Hello!

I made this simple fume extractor for when I'm soldering. It's made from an old citation holder and a spare computer fan. You really can use anything you want to mount the fan on and to hold the activated carbon filter. I chose this citation holder for the following reasons: it's durable, it's easy to open and replace the filter, it stands on its own, and it's easy to store.

Items required:

-Citation holder (or whatever you want to use for the extractor housing).

-Computer fan

-12v wall adapter

-activated carbon filter

Tools:

I used a rotary tool and a soldering iron. Neither are 100% necessary, but make life easier.

Step 1: Preparing the Housing

Mark out an area to be cut on your housing that is slightly smaller than your fan's dimensions. Cut out the area using a rotary tool or whatever else you have available that is up to the job.

Step 2: Adding Power Supply to Fan

I used a 12v computer fan and an old cell phone charger that I had. The charger only has an output of 9v and 0.2A. This is less than the fan is rated for, but it still works decently. This selection was intentional to keep the noise of the fan down. If you want 100% functioning of your fan then a 12v adapter or a voltage booster can be found pretty cheap. For example: voltage booster.

I soldered the power adapter and fan together and used heat wrap to protect the connections. If you don't have a soldering iron or heat wrap available simple electrical tape will work, but make sure that you adequately secure the wires and properly cover them!

Step 3: Attach the Fan to the Housing

Initially, I wanted to have the fan on the interior of the housing where the carbon filter will be so the citation holder could be closed normally. However, the fan I had to work with is almost the same depth as the housing. This forced me to mount it on the outside of the housing. In the future, I might replace it with a slimmer fan.

Find the direction of airflow for your fan and attach it so that air is flowing into the housing of your extractor.

I don't really have photos for this step, but I simply marked the location of the fan mounting holes on the case and drilled them out. Then I attached the fan with screws.