Feeling sick after using a soldering gun - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: ENIAC
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 11, 2015, 04:10:03 am
content: I know I need a fuse extractor now. This was the first time using a soldering gun and I was trying to solder a neg and pos 9v battery wiring back to my small amplifier, for some reason they fell offIt took a lot longer than expected and I didn't have a mask on and my room filled with fumes, now I am dizzy and disoriented. Other than buying a fume extractor is there any other precautions I can take that are tried and true in this culture?Also, why is it so difficult to solder an area where glue has once been? I spent 15 minutes trying to solder/re-attach these copper wires with my wick but the solder just wouldn't sick. I assume because there was glue there before. I kept trying to wipe it off but each time the soldering wouldn't stay. Why is this?Thanks!

author: Falcon69
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 11, 2015, 04:22:46 am
content: I sometimes get headaches when soldering alot.One things that extremely bothers me is if I use my flux pen, then solder and I just happen to breathe in at the time. I cough for a few minutes.I need to invest in a fume extractor myself I think. Also, when using my reflow oven, it stinks the house up. I'm hoping the fume extractor will help with that as well.I don't think I use the soldering gun enough to cause long term permanent damage (i.e. cancer), but, it does bother me the day and next day if a spend several hours doing it.

author: sleemanj
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 11, 2015, 05:00:40 am
content: What are you soldering to? Not all metals are particularly solderable. Aluminium for example, the oxide coating makes it very difficult to solder to without special nasty fluxes.What are you soldering with? Not all solders are created equal. Lead-free solder is generally regarded as harder to get right than trusty old leaded solder. Flux is mandatory (that said if you're FILLING A ROOM with you must have literally vaporised gallons of the stuff.What are you cleaning with? Solder is a metal and forms bonds with metal, not other stuff, so you need to ensure the things you are soldering are not overly contaminated (as you say, there was glue around), isopropyl alcohol, acetone, methylated spirits, and plenty of elbow grease are the traditional cleaners to remove contaminants.What iron are you using? If your iron is too hot, you're vaporising the flux before it can work. If your iron is too cold (or too small), you're not going to get the work pieces up to temperature, or even not activate the flux at all. It's not just the solder you have to melt, you have to bring everything up to the solder temperature so that bonds can form.

author: devanno
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 11, 2015, 05:03:06 am
content: Quote from: ENIAC on January 11, 2015, 04:10:03 amInhaling rosin fumes is never a good thing to be doing. I'm assuming you meant "fume extractor" and not "fuse extractor." These have to be in very close proximity to your work to be effective. I rarely do enough to fill a room with flux fumes. As to the glue part... I'm unclear how you were trying to attach wires with a wick... I may be confused, but usually a solder wick is used to de-solder a connection. You can't solder to glue. Or even glue residue. There's a molecular interaction between copper and the solder that provides the proper wetting of the contact area. The flux merely cleans the -metal- surface of oxidation or corrosion residue prior to making the bond.Glue tends to be -not- metal, and an insulator more than a conductor (with some explicit examples being the exception). Don't expect solder flux to cut through glue.

author: Yago
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 11, 2015, 06:31:06 am
content: Are you sure that you have not inhaled the fumes from the glue residue being heated?

author: Maxlor
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 11, 2015, 11:02:16 am
content: I once accidentally inhaled a cloud of fume while soldering, enough so it immediately felt weird in my throat. Not sure what it was exactly, since I held the iron below my field of vision at the time; might have been flux, or maybe I touched the iron to something else (rubber, plastic), can't remember. What I do remember is the reaction; that night I felt really cold and I was running a high fever for the next 2 days, after which the fever disappeared as quickly as it came. I called a toxicologist about it, he explained that sometimes toxic substances can trigger overreactions like that even if the dosage isn't actually dangerous. What's more dangerous is being exposed to low amounts of toxic substances over a long time, because then it can accumulate without any immediate reaction from your body to tell you that something's wrong.I now use fume extractors when soldering for longer than I can hold my breath. They're cheap (I think mine was around $20), and the activated carbon filter seems to work quite well with soldering fumes. You do need to be really close to them for the fan's pull to be strong enough, like 5cm max, so it can be a bit of a puzzle to set up the extractor, the board, parts, iron, solder and lamp and still see what's going on

author: German_EE
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 11, 2015, 11:09:10 am
content: Strange, my mother always liked the smell of the rosin from the solder that I used back in the 1970's, it was called Ersin Multicore. The modern stuff needs fume extractors if you are working all day but for a couple of hours you can get by with room ventilation or perhaps opening a window.

author: Zero999
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 11, 2015, 11:36:54 am
content: Despite being relatively non-toxic the fumes from lead free solder is worse than leaded solder because the flux is more aggressive.For most people, it's not that bad.What did affect me was when I soldered something which had traces of super glue on it which was nasty.

author: SeanB
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 11, 2015, 11:56:01 am
content: Many glues and plastics decompose to release a whole witches brew of compounds, like cyanide, chlorine and a whole lot of aromatic organic compounds, including those lovely cyclic aromatics. None of these are good for you, and exposure to even low levels can cause an allergic reaction, flu like symptoms and even trigger asthmatic attacks in some people.Best to use a fan at a minimum to blow it away from you, and better yet an extractor to get it safely outdoors and away.

author: SL4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 11, 2015, 10:22:45 pm
content: Quote from: ENIAC on January 11, 2015, 04:10:03 amProblem:Surfaces, materials, tools, experience, time, heatResults:Fumes, lack of insulation (after 15 mins), no music.All we need now is that the battery was connected to hold the joint steady.

author: TopLoser
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 11, 2015, 10:32:36 pm
content: Quote from: SeanB on January 11, 2015, 11:56:01 amNot as entertaining as your post about grabbing a snake while you were wearing cryogenic gauntlets and freezing it solid with Lo2 then dropping it on the floor and breaking it!I'm still giggling and imagining writing the risk assessment for that!

author: SL4P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 11, 2015, 10:35:32 pm
content: So that brings the next question...If you reverse the fume extractor direction - does it bring fumes back in from 'somewhere', or does it suck the user out and away?Anyone for a sucker?

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 11, 2015, 10:38:05 pm
content: Depends a lot on flux used, temperature. Being teenager I was desoldering parts from some old boards covered with conformal coating. The fumes caused diarrhea, no seriously. Checked several times trying to desolder those parts. So in result I didn't gave up but just took a gas mask and succesfully salvaged all those parts wearing a gas mask for a few hours . Gas mask was of this model:

author: ENIAC
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 12, 2015, 05:50:25 am
content: Funny replies guysI AM LOVING THIS!Reading the jokes along with serious information provides me with a lot of realizations of the mistakes I was making.Firstly, I wasn't using flux. I am new to this stuff and I wasn't aware I needed it. But I will go out and buy some!Secondly, I need cleaning supplies isopropyl alcohol, acetone, methylated spirits.Third, I should really work on my soldering technique looks like I was doing it wrong.And of course a fume extractor which I am debating on doing a build of.Here is the soldering gun I am using:http://cablesandconnectors.com/PIX/vtsg130nu.jpgI was soldering to a PCB board with copious amounts of glue smeared around. Along with 60/40 rosin-core wick with copious amounts of lead.

author: helius
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 12, 2015, 06:11:17 am
content: Your solder wire almost certainly contains a flux core, because it wouldn't work without it. The smoke that you see from soldering is flux smoke, not metals. (lead and tin don't vaporize until thousands of degrees)

author: tautech
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 12, 2015, 06:20:13 am
content: It is likely there is a substantial difference in thermal mass of the 2 items you are trying to join.1 will be overheated and vaporise the flux while the other is probably not to heat.Tackle it as 2 jobs.First Tin each seperately.Then heat the greater thermal mass first to melt the tinning and then offer the smalller thermal mass wire to the melted area. Remove iron. Done.

author: Richard Crowley
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 12, 2015, 06:33:55 am
content: It has nothing to do with the soldering iron/gun/whatever.It has almost nothing to do with the solder (or even the rosin).Heating up some unidentified "glue" is almost certainly the cause of your symptoms.A "fume extractor" is as simple as blowing out through your mouth when actually heating up the joint.Some people simply use a discarded muffin fan to blow air across the work area.Unless you are doing massive amounts of soldering, fancy "extractors" are massive overkill.

author: BurningTantalum
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 12, 2015, 07:40:06 am
content: I'm not clear as to what type of cells or 'battery' you were trying to connect to, but be aware that some rechargeable packs seem to use stainless interconnects, so normal electronic solder will not work.I use an abrasive wheel in a Dremel to clean metal surfaces (of cells for example) before attempting soldering.I too like the smell of 'Ersin multicore'... now, what were we talking about..?