During most of our events there is a bit of soldering but last month apparently there was a lot of soldering. The space is large with OK ventilation, but we usually have at least 2 dozen fixers, of whom up to maybe 6-8 or so could be soldering at one time - usually only 2-3 and not for the entire 3 hours of course. (Although we did have a visitor who soldered his own headphones for about 3 hours at each of our last two events. He seemed to be enjoying it)
The building manager of our event space is concerned about setting off the fire alarm. Personally I don’t think there is nearly enough “smoke” to do that, but I take his point that if it were to go off, the fire service is automatically notified and we would all be evacuated until they gave the all clear. That would be very disruptive and definitely no fun. I have been present in that building when the alarm triggered (not a repair cafe event) and it took over an hour before we got back in as the entire 4 floors and basement have to be checked.
Also, we don’t currently enforce any personal safety measures regarding soldering and we should. We trust the volunteers to be safe - and some of them come from professional repair backgrounds - but we don’t provide any rules or guidelines to ensure safety.
There are some easy steps I can think of, such as providing some safety glasses, masks and heat mats. I’m wondering if it might be sensible to set up a dedicated soldering station slightly apart from the main throng of the event? Building manager has mentioned a separate room that could be available for soldering, although it could be a bit awkward to share and manage. Will have a chat with the volunteers at next event to float that idea.
I’d like to reassure the building manager with regard to the fire alarm, and am also curious as to how other groups handle soldering at their events.
Being the main culprit here, the main issue with using a soldering area is that you often need to move the item being repaired to the area. That item may consist of multiple pieces connected by fine wires that you do now want to strain and you don’t really know until you open the box.
While you could anticipate soldering and choose the soldering table at the start of the repair, others also require this space, meaning you could occupy the table for an extended period. For example, at the Lambeth Town Hall event, at least three fixers were more or less soldering at one time.
Regarding fire safety, the alarm that alerts the Fire Brigade can apparently be disabled, but it will still sound internally, possibly people will need to be evacuated?
The current system uses a smoke detector, a heat detector, similar to those used in kitchens, might be a better alternative - provided that toasters or ironing presses are not repaired directly beneath it.
Ideally, installing a smoke extraction system would be the best solution, but this is costly and impractical for a 3 hourly monthly event. A more feasible option would be to use a few fans to help disperse the smoke, but there also is a cost, and setup before the event too.
On the positive side, I believe no alarm has yet been triggered at the event
Totally agree with the awkward logistics of having a separate soldering station. Disabling the alarm was mentioned, not really the ideal solution though. I reckon that we’d never produce enough smoke or heat to trigger the alarm, but still worth thinking about ways in which we can mitigate the issue - just in case and to keep A happy. Even just keeping an eye on how many soldering irons are in use and for how long, and open a few/more windows when necessary.
Maybe an air quality monitor could be useful? As well as solder there can be adhesive and solvent fumes floating around.
Nobody has been burned (afaik) and I’ve not seen any burn marks on the tables but heat mats should be used. I’ve not witnessed any recklessness from volunteer fixers, but we can’t rule out unpredictable behaviour from visitors - especially kids.
I did wonder if perhaps small fans at the tables could help disperse fumes. I’ve got a few small usb goose-neck desk fans I can bring along.
I might have a spare Xytronic Fume Extractor 426DLX that I could donate, when I can find it in my garage (a friend rescued some from a college that was chucking them out).
I doubt that it’s that effective at absorbing the fumes and it would need the charcoal filter replacing, but it would disperse the fumes and (equally importantly) show willing .
Much of the problem is my location, I usually sit close to the door in a fairly visible location. If I sat next to the wall, then the distance and wisps of smoke would be lost in the wall colouring, but when someone is right in front of you (or close), there is no hiding
Thanks Dave but email Olga to see if she wants it, rather than taking it to the social. It is too big for me to cart around, as I already have a large oap 55L trolley with tools, and mt 4” usb fan already has trouble fitting in
I’ve installed a smoke alarm 1m above my personal workbench. It has never been triggered.
Even a tiny fan will rapidly dilute the smoke to a concentration that would not be detectable by a smoke alarm. I have a little 5cm one that does the trick. The repairer would probably be annoyed enough by any meaningful amount of smoke that they would seek better ventilation without being asked to.
I use a small 18v battery pack to power my TS100 soldering iron, so it would be easy for me to go outside or move close to a window if I was making a lot of smoke. Perhaps you could provide something similar for your repair cafes? Cambs RC toolkits have a pinecil V2 with silicone USB-C cable for power, so a consumer USB-PD powerbank would be suitable if it could give the 3A needed.
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