Hi friends,

In this Instructable we'll be showing you how to build a Soldering Fume extractor mostly from waste

You can upgrade this one to use activated carbon filter. Thereby,This will not only suck the air away from you, but filter out some of the particulates from continuing to circulate in the room.

Do you need a soldering fume extractor?Is it bad to breathe in solder?

It is advisable to use a Fume extractor in order to protect your respiratory system.
All solder fumes can cause occupational asthma and other health problems (leaded and lead-free) if used for long periods at a time. The best solder wire contains something called Rosin that helps the solder flow when hot. This causes asthma if you are over exposed and is irreversible.

What health hazards are related to flux gases?
Studies have been made on workers in the electronic industry, mostly in the United States, and England. These studies show that at least 20% of the employees working in the soldering area show clinical symptoms of asthma caused by the work environment. These symptoms are characterized by coughing, shortness of breath, wheezing and chest pain. The conclusion of these studies is that Colophony fumes are the main cause of the illness and employee turnover in occupations related to soldering.

Step 1: Let's Acquire the Parts

We made this using the components lying around our house. So it didn't cost a cent to us

The parts:

• a fan - we salvaged it from an old oven
• a box
• a wire with suitable plug
• a Switch
• a strip of cardboard ( for ducting the fan)
• a filter- you can get a Carbon activated filter if you are a Pro
• a thick wire(for the grill)
• Some Velcro

Tools:

• a glue gun
• a soldering iron
• a screw driver
• a hobby knife

Just have a look at the Images, That will be fine

You need not go through the written part to understand this Instructable

Step 2: Start With the Box

In-order to keep the Exhaust intact,

We need to do some Modifications to the box:

Measure the Diameter of the Fan
and Cutout a circle from the Box
Make slots at the back of the box for the air to escape
Attach some Velcros inside the box for the filter
And Fix the filter
Adhere the switch to the Box
Also make a hole for the Wire

We've added the filter at the back of the fan to increase efficiency

We also tried this one by attaching the filter at the front in vain.

Step 3: Tinker the Exhaust

Duct the fan to arrest the leakage of air
You can do this by gluing a strip of cardboard around the fan
Solder one lead to the Wire and the other one to the Wire which has the Plug

The hardest part is done

Step 4: Establish Some Electrical Connections

Slide the Exhaust inside the Box
After making Sure that it is correctly sliding in, You can add a Grill for safety
And solder the wires(have a look at the pictures)

Just once again make sure the connections are intact

AC current is dangerous! be careful while handling them

Now you can connect it to the Power supply ( for us it is 240v)

And Keep up your soldering Spree

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