Saturday, April 28, 2012

Soldering Fume Extractor

Fume Extractor
As I started doing more electronics work I realized that a fume extractor would come in really handy for sucking the flux fumes from my face.  So I dug through the junk pile and built this one.  Everything was from my pile of parts with the exception of the charcoal filter.

rear view
The aluminum case was from an old air monitoring unit.  Suction comes from an old 12v computer fan.  I cut the hole with a large hole saw and covered the fan with a grate from some old piece of equipment.
inside view

switch and power jack
The circuit is pretty simple.  Just a switch, 1/8" female power jack, and a 7812 12v regulator; all reused from junked equipment.  Power comes from a 16.5v 300mA switching power supply from a junked rechargeable vacuum.  With the voltage regulator, you can power it with anything up to 30v.

charcoal filter
I used some rivet nuts in the case to make the cover removable with thumb screws.  The center of the cover was cut out with nibblers.  I purchased a charcoal filter originally intended for a smokeless ashtray and inserted it under the cover.  With the filter it doesn't just blow the fumes away, it should capture the fumes resulting in cleaner air.  Finally, I mounted it to a gooseneck from an old desk lamp.  Easy project, works great, and keeps you healthy!





3 comments:

  1. While some of your recent posts have been a bit over my head tech-wise (ie: I can't read them without a combination of extreme boredom and guilt that I'm not smart enough to understand it... fun!) I totally dig this one. Fumes. Extraction. Not a lot of jargon. Looks cool. Two thumbs up! I would totally silently and lovingly sit beside you and position your fume extractor while you were soldering if I still lived in NJ.... sigh.

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  2. Glad you like it. As you can see, it can easily be adapted to a chorizo fume extractor for the kitchen.

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  3. At Translas we also offer the fume extractors for welding. If you are looking for then Translas is the best option option for you.

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