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[Reply #15 on:]

Besides, using lead solder can save the planet by using less energy - you do not need to wait ages for the lead-free stuff to melt.

That's a pretty rubbish argument

I use leaded solder as that's what I find easiest. I'm not in the market of producing high volume electronic goods but if I was then I'd be switching to lead free as it's better for the environment in the long run.

Who knows, when this roll of leaded runs out I might buy some decent lead free stuff and see how it works (and throw out the Kg of lead free I have sitting around which doesn't work quite so well - if I got a temp controlled iron it'd probably be ok)

I heard the stuff about lead free eating through your iron faster and that it's best to tin with tinning compound after use rather than the lead free solder to minimise this. Anyone (other than me) had their tips being eaten up by lead free?

[Reply #16 on:]

That's a pretty rubbish argument

I know.   My lead free solder does not take long at all to melt. Time for some maths, I think!

1 watt = conversion of 1 joule of energy per second.
My iron = 18 watts.
Assuming lead free solder takes one second longer to melt than lead solder, (just a guess, though - my lead-free solder is quick to melt, but clearly, others are not),

10 joints:
10 seconds X 18 watts: 180 more joules of energy converted.

100 joints:
100 seconds X 18 watts: 1800 more joules of energy converted.

This site says 100g of McVities digestive biscuits contain 470KCal, or 470 000 calories.

   
470 000 calories = 1 966 480 joules

(1800/1966480) X 100 = 0.915 grams of digestive biscuits. So, for 100 joints with lead-free solder, using an 18 watt iron, and the solder taking 1 second longer to melt than lead solder, you use the same amount of energy as you could get out og less than 1g of biscuit!
Now that is something to think about....

Onions.

[Reply #17 on:]

Honestly though, is lead really that bad on an individual basis?  I know it is bad for a toddler to chew on lead toys and it is obviously bad for someone to suck on a fishing sinker (the lead kind), but for us normal folk, is it really a danger?  I grew up around a lot of lead, melting wheel weights to get the lead to make fishing sinkers with,  reloading firearm shells using lead bullets because they were cheaper and patching holes in cars with melted lead because it filed away nicely.  For that matter, we used to play with mercury and take it to school to show off; without them closing the school and calling the hazmat team.  I'm still alive and moderately sane.

Sure a few tons of it in the landfill from the waste of millions of people could present a problem, but will small gauge lead alloy solder hurt us?

[Reply #18 on:]

For that matter, we used to play with mercury and take it to school to show off; without them closing the school and calling the hazmat team.

Yeah those were the days - mercury is so cool

No. Not even if we were soldering on a production line 8 hours a day for decades without extractor ventilation.

Well the lead won't do you any harm there as you're not ingesting it but the flux fumes sure will.
It'll do you harm if you start eating it. My friend got hit in the nose by a lead air rifle pellet and got lead poisoning from it so it does actually do something but she was fine again a few weeks later.

[Reply #19 on:]

I use one of these http://www.harborfreight.com/magnifier-head-strap-with-lights-38896.html

Thanks - I have one on order now. My kids will tease me mercilessly, but it'll be worth it!

[Reply #20 on:]

If they tease you, just wait for them to get a splinter.  Ah, sweet revenge.

[Reply #21 on:]

I use one of these http://www.harborfreight.com/magnifier-head-strap-with-lights-38896.html

Thanks - I have one on order now. My kids will tease me mercilessly, but it'll be worth it!

I wouldn't trust my eyes with anything less than safety glasses.

Harbor Freight is cheap because their parts are small or sub standard.

[Reply #22 on:]

Anyone else find lead-less solder much harder to work with than the good old fashioned poisonous stuff?

I've been using the lead free stuff.  The key is to be patient and use a minimal amount in your approach.  I use a 1/64th inch soldering tip on a 40W soldering iron and it seems to work okay.

I don't know if I would want to try lead free on Surface Mount stuff because I don't know if it would spread as well as I would want unless I used a lot of flux.  I haven't tried it so this is just an assumption.

I used lead free on my TV-B-Gone and Sparkfun Joystick because hands will be touching those and I'm already sensitive from dust and poisons.

[Reply #23 on:]

I agree about the safety glasses.  I use a pair of Harbor Freight safety glasses under the flip down visor.  They cost so little that I have pairs scattered around in various places so I don't have to hunt for them.  Of course, I don't bother with them when I doing normal stuff like pulling thorns, picking at a bump or threading a needle.  I just feel more comfortable using safety glasses when up close to something that could slip or throw off pieces.

http://www.harborfreight.com/garage-shop/eye-protection/safety-glasses-clear-99762.html

And no, I don't have any association with Harbor Freight.  It's just that they have low prices on stuff like this, and of course it wears out fast,  but not as fast as I seem to misplace it.

[Reply #24 on:]

Solder without lead in it is just horrendous. It also reduces the reliability of stuff made with it.
See :-
http://www.rohsusa.com/
and the other links from:-
http://www.p-m-services.co.uk/web_links.htm

Lead in solder is not dangerous, it is not like lead water pipes, it is not like being injected by a lead pellet. It has been banned on the spurious excuse of contaminating the water supply when electronic equipment is dumped in land fill. That is it, that is the only reason, it is not toxic in the form of solder.

Using lead free solder is just like sex with a condom, better than nothing but not like the real thing. Like washing your feet with your socks on.

As for the eyes, I use a head mounting visa of a slightly different design, by arranging the angle of the visa and glasses, I can look through my glasses, through the visa (times 3) or through both for three different magnifications / focus distances.

And before anyone says it was the lead in the solder that made my eyes go bad, it wasn't. It was all the sex without a condom. 

[Reply #25 on:]

Like washing your feet with your socks on.

But that's how I wash my socks. 

[Reply #26 on:]

Like washing your feet with your socks on.

But that's how I wash my socks. 

I have tried, but I find it very difficult to have both feets in the washing machine, with the socks on, and still keep up with the rpm's of the machine. If I just stop rotating my body, the fins inside the drum hits my feets, and it does quite hurt...

[Reply #27 on:]

Actually I forgot to post this picture of me with a visor:-

[Reply #28 on:]

My visor arrived from eBay. Its a miracle! I can see again! But it does cause my sons to laugh at me even more than when I'm washing my feet with my socks on.

[Reply #29 on:]

My visor arrived from eBay. Its a miracle! I can see again! But it does cause my sons to laugh at me even more than when I'm washing my feet with my socks on.

Haha Well they'll get to that age some day...