Why does smoke from a soldering iron ALWAYS go towards your face???

[@cheetahspot]

As a guy with stage technician experience, I can tell you: Yes, evaporated baby oil is in fact harmful to your lungs, and can cause what is called Lipoid Pneumonia. If you want to be safe, use regular fogger fluid, which is a mixture of water and propylene glycol or glycerin, which is perfectly safe and won't hurt your lungs. (And why the hell does this channel have so few subsribers ... it's awesome!)

[@Scrogan]

So, what’s actually safe about fogger/vape fluid? It still accumulates in your lungs, and it doesn’t evaporate, right? Is it absorbed by your lung tissue and later removed from your bloodstream by the kidney? While for stage smoke you’ll often want it to be buoyant enough to fill a room, but using dry-ice or an ultrasonic exciter should work well enough for this sort of temporary use. Surprised ultrasonic vape pens aren’t more popular. Also I’m pretty sure professional haze machines use oils, not glycol/glycerin, so in small amounts it’s probably acceptable. Though you’d probably get more particulate oil from working with an air compressor than going working at a concert venue.

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

Glad you liked the video, and wish I knew about the subs lol. I still have fun making stuff xD Thanks for the info about oil smoke! I initially chose it because the internet said it wouldn't leave residue all over my garage but maybe I should have included a few more criteria... I added this to the description as a safety correction!

[@SteamengineOrgCalc]

@@Scrogan Propylene glycol does evaporate, albeit slowly. Glycerol evaporates even more slowly. They are also metabolized in the body, and some gets expelled by the kidneys.

[@tiagotiagot]

@@AlphaPhoenixChannel Probably a good idea to pin that comment in case someone is thinking about trying the setup shown in the video

[@crazydavidsmith]

You can use 0% nicotine vape fluid also.

[@noapoleon_]

Basic materials and equipment to make a soldering station: - soldering iron - solder - sponge *- cardboard cutout of yourself staring into your soul at opposite end of the table to invert draft.*

[@sagebalsys7390]

Never forget punching bag for when your hands just wont stop shaking

[@untitled2792]

@@sagebalsys7390 yep

[@TragicAyk]

Make the cutout double your size so it doesn't cancel out but inverts it by 50%

[@colenichols]

@@sagebalsys7390 I always make the mistake of drinking a triple shot latte before working on things... Doesn't go very well

[@RichConnerGMN]

@@untitled2792 nice pfp

[@ScottGrammer]

Well done, young man. I've been soldering for 47 years and have been a professional electronics tech for 44 years and I've certainly been aware of the "smoke in the face" phenomenon for that entire time. I never knew why, until now. Thanks for teaching an old man something he didn't know about his specialty.

[@HeavenlyDemonicKid]

wholesome

[@octosaurinvasion]

Oh yeah? I've been soldering for 74. Young man.

[@n3vr-pull-out456]

@@octosaurinvasion 👎

[@TantalumPolytope]

@@octosaurinvasion this isnt a competition.

[@octosaurinvasion]

@@TantalumPolytope i was making fun of the use of 'young man', i'm 16.

[@mrgcav]

I was a PCB tech for 20 years and experienced this daily. I became so concerned over lead poisoning that I would use a filtered fan to suck the Solder smoke away from me. It worked. I recommend to all who solder to use this method and NOT breath solder fumes. Thank you for the explanation.

[@MrMikkmokk]

Excuse me, mr. algorithm, why haven't you suggested this channel before? After all we've been through you still don't know me at all?

[@lucas29476]

Your first mistake is thinking of The Algorithm as a person :)

[@mr.fluffypantz4150]

I feel like my hours of watching styropyro alone should directly get me recommended this channel

[@lost4468yt]

Hello, 10 months later and this channel is continuously being suggested to me in recent days.

[@dolseno2187]

You've been chosen by the Algo!

[@lost4468yt]

@@MadScientist267 I would say the algorithm has a much much better understanding of me than random FB friends do, than acquaintances, and even better than crappy friends. It suggested this to me for example, and always manages to select weird engineering/science/literature/maths and sometimes gaming videos. It's actually pretty damn good. As long as you treat it like what it is, a suggestion, than I find it introduces me to tons of interesting content. The problem is that some people treat it like it's their SO or close friends, it's not, it will suggest things you aren't that interested in a huge amount of the time, but even the 20% or so success it has with me is incredibly useful for finding channels like this.

[@santhoshbm8]

Bro. Seriously. These are some corners where people won't even care to look. You got it created in lab and explained the effects in detail. I seriously love your dedication and in-depth analysis.

[@wilfredswinkels]

NICE!! after 45 years of holding my breath, I finally know why this happens. btw Steve Mould send me. Subscribed :-)

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

Yeah it's driven me nuts... glad Steve sent you my way!

[@mysterytechknowledge3664]

@@AlphaPhoenixChannel A Pirate walks into a bar... ;-)

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

Arrrrg

[@AWSMcube]

Impressive that you've been holding your breath for 45 years, I can only do 2 minutes

[@RegebroRepairs]

A smoke filter isn't expensive. Just sayin.

[@low-lee]

I was nearly shouting "ARMS" at the video for a while, which means I was engaged in learning and forming a hypothesis. You're a great teacher.

[@mariodistefano2973]

This question teased me for a long long time... Now I'm 62 and you gave me the answer! Yes! the arms! Thanks!

[@markc4768]

Same with virtually every welding and plasma process known to man... Many times - while coming down from a bad case of the zinc shakes (in spite of holding my breath and having strategically placed to blow across my back) I've said to myself that if I ever decided to pursue my engineering PhD, it would address this very phenomena. Thank you for saving me from that fate... from now on, I'll place the fan so it blows under the chin of my welding helmet.... :)

[@gastonpossel]

As an Occupational Hygenist, I find this explanation very useful. Please use a P100 mask when soldering so you don't inhale tin or other hazardous metal particles. The smaller the particle, the worst for your lungs.

[@Zappygunshot]

And having a little object perturbing the air like a small desk fan will help as well, if only to lower the concentration of smoke particles in the air you breathe.

[@mrhassu588]

Most of the harmful stuff is the flux, which is pretty nasty

[@redfields5070]

I've been breathing it for over 50 years and my doctor is impressed by how healthy my lungs are. I have never been a smoker.

[@mh6276]

@@mrhassu588 Yes. Flux-less solder fumes less and the smoke from is just vaporised tin particles which do harm your lungs but they are in very low concentrations.

[@skivvy3565]

Once again, *proof that you have one of the best channels and are one the most fascinating, intelligent, entertaining, and best TEACHERS on the Internet* I cannot thank you enough for your efforts

[@JK-vj4rw]

Low tech solution boys, just exhale when you're actually making a solder joint. Works 60% of the time, every time.

[@JohnSmith-ox3gy]

Instructions unclear, inhaled it instead.

[@CatSovietski]

Instructions unclear, inhaled the solder iron instead

[@testaccount4191]

@@CatSovietski tasty lead

[@iamme8359]

Instructions unclear, inhaled drugs

[@frogz]

Instructions clear, made a solid solder connection AND inhaled drugs

[@jimlassiter749]

The question of a lifetime of soldering finally answered! Bravo!

[@jacoblawrence9145]

I love how you slowly give your audience info and gradually clue them in. It gave me the sense that I was a science detective rounding up clues to solve the mystery. Very well set out and very well paced. You've got a new subscriber 🙂

[@russelljazzbeck]

Your problem solving skills are truly a feat. I love how you eliminate possibilities. Brilliant stuff. I have only soldered maybe a dozen times, but it only took about 5 mins for me to figure out to set my desk fan next to what I was soldering. Thanks for confirming.

[@zs9301]

It infuriates me that such a small number of people know about this great channel. I'd say you're definitely up there in terms of video quality with channels like vsauce, numberphile, veritasium etc.

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

Thanks! I appreciate the support! Those are some great names to be compared to! I've seen Michael Stevens at an in-person show... I don't think I;ll be going on tour anytime soon xD It feels like "all the big channels" have somehow had a few easily-widely-shareable-and-therefore-viral videos that initiated their fanbase, or got featured by a much larger entity at some point in their history and unfortunately I haven't had either of those YET. Getting chains of people to share videos would be awesome! I fear that my content is too eclectic and my publish schedule too random as well...

[@GumbleBernard]

@@AlphaPhoenixChannel Came here after Steve Mould mentioned you in his video

[@viradeus4322]

@@AlphaPhoenixChannel It's funny I like your videos because they are eclectic. It shows that science does not have boundaries but instead bridges between everything in the world around us.

[@apoorvvyas52]

@@AlphaPhoenixChannel you definitely are a real scientist unlike veritasium and other channels host. I like your videos more than any of them combined. Don't worry about getting million subscribers. Focus on creating interesting scientific videos . I love your kind of eclectic stuff. Maybe because you are great at experimentation.

[@jama211]

@@AlphaPhoenixChannel There's also a slight difference in clickbaityness and production value. But you're awesome, keep it up!

[@ctdieselnut]

Thank you for this. I tried to think of the answer before I clicked and thought ' it has to be body heat draft'. Seeing cardboard capable of producing the same effect demonstrated it wasn't the body heat, but just the body is enough to produce asymmetric draft. Amazing. This brings up a life lesson I have learned and is constantly reinforced. Just because you can't see how your wrong (in the moment), doesn't mean you are right. The world would be a better place if it was more socially acceptable to change your mind in the face of countering evidence.

[@zloth54]

When you threw your 3 other hypothesis i thought "Damn, this guy is smart"

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

well you HAVE to try to prove yourself wrong or it isn't science! =D

[@zloth54]

@@AlphaPhoenixChannel and the way you said "do prove me wrong" that gained my respect

[@FreigeistaufReisen]

Nice research :) My solution to this problem is using a small computer fan to suck away the smoke. It is important here that the fan really sucks. If it blows, it is cooling the soldering iron too much.

[@samykamkar]

Super interesting! Thanks for resolving one of life's mysteries.

[@sohamchandiwade9954]

Are you indian ?

[@ameturephysicist]

Hey Samy, What have you been up to?! you haven't posted anything in forever!

[@fission1110]

I swear I just need to follow you around on youtube. You're always in the comments of the best videos. Samy actually is my hero.

[@Sqwaush]

but most of all, Samy is my hero

[@deidara_8598]

Oh, I remember you! We were friends on MySpace :)

[@sshawarma]

What a gem of a video. Thoroughly enjoyed and closed the video expecting hundreds of thousands of subscribers! Wishing your channel/personal endeavors the best!

[@nonchip]

"hope this stuff isn't toxic" yeah that's why they use glycerol nowadays :P

[@kalebdye4378]

He bout to get EVALI with all them lipids going into his lungs.

[@timehunter9467]

Omg, I’ve been holding my breath and getting angry without realising I could just not use my hands to solder! This was a great watch!

[@gregiep]

I just watched the first 3:31, and my suspicions were confirmed. Sentience, dark magic, malice. Checks out.

[@garybarham3992]

😂

[@crazyt1483]

The same premise as all smoke. Camp fires do the same thing

[@osakashogun1371]

This reminds me of the casimir effect. I've noticed that tree leaves tend to collect in semi-enclosed areas that are lower pressure to the wind gusts in most cases, sort of like how antinodes would buck material off into nodal wells. There are less directions for wind to come from to pick those leaves back up and throw them back into the yard or the street. Its all just pressure mediation.

[@EEVblog2]

Brilliant!

[@CodeKujo]

"now I feel really old" Get used to that feeling, it's going to be with you for the next 60+ years.

[@ToriKo_]

Oh fuck

[@timonix2]

And here I was all along thinking it was confirmation bias. Surely the soldering iron isn't evil. Yet here we are

[@danhyatt2206]

AWESOME! For years I've been irritated by soldering smoke going straight into my face and wondering how/why that was happening and wondering if it was real or just my imagination. One of life's biggest mysteries (for electronic hobbyists and nerds) finally solved. THANK YOU!

[@leovalenzuela8368]

I have never soldered without a fan running, so I didn't even know this was a problem until now.

[@travcollier]

There are definitely cases where you're working on something "in-place" where you can't use a fan, but otherwise, yeah... Just use a little extractor fan. Should be part of standard soldering kits... But isn't.

[@turbo2ltr]

as a kid, I used to deliberately inhale solder smoke and try to blow it out my mouth... not knowing it contained lead. Now I just use lead free solder.. lol

[@satiric_]

@@turbo2ltr The fumes aren't actually lead, it's the rosin in the solder. Still not great for you though

[@awesomestuff9715]

@@satiric_ it could contain lead if the solder isnt lead-free

[@adrianhenle]

@@awesomestuff9715 The boiling point of lead is around 2000 K. Soldering irons usually run cooler than 700 K. Even if you're using nearly pure lead solder, the amount of lead in the fumes is extremely small.

[@vattevineeth4567]

I knew it had to be the human body but never once thought the hands had a part to play!! Thanks for confirming and correcting an explanation I have theorized for myself to the same question.

[@yokowan]

i've been binging your videos all day and i have to say this is the *exact* kind of content i want to see more of on youtube

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

Thanks! Spread the word 😁

[@lancesmit1021]

Think you are the first to nail this. Wish I knew this when I was 11 in my dad's workshop spending weeks in there. Awesome vid, thanks

[@zenvir1680]

Wow, someone actually did some research on this issue. I just bought a small fan for this purpose. Also, you could just have put some flux on the soldering iron with screwdriver or some tool, it would have been much cheaper than melting expensive solder ;) Great content my friend

[@e_sence]

but even the flux makes smokes :(

[@TheMajinvegetadbz]

@@e_sence That's the point. He could've used something cheaper like flux to see where the smoke goes instead of something more expensive like solder

[@ffsrdr6596]

Cant even find flux in the pandemic..

[@DmenDuroRider]

This channel answers so may questions I never knew I had.

[@Ihsees91]

Steve Mould brought me here. That's some high quality setup you've done for this. Subscribed!

[@lynnashley6247]

Steve Mould brought me here as well. I see that your sub count just jumped by half in the last day.

[@cembora4849]

yes i am one of them and i am very happy to discover this channel.

[@bhess1212]

Me three! Great video! Definitely need more subs. Subbing to await your next one!

[@HiltownJoe]

Ha Steve Mould did not bring me here, but my first thought was. "hmmm, Steve Mould would love this guy"

[@trentseymore7385]

I was thinking the other day, man I should really turn on a fan when I solder. Now I know why. This video is the reason I subscribed.

[@wilafau]

I have always wondered why. Now I know. This was very entertaining too! One of these days your subscriber count is gonna explode.

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

Yeah I was certainly happy to figure it out! Glad you liked the video and hope you're right about the channel eventually exploding - I think it just takes a whole lot of people with a whole lot of followers sharing and sharing and that's so hard to initiate organically...

[@NoIPHU]

​@@AlphaPhoenixChannel It should explode. Great video, subscribed. I'll share this with my friends too, as it has great explanation of why that happens. :)

[@jackroutledge352]

It may be about to. I’ve just got sent here from Steve Mould’s channel.

[@Meg_A_Byte]

The prophet!

[@SiberCatLP]

It certainly did explode

[@dadinggo]

I love this dudes passion and curiosity.

[@yungbobross6418]

Loving your content. Always a simple question and answer but throughly researched and tested to the point that you make it all so interesting even if it’s a mundane topic.

[@benalfano4533]

For years I've pondered over this exact same phenomenon!! Brilliant, absolutely amazing 👏

[@hadiakbari740]

Bravo!! I’m amazed by your very scientific approach to analyzing this very interesting fluid dynamics problem! You could turn this into a PhD thesis by adding more details on the theory and experimental method and get yourself another degree 👏👏👏

[@humanbean3]

Back when I smoked cigarettes, I noticed this same thing... I could keep the thing in the same place and move my head to different areas and the smoke would follow me, even after letting the air from the movement settle. cool video! mystery solved!

[@joshinils]

How bout putting the work at the very edge of the table and sittin a bit back, or putting the work on a tiny table on the workbench, then here could be airflow between the arms, body and table, right?

[@pyromen321]

I almost always solder at the edge of the table, and smoke still goes into my face if I don’t use a fan. That’s why I’m guessing it’s a combination of these effects or maybe there’s another factor. I’ve noticed that when it’s cold, smoke more aggressively attacks my face, so I think body-heat updraft plays at least some role.

[@ianbelletti6241]

I've noticed how you hold the soldering iron and solder affects this. If you point the soldering iron and solder more forward as well as keeping your hands further back on the solder tends to massively reduce this effect.

[@NiSE_Rafter]

I try to just solder with a directional fan going to blow the fumes away before they get to my face

[@marioghioneto1275]

Solder splashes on balls, bad day mate

[@brianfox340]

Amazing. I was 100% sure it was just confirmation bias. Great work.

[@Poop-nu1so]

Sir, thank you for making this video. All this time I thought I had incredibly bad luck with natural air currents. I knew there was a pattern, but because my soldering situations were so different each time it would be very difficult to isolate the cause. Sometimes I'm soldering outside on a car, etc.

[@LKrieger]

This is so amazing, finally the mistery is solved. I always hate this if iam working in my bench without fans or so... your second video I found randomly. Your vids are so awesome! You deserve at least an abo!

[@ДмитрийМелентьев-ю9с]

Great video! In the begining i thought that maybe there is something with a static charge of smoke or face))) However thanks for explanation of that annoing smoke))) Subscribed, came from Stieve Mould)

[@michaelknight2342]

That was my initial thought, too

[@Guywhomakesthings]

I've been binging your vids after Steve Mould sent me here, and man it's so sad to see KZbin recommending absolute garbage instead of amazing channels like yours. Keep up the great work!

[@eyefivefive]

This could explain campfire smoke following you around no matter where you sit.

[@AlphaPhoenixChannel]

If I lived in a less windy area, I'd try that too!

[@willmcconnell6008]

This would be neat! I wonder if someone has written a paper on a thermodynamics simulation of a bondfire? Sounds like a good grad thesis to me lol

[@Sevalecan]

I have at some point realized it was not confirmation bias and a real phenomenon, since it was too consistent. I never once recall it failing to reach my face, whereas any one time where it did not, would have led me to believe it was not such a consistent phenomenon. Love that I finally have an answer.

[@Workshopshed]

You had me at sentient soldering irons

[@dopeymetalbud]

I work as an electrical engineer for a company that builds *very* high end wireless communication equipment (the stuff used for making movies and like major sports and stuff)....I can 100% without a doubt confirm that the smoke ALWAYS goes to your face!!! I started with a fan behind my work, that did very little to help. Then I mounted it above my work, and had similar results to it being behind my work. Then I added a fan directly in front me, blowing towards me. It did push the smoke towards me, but it also pushed it past me, so it's the best I have for now since we don't have fume hoods, or any other negative pressure gradients to work with. I definitely think there's a solution out there that would fix this though! Hopefully it's a possibility 🤣

[@kfl611]

It is one of the rules of the universe silly, like loosing your car keys when you just had them and you are running late, or getting all red traffic lights when you are running late and all green lights when you have lots of time to spare. Rules of the universe just work that way.

[@skip741x3]

or if u drop a slice of buttered bread, its gonna always fall buttered side Down! LOL

[@kfl611]

@@skip741x3 Especially if it hasjam on it and your wearing nice clothing.

[@alecearnshaw9651]

Amazing!! I too have suffered with this, and since I've done a lot of proyects, have not been a smoker and yet ended up with some EPOC lung impairment, I've always thought this could have been the reason for it. Pehaps having the solder work near the edge of the table and leaving some space between you and the table could also avoid this "magnetic" attraction of the fumes. Great discovery!!!

[@thomasa5619]

Steve mould makes good recommendations!

[@SparrowHawk183]

Dude, this is awesome! I've always had this problem when soldering, and it drives me crazy. Thanks for putting in the scientific leg work to arrive at an answer!

[@RamadaArtist]

"Air is transparent." 100km worth of atmospheric perspective would have to disagree with you, but I concede the point for limited cases.

[@emberthecatgirl8796]

"Who would'vee thunk it?"

[@trippmoore]

Yes, context is important. Thank you for pointing that out.

[@ТёмикГоловин-й8ц]

When I was a child (I was born and raised in Russia) I went to the "Dvorec Pionerov" (a hobby group from the USSR for children, where they can learn some useful skills for free). And there was a radio engineering club where we learned how to solder, lay printed circuit boards and make some of the simplest devices from radio elements. There we sat at tables, and everyone had their own equipped workplace, where there was a hood right in front of their hands. I didn't understand why it was positioned in front of my hands and not OVER the place of work, and besides, it wasn't very strong. And now I understand why! And because of this, all the smoke rose straight up and even from me, bypassing the face. The flow was compensated on both sides) The ingenuity of the USSR)))

[@retrotechjournal]

Hey this came out great. love your logo stinger, love your coverage of the various theories. I'm hittin' subscribe.

[@EPaulIII]

Wow! Thanks. Working in electronics for most or my career, I also noticed how the smoke always came into my face and I also wondered why. And like you, I have actually moved to the other side of a table and observed it following me so it wasn't the air currents in the room (due to HVAC?) Your elimination of several possible causes, one of which I would have bet on and final explanation of the actual reason was great. Mystery solved!

[@EvenTheDogAgrees]

Well, a solder fume sucker obviously helps, and they're relatively inexpensive. But now I'm wondering: what if your table had perforations, at least around the soldering area? Would this be sufficient to cause an updraft through the perforations that would drastically improve matters?

[@peppersalt]

Wait till you spill a container of smd packages

[@EvenTheDogAgrees]

@@peppersalt lol, good point.

[@benbrannen755]

I always wondered why this was. I always took a deep breath and slowly let it out while soldering to keep it away. A many years mystery finally solved!!

[@iivarimokelainen]

This was amazing, and you deserve 100x the subscribers. I'm gonna recommend you to all the tech people I know. You're DOPE.

[@ThatKoukiZ31]

Awesome video! I basically assumed this was the case after a few years of soldering as a kid. I knew it had something to do with drafts and heat currents. Glad to know I was quite close to the truth, although not quite in the way I thought. Thanks for testing it!

[@clayz1]

Next: solve the “drop a piece of tissue paper into the wastebasket and watch it sidestep the basket and land on floor” problem. Some how some way, the problem is air currants. Or maybe raisins. Let me rethink this question.

[@bucc5207]

As it falls the tissue pushes a tiny whiff of air ahead of it. The air inside the waste basket has nowhere to go. So the tissue slides off the resulting tiny dome of higher pressure and misses the basket.

[@TropicalCoder]

How 'bout other mysteries, like why does toast always fall butter side down, or that more ancient riddle, where do the socks go that get lost in the washer or dryer?

[@c.l.h.bokhorst6687]

@@TropicalCoder it probably goes butter side down because the butter makes the bread that little bit heavier on one side, and maybe because bread is flat on 2 sides it wants to stand up straight but the side with the butter is heavier. That's my theorie. I never use butter tho, and if I do it's over my plate.

[@clonkex]

@@c.l.h.bokhorst6687 The butter's weight would only be relevant if it also significantly affected the aerodynamic forces on the toast. Don't forget that a feather falls at exactly the same speed as a bowling ball in a vacuum. The only reason a feather normally falls really slowly is that it has a large surface area but doesn't have enough weight to push the air out of the way.

[@aswanisharma50]

Why this channel is not so popular? I am so amazed to see this. Anyways I am a subscriber now. 🙂

[@hermanni1989]

I would have guessed that the soldering smoke has static electricity in it some how.

[@bigtstopics5674]

I made a rig a few years ago that works really well. Grab a PC fan and any USB power supply. Fit the fan into a section of dryer hose and glue into place. Secure with a large zip tie and plug it in. Position the negative pressure side of the hose a few inches away from the project you are working on and that's it. Your own personal work bench fume-hood/vent. Enjoy.

[@tehdusto]

*breaks spaghetti in half* Italians: and so I took that personally

[@trippmoore]

Knowing Italians and their obsession with pasta I'm sure there is already a named variety that is exactly like spaghetti but half the length. I'm not going to look it up because I'm certain that's correct. So, really it's... Itallians: Ma! Perché non hai usato solo i mezzi spaghetti?

[@nutbastard]

It's a silly thing to do even if you're cooking in a small pot. The variance in doneness due to half of the spaghetti spending slightly less time in the water isn't perceptible, especially since it's all going to get mixed up together before consumption.

[@RussellTeapot]

I'M ITALIAN, I ALWAYS BREAK SPAGHETTI IN HALF BECAUSE I'M A MAD MAN

[@vickielawson3114]

I couldn’t click to watch this video fast enough. The soldering smokey face phenomenon has been bugging me for years.

[@h7opolo]

new sub here. steve mould promoted your channel in his latest vid. I really like your intro video at 0:28

[@fmdj]

This, to me, is a really refreshing and inspiring illustration of what science really is. Playful curiosity supported by a solid method.

[@netx421]

I've thought of this my whole life, not just the soldering iron, welding fumes seem to be drawn to your mask as well. It's infuriating

[@Raven777777777777777]

This reminded me of Captain Cold from The Flash series "Make a plan. Execute a plan. Expect the plan to go off the rails. Throw away the plan." Also always wondered why this was happening. Interesing video.

[@Sharpman76]

Freaking genius. Do you think this is what causes a similar phenomenon with campfires?

[@polyhistorphilomath]

Particularly when used as a heat source for soldering

[@kiljosh]

@@polyhistorphilomath I too, solder using a campfire. Irons are overrated.

[@PepekBezlepek]

this is fascinating .. best undiscovered channel in a WHILE

[@johno9507]

The same thing happens with camp fires, they always blow smoke in your face.

[@andrefasomann859]

i never solded, but i thank you for these information. soon it can become useful. equipment is already there ;) it's also nice to read the comments. good luck for you

[@Scrogan]

Mmmm, sweet rosin smoke

[@backyardforge5568]

Thanks! I got many ideas to solve this problem. One lf them, cut a hole or better, a long thin slot in your workbench in the low pressure area, and have a small fan under the table.

[@zloth54]

Here from steve mould

[@yteicosf1103]

bruh this guy deserves a lot more subs. He is very underrated.

[@NAVYABHAN]

Your body has a positive charge that attracts the vaporized metal’s .

[@birdpump]

lol, just literaly finished soldering and was wondering why the smoke goes to you. great video!

[@otherpatrickgill]

I love the way Americans pronounce it "soddering iron", like the thing you look at yourself in - outside the US, they'd pronounce mirror as "mira" in the United states you hear "mere"

[@roboman2444]

I developed a habit of slowly exhaling/blowing towards the iron when soldering. I didn't realize how well that worked until i watched this video and actually paid attention to the smoke.

[@omniyambot9876]

We have the same energy and curiousity/passion in physics, sir. I love your videos as I discovered it just this day. I don't knwo why it took me so long. I assumed you are a college/highschool student but turns out you are a freaking doctor! I aspire to be like that. Niceee videos!

[@danzed5051]

absolutely love you man i been thinking about this since i was 8 years old. i put my own fan from a fridge compressor inside a small closed in desk. not fancy but effective... not everything can be soldered at a desk either

[@mikellongazo2110]

Great Video, ive been soldering most my life now and What I do to combat this is I use a small muffin fan about a foot away and blowing gently across what I'm soldering , works better than the fan up close try to suck the smoke away.

[@reptilez13]

Great vid. A desktop mini-fan faced away really helps lol. Prob should have a filter too, but at least the former for the cost conscious helps a ton.

[@unlovabledeadsquirrel]

I have ALWAYS wanted to know this because its so freaking annoying, and randomly KZbin recommends me this vid from a Channel I have never seen before. Good job, GlaDoS!

[@wesnxs]

Every time no matter if your sitting standing if the work is above your head or below that smoke will find your face it's nice to know why and that it happens to more the just me thanks for the video

[@shyleshsrinivasan5092]

Half way through the video, I started to think it was because of the static charges accumulated on the body. But this was super interesting ! Thanks a lot for this video !

[@TheGreatMunky]

A shirt also captures and directs the heat from your body up past your neck like a chimney, which could add to the smoke draw toward your face. A very interesting phenomenon and video!

[@paultinwell5557]

Nice… I had pondered this for a long while too, and some years ago tried looking for answers. Hand position was definitely found to be important, so I think we reached a similar conclusion. I also found a difference when wearing a ground strap, so I believe whether you are carrying a static charge contributes too, but I didn’t investigate the point much. What I failed to do was find a universal solution unless you’re happy to use a fume extractor (too much noise for me), so as with most, I just hold my breath.

[@thousandsunny3103]

I’m actually a little intrigued with the telekinetic approach to solving this problem, so I’ll be focusing more on that than some silly, cheap fan idea. Thanks though, I appreciate your sacrifice.

[@RiddimDubstep]

As a Romanian, you nailed the pronounciation of "Coandă effect". Non-native speakers can't really pronounce "ă".

[@Imdor]

Oh, ok, was guessing it was static, but should have been pretty clear that that wasn't it, as it also happens when grounded, great video dude.