any tips for soldering with lead?
We have to be careful when quoting research papers. That paper only covers contamination with lead-oxide powder, not metallic lead that we might get on our hands when soldering.
Lead-oxide powder is easily absorbed and using the wrong cleanser can make it worse, as the paper notes. But as I understand it, metallic lead is not easily absorbed through the skin and can be washed off.
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It’s no different from lead free, it’s just way easier to work with. It’s very obvious when it transitions from solid to liquid, unlike lead free which sort of looks the same as it’s cooling. It also doesn’t form spikes as much, although my lead free was a Harbor Freight special so it might have just been terrible to begin with.
I don’t think its as harmless as you make it for.
HOT WORK: SOLDERING,
WELDING
- Wear appropriate PPE, including safety
glasses/goggles, disposable gloves, and full-body
covering, (face shield, respirator as needed). - Always work in well ventilated area or use local
exhaust ventilation. - Upon completion of lead work, all waste and PPE
must be disposed of properly, and respirators, if
used, must be properly cleaned.
Page 2.
Imo using leaded solder was very much trivialized in this and related communities. I’m not telling you guys what to do and such, but it IS dangerous.
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$30
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I didn’t even hint at it being anything less than a very harmful substance if it gets into your system. I merely stated that we can’t say metallic lead exposure is the same as lead oxide powder exposure.
Welding that involves lead, anything creating lead fumes, or any situation with lead powder, is much, much more dangerous than casual electrical soldering work. And those precautions you listed should be religiously followed.
I AM NOT SAYING THAT CASUAL HOME SOLDERING OF WIRES IS “SAFE”!!
We should be careful how we quantify the risk though. This is metallic lead with minimal skin exposure and no inhalation or ingestion. Not “safe”, but not a very dangerous practice. Avoid touching anything beyond the work bench until hands are thoroughly washed.
Each of us is free to decide how dangerous we personally feel it is and adjust our exposure accordingly.
That document you linked to says this…
Always wash hands after working with lead materials, before leaving the work area, and before eating or drinking.
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gloves exist.
i fucking hate soldering, honestly. so i use the lead shit, because its easier, and gloves and masks exist if you think youre doing it enough to be concerned about contamination.
Riiight like you’re going to wear gloves while handling your electronics and manipulating the soldering iron lmao
Same thing applies though, the solution for the lead free is just use a fume extractor and you’re fine.
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i dont. but if youre that concerned about your materials, maybe consider the fact that PPE exists.
My 2 concerns are 1 it does not work with my vesc and 2 is it really any better then the one I bought on amazon?
Or use lead free
Fume extractor is PPE technically so we’re basically saying the same thing
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Just snack on a few small pieces of leaded solder first, then work without fear because handling metallic lead isn’t really much of a concern in the big picture compared to the pieces you just ate.
/s
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agreed. there may, sometimes, be a reason to use less than ideal materials. there is never a good reason to not take the according precautions.
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idk what esc you’re using
flipsky mini 6.7
the one you sent is going to not have a straightforward way to mount to your enclosure and looks bulky, nice to use purpose built parts sometimes
I don’t mind drilling wholes in the heat sink and the my vesc has screw wholes to mount it to things already. plus isn’t a bigger heat sink better?
I guess technically yes
but don’t listen to me, I hardly know what I’m talking about 25% of the time, I just build what I can build