Sylvano ZeroSmogISH fume extractor - how to measure rosin fumes level?

[sylvanoMTL]

Good afternoon,
I am starting a project of a fume extractor that is based on the Weller zero smog.
I watched Dave's video couple of weeks ago and noted the very simple design from Weller: a filter, a centrifugal fan, some circuitry and an ugly plastic box.

During the teardown, i noted the reference of the centrifugal fan : EBM papst RG128. It seemed  discontinued but I was able to find one on ebay running 24VDC. in fact it is sold as a Boiler fan, and the one i have apparantly was sold to Vaillant, there is an additional flange on it. I paid it £25, £30 with shipping.

Not for the filter, I am decided to use one of these: https://www.filtersdirect.uk/product/h13-hepa-filter-150mm-deep-standard-capacity-wood-case/  pretty similar to Weller I guess. I may also add some carbon pellets. they does not cost much.

Electronic will be: Main to DC, fan controller, and some smart measurement sensor link to a esp32.

Box: a lovely wooden box that would match my office furniture

I am still scratching my head on doing things a bit smarter than the commercial solutions: I would like to measure the efficiency of the filter. To do so, I am thinking of these two solutions:
1) measure the rosin fume level at the inlet  and outlet of the filter, and compute the difference
2) measure the rosin fume level at the outlet of the filter over time, so that I can estimate when it is time to change the filter.


Does anyone know how to measure the rosin fume level?

Sylvain

[BrokenYugo]

Maybe a pair of dust sensors?

If filter life monitoring is your primary concern looking at pressure ahead of the filter might be a better approach.