Best way to protect from soldering smoke ?

Thread Starter

LETITROLL

Joined Oct 9, 2013
218
Hi every one .

What is the best way to protect from soldering smoke while soldering or unsoldering electronic components ???
 

mcgyvr

Joined Oct 15, 2009
5,394
ventilation.
Could be as simple as a box fan blowing out the window or just a fan with carbon filter pad to application specific "fume extraction" devices/hepa filters.
 

Thread Starter

LETITROLL

Joined Oct 9, 2013
218
Do you want to remove the smoke for fear of some kind of effect of the lead in solder, or for another reason?
I have had recently a light bronchitis , the doctor said it was because am allergic and also due to flu , but am afraid it was caused by solder smoke.

am afraid it will get worse if i don't do necessary precautions , if you got more advises please share.
 

GopherT

Joined Nov 23, 2012
8,009
If it makes you feel better, spend what makes you feel comfortable. It is difficult to get to a toxic level of lead in your system from solder smoke. Lead and tin have too high of a boiling point (vapor pressure) to reach dangerous levels.

The visible smoke is smoldering rosin and flux. It can be irritating but not permanent.
 

Dr.killjoy

Joined Apr 28, 2013
1,196
I was trying to get a job with a Electronics company .. Well a mad ex employie tried to sue the company for lead posioning ...At that time the company had no ventlation for soldering smoke but a private company came in and tested everything and found nothing that violated any health codes or could cause any problems. So the company installed proper vent in order to keep people from being sue happy..
 

spinnaker

Joined Oct 29, 2009
7,830
When I worked at TI years ago, we had no ventilation at any of the work stations. Several rows of rework people all soldering away.

I can't recall if the reflow machine had ventilation or not.
 

spinnaker

Joined Oct 29, 2009
7,830
I have had recently a light bronchitis , the doctor said it was because am allergic and also due to flu , but am afraid it was caused by solder smoke.

am afraid it will get worse if i don't do necessary precautions , if you got more advises please share.
If you have some kind of health issues then nothing wrong with taking precautions but as Gopher pointed out you really don't need to worry about the smoke as a health issue. And he knows what he is talking about. As I recall he is a chemical guy. :)
 

k7elp60

Joined Nov 4, 2008
562
I have had recently a light bronchitis , the doctor said it was because am allergic and also due to flu , but am afraid it was caused by solder smoke.

am afraid it will get worse if i don't do necessary precautions , if you got more advises please share.
I was going to mention the same as Gopher T mentioned. I have been soldering for over 60 years and I have no problems because of it, but it makes you feel better by all means get one of the devices mentioned.
 

THE_RB

Joined Feb 11, 2008
5,438
Some brands of solder (standard rosin core) have flux fumes that are less irritating. It's worth trying a few different brands to see which one suits you best.

And definitely have a fan going to blow/suck the fumes away so you are not exposed to a concentrated fume rising straight up into your face.
 

tubeguy

Joined Nov 3, 2012
1,157
I made a tabletop unit from a 11-12 inch square box fan. I attached a piece of the gray foam type filter material to it with a couple strips of velcro. (the hook side of the velcro holds the foam quite well). I set it up so the fan pulls the fumes thru the filter material. Works just fine to pull solder fumes away.
 

tindel

Joined Sep 16, 2012
936
Some of the guys at work use 12VDC computer fans and place them close to what they are soldering... it's pretty effective... and the fans are coated in 'stuff'. They guys at work solder for a living though and they are breathing the solder fumes every day for their whole career.

Nice Avatar!
 

Thread Starter

LETITROLL

Joined Oct 9, 2013
218
Some of the guys at work use 12VDC computer fans and place them close to what they are soldering... it's pretty effective... and the fans are coated in 'stuff'. They guys at work solder for a living though and they are breathing the solder fumes every day for their whole career.

Nice Avatar!
I found this stylish fume mask ., i may also builld a fume extractor using a Microwave fan , i only have to find a spot for air evacuation .



Thanks for all the opinions , and i wish everyone happy and healthy life .



 

GopherT

Joined Nov 23, 2012
8,009
I found this stylish fume mask ., i may also builld a fume extractor using a Microwave fan , i only have to find a spot for air evacuation .



Thanks for all the opinions , and i wish everyone happy and healthy life .
Will you continue to wear this huge mask if your symptoms persist or will you attribute the symptoms to something else and stop wearing the mask?
 
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