Safety Tips.

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 5:52 pm

I felt like doing this for a few days now. But the recent near-death experience of my hip gear screen led to me doing it now. (Thank you Jeroen for posting that you fried yours in a previous thread, even if was a long time ago. It made me double-check my wiring, which turned out to be backwards.)

Safety for Soldering:

- Don't breathe any fumes. Period. It doesn't matter what kind. Solder fumes, flux fumes, plastic fumes, etc.. If you see them heading your way or know they're about to hit you, breathe OUT. If needed, close your eyes. If you're doing an activity that has a lot of fumes, consider wearing a mask, and possibly glasses.

- Keep water and/or something cold handy. Even if it's a soaked sponge near your soldering iron you use for tinning, it's still good to have in case you drop molten solder on your leg or hand. In case of fire, it will help a little bit too.

- KNOW WHERE YOUR FIRE EXTINGUISHERS ARE. You should already know this. If you don't have one, buy one. It could save your project, your room, and possibly your house in case of an accident.

- Keep your Soldering Iron stand secure. Or get a stand. What is the use of your stand if it falls and your soldering iron ends up burning something on the floor or table? Mine is screwed into the table. It may get annoying once or twice, but reaching the extra little bit for your iron beats having a hot soldering iron on the floor. If you have a carpet, see tip 1.

- Use a small, thin, non-scratchy item to apply flux. I use a sharpened piece of soft plastic. A long toothpick would also work. Only apply a small amount. This helps to minimize damage to the electronics, and also keeps it off your hands.

- Keep flux off your hands. It starts to itch/burn after a while. Unless you have some new-fangled neutral pH flux. (I think only the residue is neutral, anyways). It's not healthy to leave it there. A quick hand washing get it off pretty well.

Safety for your electronics:

- ALWAYS CHECK YOUR WIRING BEFORE TURNING ON THE POWER. Make sure no wires fell off. Make sure all wires are attached to the proper locations, especially your power wires. Do this every time before you turn it on.

- Keep your electronics in one place. Try not to move them around too much. It could scratch screen, break wires, or bend boards. I am guilty of moving them too much. It always messes something up.

Feel free to add more, I'm tired.

Safety for building/construction:

- Keep tools secure. You don't want them slipping and cutting something they aren't supposed to. Or sanding off part of your body.

- Only use the trigger lock if you absolutely have to. The "trigger lock," as I call it, keeps the tool in a permanent "on" position until you press the trigger down all the way. This is bad, if for some reason something slips. Or you slip. Or something unexpected happens. Then you have a rogue power tool cutting through whatever it's little heart desires.

- FEAR THE POWER TOOLS. Almost every power tool can kill or mutilate you in a most unpleasant manner. A belt-sander can grind your cheek off, or sand down part of your finger. A saw can chop a limb off easily.

Feel free to add anything you please.

Post by **bicostp** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 6:43 pm

Knife Safety [size=0]dance[/size]

Always, but ALWAYS CUT AWAY FROM YOU! If the blade slips, the stored potential energy in it and your arm will be exerted into the table or empty space instead of into your torso/leg/other important body part. Alternately, with a utility knife, get a deathgrip on it with one hand, press that wrist against you, and push/pull the material through the blade.

Dremel Safety [size=0]dance[/size]

Wear something to protect your eyes. You can get safety glasses pretty cheap, and even prescription glasses can stop some chunks (but they cost more to replace).

If you're grinding or sanding something that kicks up a lot of dust (like fiberglass or bondo), wear a dust mask. If possible, work outside.

Painting Safety

ALWAYS spray spray paint outside, or in a room like a garage with a lot of ventilation. If you're doing it inside, set up a fan in one window, so you get fresh aior drawn through the room.

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Sat Sep 22, 2007 6:57 pm

I think instead of saying to "fear" power tools, it should say "respect" power tools. Respect generally includes a bit of fear (like respecting someone that can beat you up), but if you're scared to death of a saw cutting your hand off, thats about as bad as using it recklessly. Just stay relaxed and concentrate on the task at hand when using power tools, don't put any part of you in the path of the blade/whatever dangerous part it has.

Kyo · Post by **Kyo** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 1:29 am

You and your Workspace

You never have enough space. NEVER. I just got a desk which is about twice as big, and I still lack space. You will always need slighty more space than you have. That being said;

Try to keep your Workspace organized, and make space for your project
If you just let your tools fly around, your project will be buried in a mess of old parts, tools and wires. It is only a matter of time until you somehow damage your project with one of these things, or while "digging" it out of the pile.

Find a good place for every NEEDED tool, and stick with it
If you know that you're not gonna need a tool in the following months, or project that is, then put it away. For every tool you need, try finding a good permanent place for it. One on which it's accessible and not getting in the way of anything.

After a working session, clean up
I know that it can get pretty messy when you're working on something. Hot glue, dremeled off electronics, old desoldered parts, old wires and perhaps parts you planned on using. Clean up. Also, find a box or cup or something for parts you want to have handy, to use in the future. Don't just put them on the desk. You'll lose them, eventually.

Felino · Post by **Felino** » Sun Sep 23, 2007 3:50 am

Capacitor safty
Discharge all capacitors in a device before working on it, for the most part high voltage ones.

Never open crt screens as they can house massive voltages even if they havn't been used for many years. One stay touch can literally kill you.

benol · Post by **benol** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 8:39 pm

Street Safety

Always look both ways before crossing.

Always walk on the opposite side of the road from traffic so you can see oncoming traffic.

Always wear a helmet.

Sorry. I couldn't resist.

Felino · Post by **Felino** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 12:28 am

Well, i resisted!

PeglegJimmy · Post by **PeglegJimmy** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 8:06 am

Crap... What's wrong with sniffing solder fumes....? I sniff them allot because I thought they smelled good

I don't think I do any of those tho... I cut toward me, let flux get stuck to me.. drop solder on my arm... don't have a secure stand for my iron, I lean it against this metal container. Plug my iron in while it's on the carpet.... Move around allot... Hardly ever check wiring

I'll probably die soon....

loup · Post by **loup** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 9:45 am

bicostp wrote:Knife Safety [size=0]dance[/size]

Always, but ALWAYS CUT AWAY FROM YOU! If the blade slips, the stored potential energy in it and your arm will be exerted into the table or empty space instead of into your torso/leg/other important body part. Alternately, with a utility knife, get a deathgrip on it with one hand, press that wrist against you, and push/pull the material through the blade.

Additional knife safety:
Don't use a dull knife, a sharp knife will require less effort to make your cuts which means if the knife slips, there will be less force behind the blade (also, cuts from a dull blade hurt a lot more and take a lot longer to heal and are more likely to leave a nasty scar.)

Maintain enough control over the knife so that if it does slip, you can minimize the distance that the blade will travel. If the blade slips and leaves your hand, you don't have enough control of the blade.

Use the right blade for the job. There are a lot of different types of knife blades, and not all of them are appropriate for every job.

Ecksem Diem · Post by **Ecksem Diem** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 9:50 am

PeglegJimmy wrote:Crap... What's wrong with sniffing solder fumes....? I sniff them allot because I thought they smelled good

I don't think I do any of those tho... I cut toward me, let flux get stuck to me.. drop solder on my arm... don't have a secure stand for my iron, I lean it against this metal container. Plug my iron in while it's on the carpet.... Move around allot... Hardly ever check wiring

I'll probably die soon....

Yeah, probably.

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 10:46 am

An additional soldering safety tip:

Try to wear cotton clothes. Any natural fibre will do, really. Imagine trying to light jeans on fire with hot solder. Now imagine trying to light polyester pants on fire. Not only is there a greater chance you will light you clothes on fire with hot solder, but synthetic materials MELT, leaving a nice open path for solder to stick to your skin, and the melted plastic can stick to you. There's also a greater chance of a fire. AND synthetic fabrics give off fumes.

Valium · Post by **Valium** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 12:47 pm

I think everyones been there at least once before, but pulling solder off your skin hurts like all hell.

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 1:47 pm

Not me. Howver I have pulled solder off my jeans. No pain though, because it doesn't get the skin hot or melt through cotton!

Valium · Post by **Valium** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 1:53 pm

When it hits bare skin though..

Rekarp · Post by **Rekarp** » Tue Sep 25, 2007 4:07 pm

The number 1 safety rule has been skipped.

USE COMMON SENSE!

99% of accidents that can occur can be prevented by using common sense.

That 1% is reserved for random crap like meteors that may crash through your window and take your head off.