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After I got out of the military (in Electronics) I did a few years as a rework tech at a big telecom company soldering literally 8 hours a day. I got really go

by bbarn 7y ago

After I got out of the military (in Electronics) I did a few years as a rework tech at a big telecom company soldering literally 8 hours a day. I got really good at it. We had very little safety equipment, and used leaded exclusively. Vent hoods, but that's about it. Many people turned them off because the shake and rattle of the fans made it difficult to work on precise things like surface mount components. There was even a big CPU changing station which was effectively a molten vat of solder that you'd dip all 144 leads into to remove huge square I.C.s This was in my early 20's, and I had that job for about 2 years. Despite perfect dental hygiene, most of my teeth had decayed and had to be crowned or replaced by the time I was 30. Most people I still talk to from that time in my life have chronic problems directly associated with lead poisoning (tooth decay is sort of loosely correlated, and I don't have any other typical symptoms into my 40s) All of this is to say, the US Navy barely even mentioned lead safety in school, and a billion dollar (at the time) company didn't seem to care enough to train its employees, so the attitude that it's "not a big deal" was well and alive in the 90s, and I wouldn't be surprised if it still is today. Also - Why is rosin-core solder so popular? I never used anything but raw spool solder and liquid flux. Rosin core makes a huge mess.

foofoo55 7y ago
The older military and aviation boards we make still all use lead. Changing to lead-free requires an extensive re-certification process for each board, and no one at any level wants to do that. Which seems to create a belief that lead is manageable and okay. Interestingly, the board assembly shop still prefers lead because the boards are apparently easier to make. Rosin-core is popular because it's a 1-step process. No need to put on the liquid, which seems to make at least the same mess. [edit:grammar]
- cglace 7y ago
  There are liquids that are much less messy than rosin core.
14 7y ago
When I was in high school rosin core was used and the teacher talked about it like it was some great forgiving stuff that even if you didn’t use enough flux the core would help you but I agreed messy. I am however used to working on a poor mans budget and only do home electronics, last thing I did was solder and hack a Xbox 360 and rosin core is the only solder around here you can find so I make do. Also can’t buy flux without ordering online so I ended up collecting pine sap and soaking it in alcohol then filtering and evaporate the alcohol to make my own flux. It actually works just as well as any commercial flux I have used.
hammock 7y ago
Did you ever get your lead level tested by a doc? There are chelating treatments you can do to remove it, even adults have symptoms from lead poisoning

by bbarn 7y ago

foofoo55 7y ago

The older military and aviation boards we make still all use lead. Changing to lead-free requires an extensive re-certification process for each board, and no one at any level wants to do that. Which seems to create a belief that lead is manageable and okay. Interestingly, the board assembly shop still prefers lead because the boards are apparently easier to make. Rosin-core is popular because it's a 1-step process. No need to put on the liquid, which seems to make at least the same mess. [edit:grammar]

cglace 7y ago
There are liquids that are much less messy than rosin core.

14 7y ago

When I was in high school rosin core was used and the teacher talked about it like it was some great forgiving stuff that even if you didn’t use enough flux the core would help you but I agreed messy. I am however used to working on a poor mans budget and only do home electronics, last thing I did was solder and hack a Xbox 360 and rosin core is the only solder around here you can find so I make do. Also can’t buy flux without ordering online so I ended up collecting pine sap and soaking it in alcohol then filtering and evaporate the alcohol to make my own flux. It actually works just as well as any commercial flux I have used.

hammock 7y ago

Did you ever get your lead level tested by a doc? There are chelating treatments you can do to remove it, even adults have symptoms from lead poisoning