[sdiy] soldering with air conditioner?

[David G. Dixon]

Solder fumes: I have been breathing them intermittently (every few days or
so, for a couple hours at a time at most) for the last year.  No
ventilation, no fans, nothing.  If the smoke is wafting towards my face, I
give it a little blow.  I smell the fumes (faintly and intermittently) but
that's about it.  No irritation, no scratchy throat or watery eyes.
Nothing.  I think the stuff I'm using, at least, is pretty harmless.  Also,
there is very little (virtually no) chance of there being any lead
whatsoever in those fumes.  Lead has a very high boiling temperature and
will not be present as a vapor.  The flux prevents it from oxidizing (that
is what flux does!), so there is no danger from lead oxide fumes or
particulates.  The only bad actor is the flux itself.  I'm desperately
allergic to tree-pitch-based adhesives (elastoplast bandages give me what
look like second-degree burns, and a bar of Pears tree-oil soap I showered
with one time gave me a full-upper-body rash which was like having shingles
-- fun!), but I get no irritation whatsoever from the flux in my solder, so
I'm not overly concerned about it.
 
> 
> 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
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --------------------------------------------
> >> check out various dan music at:
> >>
> >> http://www.myspace.com/lossnyc
> >>
> >> (updated monthly)
> >>
> >> http://www.soundclick.com/lossnyc.htm
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> http://www.indie911.com/dan-snazelle
> >>
> >> (or for techno) http://www.myspace.com/snazelle
> >>
> >> ALSO check out Dan synth/Fx projects:
> >>
> >> AUDIO ARK:
> >>
> >> www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJRpvaOcUic
> >>
> >> www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqIa_lXQNTA&feature=channel_page
> >>
> >> www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4nJPjGgOcU&feature=channel_page
> >>
> >> and soundtrack/design work:
> >>
> >> NEW: check out Dan's sound design from the 1998 award winning film
> SAFARI by catherine chalmers
> >>
> >> http://www.catherinechalmers.com/videos.cfm
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> ----------------------------------------
> >>
> >>> 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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> >>> Synth-diy at dropmix.xs4all.nl
> >>> http://dropmix.xs4all.nl/mailman/listinfo/synth-diy
> >>>
> >>
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