Fume Extractor With Flexible Arm

If you are familiar with soldering then I am pretty sure you know that the fumes that are emitted during the burning of flux are dangerous for your lungs. There are many ways to get rid of it. You could just place a CPU cooling fan which would help deviate the fumes to a different area or it would suck in the fumes due to the formation of a pressure gradient. However, there are some problems that come with it. To avoid them, we could buy a commercial one, but it is really expensive.

1. The fumes absorbed or blown out by the fan just spreads out into your room.

2. The fan should be placed in the vicinity of the soldering region and hence there are possibilities that your fingers can be caught in it and we must be really careful with the fan during the soldering process.

To solve the first issue we can use a carbon filter.

To solve the second problem I have done this project.

To make this project you will need:

1.12v CPU fan

2.Activated carbon filter

3.Coolant hose pipe/thick single core wire(i am using 16sq.mm cable)

I would recommend you to use the coolant hose pipe. I wanted to keep it cheap so I am using the cable.

4. 2 component adhesive

5. Large clip to to fit on your desk(preferably metal or something stiff)

6. 12v power supply

If you are using a wire like I am, cut it to a certain length make sure it is short as possible. Drill a hole on one side of the clip so the wire/the coolant hose pipe fits in tightly. Use some epoxy to make the connection permanent and let it dry..

On the other side of the wire/coolant hose pipe, attach the fan to it using epoxy. In my case, I stripped the wire such that it fits right into one of the 4 holes on the fan and sealed it with epoxy. Make sure you place the suction side of the fan facing toward where you work. Now add something like rubber or foam like I used to the jaws of the clip such that it doesn’t slip when clipped on your workbench or desk. The setup is now ready, but as I mentioned the fumes will still be there. To prevent that I placed a few activated carbon filters stacked up behind the suction side of the fan enclosed by cardboard

I would recommend also adding a protective grill on the fan, to prevent yourself from sticking your finger or something inside it.

Finally you are done, when making it make sure to use a weightless fan so that you can place it anywhere you want. I would recommend you to use a coolant hose pipe as it is much better from my experience, however I wanted to keep it cheap so I stocked with what I had.

Now you can solder safely, ENJOY!