Solder fume extractor

[Stickman393]

Sounds like a thread for an HVAC guy.

Stickman, ho!

My personal favorite solution for something like this is a simple 4" inline fan ducted to the outside. The same type folks use for grow tents. Use some kind of filter media on the inlet to protect the fan from the worst of the sticky icky solder fumes. Hell, they even sell inline charcoal filters for the same grow tents.

Flexible ductwork to PVC, arranged however one cares to arrange it. Lots of possibilities. Arms, joints, hinges, the world is your oyster.

I don't trust charcoal. Plus, charcoal has a finite lifespan: it's only useful as long as it has the capacity to absorb. Using a used up charcoal filter isn't gonna protect us from shit, and it isn't abundantly clear when the stuff is used up.

Exhaust that shit. Commercial buildings do this with hyper-expensive snorkels, EAVs, building automation that monitors duct static, and explosion-proof exhaust fans (Where the motor sits outside of the airstream). For the kind of work folks like us do, that's a bit overkill. Switch the thing on when you're working, off when you're not, and keep a fire extinguisher next to everything out of an *abundance* of caution (y'all are doing that already, though, right?)

 

[RetiredUnit1]

Sounds like a thread for an HVAC guy.

Stickman, ho!

My personal favorite solution for something like this is a simple 4" inline fan ducted to the outside. The same type folks use for grow tents. Use some kind of filter media on the inlet to protect the fan from the worst of the sticky icky solder fumes. Hell, they even sell inline charcoal filters for the same grow tents.

Flexible ductwork to PVC, arranged however one cares to arrange it. Lots of possibilities. Arms, joints, hinges, the world is your oyster.

I don't trust charcoal. Plus, charcoal has a finite lifespan: it's only useful as long as it has the capacity to absorb. Using a used up charcoal filter isn't gonna protect us from shit, and it isn't abundantly clear when the stuff is used up.

Exhaust that shit. Commercial buildings do this with hyper-expensive snorkels, EAVs, building automation that monitors duct static, and explosion-proof exhaust fans (Where the motor sits outside of the airstream). For the kind of work folks like us do, that's a bit overkill. Switch the thing on when you're working, off when you're not, and keep a fire extinguisher next to everything out of an *abundance* of caution (y'all are doing that already, though, right?)

Agreed, but the roof of my shop is AFU for the past 3 years as I dug my way out of debt post-wife-died-after-vaccine. I have a 48" 1200cfm range hood that was shipped to me by mistake that I'm going to install after I save the $2k to fix the roof. Right now I'm working on a 8' table in the middle of my entertainment/music room. I'm like 8' from the wall, so.....

I bought a weller and modded it. as it SUCKED (pun intended) well but was a PITA to position and still have room for the light and the soldering gun and an amp chassis. It works way better now, but I also turn on the hole house fan with electrostatic cleanable filters when I solder.

These work so well that you cannot smell the smoke in these SoCal fires when it's yellow outside! Without them it's sneeze-ville!!!

 

[Stickman393]

I bought a weller and modded it. as it SUCKED (pun intended) well but was a PITA to position and still have room for the light and the soldering gun and an amp chassis. It works way better now, but I also turn on the hole house fan with electrostatic cleanable filters when I solder.

These work so well that you cannot smell the smoke in these SoCal fires when it's yellow outside! Without them it's sneeze-ville!!!

Impressive! Though my experience with whole house fans is that they tend to be exhaust only - typically one opens windows in order to provide the makeup air. Are your electrostatic filters at makeup air vents? Sounds like a well designed install for sure.

 

[andrewsrea]

Anything which creates negative pressure away from your nose and mouth, works. Sadly, I didn't start using one until this year. I wonder what 50 years of breathing lead, acid and mercury will do to me?

 

[RetiredUnit1]

Impressive! Though my experience with whole house fans is that they tend to be exhaust only - typically one opens windows in order to provide the makeup air. Are your electrostatic filters at makeup air vents? Sounds like a well designed install for sure.

My colloquial expression for "The A/C fan". Good friend that I grew up with owned a $32 million a year A/C company here in the San Fernando Valley. I was a computer programmer, but grew up with Mason's as my uncles. So I tiled the floors, bathroom and kitchen in his house and he installed A/C in mine. He paid for the tile/thin-set/grout and I paid for the unit, etc.

We were both very satisfied with the transaction, lol. It's a five ton unit. Looks like the space shuttle in my attic!!!

He showed me the video of the house imploding with negative air pressure. Woof.

Due to the high cost of electricity, I only use A/C when it gets superhot. I have a swamp cooler that works very well since the weather here in normally very dry. This year, not so dry, but normally....

 

[RetiredUnit1]

Anything which creates negative pressure away from your nose and mouth, works. Sadly, I didn't start using one until this year. I wonder what 50 years of breathing lead, acid and mercury will do to me?

Strangely enough the lead isn't dangerous until it gets mixed with stomach acid. So don't eat your solder!!! Mercury is HIGHLY toxic tho, where were you exposed to that? If you breath mercury vapor, it turns back into metal in your lungs and starts ripping through tissues until it hits the muscles at the bottom. Death is usually immediate, if not sooner.

My dad used to tell me of the two guys that found a HUGE gold/mercury nugget, which is how they used to mine gold dust. It forms an amalgamate. They decided to cook the mercury out using a fry pan. Didn't go very well for either of them.

 

[Stickman393]

Anything which creates negative pressure away from your nose and mouth, works. Sadly, I didn't start using one until this year. I wonder what 50 years of breathing lead, acid and mercury will do to me?

The good news is that lead doesn't begin to vaporize until you hit about 400⁰C. So unless you've got your soldering iron set crazy, you're probably OK.

Though dust is another matter: cleaning that iron tip and rogue droplets can create a bit of dust. Best not to clean the workspace with compressed air.

You're probably more likely to get lead in your system by not washing your hands after soldering, truth told.

Leaded solder is a mixed bag. I absolutely love using my 63/37 solder because it solders cleanly and de-solders without a fuss.

I *prefer* to use K100LD, though, because it's unleaded. It solders just as cleanly as the leaded stuff...but the higher melting point makes de-soldering a bitch. Most boards I've worked with don't like being exposed to that much heat. Traces lift and pretty soon you've got a mess on your hands.

I'm starting to suspect that I need something with a bit more suction to do so consistently: like a dedicated de-soldering gun with a built-in vacuum pump.

Regardless, I've had to come to the conclusion that I'm going to need to use the leaded stuff on more complex builds where mistakes are more likely.

My colloquial expression for "The A/C fan". Good friend that I grew up with owned a $32 million a year A/C company here in the San Fernando Valley. I was a computer programmer, but grew up with Mason's as my uncles. So I tiled the floors, bathroom and kitchen in his house and he installed A/C in mine. He paid for the tile/thin-set/grout and I paid for the unit, etc.

We were both very satisfied with the transaction, lol. It's a five ton unit. Looks like the space shuttle in my attic!!!

He showed me the video of the house imploding with negative air pressure. Woof.

Due to the high cost of electricity, I only use A/C when it gets superhot. I have a swamp cooler that works very well since the weather here in normally very dry. This year, not so dry, but normally....

Gotchaaaa. I'm bathed in the jargon day in and day out: A Whole House Fan is an exhaust fan that sits up in the attic and is ducted to the living space. Its purpose is to induce a "stack effect": bring in cool air from down low and exhaust hot air from up high. They're great in certain applications, but a huge drawback for some folks (including myself) is the unfiltered nature of the makeup air. Pollen. Woof. Misery.

Which is why it piqued my curiosity. Like..."wha? keeps the smoke out?".

For sure: A swamp cooler in your area is exactly the ticket. I've often thought about creating a little split swamp cooler system: a little cooling tower (two home depot buckets, a DC fan on top, a makeup water tap and a float valve, placed outside). Use a tiny pump and some flexible tubing to route the water in the sump through a copper coil that is zip-tied to a fan.

Ta-da: refrigeration from an adiabatic process. No additional humidity introduced into the space.

Granted, it's redneck as fuck. Might be a good solution for a little comfort fan in a garage.

 

[andrewsrea]

Strangely enough the lead isn't dangerous until it gets mixed with stomach acid. So don't eat your solder!!! Mercury is HIGHLY toxic tho, where were you exposed to that? If you breath mercury vapor, it turns back into metal in your lungs and starts ripping through tissues until it hits the muscles at the bottom. Death is usually immediate, if not sooner.

My dad used to tell me of the two guys that found a HUGE gold/mercury nugget, which is how they used to mine gold dust. It forms an amalgamate. They decided to cook the mercury out using a fry pan. Didn't go very well for either of them.

There are trace levels of mercury in solder, especially before the 2000's.

 

[RetiredUnit1]

There are trace levels of mercury in solder, especially before the 2000's.

Looked up on chemistry sites. Holy $#!+ it can evaporate at 20c!!!! I don't think it can evaporate when it's mixed in with other metals tho.

1940's & 50's government data on chelation therapy for arsenic and mercury "intoxication"

Including pics of people detoxed and it only takes hours..... DMSA is the more modern formulation for therapy.

The Role of Chelation in the Treatment of Arsenic and Mercury Poisoning

Chelation for heavy metal intoxication began more than 70 years ago with the development of British anti-lewisite (BAL; dimercaprol) in wartime Britain as a potential antidote the arsenical warfare agent lewisite (dichloro[2-chlorovinyl]arsine). ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

 

[RetiredUnit1]

The good news is that lead doesn't begin to vaporize until you hit about 400⁰C. So unless you've got your soldering iron set crazy, you're probably OK.

Though dust is another matter: cleaning that iron tip and rogue droplets can create a bit of dust. Best not to clean the workspace with compressed air.

You're probably more likely to get lead in your system by not washing your hands after soldering, truth told.

Leaded solder is a mixed bag. I absolutely love using my 63/37 solder because it solders cleanly and de-solders without a fuss.

I *prefer* to use K100LD, though, because it's unleaded. It solders just as cleanly as the leaded stuff...but the higher melting point makes de-soldering a bitch. Most boards I've worked with don't like being exposed to that much heat. Traces lift and pretty soon you've got a mess on your hands.

I'm starting to suspect that I need something with a bit more suction to do so consistently: like a dedicated de-soldering gun with a built-in vacuum pump.

Regardless, I've had to come to the conclusion that I'm going to need to use the leaded stuff on more complex builds where mistakes are more likely.



Gotchaaaa. I'm bathed in the jargon day in and day out: A Whole House Fan is an exhaust fan that sits up in the attic and is ducted to the living space. Its purpose is to induce a "stack effect": bring in cool air from down low and exhaust hot air from up high. They're great in certain applications, but a huge drawback for some folks (including myself) is the unfiltered nature of the makeup air. Pollen. Woof. Misery.

Which is why it piqued my curiosity. Like..."wha? keeps the smoke out?".

For sure: A swamp cooler in your area is exactly the ticket. I've often thought about creating a little split swamp cooler system: a little cooling tower (two home depot buckets, a DC fan on top, a makeup water tap and a float valve, placed outside). Use a tiny pump and some flexible tubing to route the water in the sump through a copper coil that is zip-tied to a fan.

Ta-da: refrigeration from an adiabatic process. No additional humidity introduced into the space.

Granted, it's redneck as fuck. Might be a good solution for a little comfort fan in a garage.

I found a roll of electrostatic filter material. I'm gonna try adding this in front of the activated carbon in my Weller extractor. 11 feet x 1 foot. Lifetime supply...

The air makes static going through the first layer 100% polyester material, the static pulls the particles into the second material which has the opposite polarity. Including virus' and smoke!

For $14 it's doesn't hurt to try. I'll report back if there is an improvement in the smell coming out the other end.

Just a thought.... How come we didn't see people filtering the air in stores during the pandemic? Seems like a sensible thing.

Air Vent Filter Kit Electrostatic Roll,Fit All Ceiling, Wall HVAC Furnce Vents | eBay

<li> Item Description: Material:100% Polyester Color:Blue & White Item Length:355CM = 140" = 11' Item Width:30CM = 12" Item Weight:6.7 OZ Item Thickness:0.5" = 500MIL = 12MM Item Size:140" x 12" =11.4Sqft</li> <li> </li> <li>Application： </li> <li>This cut-to-fit filter media roll is compatible...

www.ebay.com

 

[Stickman393]

Just a thought.... How come we didn't see people filtering the air in stores during the pandemic? Seems like a sensible thing.

Funny you should say: they are, actually. They have been since long before the pandemic too. I cant speak for all jurisdictions, but this is my experience:

I'm based in California out of the San Jose local (UA Local 393). Our building codes have adapted since the pandemic: pre covid the minimum filtration requirement in new equipment in occupied spaces was MERV 8, nowadays the minimum requirement is MERV13. That represents a significant upgrade in filter efficiency: droplets, bacteria, allergens, mold, etc. A virus can easily slip past, but not a water from, say, a sneeze.

Lots of commercial buildings have been investing in additional means of filtration, too: Its not uncommon for me to see Merv 8 prefilters immediately before 12" deep Merv 15 filters. UVC lights have seen a bit of a resurgence, those can rip a virus apart on a molecular level. Ionization systems have become more popular as well...though I'm not 100% sold on those.

Minimum outside air requirements have been increased since COVID, too. Ventilation is far more effective than filtration in terms of reducing the amount of contaminants found in indoor air: dilution is key. I've seen a *ton* of energy recovery ventilators installed since the pandemic...which is one way to make increased ventilation more cost-effective.

Granted, older buildings do not have to abide by these standards, but plenty of places have upgraded anyways.

 

[RetiredUnit1]

Funny you should say: they are, actually. They have been since long before the pandemic too. I cant speak for all jurisdictions, but this is my experience:

I'm based in California out of the San Jose local (UA Local 393). Our building codes have adapted since the pandemic: pre covid the minimum filtration requirement in new equipment in occupied spaces was MERV 8, nowadays the minimum requirement is MERV13. That represents a significant upgrade in filter efficiency: droplets, bacteria, allergens, mold, etc. A virus can easily slip past, but not a water from, say, a sneeze.

Lots of commercial buildings have been investing in additional means of filtration, too: Its not uncommon for me to see Merv 8 prefilters immediately before 12" deep Merv 15 filters. UVC lights have seen a bit of a resurgence, those can rip a virus apart on a molecular level. Ionization systems have become more popular as well...though I'm not 100% sold on those.

Minimum outside air requirements have been increased since COVID, too. Ventilation is far more effective than filtration in terms of reducing the amount of contaminants found in indoor air: dilution is key. I've seen a *ton* of energy recovery ventilators installed since the pandemic...which is one way to make increased ventilation more cost-effective.

Granted, older buildings do not have to abide by these standards, but plenty of places have upgraded anyways.

All they did here in SoCal was add perfume to the stores. Studies done in the 70's showed that virus can 'ride' on perfume particles. So it was actually counter productive. And I'm allergic to perfume (think peanuts and swollen air path), so I had to wear my OSHA 'acid vapor' approved dual canister facemask for 2 years and change my clothes and shower every time I went shopping.

I was not happy.....

 

[Stickman393]

Looked up on chemistry sites. Holy $#!+ it can evaporate at 20c!!!! I don't think it can evaporate when it's mixed in with other metals tho.

1940's & 50's government data on chelation therapy for arsenic and mercury "intoxication"

Including pics of people detoxed and it only takes hours..... DMSA is the more modern formulation for therapy.

The Role of Chelation in the Treatment of Arsenic and Mercury Poisoning

Chelation for heavy metal intoxication began more than 70 years ago with the development of British anti-lewisite (BAL; dimercaprol) in wartime Britain as a potential antidote the arsenical warfare agent lewisite (dichloro[2-chlorovinyl]arsine). ...

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Mercury used to be a treatment for syphilis. George Washington (you know, that one) took some in his younger years. That's why all his teeth fell out.

True story.

 

[RetiredUnit1]

Mercury used to be a treatment for syphilis. George Washington (you know, that one) took some in his younger years. That's why all his teeth fell out.

True story.

I knew he had wooden teeth....

 

[Stickman393]

I knew he had wooden teeth....

Kinda. Like, he had a bunch of sets of teeth people made for him over the years. Whale bone was popular. Some barber surgeons (the predecessor profession to today's "dentist") would pay the poor young folks in town to extract their good teeth and fasten them together into makeshift dentures.

Not to mention the teeth that were scavenged off the battlefield...or from slaves.

But his mouth was basically a horror show. The portraits you see? The painters had him stuff cotton balls in his mouth to keep his lips from caving into his mouth. He was basically in constant tooth-agony for his entire life.

 

[Alan W]

All this talk of dentists and mercury brings back a sweet memory of my childhood. If I needed a filling, the dentist would always give me a tiny glass vial of mercury to take home and play with—with the admonishment to my mother and I that I needed to make sure I didn't eat any of it! I'd bring it in to school the next day, so we could all play with it, which other kids did too when they got some. Ah! Good old days! (Mercury was also used in the felting process to make hats; the old phrase "mad as a hatter" derived from the occupational frequency of going "crazy." )

 

[Stickman393]

All this talk of dentists and mercury brings back a sweet memory of my childhood. If I needed a filling, the dentist would always give me a tiny glass vial of mercury to take home and play with—with the admonishment to my mother and I that I needed to make sure I didn't eat any of it! I'd bring it in to school the next day, so we could all play with it, which other kids did too when they got some. Ah! Good old days! (Mercury was also used in the felting process to make hats; the old phrase "mad as a hatter" derived from the occupational frequency of going "crazy." )

IIRC, the guy that tried to assassinate Andrew Jackson was a bit mad with mercury poisoning. Dude thought he was in the line of succession for the British crown and all.

Also notable for being the first time the secret service stopped a president from killing someone rather than the other way around.

 

[spi]

I'm based in California out of the San Jose local (UA Local 393). Our building codes have adapted since the pandemic: pre covid the minimum filtration requirement in new equipment in occupied spaces was MERV 8, nowadays the minimum requirement is MERV13. That represents a significant upgrade in filter efficiency: droplets, bacteria, allergens, mold, etc. A virus can easily slip past, but not a water from, say, a sneeze.

Was this due to covid or because half our state was on fire?

 

[Stickman393]

Was this due to covid or because half our state was on fire?

Porque no los dos?

Side note: those fires fuckkkked up some filters. No lie.

 

[RetiredUnit1]

Porque no los dos?

Side note: those fires fuckkkked up some filters. No lie.

My older sister and a good friend both got asthma after the last smoke fest down here. It's been quite a while since the sun was blotted out. I used my acid/paint vapor canister mask and did not smell a thing. Goggles too, freaking ashes BURN. I looked crazy but at least I don't need an inhaler!!!