4 ms·

> all the fuss with lead-free solder was partially caused by the fact that lead and some other materials used in IC fabrication contain impurities of heavy elem

> all the fuss with lead-free solder was partially caused by the fact that lead and some other materials used in IC fabrication contain impurities of heavy elements like uranium. This is complete news to me. Lead free solder was mandated by the European Union's "Regulation of Hazardous Substances" legislation, whch was drawn up by a bunch of ninnies with no understanding of biochemistry, nor mathematics, nor epidemiology. Electronic devices are more reliable with tin-lead solder rather than Aluminum based solders.

philjohn 6y ago
Um, isn't one of the benefits, especially for hobbyists, that you're not inhaling lead-laced fumes?
- wongarsu 6y ago
  Not at the temperatures hobbyists are soldering at. It's more of a concern for industrial soldering. Hobbyists have to worry about the fumes from flux instead, and lead free solder requires more flux.
  - pasabagi 6y ago
    I don't really get this. Surely the problem is you're handling lead in a home context? That's never going to be safe, since unless you're very careful about cleanup, you're going to get lead in your food. To me, all this talk about lead being so much better feels a bit silly. As a craftsman, I can see that lead is nicer to work with, and makes for more pretty results. As a dad, I'm pretty glad that every electronic object isn't laced with lead - in fact, I'm glad about every measure full stop that reduces the industrial usage of lead. One of these things is way more important to me than the other.
    - formerly_proven 6y ago
      I don't understand what you're saying. Using hand soldering tools, the tin-lead alloy becomes a liquid, sure there might be traces of lead going into the air that you can detect (ppt? ppq?), but that doesn't make it a health hazard. You might abrade traces of lead onto your hands handling soldering wire, but surely washing your hands after soldering gets rid of that. If you do a few mistakes you might get small lead balls in your work area, but even then I don't see how it gets in my food. I don't understand why solid lead or alloyed lead is supposed to be a safety problem by itself. It's not radioactive, you don't get sick by standing next to it, you have to abrade it and eat the shavings. Heating soldering wire isn't creating lead vapors like leaded gasoline does.
      - jacobush 6y ago
        Upvoting but want to add a cave-at, you can get lead poisoning from handling pure lead to, if you do it enough and are not rigourous in hand washing. (Licking lead laden fingers can't be good.)
      - pasabagi 6y ago
        Lead is soft - you're definitely leaving traces of lead on your hands when you handle it. That then goes onto your clothes, your skin, and everything you touch. But anyway - it's not really the point. The point is, I can confidently say that some idiot burning a trash bin isn't going to scatter lead all over the local enivroment - ditto a house fire, or a car crash, or somebody dumping a computer in a stream.
welterde 6y ago
> Electronic devices are more reliable with tin-lead solder rather than Aluminum based solders. What are you talking about? None of the common lead-free solders contain any Aluminium. Furthermore the primary concern in regards to lead is during wave soldering during manufacturing (where you do get lead vapor; hand soldering and tinning is not really a problem) and during recycling later on.
amartology 6y ago
"Electronic devices are more reliable with tin-lead solder" That would've been true, if lead solder didn't cause Single Event Upsets in storage cells.

philjohn 6y ago

Um, isn't one of the benefits, especially for hobbyists, that you're not inhaling lead-laced fumes?

wongarsu 6y ago
Not at the temperatures hobbyists are soldering at. It's more of a concern for industrial soldering. Hobbyists have to worry about the fumes from flux instead, and lead free solder requires more flux.
- pasabagi 6y ago
  I don't really get this. Surely the problem is you're handling lead in a home context? That's never going to be safe, since unless you're very careful about cleanup, you're going to get lead in your food. To me, all this talk about lead being so much better feels a bit silly. As a craftsman, I can see that lead is nicer to work with, and makes for more pretty results. As a dad, I'm pretty glad that every electronic object isn't laced with lead - in fact, I'm glad about every measure full stop that reduces the industrial usage of lead. One of these things is way more important to me than the other.
  - formerly_proven 6y ago
    I don't understand what you're saying. Using hand soldering tools, the tin-lead alloy becomes a liquid, sure there might be traces of lead going into the air that you can detect (ppt? ppq?), but that doesn't make it a health hazard. You might abrade traces of lead onto your hands handling soldering wire, but surely washing your hands after soldering gets rid of that. If you do a few mistakes you might get small lead balls in your work area, but even then I don't see how it gets in my food. I don't understand why solid lead or alloyed lead is supposed to be a safety problem by itself. It's not radioactive, you don't get sick by standing next to it, you have to abrade it and eat the shavings. Heating soldering wire isn't creating lead vapors like leaded gasoline does.
    - jacobush 6y ago
      Upvoting but want to add a cave-at, you can get lead poisoning from handling pure lead to, if you do it enough and are not rigourous in hand washing. (Licking lead laden fingers can't be good.)
    - pasabagi 6y ago
      Lead is soft - you're definitely leaving traces of lead on your hands when you handle it. That then goes onto your clothes, your skin, and everything you touch. But anyway - it's not really the point. The point is, I can confidently say that some idiot burning a trash bin isn't going to scatter lead all over the local enivroment - ditto a house fire, or a car crash, or somebody dumping a computer in a stream.

welterde 6y ago

> Electronic devices are more reliable with tin-lead solder rather than Aluminum based solders. What are you talking about? None of the common lead-free solders contain any Aluminium. Furthermore the primary concern in regards to lead is during wave soldering during manufacturing (where you do get lead vapor; hand soldering and tinning is not really a problem) and during recycling later on.

amartology 6y ago

"Electronic devices are more reliable with tin-lead solder" That would've been true, if lead solder didn't cause Single Event Upsets in storage cells.