DIY true-ism or just me?

[Peake]

Does this only happen to me, or is it universal?

No matter how well ventilated a workspace, up to and including the use of fans, solder fumes will seek and envelope the face.

"Inhale me, inhale me..."

Also, looks like it's time to get another Aloe Vera plant for all of those little iron burns.. Fsst!

Sorry for the waste of bandwidth. Hope you're all having as much fun as I am.

[norman phay]

No, I usually do find that the little tendril of smoke coming off the tip of the iron has unerring aim & never misses yr nostril.

What are you building?

[EdisonRex]

The Law of Smoke has always been that any smoke will always be in your face, no matter where you position yourself in relation to the source. So a barbeque or campfire will blow in your face, and if you move to the other side, it will change to blow in your face. A cigarette in someone's hand will always blow away from them, and into your face, especially in a restaurant.

Soldering irons are no different, unless your significant other is in the room, and then the smoke will blow in her face.

[Clack]

I always get solder eyes, I feel happy and satisfied in the evening when I go to bed with sore eyes. (probably not too good, as I use 60/40 lead solder)

[shawn]

I'm happy to say I don't share in the solder in the face anymore. A few years back I started leaving the ceiling fan on (the second fastest speed setting) and a desk fan on it's highest setting that blows right across my soldering area. I literally don't see any smoke or smell it. I love it.

[Peake]

"The Law of Smoke".. I love it. The Demon Murphy has found another way to get at us...

I'm going to try direct application of fans, per the last poster's suggestion..

Regards,

-Mike

[Photon]

I hardy notice the solder fumes with all those burning tires outside my apartment.

My problem is I'm always losing my solder. I tear off a piece, make a connection and the next time I need it its gone. It happens again and again, then at the end of the night there are invariably 5 (or 6) 8 inch solder lengths under my chair or desk that were invisible until just then.

peter

[frijitz]

[EdisonRex]

Open windows help, but I'm just used to it. Maybe it was too much lead when I was a kid. I did a lot of kits in the 70s with my dad's big reel of Kester 60/40.

I never pull off bits from the reel. I just keep the reel handy and leave a long strain relief near my hand, just feed that way. I only get the occasional blob of waste. I used to do the small bits soldering thing when I was a kid but my dad yelled at me, told me I was wasting solder.

[numbernone]

I tend to cut off about 6 inches at a time, and use an alligator clip as a "handle". I read a letter by Ben Franklin at the Mutter Museum about type setters getting "The Dangle" from handling lead type for years, since then I avoid contact with that stuff as much as possible. Yes I am very aware that I am in no way equal to an 18th century lifer type setter, but every little bit helps!! As for the damn smoke I am now keeping my windows open (SUMMER!), with a strong fan blasting air all over the place. I have also subconsciously adopted a breathing pattern while making connections, deep breath...start soldering, all the while exhaling little puffs in the direction of the smoking action zone. I can do one side of a 16 dip on a breath, and I dont get light headed (except from the beer). Yes its strange and I just noticed it the other night assembling the Mankato board.

[etaoin]

[Dave Kendall]

Back in the old place I used to work in, the maintenance room had a component-eating carpet. It had some sort of horrible textured floral pattern, and even lying flat on the floor to look for that elusive washer or cable marker didn't show it up. I suspect it actually induced life in components, they would instantly grow little legs and run away and hide under the furniture so as not to be eaten by the dreaded carpet.

Now I've got a wooden floor. You can see things on it, but the second anything falls onto it, it accelerates briefly to light speed and goes into the kitchen, bathroom, and probably occasionally actually flees the country.

Oh well......

[Peake]

Oh yeah, DIP semiconductors mashed into short-hair carpet.. Diodes rolling into cracks you never knew existed.. Exactly how and when did that IC's legs become folded in? The IC leg-folding fairy??

[Scott Stites]

That DIP IC in the bottom of the bare foot certainly makes itself known toot-sweet. Flesh doesn't bend the pins; if it's an expensive IC, you're thankful for the pain...

[theMinister]

i've had this bookmarked for a while but haven't gotten around to it.

[crashlander42]

i wish I hadn't been wearing shoes when I stepped on my last SN76477.

It just blended in with the piles of clipped leads, Futurlec and Mouser bags on the floor.

[jksuperstar]

As for the law of smoke, if you repeatedly say "Daed Bunnies Dead Bunnies Dead Bunnies", the smoke usually shifts from your face. True, and it's as odd as the law of smoke itself, but still, true.

I have a small 6" fan from a an old computer, that I can localize right in front of what I'm working on. The techs at my old job used to have ionized fans blowing across their work, seemed to help from lingering smoke as well.

[Scott Stites]

Dead Bunnies, eh? I'll put that to the test on the next campout in October.

[richardc64]

[piedwagtail]

What sort of iron are you using?

Some lose heat so quickly that the iron is at the job far too long.
The fumes are copious and your life is shorter than a Taiwanese aluminium bicycle frame welder(italian steel is real,folks).

My magnetic Weller is just too quick for fumes to be a problem.

Robert

[Scott Stites]