In electronics, soldering plays a crucial role in making PCB circuits. But with soldering, there come a few challenges. Among the few soldering creates smoke or fume which is not suitable for the lungs if proper care is not taken.
As a beginner people often don’t know that much about soldering smoke and its effect on the person’s health. They have a lot of questions in mind about this smoke. Like how to extract this fume, what tool they need for its extraction, whether should they wear a mask, and much more.
Hi, I am Abbas. In this article, I am going to answer some questions for you about soldering smoke or fume and their extraction.
I am not perfect nor this article is going to be. This is just my limited knowledge try to help you somehow.
I hope you will enjoy it.
Answering Soldering Smoke Related Questions
The following are not the final list of all the questions one may have in his mind. There are the basic ones. If you have other questions, you can always ask me in the comment section below. I will try my best to answer that for you.
Alright!
Every electronics product has three stages, 1) idea, 2) Prototyping, and 3) Manufacturing.
The circuit prototype can be done on a breadboard. But PCB prototype requires soldering. Soldering is permanently connecting a component to the printed circuit board (PCB). All the finished products you see around you have soldered PCBs.
The reason we go for PCB is, that it makes our board size compact, reliable, and we can produce it on large scale at a low cost.
On the batch production level, all the soldering is done by machines. But when it comes to repair and prototyping we tend to do PCB in-house. Which is a really exciting activity to do.
For proper soldering, you need to have a decent soldering station and all the required accessories. Because if you don’t care about these things you will end up on a bad board that no one will accept, and sometimes it may not work optimally as well.
But there is a big issue with soldering. It creates harmful smoke. Let’s see what that smoke is and how we can prevent it to our best possible abilities.
What is a soldering fume?
As I said, with soldering comes the smoke which is also called soldering fume. So don’t get confused with names they are both the same thing.
Soldering fume is that smoke when you try to make a connection. It is created when the hot soldering iron touches the solar wire and the wire melts down.
You can also see when you try to put the hot iron into the soldering wax that the same fume can be absorbed but of course with different composition content.
Are soldering fumes toxic?
You know, I will share the competition and side effects of soldering fumes and let you know my opinion. The rest is up to your judgment as I am not a doctor.
The composition of the smoke includes CO, CO2, O3, and CH4 of which CO accounts for the largest proportion. Carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and ozone can damage the functions of the human lungs, liver, and kidneys.
Common diseases such as pneumoconiosis, coronary heart disease, bronchitis, respiratory system diseases, circulatory system diseases, and other diseases.
Furthermore, the smoke generated when the solder is heated will also produce a large amount of tin smoke, and long-term exposure can also cause vision loss.
So, soldering fume is not good for health especially if you are soldering on a consistent base.
Is it ok to solder indoors?
Yes, as long as you have the right equipment in your indoor environment for cleaning the air, and absorbing the soldering fume.
How do you extract or absorb soldering fume?
As we work in a lab environment most of the time. So people have come up with amazing solutions for the extraction of soldering fume. The tool which we use for this task is called the soldering fume extractor.
A fume extractor is basically a suction machine that sucks the soldering smoke. It has filters in it. The smoke goes through filters and all the harmful substances as shared above are absorbed in the filters. Thus making the air cleaner for breath and for long work.
Do you require a fume extractor for soldering?
Definitely, you require a decent fume extractor for soldering. As the extractor helps us clean the air by filtering out all the harmful components from the soldering fume.
How effective are soldering fume extractors?
It totally depends on the quality of the extractor you are picking for the lab. Also, it depends on the area of your working environment.
Let me explain.
If you have a large working area. Then a decent fan can work fine. But if your working area is congested and small, such as a lab environment, then you have to invest in professional level fume extractor unit.
Soldering fans Vs soldering fume extraction units
Soldering fans are small devices with a fan and carbon filter. In my opinion, they are best for large size labs. Or if you spend little time working on soldering projects.
On the other hand, if you are working in a congested lab and you work on a lot of circuit repair projects then you need to go for a fume extractor unit.
Following is the example of a soldering fume extractor unit:
The major difference is this unit is intended for lab use in a professional capacity while the fans are best for small soldering work.
What are some best soldering smoke extractors?
There are many fume extractors available on the market. It depends on your budget and requirements.
Here is the link to a post that might further help you in this regard:
Ventilating a room for soldering
This can be a good idea if doable. If you can manage to have an exhaust system in your lab then it will be more healthy combining with a good level fume extractor.
But simply if you keep the windows open that will be enough for soldering work, in my opinion.
Conclusion
Soldering comes with its smoke often called the soldering fume. This fume is not good for health if a person is exposed to it for too much time.
This fume contains CO, CO2, O3, and CH4 which can damage the functions of the human lungs, liver, and kidneys.
To absorb this toxic fume we need to have good fume extractor in our lab. This can be soldering fan or proper fume extraction unit.
I would recommend going a proper fume extration unit, if you can appord it, for small area lab. If your lab is big enough and have a profer ventilation system then a simple small size soldering fan do the job.
So that is it guys. That is all I have for you to share. I hope you enjoyed it and it has helped you a little.
Thank you so much and have a grateful life.
Other useful posts:
- #07 Best Soldering Helping Hands (for Electronics)
- 7 Best Digital Soldering Microscopes for Electronics
- Do I need helping hands for soldering?
- 12 tools needed to solder a circuit board
- 7 Best Soldering Irons for Electronics
- What is meant by soldering in electronics?
