Solder Smoke Filter or Absorber Fan Units

[dlt123]

Hi again... I did a search through this site and could not find anything about Solder Smoke fans.

I've only been able to find a couple on the net. This seems like it would be one of the most important tools in your tool arsenal.

Does anyone use these fans or smoke absorbers and if so, what would be your recommendation for a good unit? I would sure like to keep my solder smoke out my face.

Any DIY guys out there that have made their own? Plans appreciated.

Thanks,
Dennis

 

[Mikebits]

Nothing like the fresh burning smell of solder in the morning Just use a little fan to blow away the smoke...

 

[kchriste]

We have industrial ones at work.
For DIY, I've seen one made out of dryer hose, a desk lamp and an inline bathroom fan. The desk lamp (One like the little animated PIXAR lamp) was modified by removing the light socket and cutting off the top of the "funnel" shade of the lamp. The dryer hose was fastened to the top of the "funnel". The other end was connected to the inline fan and the fan exhaust was piped outside like a regular dryer.

 

[tonigau]

I have a solder smoke filter that we were recomended to use, but is was impractical as it had to be placed very close to the solder iron working to be effective.
Most of the boards soldered are 300 x 220mm so we ended up turning it around to blow & moved it far enough away just to make a gentle airflow across the bench. The extractor fan took care of the rest.
At home I use a small fan from an old PC power supply.

It is important not to have the fan too close to soldering especially double sided board as the other PCB side will not heat up enough to allow good flow to both sides.

Also use low flux solder (eg: Alpha telecore) generally, this has less flux mass = less smoke & if it is "no clean" you can leave it on the PCB.

 

[Eclipsed]

Hakko 493.Works good, relatively quiet, and takes a reasonable beating.I've knocked mine off the bench more times than I can count and it hasn't broke yet.New they're about ~$100, but you can find the on ebay most of the time for $20-$40

 

[dlt123]

Going Thrift Shopping

We have industrial ones at work.
For DIY, I've seen one made out of dryer hose, a desk lamp and an inline bathroom fan. The desk lamp (One like the little animated PIXAR lamp) was modified by removing the light socket and cutting off the top of the "funnel" shade of the lamp. The dryer hose was fastened to the top of the "funnel". The other end was connected to the inline fan and the fan exhaust was piped outside like a regular dryer.

After doing so research, it seems the good ones run around $55... I think I will be making a run to my local Thrift Store and see if I can find a small 8" square box fan and convert it to a absorber. All you need is to just suck the smoke away from your face or project or point it up over the project to blow the smoke away.

This looks like it might be a fun DIY project. If I'm successful, I'll post some pictures.

Thanks,
Dennis

 

[microtexan]

Check this for a fairly simple DIY extractor if you're interested. Also do a site search for "solder fumes" for several others.

Window-mounted solder fume extractor (not just for RVs!)

 

[audioguru]

I automatically hold my breath and blink when solder-flux steam comes near my face.
Your soldering iron is too hot if the rosin smokes, it is supposed to boil away corrosion not burn the rosin. My soldering iron is a Weller with temperature control. It keeps the temperature the same all the time. The tip lasts "forever".
A cheap soldering iron gets hotter and hotter and hotter and hotter and .... you know.

 

[dlt123]

I automatically hold my breath and blink when solder-flux steam comes near my face.
Your soldering iron is too hot if the rosin smokes, it is supposed to boil away corrosion not burn the rosin. My soldering iron is a Weller with temperature control. It keeps the temperature the same all the time. The tip lasts "forever".
A cheap soldering iron gets hotter and hotter and hotter and hotter and .... you know.

I just got my Hakko 936-12 today, so haven't used it much... still trying to find that right temp... I think I will also need to buy a larger tip.

It still smokes a little but not as much as my old iron. I will still continue to make/find a solder fumes fan.

Dennis

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Hi again... I did a search through this site and could not find anything about Solder Smoke fans.

I've only been able to find a couple on the net. This seems like it would be one of the most important tools in your tool arsenal.

Really it's pretty unimportant (if not totally unimportant?), I was part of a study for the Health and Safety Executive to determine the need for fume extraction.

The sole reason for the study was an incredibly small chance that flux fumes may trigger attacks in asthma sufferers - there were no other health concerns with soldering at all, and no risks for non-asthma sufferers.

The result of the study was that there were no requirements for fume extraction in a service environment (and the H&S were actually unable to find a single asthma sufferer in a service environment), BUT it was required in a manufacturing environment, where you were soldering continually for 8 hours a day.

If you don't like fumes in your face, then (as suggested) just have a fan to blow them away.

 

[rezer]

Just do what I do, hold your breath or blow.

 

[k7elp60]

Really it's pretty unimportant (if not totally unimportant?), I was part of a study for the Health and Safety Executive to determine the need for fume extraction.

The sole reason for the study was an incredibly small chance that flux fumes may trigger attacks in asthma sufferers - there were no other health concerns with soldering at all, and no risks for non-asthma sufferers.

The result of the study was that there were no requirements for fume extraction in a service environment (and the H&S were actually unable to find a single asthma sufferer in a service environment), BUT it was required in a manufacturing environment, where you were soldering continually for 8 hours a day.

If you don't like fumes in your face, then (as suggested) just have a fan to blow them away.

I agree with Nigel, but when I am developing and etching boards on my workbench I use one of these:
Catalog No. WSA350 Product Detail
This a Weller benchtop smoke asborber

 

[dlt123]

Found my fan at the Goodwill

Well I went Goodwill shopping today and found a great little 5", double speed fan that works great at sucking solder smoke away from my face. I point the airflow away from my work area and it pulls the smoke just fine.

It cost me $4 and is small enough to fit easily on my small work bench... I saved myself about $50 getting this little fan.

Here are a couple pictures of it setting on my Hakko 936-12 unit...

Thought I would share.
Dennis