Fume Extractor DIY

This weeks video is a departure from the usual content while I make myself a solder fume extractor.
The fumes given off are not exactly good for you and with a large soldering project coming up, I thought it time I tried to do something about it. I could have very easily bought a cheap extractor for about £20-£30 but I thought it'd be more fun to make my own. The only thing I bought for this was the active carbon filter material that cost about £5.
Music featured in this episode:
Zool - Rave (Amiga)
Assassin - Main theme (Amiga)
don't forget to like, subscribe, share and comment
more CRG coming soon.

[@Petey-cr5ql]

Ingenious. Think I need to make on these. Thanks for the video.

[@morrisbenfield661]

Thanks for your idea. Watching this gave me the idea of buying a strong quiet bathroom exhaust fan. Plus buy the tube and vent for the window 👍

[@RavenWolfRetroTech]

Nice, good to see proper re-purposing. I may have to make something like this for my bench as the outside vent is about 10' away making it hard to access

[@bbz149]

Fantastic! I have the same PSU and shall be making one of those! Thanks!

[@Hounddoggy33]

Great DIY! Think I'll make one too.

[@technretro7115]

👍🏻 something I have considered myself a number of times after inhaling a lung full of solder smoke give i have old psus at hand. Only recently came across the channel so enjoying going over your old vids.

[@CRG]

I need to remember to use it more often. I've got a few bigger soldering projects lined up so it'll come out for those. Glad to hear your enjoying the channel, don't go back too far though, some of it is cringe worthy lol.

[@TheBinklemNetwork]

I love this

[@envoycdx]

Cracking idea really and makes use of what is likely surplus to your requirements assuming it worked prior to dismantling :)

[@CRG]

Thanks, yes I've got a few spare PSUs so while this one did work I didn't mind gutting it to make the fume extractor. I just need to remember to use it.

[@envoycdx]

@@CRG well, even 50% of the time is better than nothing. I think I have a similar unit I will have a go at. Plenty of stuff in boxes to repair.

[@tymflasher]

👌 mantap...

[@redkurn]

i'll have to change mine, i put the filter on the fan and it works poorly.

[@eyuphalc2197]

Teşekkürler

[@talos86]

U can add later a more powerful case vent to the DIY extractor, like the Cooler master JetFlo 120(95 CFM) or the Noctua NF-F12 iPPC(109CFM).

[@CRG]

Yeah could add a more powerful fan in the future if I need to. I also think a cowl of some sort on the front would help air flow a bit. Works OK for now though.

[@simontay4851]

That looks like a good quality PSU. FSP are pretty good. It even has active PFC and decent sized output coils. What make are the caps in it. It looks too good to gut. I would still use that. Could've taken apart some crappy cheap no-name PSU that has minimal input and output filter.

[@CRG]

It's in the bin now, but was rated at 250w. Can't remember what machine I pulled it from to be honest. I've plenty of spare psus anyway on top of those in my various machines. It's a bit odd though with the 120mm fan sitting slightly proud of the housing so it doesn't fit all cases very well.

[@laucrack5863]

thank you. 😇🌈

[@sokoloft3]

Like the most recent comment. I made one of these but the fan just isn't powerful enough. I'm unsure if it has a thermistor on it or not. 2 wire I have plugged into a 12v wall adapter. I've got to find a better fan to use. I like what I made and want to use it. Not pay $40 for an actual fume extractor, but I might have to.

[@Asriazh]

I just bought one of those 20-30 Euro fume extractors You mentioned. I wonder if it's as good as Your DIY one. Didn't use it yet.

[@CRG]

I'm sure it'll be better, I just wanted to try and make my own. Do let me know how it performs.

[@Asriazh]

@@CRG I didn't try the "professional" fume extractor yet, but i took it apart *lol* It's a very low end industrial fan that takes mains voltage. The case of the fan is made of aluminium and the fan's dimensions are 120x120x38mm. Not too bad so far. here comes the m³/h though... measly 60. Third party fans of that size have at least around 150 m³/h. So there's room for an upgrade. The fume extractor's name is Toolcraft zd-153, so you don't have to take yours apart if you already have one or plan on buying one of those and think about a fan upgrade, which should be around 13 to 25€, depending on how much airflow you want and how low noise you want to go.

[@viciouslyxdelicious]

How do you make the fan suck in

[@CRG]

On this power supply the fan would have been inside the case so already was sucking in. But all you'd have to do is turn it around.

[@LubanziNtsele]

Materials are used

[@markdjdeenix6846]

I always smell burnt fat the day after soldering wen I lay down.I’m going to make one .I like your content

[@CRG]

It certainly is worth making one of these. I only use it for larger soldering projects but it really helps get the burnt flux (and probably other chemicals) away.

[@markdjdeenix6846]

@@CRG I’ve been watching action retro and he has found a SSD to IDE converter hear is a link to eBay this is the converter and you just get a SSD to suite 351083430580

[@markdjdeenix6846]

This adapter supports msata ssd

[@CRG]

Many thanks, I've ordered 1. Gonna be a while to get here though but if it works I'll finally be able to do an update to my Amiga HDD tests.

[@markdjdeenix6846]

@@CRG that was the video I just watched the msata drive has it’s own cash controller chip so it should make the Amiga read speed faster on ide and the ssd are cheep and you don’t have to worry about the mechanical drive breaking

[@AmigaWolf]

I am now 3D printing my own own Fume Extractor DIY, and gone use a Delta AFB1212SH, that is 10.92mm H2, so it is very strong.

[@simontay4851]

Where do you get active carbon filter?

[@CRG]

Got it on ebay. 50x50x2cm sheet cost just over £5.

[@CRG]

No it has an active carbon media through it. Its commonly used in fish tanks, if you can't find it online a decent aquarium retailer should have it.

[@CRG]

@Daniel Tiglao not sure, I don't smoke or vape but I know there is generally a lot of vapour released. Not sure this would be big enough to deal with that.

[@jmemusic]

I don't have any idea of fume extractors, but I have seen how some commercial ones are made: they have the filter in front of the fan. I guess with your design, some of the fume will come outside as soon as you power off the unit. Can you confirm if this is your case? I'm asking because I'm planing to make my own, but I will use a quieter and more powerful fan. I have read what those industrial ones have and it is not that powerful. For the same price you pay for them, you can make them even better. I guess for your model you don't need all that amount of filters you are using. I would say that you can cover the holes with a resin, a plastic, a metal sheet, or something else, and put some kind of slider to put a filter on the back of your fan as soon as you are done, so that, the fume will pass through the filter afterwards. Anyways, I guess the filter should go perhaps in front of the fan, but you will have to use a more powerful one. The commercial extractors I saw are the TOOLCRAFT ZD-153 and the ZD-153A (basically the same model, but one has a nice lamp arm). They have a 60 m3/h fan, which is around the 43 db and they cost around 34 € and 50 €, respectively. A better fan, for example the BitFenix Spectre PRO 200mm with 252 m3/h and 27 db, you pay 25 €. So, I guess it is worth making your own. I don't think those commercial fume extractors have anything else than a fan, the cone for redirecting the fume, the box, a power supply, and the carbon filter.

[@CRG]

Have to be honest and say I've never noticed any fumes escaping after use. I'm just happy that it pulls the fumes away, stopping me breathing them. The fans seems powerful enough to force any fumes through into the carbon filter. I'm not sure if any of the cheap extractors would be much better and to be honest there's probably a reason the professional units cost into the hundreds :). I remember in work one we installed in a workshop cost about £400 from memory. That said though for use hobbyists the cheap or home made version certainly does the job.

[@jmemusic]

@@CRG Ok, I thought the one I mentioned were professional because I think that mark is a well known german mark. Anyway, with the prices you gave, I concluded too that they are cheap and I guess they will do the same as a home made extractor.

[@jmemusic]

MMM, sorry, I checked it and I was confusing Toolcraft with Kraftwerk tools. The later is really good at making tools. The first is also German, but it seems to be more oriented for the home consumers and it is mainly sold on the online shop conrad.

[@kaaolin]

What psu was that?

[@CRG]

Honestly can't remember what system it came out of. Probably from an old oem system I broke year ago, dell perhaps.

[@kaaolin]

@@CRG do you know where to find one that has the fan thing like yours?

[@deanobuzz372]

Great idea. Old video but great none the less. The psu is a fsp250-60Gen

[@titodejesus6238]

Give my regards to William Wallace and his claymore mate.

[@CRG]

Next time I'm in Scotland I'll make sure to.

[@Vipcioo]

Sorry mate but your soldering iron tip looks like used cleaning tool. You should not use this cleaner with metal shavings as they remove the protective layer on the tip. A wet yellow sponge is the best unless someone can afford a pro automatic cleaning machine. As for the idea - some of the smoke escapes because the diameter of the fan is too large and therefore its suction power is too small. 80mm fans perform much better. Just air pressure is higher and makes better airflow. Tested. Done.

[@CRG]

Thanks for the tips I'll make sure to get myself a sponge. Actually been looking for a new better iron to replace this one, it's very old. I'm by no means an expert so any tips or advice is always appreciated. The fume extractor works better after I added the feet, it collects the majority of the fumes which does me.

[@UnitAlir]

Hi what exactly do you mean by suction power? The overall volume of air moving through the fans? Surely a larger fan increases volume of air? Or do you mean pressure? I think pressure depends on the type of fan you are using. I was not aware smaller fans had a benefit over larger fans

[@Vipcioo]

@@UnitAlir You see one, but the tools do the other .... A big fan is very good for large areas of activity or to keep it quieter. But locally they 'pull' weaker. That's why graphics cards have such large and efficient fans. Because they are supposed to cool well and be quiet. But for soldering you need something that sucks hard in a small area, otherwise the smoke will escape before your big fan sucks that little smoke down your big throat. Now you see the difference?