IS old electronic hardware poison?

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

Ceramic IC packages and Cosmic Rays.

I "played" with mercury in a grade school science class.

 

[Rich D.]

Nobody mentioned the necessity of unplugging and/or discharging the device being dis-assembled. That can kill you quicker than all the other stuff combined.

 

[tvtech]

I "played" with mercury in a grade school science class.

Me too and that was 40 Years ago. Never ate the Mercury either though.....

Edit: Do tilt switches still have Mercury in them these days??

 

[Scotophor]

Do tilt switches still have Mercury in them these days?

Mercury tilt switches are still available here in the U.S. but I don't know if they're still being made. I imagine they might be harder to get in the EU, what with their strict RoHS regulations and all. AFAIK there isn't really anything else that can be a direct substitute. Sure an accelerometer, Hall-effect, or other technology can be used for a new design, but they're more complex to sense with than a simple contact closure, and can't be used as a drop-in replacement if a vintage Hg switch should fail. However, one of the beauties of the mercury tilt switch is their robustness. If you have a piece of equipment with a broken or fried mercury switch, there's probably a lot more wrong with it than just the switch!

 

[Paul_L]

The liquid electrolyte of older caps was poisonous.
Other than the precautions other members have mentioned, it is good hygiene to wash the hands after handling any old equipment.

Capacitors and transformers contained PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyl). Not sure what year they did away with the use of PCB.

 

[Ken1]

Tilt switches used in portable heaters use a weighted pendulum to break the contacts and interrupt the power if the heater is not sitting upright.

 

[MrAl]

Hi,

Yes the ones i have seen have that. I wonder what the old pinball machines used.

 

[Scotophor]

I wonder what the old pinball machines used.

Pinball machines I've seen have two types of "tilt" switches. The main one is usually a conical pendulum bob suspended in a ring. There's a setscrew in the bob to adjust its height, and therefore sensitivity. All it has to do is touch the ring to trip the loss-of-ball or game over, depending on the machine set up. In the pre-solid-state games, game over would be accomplished by a latching relay. Many games have two tilt functions, standard tilt and "slam tilt". Slam tilt is usually a weighted leaf spring contact behind or beside the coin door. A hard enough jolt produces immediate game over. Games with slam tilt usually only take away the ball in play on a normal tilt. The very earliest coin-op tilt mechanism was called a "stool pigeon", and was a ball resting in a dished depression in the top of a pedestal. If the ball fell off, it was immediate game over. The drawback with this type was that it had to be manually reset by opening the machine and replacing the ball atop the pedestal.

 

[atferrari]

The very earliest coin-op tilt mechanism was called a "stool pigeon", and was a ball resting in a dished depression in the top of a pedestal. If the ball fell off, it was immediate game over. The drawback with this type was that it had to be manually reset by opening the machine and replacing the ball atop the pedestal.

Excessive but effective or is it the other way round?

 

[Rich D.]

Later pinball games that I worked on (in the '80s) had that bob switch but also a second tilt switch that was a ball resting on a short (apx 6") track made from a steel plate with a slot down the middle. If the game was tilted back or initially set at a bad angle, the ball rolled backwards along the slot and closed a contact, also causing a tilt.

 

[Scotophor]

Oh, now that you mention it, I've seen that type too, I just forgot about it. That would be a dual function switch... besides stopping players from simply propping the game up or readjusting the leg levelers for less playfield slope, it would also work as a slam tilt (hit the front of the game hard enough and the ball rebounds all the way up the track).

 

[Tony Stewart]

I should mention there are many substances sealed in Electronic components that are carcinogenic but deemed safe to use.
- as others indicated... electrolytics
- also burning epoxy from soldering guns ( carcinogen) and burning PVC insulation (chlorine)
- The MSDS datasheets indicate this is not exclusive to old electronic parts.


wet electrlytics

 

[MrAl]

Hi Tony,

I like that idea about the 'burning' epoxy, because we have to solder circuits and soldering usually involves temperatures of maybe 600 F or above and that can burn plastics and stuff like that, which can give off nasty gases.

What i often wondered about but never looked into is the process of melting lead. I wonder what kind of gas that gives off and how harmful short exposure times would be to human health at a relatively young age.

 

[Paul_L]

The new stuff isn't that less toxic either.

 

[MrAl]

Hi,

Good point, we have to keep an eye on the new stuff as well.

 

[ClydeCrashKop]

I knew a man that melted lead to make fishing sinkers. I guess he did that a lot. He got lead poisoning from the fumes that messed up his equilibrium. He felt off balance or dizzy all of the time, for years. The only time he felt normal was in a rocking boat.

 

[ronsimpson]

I knew a man that melted lead to make fishing sinkers. I guess he did that a lot. He got lead poisoning from the fumes that messed up his equilibrium. He felt off balance or dizzy all of the time, for years. The only time he felt normal was in a rocking boat.

Something in electronics messed me up to. Now I feel normal in a rocking chair with a remote in my hand.
lol

 

[4pyros]

Something in electronics messed me up to. Now I feel normal in a rocking chair with a remote in my hand.
lol

I am with you there, it could have been anything over the years. I am not going to worry to much about it now that I know coffee can kill you. I need my coffee.

 

[shortbus=]

Can't prove it but think you guys are wrong about lead giving off 'gas'. The boiling point of lead is ~3180F, and you would need to get hotter than that for it to 'gas', if it ever would. They use lead at higher than melting point ~620F to heat treat/harden some thin metal parts.

The smoke from soldering and casting lead is from the flux not the lead itself.

 

[4pyros]

Can't prove it but think you guys are wrong about lead giving off 'gas'. The boiling point of lead is ~3180F, and you would need to get hotter than that for it to 'gas', if it ever would. They use lead at higher than melting point ~620F to heat treat/harden some thin metal parts.

The smoke from soldering and casting lead is from the flux not the lead itself.

Well that makes me feel better.