I read this in the all about circuit book.

Also, molten droplets of solder can cause major damage to the eyes, so safety glasses/goggles are imperative.

Is this from the vapor given off by the solder/tin ?
Because I always use a fan to blow the fumes away from me but I never use goggles. Am I going to be in trouble without whereing googles/glasses ?

 

I read this in the all about circuit book.



Is this from the vapor given off by the solder/tin ?
Because I always use a fan to blow the fumes away from me but I never use goggles. Am I going to be in trouble without whereing googles/glasses ?

They are talking about actual pieces of solder in liquid form (like a blob of mercury at room temperaure). This happened to a co-worker of mine two weeks ago. He really got hurt, but he is ok because the blob burned the white part of the eye and it will heal. I don't want to think what could happen if a large blob hits the cornea and burns through to the iris or pupil.

 

Never got a solder splash in my face/eyes, but did learn to wear shoes and long panys while soldering. Molten metal gets your attention. I can't wear goggles because I don't see well enough without glasses. They should be pretty good protection.

 

I've worn glasses since the 3rd grade, so I always have eyewear protection on.

I normally don't even think about it, but the simple fact that I have to wear glasses to see well has in fact saved my vision many times over the years.

A solder splash to the cornea would be very serious. Immediate degradation of vision to the affected eye would be immediate and very long lasting, if not permanent.

Simply trimming component leads can lead to blindness if you are not wearing goggles/glasses/protective eyewear. Many types of wire cutters aka "dikes" will cause a snipped component lead to be "launched" at very high velocities. If you should get hit in the cornea with such a clipping ... bad news.

I have a pair of glasses with acrylic(plastic) lenses that have a "10" stamped into them. That happened when I was helping a friend remodel his new house; I'd hit a hurricane nail off-center, and it ricoched off the board I was trying to pound it into. The "10" isn't perfectly centered, so I still use them for "tinkering" glasses.

 

Please, always wear eye protection when doing any sort of work, a bead of sweat dropped onto your project, whilst soldering, might become a formula for a lost eye.
Dan

 

My insurance is good enough I am able to own prescription safety glasses in addition to my ordinary spectacles. They're not much of a fashion statement, but they come in very very handy.

These days, I also have a magnifier between myself and my solder projects. I've had to replace it once due to a burn in an inconvenient location.

 

Most of us remember to keep the iron on the far side of the lens...

 

Most of us remember to keep the iron on the far side of the lens...

I was too busy trying to remember which end of the iron to grab...

 

Whats a hurricane nail?

 

I read this in the all about circuit book.



Is this from the vapor given off by the solder/tin ?
Because I always use a fan to blow the fumes away from me but I never use goggles. Am I going to be in trouble without whereing googles/glasses ?

Here's an excerpt from my "Opus of Amateur Radio Knowledge and Lore" which addresses the issue concisely. Enjoy.



........How about them hot soldering irons (Hazard #3)? Most Amateur Radios are held together with solder. Well, perhaps that needs some elaboration. The parts inside most Amateur radios are connected with solder. Solder is an alloy of lead and tin (though there is a trend these days toward lead-free solder). Solder, as mentioned above, is a good electrical conductor, which makes it particularly useful for sticking electronic components together. Solder melts at a temperature of around 700-800 degrees, depending on the particular alloy. Molten solder can be a hazard, as one might surmise. Not only is it hot, but it tends to roll around a bit. I sport——well, perhaps sport is an inaccurate verb——a small scar on my “procreative utensil” as a reminder never to perform soldering operations at two in the morning whilst clad in pajamas. Many seasoned hams can relate other painful realities——yet it never causes most of us to abandon the hobby altogether. We simply apply more caution——or clothing. For the most part, these injuries are more insulting than life-threatening, but as with all hot objects and substances, due caution is advised.


Eric

 

Whats a hurricane nail?

Nails that meet specifications for building codes here in Florida to help keep structures from being torn apart during hurricanes.

While a home is under construction/remodeling, a building inspector will look for the appropriate "stamps" on nailheads, and also count the nailheads. If there are not enough nails, or if the nailheads don't have the right stamps, the builder/remodeler will have to correct the problem before going on to the next stage.

Hurricane nails are very tough compared to traditional "roofing nails". They look somewhat similar to a layperson, but hurricane nailheads are much thicker and smaller in diameter. The problem here in FL was that builders were using "roofing nails" with very thin (and weak) heads to nail reinforcing brackets to ceiling/roof joints; when the winds got high, the nailheads let go.

Hurricane nails won't lose their heads.

 

Please excuse me if I am hijacking this thread.
Thank-you Sarge for letting me know about hurricane nails. Here in Houston, we are not, as yet, required to use hurricane nails, but now that I know about them, I will offer them to prospective customers.
By thr way, any websites you recomend?
Dan

 

I had a pair of safety glasses in highschool that had a molten solder blob right in the middle, where it would have sent directly into my eye. The teacher ended up keeping the glasses to show students for years to come!

Eventually, I became comfortable again and nearly was blinded by a bench grinder this year, now I will never go without!

Steve

 

Yup, always wear the safety glasses no matter what. When I was first starting out I had a piece of molten solder flick up and land right in my eye. Fortunately, it landed off to the side on the white of my eye and only caused a days worth of irritation (and a few terrifying minutes after it happened).

Now they're the first thing I grab when I sit down at my workbench.

 

I, too, have an old pair of GLASS glasses with a crater in 'em. (Never ASSume the power to a circuit is off! )

--Rich

 

A cheap tool is dangerous.
A cheap soldering iron gets hotter and hotter and hotter until it smokes the rosin in solder or it boils it. Then the molten metal splatters.

A good soldering iron has temperature control. My Weller has a fixed temperature that is always correct.