Hmm…this is an interesting thing. I have a very sensitive sense of
smell. When I’ve soldered in our makeshift shop (not in a basement
our garage), I still have not had much of fumes. In another area
(MUCH smaller and not ventilated) there were fumes, but they
bothered me less than most people do when they wear perfume. There
were smells, but not overly noxious. Maybe it’s a situation where the
longer you’re exposed to something, the more sensitive your nose
gets? Or it could just be that I’ve been so completely consumed by
what I was doing when soldering/creating that I just didn’t notice.
Or it could just be that I've been so completely consumed by what I
was doing when soldering/creating that I just didn't notice.
That well may be. If I forget to turn on the fan when I am
soldering, I generally don’t notice it. But if someone else does, I
know right away. My bench is closest to the soldering bench. It also
depends on what you are doing and how often how bad it is. If I use
the oild base paste flux, that really stinks the place up without
ventilation. A little quickie with Batterns Flux and regular sheet
solder doesn’t make so much fumes, at least nothing I notice. I have
two fans at the soldering bench. One small one works well enough most
of the time and I like to keep it on just to keep the pickel fumes
heading outdoors. The bigger one draws so much air that a person can
smoke a cigarette in front of it and it won’t be noticed in the rest
of the shop.
You may also have the situation that your air supply is big enough
that what fumes you put out are just diluted to a level that is not
noticable. That is an acceptable level of ventilation in some
situations.
Once more, if you can, get a laminar flow hood with an exhaust fan.
The effects of these things are cumulative. Especially urgent if this
work is your livelihood.