Soldering questions

[Technoid]

Oh okay.

Would it be in a spool? I would kind of rather buy it from somewhere though..

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

No, just a length. What I have is SN100E 0.032 p/n 50-93521 and 0.045 Stan Rubinstein Assoc SRA 96/4 0.045.

So, if you PM me your address, I;ll put a length of the SN100E in the mail for you and some of of the 96/4.

Radio Shack has "Lead free solder", https://www.radioshack.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=2032313&sr=1&origkw=solder some are lead free in the URL, but as usual they are no help at all.

These guys **broken link removed** have 1/2 a lb of the solder I have.

If nothing else, it would give you something to evaluate.

 

[Technoid]

Okay, thanks!

I'm not sure if I PMed you or not, check and see.

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

Here's **broken link removed** a source for the SN100e solder that I put in the mail for you in various sizes/packages. I just placed an order for stuff today from them and I've ordered from them in the past. They are a nice source for wire. I was referred by a friend.

 

[Reloadron]

How do you know you do not need one.. no cancer yet?
Soldering without mask is easy.. using mask after you get cancer is useless.

Well here is the problem. Now looking at Mr. T's avatar I see what looks to be a fine young man. If my avatar were a photograph of myself we would see an old guy with pretty grey once brown hair and a grey beard. When my career began as a hobby I was about 8 or 9 years old and rest assured there were no circuit boards as we know them today. Chassis were hand crafted wired and consisted of vacuum tubes (valves). The solder choice was tin lead the old 60/40. There were no mask or solder stations with vacuum hoods. Fortunately myself and a few others here have not shown the symptoms of cancer yet but during those years nobody was really aware of the damage being done. Hell, I grew up in a NYC house with lead based paint and asbestos shingles. Fortunately things have changed for the better with things like mask for soldering and a host of other safety precautions to be observed. Things never thought of 50+ years ago.

With all the great tips for soldering well covered I will only add a few details. When it comes to soldering or slobbering the bigger the blob the better the job. OK, seriously I see soldering as a skill or art form. Good soldering experience comes with time. The skills are developed with practice, much like welding and other similar skills. Don't get discouraged when those early jobs don't look quite like a beautiful picture in a book. Time and practice will get you there. Good work habits come in time and are developed.

Just My Take....
Ron

 

[misterT]

I don't remember posting that..

"I'm afraid that I was very, very drunk"

 

[Reloadron]

I don't remember posting that..

"I'm afraid that I was very, very drunk"

LMAO, if some of my recent post seem humorous or just plain strange it's the result of meds I am taking. Made a trip to North Carolina last week (about 8 hours drive) for a funeral. No clue but my back weirded out. I was in agony and drove home in agony. Hell a gasoline stop took me ten min just to exit my truck. Got home Friday and saw the doctor Monday morning. Gave me drugs for the muscles but also drugs for the pain. The pain meds are fun. The wife finds me humorous when I take them. Trouble is I really can't focus on much of anything. Happy, just can't focus. She won't let me drive either.

I start weening off the muscle drugs tomorrow over a 6 day period, it's a steroid. My back feels better so I am also backing off on the narcotic pain meds. Damn, I am going to miss those.

Ron

 

[Technoid]

Thanks for the link KISS!

With all the great tips for soldering well covered I will only add a few details. When it comes to soldering or slobbering the bigger the blob the better the job. OK, seriously I see soldering as a skill or art form. Good soldering experience comes with time. The skills are developed with practice, much like welding and other similar skills. Don't get discouraged when those early jobs don't look quite like a beautiful picture in a book. Time and practice will get you there. Good work habits come in time and are developed.

Slobbering? And yeah, I was actually quite suprised how well I did with the little soldering I did on that kit before the iron messed up.

I am buying a soldering station, but since I have that iron I figured what the hell, so I got some sandpaper and sanded the tip, it didn't work too well but I don't think I did it good. So I sanded some more and it looks shinyer now, but then I ran out of time and had to quit. So I don't know if it works.

There is a little workshop-like room in my basement, but it is quite small and does not have good air circulation, and only one doorway. Would that be good for soldering if I put some fans in there? Would the solder smoke go into the rest of the house?

 

[Reloadron]

Thanks for the link KISS!



Slobbering? And yeah, I was actually quite suprised how well I did with the little soldering I did on that kit before the iron messed up.

I am buying a soldering station, but since I have that iron I figured what the hell, so I got some sandpaper and sanded the tip, it didn't work too well but I don't think I did it good. So I sanded some more and it looks shinyer now, but then I ran out of time and had to quit. So I don't know if it works.

There is a little workshop-like room in my basement, but it is quite small and does not have good air circulation, and only one doorway. Would that be good for soldering if I put some fans in there? Would the solder smoke go into the rest of the house?

Years ago nobody gave much thought to soldering fumes. Today it's another different story. Today, here in the US anyway, we have soldering stations in commercial use. Airflow and ventilation take on a whole new meaning. While I haven't a clue what many years of soldering may have done to me I encourage the new people starting out to use precautions. Things as simple as a mask to making sure the area they solder in has above all good ventilation including exhaust. Will a fan or a few fans help? I don't know as I can't see your setup. However, I can say with certainty that they sure as heck won't hurt. When we exhaust anything it has to go somewhere. That is a given. Will the solder smoke go into the rest of your house? Again, I can't see your setup so I don't know.

There are pages and pages of text written on this subject. While we have managed to some extent to "get the lead out" there is still the matter of ROSIN-BASED FLUX & COLOPHONY to deal with in the fumes or smoke. I am not saying if you are exposed to solder fumes you will be dead in a week from cancer. I am saying that prolonged exposure or extensive exposure likely is not good for your health. When soldering use common sense. If you are soldering and get a burning sensation in your nose it's a good guess something is wrong.

Ron

 

[Technoid]

It's quite a mess down there, but I can take a few pictures of it before and/or after I clean it up (which actually may end up being never, but it's a thought).

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

One of the best sources of personal protection equipment is the MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet). For Kester 44 is's here: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CD0QFjAD&url=https://www.kester.com/download/44%20Flux-Cored%20Wire%20Lead%20Alloy%20SDS.pdf&ei=gwerU5PpDYuLyATe1oKoAw&usg=AFQjCNHaZmk1pRFvke1oJZIlaDhYJcrFCg&bvm=bv.69620078,d.aWw&cad=rja

It spells out the hazards and disposal so you don;t have to guess. Unfortunately, you can't do air sampling and have the results analyzed.

Taking the MSDS to the non-scarey level means (my interpretation) - A closed room isn't good. A respirator is always a good thing.
be careful about eating a drinking around solder. Longer term might require gloves. Longer tier might require a solder extractor.

Since working in a lab, I do pay attention to PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). I do wear glasses which is help. I change the type of glasses depending on what I'm doing.
I use a respirator for raking leaves or cleaning gutters, so I need the mask for asthma issues or mold exposure. I'll use it when sanding and spraying trees or putting down herbicides. At one time I was fitted with a real respirator, but I haven't purchased one,. For home, I would prefer a full face shield or air powered respirator, but I can't justify
I just bought 600 or 6 pkgs/100 of vinyl gloves. They are indispensable for cooking, cleaning, using solvents and painting. With the Herbicide handing, I use Nitrile.
So, it may not be "full-blown", but it's a help. e.g. Herbicide/Pesticide: Goggles; Nitrile gloves and change clothes and wash separately immediately and not the additional protections of a Tyvek suit+booties and air-powered respirator. I buy respirators with the exhalation valve by the box and they are MUCH cheaper than one at a time.

Plumbing soldering might cause more fumes than electronic soldering.

Do, I solder with gloves - no. Do I eat a sandwich while soldering - no. If I soldered 8 hrs a day would I use gloves - yes.

 

[Technoid]

Should I get a fume extractor with a filter?

And a full face respirator?

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

How much soldering are you going to do?

For compounds of Tin and N95 respirator is fine, so https://www.amazon.com/3M-8511-Part...s/B0002YKBV2/ref=dpx_acr_txt?showViewpoints=1 should work. I use these all the time.

I did break out another type for me and my mom while I was at a Chicago airport because of smog.

If the fumes become bothersome and your doing it in an unventilated area, then consider a fume extractor. That will help get the fumed out of the house.

 

[Katie]

It sounds like the iron is getting to hot and oxidizing the tip, turning it black. This could be for many reasons...

1. The tip is not tinned properly. Tinning and cleaning tips are key for good solder joints. Here is an article about proper tip tinning and care that may be helpful: https://blog.gotopac.com/2013/04/11/solder-tip-tinning-and-care/. Make sure you are cleaning your tip either with a damp sponge or with a tip cleaner (it has brass wires that you clean the tip off with).

2. Your iron may be getting to hot. It depends on what kind of iron you have. And sadly you get what you pay for. So it may be worth it to eventually get a better one, once you've had more time to practice etc. I would recommend a temperature controlled iron. That way you can choose a temperature and its not a guessing game on how hot it is at any certain time. A good temperature controlled iron is the Hakko FX-888D. It has a digital display and preset modes for temperatures that you use often in your soldering. I found this one online that was very affordable: https://www.gotopac.com/Hakko_FX888D_23BY_p/fx888d-23by-hak.htm.

Hope that helps!

 

[fezder]

there was little talk about solder fumes, i hate them too, so i installed small fan, big enought to make enought wind to blow fumes away (which is small) but in same tame small enought so it doesnt cause too much breeze for you or solder to cause it heat all the time....

 

[Technoid]

Katie: Yeah I'm getting a tempature controlled one now. The digital displays seem dumb to me, you just flick your wrist with a analog one and it's done, seems much faster. But that's just my opinion.

How much soldering are you going to do?

Not much, I only have one kit left and I don't know if I'm going to get more or not. I'm also going to be practicing desoldering on a DVR, and repairing a monitor. With everything else I just use wire glue, it's a lot easier.

For compounds of Tin an[d?] N95 respirator is fine

Okay, thanks for the link!

there was little talk about solder fumes, i hate them too, so i installed small fan, big enought to make enought wind to blow fumes away (which is small) but in same tame small enought so it doesnt cause too much breeze for you or solder to cause it heat all the time....

Are there normal fans that have filters or you could put filters on them that are good for solder fumes? Like a fume extractor but in a normal fan?

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

Prroably should have read: "For compounds of Tin, a N95 respirator is fine."

 

[fezder]

technoid, i use fan to BLOW towards me, but i do keep my window open too, which is behind my back, this way there is constant, small air flow that keeps fumes away. I don't smell anything, neither i smoke so i DO smell small odours. Solder fumes give me headache, so i'm pretty sure fumes are pretty much ''eliminated''. sure, there are small particles and fume extractor would do better job, but so far i haven't fainted in my lab due fumes....hope you get idea! andkeep practising, it's esy to solder EXCEPT some issues I'we encountered so far, could be also due my lack of experience, dunno: fiber wires, you'll recognize 'em from pretty strange colours, fiber and small wires. you'll need to ''burn'' that lacguer stuff from fiber's surface before you can attempt soldering. These wires are found like from headphones with microphone/volume adjustment and other fancy stuff in ONE cable that is pretty thin. Not always however, i can't recall excatly what fiber-wire it was....

Other issue i'we had are with big-cauge wires, but that is solved pretty well with big-wattage iron. And, i hate to solder anything else than copper-only wires, not even tinned copper....

hopefully helps at all

 

[Technoid]

Prroably should have read: "For compounds of Tin, a N95 respirator is fine."

Oh, okay.

technoid, i use fan to BLOW towards me, but i do keep my window open too, which is behind my back, this way there is constant, small air flow that keeps fumes away.

My mom has asthma, so a filter would be ideal to get rid of the fumes entirely, rather than just have constant airflow to keep it away from me, because it's in the basement.

 

[KeepItSimpleStupid]

My mom has asthma, so a filter would be ideal to get rid of the fumes entirely, rather than just have constant airflow to keep it away from me, because it's in the basement.

I can appreciate that. I have asthma too.