bench top solder fume extractor

[nemo000111]

Hi All. I'm looking for recommendations on a bench top solder fume extractor. Below are the requirements that I know of so far.

1. Primarily lead-free solder
2. No ventilation to the outside, so must use a carbon filter(s)
3. Ideally be able to sit on the bench and not next to it on the floor
4. Reasonably quiet
5. Ideally adjustable height and angle
6. Less than around $150 at most

I did some digging based on the above and came up with the Edsyn FXF-11, http://www.edsyn.com/index.php?Mode=piw&pn=FXF11. Let me know your thoughts on this extractor and if you think anything else would work better. Thanks much.

[adafruit_support_mike]

There are various schools of thought about fume extraction, and these are strictly my personal views, but:

- Even if you use solder with lead, lead doesn't vaporize at soldering temperatures. It doesn't even melt at those temperatures.. solder is what's called a 'eutectic compound' that melts at a lower temperature than any of its components. The risk of heavy metal exposure is negligible.

- Mostly you want to get rid of flux smoke. Fluxes are acids that aren't terribly active at room temperature, but get downright aggressive at a few hundred degrees. Rosin is the most common flux for electical work, because the really vicious stuff (usually zinc chloride) will eat through traces at room temperature if you let it sit long enough. Rosin smoke is basically a purified version of wood smoke.

- The amount of air treatment you need depends on the proportions of smoke and air for your average work session. For places with a hundred soldering stations going 10 hours a day, yeah.. fume extraction is an important issue. The average hobbyist soldering session doesn't put all that much particulate into the air though.

So.. with those points for background, I consider fume extraction at the hobbyist level to be a convenience issue, not a health issue, and certainly not a critical health issue. I personally use a small desk fan and expose myself to a hundred times as much similar particulate when I light a fire in the wood stove.

If you like the unit you linked to and are willing to pay the price for it, by all means buy it and enjoy using it. Dig into the details before spending money you really don't want to because someone has pressed the "eek! lead! fear!" button though.

[neslekkim]

If I someday find someone who ships this for an reasonable price to norway, I would go for this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/230925749782
Or maybe just take an small computerfan and run that at an reasonable speed.

As for now, I solder while breathing out, just to remove the worst fumes, but I'm not afraid of this with the amount of soldering that I do

[adafruit_support_bill]

Or maybe just take an small computerfan and run that at an reasonable speed.

That's my solution. Economical and it works well. All you need is enough of a breeze to keep the fumes from going up your nose.

[egoplast]

I was thinking of making a computer fan version of a fume extractor that pulled the fumes into a carbon filter.
Then I thought of attaching a sensor that would automatically start the fan when fumes were present, any suggestions on what sensors might work for the setup?

[adafruit_support_bill]

Not sure what would be the best sensor to detect fumes from flux. But I'd want to start the airflow before the fumes started. A sensor that detects when you take the iron out of the stand would be close to ideal.

[analoger]

I use this Hakko smoke absorber:

http://www.hakkousa.com/detail.asp?CID= ... 769&Page=1

It works great, and it's compact.

[metcalman]

Hi All. I'm looking for recommendations on a bench top solder fume extractor. Below are the requirements that I know of so far.

1. Primarily lead-free solder
2. No ventilation to the outside, so must use a carbon filter(s)
3. Ideally be able to sit on the bench and not next to it on the floor
4. Reasonably quiet
5. Ideally adjustable height and angle
6. Less than around $150 at most

I did some digging based on the above and came up with the Edsyn FXF-11, http://www.edsyn.com/index.php?Mode=piw&pn=FXF11. Let me know your thoughts on this extractor and if you think anything else would work better. Thanks much.

Try the OK International BXV-100, it truly extracts and purifies the fumes.

[monoloco]

am i really the only one who likes the smell of soldering??

[analoger]

[quote]am i really the only one who likes the smell of soldering??

no, I like it so much that I just melt solder everyday for fun, sniff the fumes, swallow it, and feel it inside me...delicious.

[BruceF]

am i really the only one who likes the smell of soldering??

I like it well enough, and if I lived alone I'd have no problem with the idea doing my small amounts of hobby soldering (with leaded solder) on my banned table. I'm not sure what people are really concerned about - nobody suggests activated charcoal filters for camp fires, and I'm sure there's a few orders of magnitude more rosin burned in one of those than there is in your average kit build.