Poison in old amps?

[Cygnus X1]

I sometimes see PCB's may be present in some of the older caps. If this is true, how dangerous are they?
And how to ID PCB leaking caps?

The reason I ask is I received a 50's PA amp that one of the filter caps had spewed white powdery gook all over the inside.

I handled everything with pliers and picks, fearing exposure.
Am I paranoid, or is there a real threat?

This amp has a lot of wax coated caps, some labeled "dry caps", Sprague Atoms, a large can cap (not leaking, but taken out of circuit), etc. I don't recall what the cap was the poofed out. It was surgically removed and placed in the garbage-quick. I went so far as to carefully ventilate any fumes away from me when soldering it out.

Also-what about 60/40 solder fumes?
Is this a very high lead hazard?
What about touching the solder?

Am I watching too many late night litigation commercials?

[billyz]

And don't eat them either. Seriously! PCB's are a known carcinogenic. But , it would not lose any sleep over them. I used to work offshore and we had big giant transformers filled with PCB oil. We used to change it out and get our hands and arms soaked in it. In fact I have been covered head to toe in all sorts of nasty stuff , I just turned 55 and still alive.

I went to visit the Kennecott copper mine in Alaska. All the buildings were painted in Red Lead based paint, the last time they were painted was around 1938, guess what ? They still looked good. The ones they had stripped ( to get rid of the lead) and repainted in Latex recently looked terrible after a couple of years. Moral is don't eat the lead paint.

Then there is the lead in the solder. I tried the Lead free solder , it sucks! I went back to the lead stuff, I don't eat it.

I don't think you anything to worry about. There are so many things in this world that will cause you harm, like Automobiles , cigarettes, alcohol , TV, unnatural food additives, poisons from Chinese made products, etc. etc.

Enjoy your amp work while you can

[gahult]

I pretty much think that everyone in Marion has ingested PCB as the local chickens were found to be contaminated. The eggs they laid were contaminated.
The local restaurants served em up over easy scrambled....well you get the picture.... for years before they found out.

The population has not suffered as far as I know. But, I've been told it stays at 999 cause every time a gal gets pregnant another guy leaves town.

Gary

[Colossal]

Minimizing exposure to PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) is a (very) good idea. PCBs are fat soluble and well known and respected carcinogens.
If you have any doubts, wear non-latex gloves such as nitrile or rubber when handling suspect or leaky parts! You only get one liver and one life!

As for solder fumes, I've built a mini fume hood that has serious negative pressure. You can solder under it with your face almost down in your work and smoke and fumes don't linger...

You want to stay well to enjoy your amps. Why take chances with personal safety?

[Alexo]

Something else to watch out for on vintage gear is cadmium oxide, that yellowish dust that you see on some plated metal parts - bolts, nuts, chassis, sockets - from the 50's and 60's. It may tend to stick to the parts it's on, but if it gets into your system, it is very nasty stuff, a known teratogenic, among other more immediate things.

The fumes from melted PVC insulation are also probably a good thing to avoid.

This link has some good info:

http://www.bvws.org.uk/405alive/tech/safety.html

[Wayne]

"They" say that you should wash your hands after handling solder, and refrain from eating, smoking, or any other activity that puts your hands near your mouth until you do.

I was also told when I was taught to solder (gov't program) that if I worked full time soldering I should consider getting tested for lead ingestion once a year. I only worked a short time in the field so I never did. My soldering iron, when lit, usually shares space in my ashtray beside a lit cigarette - perhaps I should get tested.

Hey - remember the day the science teacher let us all play with mercury? Apparently it's bad for you now, too!

W

[Cygnus X1]

I usually have a fine stogie (think Partagas and such) going when I'm working on the amps.
I run a small fan cross wise so the fumes don't get to me or my smoke.
And I don't handle the cigar with the same hand as I handle the solder/parts with.

For all that...the cigar will probably "off me" quicker than anything, although I do not inhale.

[Andy Le Blanc]

Yep, if you spend a lot of time with this stuff, you need three things.

A good work area.

Good ventilation

And, a clean up station.

Ive got a scrub brush and soap and know how to use then. Lead splatter is an
issue but I try to keep a clean bench. If you deal with primarily new parts,
solder and fume (beside electrical safety) are the issue, but if deal with a lot of
old gear for repairs it'll be contaminated waste disposal, you dont want to get caught
with it, there's no code to enforce where I'm at, but I imagine that in some
areas you could get stiffed just for asking about it, wouldn't want to loose
the condo over a bag of old radio parts, or whether the zoning allows you
to have a hobby with the potential of exposure.

[Zippy]

In fact I have been covered head to toe in all sorts of nasty stuff , I just turned 55 and still alive.

Low expectations?

[billyz]

In fact I have been covered head to toe in all sorts of nasty stuff , I just turned 55 and still alive.

Low expectations?

HA HA

It is true. actually I still feel pretty good.

I do scrub up after working on stuff and I don't chew the lead solder anymore.

And I have a fan going to blow the fumes away.

seriously though, There are so many things to worry about, can really take the joy out something.

[benoit]

As for solder fumes, I've built a mini fume hood that has serious negative pressure. You can solder under it with your face almost down in your work and smoke and fumes don't linger...

I'd like to hear more about this. How'd you build it?

[Structo]

How about the old Selenium rectifiers?

Do those leak any bad stuff?

[skyboltone]

I just don't know about all this stuff. Naturally suspicious of government in general I guess. Linemen and Electricians of my generation have enormous exposure to PCBs and lead as noted before and the insurance actuaries don't charge us any more for life/health insurance than other trades or classifications of work.

What you need is to choose good parents with proven genes for long life. Only 5% of the people are alive after 80. Just think, in a hundred years, all new people! Remember the old line; "Doctor said it'd kill me but he didn't say when".

The newest research I guess is into something called the "Epigenome" which is the most likely suspect in abrupt changes in population genetics. It's apparently very suseptable to environmental agents. What that means is that if you breath too much solder smoke it's likely your children will be born nakid or something.

[Alexo]

How about the old Selenium rectifiers?

Do those leak any bad stuff?

Not in the same way that pcb's can leak or cadmium oxide dust can appear, but during operation, they can (and will) fail and allegedly fill the room with noxious gas. It's generally recommended to replace selenium rect's with silicon diodes whenever you come across one.

[Colossal]

As for solder fumes, I've built a mini fume hood that has serious negative pressure. You can solder under it with your face almost down in your work and smoke and fumes don't linger...

I'd like to hear more about this. How'd you build it?

Hi Benoit,

I used an inline blower which is attached to a homemade hood via some flexible ducting (think aluminum dryer-type ducting) which hangs above my little work area. You can find suitable blowers online for ventilating basements or boosting airflow in HVAC ducting. I have a light in the hood so that the work area below is illuminated from directly overhead. I can move the hood up and down to suit my needs as it is on little adjustable yo-yos that stay put (you can raise or lower the hood by tugging down on it or pushing it up). The blower pulls air from the hood (and the surrounding area) and exhausts it out to the attic airspace above. I have a rheostat on the blower but generally keep it wide open. Using a smoke test such as from a snuffed candle, it really pulls all of the air out of the area very quickly; nothing lingers. Solder smoke is pulled up and away from where I work so I'm always in clean, incoming air.