Solder Fume Extractor

I saw some thing similar to this on You Tube made in a mint tin. Since I had this big fan in the junk drawer I thought I would use it. It is a hi velocity 5" X 5" fan that runs on 12 volts.

The filters are from the pet store. They are for purifying your dogs drinking water. (mine just drinks regular unfiltered toilette water) They are high density filters with activated charcoal in them.

I took 2 of these filters and added part of a Heppa type furnace filter paper.

I used 2 pieces of small aluminum angle brackets to form a U channel on either side of the fan to slide the filters (plus the Heppa material) down into. This holds it firmly to the front of the Fan.

I added some painted  perforated sheet metal to the front to hold every thing in place. Home Depot sells this stuff in various patterns. I could have bought a box or made a fancy one out of wood with a built in power supply ....but, I think in this case simple is better.



After testing it it seems to work just fine. No solder fume smell after burning a large chunk O'solder next to it. You have to be fairly close for the fumes to get sucked up. It will help a lot on those days when I sit in the shack for hours working on a project.