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    Potentially Toxic Situation

    Hello all! Long term techie, but I'm relatively new to soldering so forgive any ignorance in advance. Now, straight to the point:
    I recently ordered a retro game online, and the seller neglected to mention that the CMOS battery had been replaced. Before even opening the cartridge, I could already sense the strong aroma of something had been soldered. Once I opened the cart, it was 100% confirmed. A very poor soldering job and a fairly strong smell. In a few minutes I felt slightly light-headed. Unsure if it was lead, or something else. Keep in mind this is well after any soldering had already taken place.

    I'm not crazy about sending it back, but I'm far more concerned about my health. This is no joke if I have anything to be concerned about, unless it's just a smell that will eventually fade. Essentially I'm just needing to know if this is something that wears off over the course of a few weeks, or if the person who did the soldering, did something wrong, and now I'm left with a semi-rare game that smells of lead (or something else). Should I be at all concerned? Is it worth keeping? Am I just overreacting? Thanks in advance!

    #2
    Re: Potentially Toxic Situation

    It's not lead you are smelling, more likely the smell of the old leaky battery or maybe some solvent used to clean flux, if there is no damage to the plastic the fumes aren't that bad IMO.

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Potentially Toxic Situation

      Hmm. These kind of batteries are lithium so it shouldn't have anything to do with leakage.
      I probably should have mentioned this is also for a portable handheld system so it'll always remain fairly close to my face.

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Potentially Toxic Situation

        Lets see the pictures of what we are dealing with.
        Never stop learning
        Basic LCD TV and Monitor troubleshooting guides.
        http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthr...956#post305956

        Voltage Regulator (LDO) testing:
        http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthr...999#post300999

        Inverter testing using old CFL:
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        TV Factory reset codes listing:
        http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread.php?t=24809

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Potentially Toxic Situation

          When doing electronics soldering, the smoke and odor is made up mostly of burnt or vaporized rosin or finger oils that might have been left on the tip when it was handled cold. Neither of which contain lead.

          This is not to say the smoke is harmless. If the rosin was vaporized, once it condenses it may form a layer of scum on surfaces which can be a serious irritant. If the rosin was burned, there's a high possibility of it forming polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons which are frequently carcinogenic, but they're as dangerous as one burning food on a stove and smelling or eating it. Smelling the burnt rosin smoke may contain the vapors that if it condenses in your lungs may be a serious irritant: don't do it, but it won't lead poison you.

          Soldering irons do not get hot enough to liberate significant numbers of lead atoms into the air. The hydrocarbons however, quite a lot. Even more so if a poor solder job burns the PCB binder (epoxy and/or flame retardant in both FR2 and FR4) or binding material (paper in FR2 board).

          After the solder job you still may have residues which will be a very small portion of what was released when it was heated very hot.

          When soldering water pipes and using "white flux" this stuff is usually zinc chloride and minus the solvent should have a completely different odor profile, but likewise the vapors have little to no lead content.
          Last edited by eccerr0r; 02-25-2020, 09:57 PM.

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            #6
            Re: Potentially Toxic Situation

            Absolutely!

            Attached Files

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              #7
              Re: Potentially Toxic Situation

              Completely agreed, although I didn't solder this battery. This was purchased from someone else who had previously performed the soldering. This is definitely not my work.
              Also, anytime I solder I make a point of wearing a facial mask for protection from the fumes. This is something that still has a standing aroma, most unpleasant and I'm just wanting to ensure it cannot affect myself or my family.

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Potentially Toxic Situation

                The amount of volatilization of rosin is extremely low, and you're not getting the PAHs when there's no heat involved. PAH's is a component of "magic smoke" so hopefully this isn't what it is either.

                I don't think the (horrible) solder job is causing the odor, might be something else. Looks clean of the rosin/organics. A reflow would be nice, the contacts look cold jointed. It might work still however, so little current flows that it may not make a difference. However since it was cold jointed, likely not much rosin was volatilized or burned so something else is generating the odor.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Potentially Toxic Situation

                  i dont think any flux or solder was used!!
                  it almost looks like it was done with a hot screwdriver!!!

                  you may be smelling gas from the battery, new batteries slowly release some gas in confined spaces.
                  i notice this because i have a plastic box with lots of new cells stored in it.
                  it smells a bit like surgical spirit.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Potentially Toxic Situation

                    Old hardware bought second hand often has... odors. I have a peavey amp that definitely came from a club or something, you could smell the stale cigarette smoke on it. Nice amp though once it aired out.

                    Definitely clean up that solder joint. That joint looks like it was made super cold. Use some real lead solder on it, and clean the flux afterwards.

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Potentially Toxic Situation

                      It doesn't take long for a smoker to spoil with odors that will last quite a long time...

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