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Comment by nerdponx | Hacker News Reader

Serious question: does this mean I need to start being a lot more careful about lead debris generated by hobbyist soldering?

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You should treat the lead debris you generate as any other poison. (how have you been treating it?)

As far as soldering safely, you should definitely keep in mind that your biggest health risk is inhaling burnt flux, and lead-free solder generates a lot more of that smoke. Lead-free solder is more dangerous to your health. There's some more information here (archive.org because I don't know where this is on the new Weller site): https://web.archive.org/web/20160402062321/http://www.weller...

This is how I have understood it. The real danger in using lead for soldering, is not the inhaling of the smoke/vapors, but that you are touching lead and will later touch your eyes and mouth.

Using lead for soldering is likely fine, but be extra judicious about washing your hands, avoid touching mucous membranes.

You can buy hand soap specifically for lead and other heavy metals. One widely available brand is "D-Lead" and it's common to see it at hand-washing stations at shooting ranges, where you are expected to clean up your spent cartridges (they are a slip hazard).

Yep - and to extend on this, when you wash your hands after handling lead you should use cold water.

Yes?

I don't know why people still use leaded solder in the first place? I only use lead free solder for my hobby projects, and it works fine.

Flows better, cracks less, doesn't grow whiskers. On every dimension other than safety it is by far the superior product. Noticeably so, even with practice and good JBC irons. I recently made the jump to tin, so the difference is fresh in my mind.

I have a bench full of uwave equipment from the 80s on account of the price being 1/10 to 1/100 of newer equivalents -- how much of it would still be alive if they had used tin solder? Would my hobby still be economically viable? Quite possibly not.

> how much of it would still be alive if they had used tin solder?

Tin ages poorly?

"Tin whiskers" is the term to google. Makes for an especially visceral image search.

There are many mitigation strategies, but lead was a miracle cure, and it will take substantial time and effort to approach its efficacy, especially on the multi-decade timescale. My guess is that companies won't bother. Reliability beyond planned lifetime impacts their bottom line negatively, if at all.

Link for the lazy: https://nepp.nasa.gov/WHISKER/background/index.htm

Eugh. Yeah, connections randomly bridging to their neighbors is a nightmare.

Apparently there is a brewery named Tin Whiskers. I would like to meet the founder, I bet we would get along. :)

Now I wish I lived near St. Paul! Not only is it named Tin Whiskers Brewing Company, but their beers have electric references in their names and schematic symbols for logos:

https://twbrewing.com/beers

I think my favorite names are Barrel Shifter Porter (an oak-aged porter) and Wheatstone Bridge (a wheat beer, of course).

It's worth a visit to that page for anyone interested in clever product names and visuals.

More background on their "Who are we?" page:

https://twbrewing.com/who-are-we

They even use circuit boards for tasting flight holders.

Because it's easier. When I started soldering, the lead-free stuff was finnicky but I had nearly no problems with leaded solder.

Regardless, you should have good ventilation when soldering. A small fan to suck smoke away, maybe even a mask, and take care to clean your hands and the area like you would any other harmful material (e.g. oil).

Does anyone know of any ventilation kits that would work in an apartment that doesn't otherwise get a lot of air circulation? I can't drill holes in the walls for air ducts.

https://www.hakkousa.com/products/fume-extraction/hakko-fa-4... up close plus a HEPA filter in the room, and you're probably doing quite well. Use name-brand filter replacements and not some random crap.

Connector[1] pins on a ground plane on an 8 layer board are difficult to solder, and the wetability of lead helps a bit.

[1] Or pvc insulated wire onto a piezo brass disc sounder.

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