[sdiy] soldering with air conditioner?

[Scott Nordlund]

I don't have firsthand experience with this, but as far as I know the main danger is irritation.  Long-term exposure can apparently result in an asthma-like response when breathing solder fumes.  This isn't due to any sort of toxicity, it's simply that your lungs become sensitized to the continued irritation.

So probably it's a good idea to have some form of ventilation if you don't want to end up with some life-long "soldering makes me wheeze" situation.


----------------------------------------
> Date: Wed, 27 May 2009 07:11:23 +1000
> From: stewpye at optusnet.com.au
> To: subjectivity at hotmail.com
> Subject: Re: [sdiy] soldering with air conditioner?
> CC: synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
>
> Hi Dan,
>
> You could check the MSDS for the solder that you use. The MSDS for lead
> based solder I use said something like, "fumes may irritate" but didn't
> indicate any possible long term effects (not to say that there aren't
> any), and people on other forums who know about chemicals say that the
> fumes aren't too bad. AFAIK contact through the skin is the main
> problem, and if you're sweating like a pig a lot more will get through
> your skin. I'm not sure about the fumes from lead free solder.
>
> Still, if possible I'd use a 200mm flexible duct with a 200mm fan on the
> end of it. You can hang the end of it with a piece of wire so it sits
> over your PCB.
>
> Regards,
> Stewart.
>
>
>
> Dan Snazelle wrote:
>> i meant i would turn it off while i solder and open a big big hole in the seal
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>> ----------------------------------------
>>
>>> Date: Tue, 26 May 2009 10:38:47 -0700
>>> Subject: RE: [sdiy] soldering with air conditioner?
>>> From: blincoln at eventualdecline.com
>>> To: synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
>>>
>>> Without seeing the actual unit it's hard to say, but that may actually
>>> drop the efficiency of the air conditioner considerably. AFAIK the reason
>>> there is a seal is to maintain the one-way flow of hot and cold air, IE to
>>> avoid recirculating the hot air back through the AC unit again.
>>>
>>> I visited a remote location at work where there was a heat problem in the
>>> server room. Someone had stuck a free-standing AC unit inside, without an
>>> external exhaust, thinking "it makes cold air", without realizing that (as
>>> previously explained) it does that by making the interior cold at the
>>> expense of putting out hotter air somewhere else. So of course by not
>>> having external exhaust, they were actually making the server room even
>>> hotter than without the AC unit.
>>>
>>> I'm no expert on the subject, but I suspect one of two things will result:
>>>
>>> 1 - If opening the seals lets solder fumes exhaust from the room, then
>>> you're probably decreasing the effectiveness of the AC unit so much that
>>> you should just use a fan instead.
>>> 2 - If the effectiveness *isn't* decreased considerably, then you're
>>> probably not exhausting a significant amount of the solder fumes, so you
>>> should use a fan instead.
>>>
>>> :)
>>>
>>> If the window is all you've got to work with, I think it's going to be
>>> hard to effectively cool the room *and* provide exhaust for an AC unit.
>>> The first thing that comes to mind is some ductwork to separate the intake
>>> of a fan and the exhaust of the AC, but that's probably more work than
>>> you're looking to do.
>>>
>>> Ideally I think you'd want the AC (or just an intake fan) on one side of
>>> the room blowing cold air in, and an exhaust fan on the other side, but
>>> again it doesn't sound like that's an option.
>>>
>>> On Tue, May 26, 2009 9:41 am, Dan Snazelle wrote:
>>>
>>>> oh i meant open the vents that are on the sides of the window...not the
>>>> vents on the AC itself....
>>>>
>>>> most AC's have little plastic vents you have to pull across your
>>>> windowsill to make a SEAL..by pulling these back you open up part of your
>>>> window to the outside world
>>>>
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