Fume extractor

[Tioleco]

I'm doing a DIY fume extractor with a fan and an activated carbon filter, my questions are:

1 - The filter is made in china, I can trust him?
2 - I realized that a little bit of smoke comes out from behind the fan, that's right?
3 - It is better to put 2 filters?
4 - When it is time to change the filters?
5 - Would be better throw the air out of the environment ?

[Simon]

I'm doing a DIY fume extractor with a fan and an activated carbon filter, my questions are:

1 - The filter is made in china, I can trust him? well so is everything else not much choice I am afraid
2 - I realized that a little bit of smoke comes out from behind the fan, that's right? NO !
3 - It is better to put 2 filters?
4 - When it is time to change the filters?
5 - Would be better throw the air out of the environment ? you could in which case you don't need a filter

[Neilm]

One question does spring to mind - are the fumes that you are extracting explosive? If so, you would need to check the fan that use are going to use is rated. You need a special fan that will not spark during operation.

Neil

[nukie]

 I built one a while ago its most useful item in a small room where u hide from winter. If you haven't already, upgrade to HEPA filter. You will find these cheap replacement in regular air filter. You will need a prefilter to remove bigger particles else it will clog up the HEPA filter.

The prefilter material I use is just a bag of Activated Carbon. Wash and dry under sun regulary, change it when you feel rich. AC will soak up most chemical in the fume, and hopefully the grains will act as a trap for bigger particles such as dust. The HEPA filter will remove elements that escape the AC filter stage.

If flow is good, use two stage AC filter, then the HEPA.

[IanB]

If the application relates to flux fumes from soldering, I doubt the effectiveness of an extractor. In my experience sucking is much less effective than blowing: for instance a little fan a few feet away from the work zone provides very effective dispersal of the fumes and prevents them going up my nose, whereas I would need a great big extractor just inches from the work to capture the fumes equally well and draw them away. I've also found a temperature controlled iron at a suitable temperature generates far less fumes than my old unregulated iron.

(By the way has anyone else noticed that however you position your face in relation to the work the solder fumes always rise straight towards your nose and never in any other direction, like past your ear for example? Whose law is that?)

[JuKu]

A small fan blowing away from the work area is effective, especially when it blows to the direction of a sucking filter. I have an Aoyue 486, and despite of its low price, is surprisingly effective in sucking, enough that I don't have the small blowing fan that I had in the previous lab. I'm guessing the frame around it is a really good idea:

[ciccio]

(By the way has anyone else noticed that however you position your face in relation to the work the solder fumes always rise straight towards your nose and never in any other direction, like past your ear for example? Whose law is that?)

That's true: I too noticed how the fumes do not follow the logical way: they are hot, so the must rise, but usually move towards your hand, and they are alway reaching your nose or your eyes.
When I see a friend who is good in fluids thermodynamics I'll ask him the reason.

Time ago I bought this extractor, made in China (mine is black).
It seems to work (or at least the filter changes color to white), but when you find a position that allows  the fumes to go into the filter, then you have that big black fan that obstructs the sight of the board or the iron movement.
I added a led light, that helps a little.
It seem to work better if you place it horizontal, near the bench surface (I've seen this on the Hakko website), but I usually solder boards that are placed on a support, that keeps them at about 20 cm from the bench, and the fan does not work well at this height.