of my shirt.. Sticking nicely to my sweaty back.

I was dancing QUITE UN-gracefully trying ease the pain.
 

R!f@@

Joined Apr 2, 2009
9,918
that reminds me...

Not soldering, per se, but while arc welding i "sparks" (also known as chunks of red-hot metal) sparks like to jump from the rod when you strike an arc.. So, this one time in-particular, i was welding a chain-point to a front-end loader, and when i struck the arc, the "sparks" jumped over my helmet and slid down the back of my shirt.. Sticking nicely to my sweaty back.

I was dancing quite un-gracefully trying ease the pain.
I can imagine !! HAHAHAHA!!

LMAOF:D
 
Top