I use etchant (ferric chloride), sodium silicate developer, and solder when doing my circuit boards but I was wondering if anything would cause a newly installed carbon monoxide detector to sound the alarm. The detector is one room above my work room and the two rooms are separated mainly by wood. I'm more concerned in particular the soldering because when I put solder on the tip theres tiny "smoke" that comes from it, more like as if the soldering iron is smoking a cigarette but the scent is not tobacco. Does anyone know if the scent would trigger the carbon monoxide alarm?

I'm using MGChemicals Rosin core 60/40 solder.

 

My CO detector is not very far away from my soldering station, maybe 5 metres around the corner.
It has never triggered by soldering.

 

I'm more concerned in particular the soldering because when I put solder on the tip theres tiny "smoke" that comes from it, more like as if the soldering iron is smoking a cigarette but the scent is not tobacco. Does anyone know if the scent would trigger the carbon monoxide alarm?

The scent is like fir/pine trees (pitch) because it comes from pine trees. I find it pleasant and take a whiff every once in a while. It won't trigger the CO detector because it takes a significant concentration of CO to set them off. I can solder for an hour or two and the detector in the next room never registers anything.

I had a situation where my oil furnace was pumping CO into the living space. My Daughter noticed the number on the detector being non-zero and asked if that was normal. We thanked her for telling us and had the furnace repaired.

 

Does the CO detector ONLY go off when you are soldering (or working with the chemicals)?

Does it always/usually go off when you are soldering?

What concentration of CO does it report?

How long after you stop soldering does it stop sounding the alarm?

If it triggers at other times, then it isn't the soldering (or whatever else you are doing).

I'd be surprised if the soldering has anything to do with it.

You say that it is newly installed. Was there a CO detector before it? Did it ever go off? If not, you most likely have a defective unit. But definitely check it out because you could also have a bad appliance and you'd hate to wake up dead one morning.

 

I never had a detector before. I just installed it today and have not ran a soldering iron since the installation.

 

I use etchant (ferric chloride), sodium silicate developer, and solder when doing my circuit boards but I was wondering if anything would cause a newly installed carbon monoxide detector to sound the alarm.

I never had a detector before. I just installed it today and have not ran a soldering iron since the installation.

Doesn't make sense. If your not doing those things and your new detector is going off, it means -1. your detector is faulty from the factory, or 2. you have a different problem with carbon monoxide in the house.

 

I take it you're asking a preemptive question: 'will my CO detector go off from solder smoke?' No, it won't.

My CO detector is also a smoke detector. If there's a fair amount of smoke it will sound. But the tiny wiffs of smoke shouldn't set off either. Not unless your detector is 10 inches directly above the soldering station.

Something about smoke detectors, there are different types. Some detect ionization, some work on the obscurance of a light beam. Often when my wife is cooking in the oven there's smoke. And frequently the detector goes off. One evening I cooked a cinnamon wheel in the oven and the cinnamon/brown sugar ran over the edges and onto the bottom of the oven. Boy - want to talk about smoke? The house was FILLED with smoke. Yet, the detector didn't go off. The next day I tested all the detectors by pressing the test button and they all sounded. A week later the wife was cooking fish. Just a slight amount of smoke and the alarm was going off like crazy. There's a method to cancel the alarm for 13 minutes, but it wasn't working. So I just took it off the wall, unplugged it from power and put it in the living room where it sat silently until it was reinstalled and the next smoke detect event occurred.

I doubt even a smoke detector will go off - even if it's in your hobby room where you will do your soldering. But the smoke from soldering, I don't believe it has a carbon monoxide component to the smoke. If it does - it's going to be very very little.

 

If there's a fair amount of smoke it will sound.

That's how I knew dinner was ready when I first got married.

 

Not sure where I heard it - but somebody wanted to make a smoke alarm that can be canceled with the simple phrase - "I'M JUST COOKING!"

 

Ok my alarms should be safe then. thank you.