NEW, SUPER-EFFICIENT DESOLDERING METHOD.  Yeah, right...  - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / projects

author: CaveMannDave
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 04, 2019, 10:33:10 pm
content: : :Everybody, what do you think about THIS monumental FAIL!Can you say Heavy Metal Toxicity?How about trace and joint contamination?QuoteWho wants to employ this technique on customer repairs?Cheers,Dave

author: KaneTW
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 04, 2019, 10:41:36 pm
content: Mercury in liquid form isn't particularly dangerous. The problem here is residual mercury causing joint failure down the line, and potential RoHS/whatever issues.E: oh, he takes a soldering iron to it. As long as the fumes are sucked off (fume hood or similar) it should be fine. Mercury vapors are not something you should breathe. But soldering in a fume hood sounds like a giant headache, and I doubt that dude's doing it.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 04, 2019, 10:52:31 pm
content: Fucking hell, soldering with mercury is right up there among dumb ideas. And then using a toothbrush to clean off the dross... hello ESD damage. (Solvents don’t prevent ESD damage. In fact, I saw a report about a chemical plant explosion caused by static buildup in alcohol, caused by the alcohol flow.)

author: CaveMannDave
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 04, 2019, 11:08:36 pm
content: Kane, Thanks for seconding my objections to this method. ;DniTookie: i hadn't considered the static discharge aspect (goodbye expensive, perhaps irreplaceable device), but was appalled by little QuickSilver particles flying around the area.Did "he" actually recommend gasoline (petrol) for cleanup, or was that another video?Cheers,Dave

author: DaJMasta
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 04, 2019, 11:19:04 pm
content: That seems incredibly stupid.... and raw mercury may actually be harder to find and more expensive in the US than a cheap hot air gun.... and while the liquid may not be dangerous to have around, it's very dangerous to handle, so the residue on the iron, the splatters from flux boiling, the residue on the board.... all of it would be effectively hazardous waste not suitable for a landfill.Mercury's boiling point is about 350C, too, so it doesn't take much extra heat from your iron before you're breathing it even with a decent flow fume hood. They overlay "safe soldering" on the video like they're trying to reassure themselves...... the right equipment is so inexpensive, don't throw your health away handling and trying to solder with mercury.

author: not1xor1
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2019, 06:45:23 am
content: what aboutgalinstanor other similar eutectic alloys?

author: magic
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2019, 07:46:15 am
content: Indeed, I'm not going to waste my time watching it but from the reaction here I gather that the guy has never heard of products like QuikChip.That being said, I just carefully use a low power heatgun on the rare occasion I need do desolder some large SMD crap.

author: xavier60
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2019, 09:06:50 am
content: I got some Wood's metal off ebay to then find that Wood's metal contains toxic Cadmium. For the short time I used it, I found it very good for removing SMD parts at reduced temperature.But I don't think I was sent pure Wood's metal anyway because it becomes a paste at about 100°C and liquid about 130°C.Looking for low melt solder on ebay, I found this,https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Special-130-degree-C-low-melt-temperature-solder-wire-dia-0-5mm-4-meter-length/142018652365?hash=item2110f8a8cd:g:oLsAAOSwpdpVWp9UWhich also has Cadmium.Rose's metal appears to be safe if the supplies available on ebay can be trusted to be non-contaminated.I don't see why an alloy needs to be eutectic for the application.https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/75g-Alloy-Rose-Roses-metal-Roses-metal-Lead-Bismuth-Tin-alloy/183658130100?hash=item2ac2e0aab4:g:d0IAAOSwtaBcMxiK

author: m3vuv
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2019, 09:53:58 am
content: if ive a scrap bourd i want the ic's etc from i put it on my cooker hob give it 2 mins then invert the board and give it a bash on my worktop,never fails to get them out without damage!

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2019, 10:04:40 am
content: Quote from: CaveMannDave on November 04, 2019, 11:08:36 pmRight? I'm sure little balls of mercury amalgam rolling around a board full of fine-pitch SMD chips is a GREAT idea!Quote from: CaveMannDave on November 04, 2019, 11:08:36 pmHe sure did!!Now, using hydrocarbon solvents for PCB cleanup is totally valid — n-hexane is a fabulous (if highly neurotoxic) solvent, and many flux removers are blends of alcohols and hydrocarbons. But vehicle gasoline is full of additives, and I'm sure it's not good as a cleaner. Knowing this guy, he'd probably recommend using leaded gas, too...I suppose it's possible that in whatever country he's in, petrol could also refer to some other kind of hydrocarbon substance which could be more suited. (For example, here in Switzerland, "Petrol" in the grocery store is lamp fuel.)

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2019, 10:05:30 am
content: Quote from: magic on November 05, 2019, 07:46:15 amOh, it's time well spent.

author: coromonadalix
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2019, 10:26:02 am
content: stupid ways to remove a chip, use an hot air station thats all pfffffYou overheat the board, and you may damage the pcb traces etc .... not all pcb are well made .......

author: Miti
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2019, 10:58:00 am
content: Quote from: KaneTW on November 04, 2019, 10:41:36 pmMercury creates vapours at room temperature. Watch this:https://youtu.be/aSO3ykbaiM8Now imagine that you buy a house where a dumbfuck like this applied his “safe” technique all day long in his basement lab. Or you take your TV to him to repair. You bring it back full of mercury droplets. Then after few months you wonder what’s with this crushing fatigue that all your family feels.Idiots at work !

author: GeorgeOfTheJungle
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2019, 11:26:18 am
content: LOL, what an idiot!https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_poisoning

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2019, 12:14:48 pm
content: Quote from: GeorgeOfTheJungle on November 05, 2019, 11:26:18 amAnd getting dumber, no doubt, from the chronic mercury poisoning.This is what he replied to someone's safety concern in the comments:"It is also used in the preparation of pharmaceuticals, if it does not go into the mouth, there is no harm in it . I'm using it for many years for desoldering. it is not harmful."I mean, 180 degrees backwards. (Elemental mercury ingestion is pretty much harmless, but the vapors definitely are not.)

author: GeorgeOfTheJungle
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2019, 01:45:21 pm
content: Yet another one:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ErethismQuote

author: DBecker
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2019, 06:09:25 pm
content: Quote from: xavier60 on November 05, 2019, 09:06:50 amAddressing only this very narrow point..I don't see any value in an eutectic alloy. Your goal is to dissolve the existing solder, which will immediately move the resulting alloy away from the eutectic point. Unless I'm missing some effect, the ideal would be alloy that moves closer to the eutectic point when mixed with the existing solder.

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2019, 07:00:06 pm
content: I have actually reported this video to Youtube under the "Dangerous acts" category. They better take it down before some idiot (and there are plenty of them in the comments!) decides to emulate this fool.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2019, 07:19:23 pm
content: I did the same thing earlier today. It’s totally reckless. I also took the liberty of using copy-and-paste to reply to many of the comments with a warning.

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2019, 07:23:00 pm
content: I think he is using Gallium, you can see it solidify as it puts it on the top of the IC. I would think Mercury would be more liquid. If it's pure Gallium its boiling point is 2400C. Not sure how much of an effect it would have but it's corrosive to other metals so you would want to remove it thoroughly.

author: magic
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2019, 07:52:59 pm
content: Quote from: janoc on November 05, 2019, 07:00:06 pmKnowing YT they will kindly ignore your report or if they don't, the video will be reuploaded next day together with a short commentary about New World Order taking down videos to sell more hot air stations.Quote from: tooki on November 05, 2019, 07:19:23 pmYou do it because you know they don't care about your opinion

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2019, 08:16:09 pm
content: Quote from: Shock on November 05, 2019, 07:23:00 pmAt the end of the video he says it’s mercury and calls it “harmless”.

author: boffin
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 05, 2019, 08:57:00 pm
content: just use ChipquickAnd there's an Eevblog video for that too....

author: Shock
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2019, 09:12:26 pm
content: Quote from: tooki on November 05, 2019, 08:16:09 pmThe second half of the video is muted for me. But as I said it doesn't look like Mercury unless it has already been turned into an alloy. Could be a Gallium Tin alloy that can melt around 25-28C. Anyway nice screwdriver tip he is using.

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2019, 09:25:32 pm
content: Quote from: tooki on November 05, 2019, 08:16:09 pmIt is certainly not gallium, gallium isn't liquid below 29C or so (you can see it is well liquid when he is picking it up from that tin). Unless his room was very hot, there is no way it would work like that - it would be either solid or semi-solid until heated up.He also mentions several times in the comments it is mercury - which is apparently easy to get in India or where he is from. He mentions in the comments that it can be easily bought in stores (it is used in traditional Indian ayurveda medicine, together with lead - yay). Gallium isn't commonly sold as it has little domestic/traditional medicine uses apart from thermometers.

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 05, 2019, 09:28:44 pm
content: Quote from: magic on November 05, 2019, 07:52:59 pmSo in other words it is better to not even try and sit with a smug face and smartass comments instead.I am not naive, but if nobody reports such content, then no wonder that nothing is done.

author: magic
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2019, 07:30:33 am
content: Quote from: janoc on November 05, 2019, 09:28:44 pmI wouldn't be doing it if I didn't believe itOn one hand a guy who has been using mercury for years and is still alive, on the other hand a guy who says that by his logic the other guy should be dead. Who wins?And if Indians or whoever consider mercury a medicine then guess what, kicking them out of YT will at best push them to some Indian site where no one will see anything weird in it.I don't understand people who get emotional about shit they find on the Internet.

author: janoc
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2019, 10:04:54 am
content: Quote from: magic on November 06, 2019, 07:30:33 amI guess you don't understand that "handling mercury" and "soldering with it" (= heating it up, producing clouds of toxic fumes and splatter) is not quite the same thing. Also mercury won't kill you outright - you know, it used to be used as a remedy for syphilis, typhoid fever or parasites (yes, you were literally asked to drink it, if the patient died, oops, clearly that parasite was too strong and mercury dose too small!). The problem is long term exposure - the dose is cumulative, mercury accumulates in your body over time (same as lead and cadmium).That the guy isn't dead yet means squat - the video has been posted on 25th of October, he claims it is a "new method", so it is very likely he isn't doing this for a sufficiently long time to have accumulated enough dose to have serious problems yet.You are only showing your ignorance, dude.Quote from: magic on November 06, 2019, 07:30:33 amSo in other words, it is better to not do anything and let clueless idiots get hurt/poisoned, even though we can at least alert YT about it. I can't do squat about any Indian websites but that doesn't mean we should ignore shit like this where we can do something about it.Wonderful attitude - are you also that guy who, when seeing a road accident, whips up the phone and starts filming instead of trying to help, because "it won't make any difference anyway"?

author: BrianHG
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2019, 10:18:45 am
content: Now, clean metallic mercury isn't in it's most dangerous form, I DO NOT MEAN IT IS SAFE, however, if any of that metallic mercury you come into contact with has any tiny amount it in it's organic form, you WILL suffer the consequences slowly over time, no matter what. Only the dosage will determine the speed at which the following will develop, and once such an exposure has happened, you will not know until it is too late:

author: ptricks
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2019, 04:08:06 pm
content: Considering both the cost and related health concerns I can't see this as efficient except for the time actually removing the chip, there is all the prep, then the cleanup, so not really time saving.My efficient method is an xacto knife across the pins at the chip so you don't cut traces, then lift the chip off and drag solder off the pins left on the board. Takes about 5 minutes and the board is ready.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2019, 08:06:33 pm
content: Quote from: Shock on November 05, 2019, 09:12:26 pmIt looks like he’s wiped every trace of him mentioning mercury. The video used to have scrolling text at the end, describing it as “harmless” mercury, and that’s gone now. And he’s deleted every comment where he says what it is or where to get it.

author: tooki
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 06, 2019, 08:08:49 pm
content: Quote from: janoc on November 06, 2019, 10:04:54 amIn a now-deleted reply to a comment, he said he’d been using it for years without problems.