Homemade solder fume extractor...

[bobfixesstuff]

Three 120mm molex PC fans arranged in series, wired in parallel. 12 volt. Power supply rated at 1.25 amps.

Hardboard enclosure, only six segments (slit in top to insert / change central fan). End fans are accessible. Whole thing held together by 15mm/15mm pine skeleton in the internal corners. And gluuuuue.

Performance wise... incredible! Solder fumes, banned smoke when I'm leaning over a PCB, all sucked right through and out the window!Cannot take a photo fast enough to illustrate its effectiveness.

Above all, really cheap and quick to make. All the joinery only took a couple hours from measurement to completion. Fans only cost a couple quid each. Niiiice.

Oh and I'm flaunting my Hakko FX888. Bought the UK model (Adafruit Industries import and sell the US model ((tool is Japanese in origin)) ). Performance of this iron is other-worldly. And the replacement tips are CHEAPER than replacement tips for irons of far LOWER sophistication. It's probably my favourite tool in any category I've ever owned. AFI really chose a fantastic product for the line in the FX-888.

[Agent24]

Great build! I've been thinking of making something like this for myself, but preferably more movable\flexible.

My window doesn't open the same way yours does, and there's a component cabinet that would get in the way of a tunnel.

Some kind of hose would be better... bendable but self-supporting, like a gooseneck lamp or such.

[adafruit_support_bill]

Some kind of hose would be better... bendable but self-supporting, like a gooseneck lamp or such.

Sounds like Loc-Line is what you want: http://www.modularhose.com/

[bobfixesstuff]

thanks agent24!

and fantastic company adafruit! I love that they make hoses and shrinkers and it's all modular! I KNOW it's in the title but it's kinda like the Hakko fume extractors.... overkill totally.


http://www.hakko.com/english/products/hakko_fa430.html

totally over the top for what one needs but above and beyond requirement for frankly minimal cost.


alllllllll we need is a giant one for the air that confines itself in the hubs of industrial cities and we're sorted.

nice.

[Agent24]

Yeah that Loc-Line stuff looks pretty cool, maybe I'll try it some day

[bobfixesstuff]

1.5" female adaptors are only $1.43; maybe I'll try that myself someday!

http://www.modularhose.com/pvc/Female-A ... sco-435015

the 3/4" system boasts 10-20 PSI or 1140 gallons per hour.

that's a lot of gallons. hourly rate though?

[Blind-Summit]

Nice to see we both have a UK version of that iron (I got mine in silver) but also the Uni-T multimeter. I bought the UT71D from Hong Kong because Maplin (who are totally useless / expensive) only had the basic models. It's a super bit of kit!

[bobfixesstuff]

Yeah baby! that hakko is just incredible. the heat up and cool down are lightning speed.... faster than it's even possible to get items to be soldered into position!

it's earthed to the tip, which is another great convenience. the tips are cheap to replace, however the guy who sold me it uses hakko himself, and says the tips almost never need replacing.

I could go on for hours about this iron. even the sponge supplied with the station is a special material, chosen for its qualities... hakko even cut slits and slats into the sponge to make usage more effective.

it is total perfection.

don't get me started on Maplin. not just how overpriced they are, and low on quality, but their customer service too - I've been abused quite severely by them. so absurdly severely abused that their incompentence and lack of knowledge pales in significance; significant though it is.

I've been quite happy with my Uni-T.

Perhaps that IS the next step, to get a fancier meter, same company, but indeed, NOT from Maplin.

[Blind-Summit]

I've added you to my friends on here as it's nice to know other folks from the UK. With regard to Maplin - it's fine for the odd spare component and I do like the convenience of being able to actually go to a shop and not wait for delivery (I am incredibly impatient waiting for deliveries!), but the staff are quite useless - most of them are just out of school / college!

The UT71D gives you frequency and temperature readings as well as data logging, although seems like it's a Windows only setup, so I'll have to get hold of VMWare or Parallels to get it to run using my Mac.

Back on topic - I have a 120mm fan that I may have to now build into a fume hood. Thanks for sharing / inspiring!

[bobfixesstuff]

wagwan me bredren!

and you know maplin arrrrrrre good if you want a dpdt switch, but want to be able to select centre off with left and right latching, or left and right non latching, or one side latching.

for THAT, they are useful. just because you can give the switch a squeeze through the plastic and yep, you have what you need the same day.

for most electronic parts though I prefer "rapid online" (rapid electronics), as their prices are great but everything arrives in perfectly marked packaging, well organised. above and beyond well organised. impossible to go wrong with Rapid.

a client of mine uses Parallels, and it works fine. I've experimented with VMWare and had nothing but heartache.

don't take that as advice though....... just chalk it up to a passing comment. VMWare are known for being comprehensive.

I maintain that the best way to use computers is to separate powers and tasks. for example, have one windows machine and one mac.

if you're a windows user, have one machine for power consuming stuff (your better machine) and have your older / weaker machine dedicated to IM amd browsing.

a KVM switch is a real blessing too! but careful...... it pays to invest in high end KVM hardware. I use Aten. The trick is to always buy more than you need. More resolution, more channels.

ALWAYS invest in room for improvement and room for expansion!

peace and love!