A neat way to clean pcb's

[Tubetec]

I had a pcb that needed a clean the other day ,
usually I swab it with q-tips and iso ,
anyway I had run out of the cotton buds so I substituted a standard tube of cigarette filters ,
so basically I take two tubes of filters , one to swab down with iso , one to dry up and clear debris afterwards ,
once you have accumulated dirt on the edge of the filter tip , you simply push it out of the plastic slieve its contained in ,
then continue with a fresh one in its place .It does a great job of mopping up disolved flux , a bit like microfibre .
Its best to keep the filter tip contained in it plastic slieve as this help prevent tiny strands of fibre breaking off and getting left behind , in any case there easily removed afterwards with a dry brush .

 

[JohnRoberts]

I can't say that I ever saw a standard tube of cigarette filters.

Back in the army I recall borrowing filter cigarettes from some fellow soldiers and tore off the filters to fashion crude ear plugs at the rifle range.

JR

 

[Tubetec]

Thats an example of what I mean , the kind used with hand rolling tobacco .

 

[JohnRoberts]

I didn't know those were a thing...

the last time I hand rolled cigarettes was back in the 1960s using whacky tobacky, no filters were involved.

JR

 

[Tubetec]

Well yeah filtering out the active ingredients from the jazz cigars would be defeating the purpose ,
I know the old style they use in the USA , where the 'roach' is just the paper twisted up at the end , hence the need for a roach clip or tweezers .
The Euro method usually incorporates a small tube of rolled up cardboard at the back end , which makes life a lot easier .

I do use the filter tips in regular hand rolled ciggs , takes down the tar levels a bit and prevents globules staining teeth ,lips and tongue .

Using these filters for swabbing away pcb contaminants provides a gentle scrubbing action without any chance of maring the pcb surface or scraping components .

 

[JohnRoberts]

Well yeah filtering out the active ingredients from the jazz cigars would be defeating the purpose ,
I know the old style they use in the USA , where the 'roach' is just the paper twisted up at the end , hence the need for a roach clip or tweezers .
The Euro method usually incorporates a small tube of rolled up cardboard at the back end , which makes life a lot easier .

I do use the filter tips in regular hand rolled ciggs , takes down the tar levels a bit and prevents globules staining teeth ,lips and tongue .

Using these filters for swabbing away pcb contaminants provides a gentle scrubbing action without any chance of maring the pcb surface or scraping components .

I have had too many close relatives die from cancer after smoking cigarettes (father, brother, sister, cousins, etc).

I smoked cigars for a while but decided it wasn't worth it.

JR

PS: Nicotine is a remarkable drug (mood leveler, anxiety reducer, distraction blocker, etc.) but still pass.

 

[Tubetec]

Were fast approaching the 'Nanny State' here in Ireland , not only does the smoker have to put up with horrendous images on tobacoo packaging ,but now a similar thing is to be done with alcoholic beverages . Beverage companies are how ever freely allowed to market 0.0% alcohol drinks under the same brands as the regular stuff , they've used it to sidestep the the law .

Look at the damage sugar does , diabeties will shave on average 20 years off peoples lives , if you cant get the meds even more than 20 . Yet sugary drinks and candies are available to all without limits , why? because the insulin industry makes a killing off the back of it , its allowed to continue .
why dont they start showing pictures of obiese people with amputated legs from diabetic complications on cokeacola bottles , there a serious double standard going on here .

I dont dissagree smoking is a bad habbit , but many of the noxious chemicals in tobaccoo are added by the production process , now that were well warned its allowed to continue .
The other issue about smokers is the kind of work you do ,the chemicals you handle also have an impact on cancers . Its well known from the days of the industrial revolution that hand rolled cigarettes were more dangerous to people working in industry ,not because theres any difference in the basic product ,but because the user contaminates the cigarette while rolling it up .

Sugar causes more disease than booze and smoking put together , but theres multitrillion dollar industries running hand in hand off the front and back end of it ,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Coca-Cola_slogans

 

[JohnRoberts]

Were fast approaching the 'Nanny State' here in Ireland , not only does the smoker have to put up with horrendous images on tobacoo packaging ,but now a similar thing is to be done with alcoholic beverages . Beverage companies are how ever freely allowed to market 0.0% alcohol drinks under the same brands as the regular stuff , they've used it to sidestep the the law .

Look at the damage sugar does , diabeties will shave on average 20 years off peoples lives , if you cant get the meds even more than 20 . Yet sugary drinks and candies are available to all without limits , why? because the insulin industry makes a killing off the back of it , its allowed to continue .
why dont they start showing pictures of obiese people with amputated legs from diabetic complications on cokeacola bottles , there a serious double standard going on here .

I dont dissagree smoking is a bad habbit , but many of the noxious chemicals in tobaccoo are added by the production process , now that were well warned its allowed to continue .
The other issue about smokers is the kind of work you do ,the chemicals you handle also have an impact on cancers . Its well known from the days of the industrial revolution that hand rolled cigarettes were more dangerous to people working in industry ,not because theres any difference in the basic product ,but because the user contaminates the cigarette while rolling it up .

Sugar causes more disease than booze and smoking put together , but theres multitrillion dollar industries running hand in hand off the front and back end of it ,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Coca-Cola_slogans

Socialized medicine tends to focus the government's minds on the costs of treating avoidable health maladies.

Using sugar as a whatabout defense for smoking is novel. I recall Mayor Bloomberg in NYC working to discourage sugary drinks with specific taxes on large drink cup sizes. Metabolic syndrome is surely one of those avoidable health risks. The drug industry has finally come up with some effective weight loss medications, sadly too expensive right now for mass use (around $1k/month), but a joke going around is that there is a diabetes epidemic in Hollywood with so many actors taking that drug.

JR

 

[Tubetec]

Im not trying to defend smoking , even though I am a smoker I dont reccomend it , Im merely saying sugar does a lot more damage and is freely available to all .

So they allow people to gorge themselves sick on sugar , then come up a pill for the rich people to get their weight back down again ,
Lucozade was allowed to be marketed here for years as healthy and good for you , the reality is completely the opposite , lies brought to you by Glaxo Smithkline Beecham .

 

[hodad]

PS: Nicotine is a remarkable drug (mood leveler, anxiety reducer, distraction blocker, etc.)

It is indeed. I quit over 20 years ago (thank goodness) but I still miss it, & enjoy the occasional blast of secondhand smoke. If it weren't so dang unhealthy I'd go back to it in a heartbeat.

 

[Tubetec]

100 years ago life expectancy wasnt as long as it is now ,chances are you could smoke your whole life without it making much difference , living conditions were much worse , air quality etc
Nicotiene may have had benefits , like they say the blood of a smoker is less attractive to biting insects , now weve extended peoples lives to the point the social welfare/public health system is in imminent danger of collapse , they focus on tobacco while allowing us access a multitude of other even worse poisons where massive profits accrue from the treatments of the disease they cause , its all a racket .

 

[JohnRoberts]

It is indeed. I quit over 20 years ago (thank goodness) but I still miss it, & enjoy the occasional blast of secondhand smoke. If it weren't so dang unhealthy I'd go back to it in a heartbeat.

The toxicity is from burning the tobacco leaf. I suspect a vape pen could deliver the nicotine fix without stressing the lung tissue.

JR

 

[hodad]

I suspect a vape pen could deliver the nicotine fix without stressing the lung tissue.

Maybe. But the smoke is where the magic is. Vapes have zero allure for me.

 

[Tubetec]

I guess as a means to quit smoking the vapes are valid .
But what were seeing here is lots and lots of young people taking up the vape ,not per see to try and quit regular smoking , but as a habbit in its own right .
There putting in place new laws preventing the sale of vapes to people under 18 now as result , there also seems to be evidence appearing showing other health and developmental damage in younger people who use them , so perhaps some of the negative aspects of nicotiene addiction remain either way .

I had managed to quit tobacoo smoking for over two and half years during lockdown , sadly I returned to the habbit as a means of stress relief during a difficult time .

This thread has kinda jumped the rails a bit , but thats no problem at all , let the conversation take us where it may .

 

[JohnRoberts]

Not feed this veer too much further, another concern I have is the potency (THC content) of modern strains of marijuana. Laws and regulations are likely based on perceptions from when grass was not very strong. I suspect the new stronger stuff may have more deleterious psychopharmacological effects, especially on immature brains.
==
Legalized pot was supposed to reduce crime and raise revenue, but taxes and regulation have left enough profit margin for an illegal pot industry to thrive.
==
The human brain does not mature to adulthood until mid to late 20s

===
I call nicotine an ideal worker bee drug... It helps workers avoid distraction and focus on boring repetitive tasks. I wouldn't mind air traffic controllers using nicotine to help them concentrate and maintain focus. I watch too many old movies, and everybody smoked like chimneys in those old movies.
==

Yes vape pens are useful at helping chronic smokers break the unhealthy habit.

JR

 

[Tubetec]

What they noticed in Canada once weed was legalised was many cops took early retirement and used there training to protect grow sites , 'if you cant beat em ,join em' as the old saying goes .

 

[JohnRoberts]

Unauthorized pot shops have cropped up in droves, operating out in the open — and offering cheaper prices than the legal stores, where the products are highly taxed. The number of illegal shops across New York’s five boroughs could exceed 1,200, according to some estimates.

Not just NYC

JR

 

[Gold]

The toxicity is from burning the tobacco leaf. I suspect a vape pen could deliver the nicotine fix without stressing the lung tissue.

JR

As I understand it vaping uses the same stuff as used in a stage smoke machine. That stuff is nasty. I always hold my breath around those things. If I’m at a show and I’m in the path of a smoke machine I move.

Smoke does indeed chase insects away. It’s black fly season up north. They are also really nasty. My wife almost had to go to the hospital because she got bit so bad it looked like her ear might fall off. Had to be on steroids for a few months. Smoky fires really help.

 

[Tubetec]

Fire and smoke were a keystone in humanities battles against all things that want to bite you .
Another interesting thing is before the invention of pesticides and chemical warfare nicotine was used to fumigate green houses , works very effectively and probably doesnt have many of the longer term issues organophosphates leave behind .

The base material of vape products seems to be glycerine and propylene glycol ,
then you have flavour additives destined for the food industry , its a bit of an unknown what the effects inhaling these substances will have long term .

Were pretty lucky here in Ireland , we dont have many biting insects , tics and and horse flies are probably the biggest nuisance .
Tics can cause lyme disease , in continental Europe there very much better at early diagnosis of infection , in any case even if a tic bite is suspected they immidiately put people on antibotics as a precautionary measure , sadly here in Ireland many go untreated and develop all kinds of debiltating conditions as a result .

Ive got bitten by horse flies a few times , its generally not serious appart from leaving a painful swolen area that can take a relatively long time to heal , of course peoples boddies can react diferently to these invasive critters, anaphylactic shock can be serious so probably a good idea to have some medicine to hand to treat bites when in outback type situations .

I once stayed in a tent in Spain while on holidays , I went to sleep with my arm agaisnt the fly sheet , when I woke I had around 20 mosquito bites on my hand and forearm , alltogether different to the usual pin prick left behind by mossies you find here in Ireland , heat and sun also tended to worsen the symptoms .