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Smoke the Solder or Fume Hood? - Page 4

post #46 of 58
2/21/09 at 7:47am
I just hold my breathe when I actually solder, and the fan is always on.
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post #47 of 58
2/21/09 at 8:52am
I just breathe normally whilst soldering, dont even bother to open the windows. I have never actually thought about the lead content before now.
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post #48 of 58
2/21/09 at 12:01pm
I also use a fan to blow the fume away.
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post #49 of 58
2/22/09 at 10:03am
I use a fume extractor--electronix express sells some pretty nice ones for cheap. Nice thing about these is that they're still somewhat effective without a window (though I solder with one anyway) since the carbon filter should take care of most of the harmful chemicals. Unfortunately with the filter the flow rate isn't all that great, so the filter does have to be moderately close to the soldering area to suck the fumes efficiently
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post #50 of 58
6/10/09 at 1:43pm
Bringing up the old thread yet again. This topic really frustrates me because I have allergies, asthma and I like participating in endurance events. So, my lungs are pretty important to me.

The place I'm contracting at right now doesn't have any type of solder fume extraction system, and there are no windows in the lab at all. So, I'm using a fan like this one:
Soldering - Weller Fume Absorber Model WSA350
This fan, does absolutely nothing. It has a carbon looking filter which does pull fumes away, but doesn't filter the smoke. So, the smoke goes in, runs through the filter, and come right out the other side. How lame. I may be buying a second Pace Arm-Evac to bring in to work.

This may also lead to me adding another project to my long list of projects. It will be a small fume extraction system for hobbyists and technicians working for companies too frugal to care about their techs.
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post #51 of 58
6/10/09 at 1:56pm
Yep such fans are pretty useless. I don't doubt about it that they actually filter something, but a regular fan would do just fine.

I just smoke the fume, nothing better then flux. I actually like the smell of it, just like people like the smell of (well I do) gasoline.

If I would really solder non-stop I'd put a fan next to it, maybe an open window

Dries
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post #52 of 58
6/10/09 at 2:46pm
I just use a ceiling fan set to medium most of the time. The only exception to this is when I'm working on one of my old radios. That solder has a very sickening smell.
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post #53 of 58
6/10/09 at 2:49pm
I usually don't think about it, because when I solder it's mostly small stuff that's over and done with in 4-5 minutes. When I do work for about 1/2 - 1 hour on a project, which is rare, I usually remember the fan halfway through when I begin tasting the flux/fumes.

But that's a rare occurrence, as I stated. I think I'd be more anal about it if I was doing this on a regular basis. Then there's the problem of blowing things around on the workbench.

Bob
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post #54 of 58
6/10/09 at 3:03pm
It's definitely not much of an issue if you only solder for a few minutes every other day. I spend the whole day in a EE lab soldering. Then, when I go home I sometimes will do some more electronics work to make some extra cash. So, my exposure is very high.

In any case, hopefully I can build a killer smoke eater. That way, I can keep my arm-evac at home, and not have to spend hundereds of dollars on another one to bring in to work.
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post #55 of 58
6/10/09 at 4:52pm
I just built one of these fume extractors in a candy tin from the make blog. It is untested but will try it out this weekend. Better than nothing I suppose.
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post #56 of 58
6/10/09 at 6:07pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by amc View Post
I just built one of these fume extractors in a candy tin from the make blog. It is untested but will try it out this weekend. Better than nothing I suppose.
That's a really cool idea.

The filter element is the same one I recently noticed doesn't do much filtering though.

I really like the idea of building the small unit into an old candy tin. I'm planning on mine being about the size of a small shoe box. It will be easier carrying the smaller home built one around than it is carrying around my GIANT Pace fume extractor.

Thanks for the link, that is really cool.
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post #57 of 58
6/10/09 at 8:06pm
Does anyone else see the irony that you're soldering, to make a device to stop solder fumes? Hehe. Neat device by the way.
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post #58 of 58
6/10/09 at 8:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Good Times View Post
Does anyone else see the irony that you're soldering, to make a device to stop solder fumes? Hehe. Neat device by the way.
It is pretty funny. I think about people soldering to solar panels the same way if their electricity comes for coal.
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