Solder Fume Extractor - FA-400 Review With DIY Extractor Comparison

[@Rchelicopterfun]

IMPORTANT UPDATE... The FA 400 is working! After having the fan out and apart, and then refitting it - it's working like it should and is doing a good job of pulling the solder smoke & fumes. Here's a quick little update video showing the better performance: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aWTOg2OQh6poqM0

[@4Relax]

I am using same smoke absorver and it is working very good for that price.

[@feliciachong2197]

I like the tear down to show the internal, good work John

[@Rchelicopterfun]

👍

[@AnthonyFrancisJones]

Excellent! Thanks for this. I get a bit of a headache after soldering close up. Guess it is the flux fumes and I am always a bit worried about soldering with my young son watching. Agreed, extraction to the outside would be the best simple solution.

[@thanatosor]

I think simple solution could also be using your dust leaner at 2000-3000w

[@marcomonea3103]

Thank you for your review. I was looking for a fume extractor but I have always doubted about their efficiency. I was instead hugely impressed by my new PC case fan and the amount of air it can extract and guarantee lower PC temperatures. The thought of combining one of those to a vent hose in some way apparently it is not a bad idea.

[@obfuscated3090]

It's easy to find used shop vacs for next to nothing (I collect them so I can deploy them throughout my shops and home). You can use them as a true fume extractor by routing an exhaust hose (with or without PVC pipe, extra vacuum hose from donors etc) outside your work area. HEPA filters of all sizes are plentiful and cheap. Rather than use a little DIY extractor which would merely pi$$ me off I sliced the top off an antifreeze jug, inserted a small shop vac hose which fit without modification, then duct taped a leftover cabin air filter to the result. Keep in mind your filter does not need to be on the inlet side of a vacuum to work. It may be more convenient to make filter box (wood is fine) connected to an exhaust hose instead if your workspace doesn't permit exhausting outdoors. Unlike pathetic PC fans a decent shop vac moves enough CFM to be really useful which is why my next project will be a small indoor downdraft welding table (which will exhaust outdoors for reasons which should be obvious but include clean air ingress to the room in my steel building).

[@electron7373]

Thanks John. Great review. Helped me out!

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Glad to hear it 🙂

[@countryboycharlie9793]

Aquarium filter looks like. Try the big one without the filter and leave the front cover off as well. Like to see that test but I’m with u on this anyway just like to see the comparison to be fair 👍❤️

[@za_ozero]

I have an exact same fan in my device which have 8w power. Ordered a 50w fan, hope it will bump its effectiveness

[@AtlantaTerry]

At about 11:19, you mention that you can see light through the carbon filter so wonder how good it can be to trapping fumes. Try an experiment: spray the filter with a can of "Endust" then see if the filter works better.

[@davidsalas545]

I saw another review of this unit and it looked really great. I got one and it's certainly underwhelming by comparison. I think it works best lying down, but I still have trouble getting it to work well, or at all. I will probably go back to my old extractor since it works okay, and has a much smaller footprint. Anyway, thanks for the review!

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Thanks for sharing your similar underwhelming FA400 experience.

[@beefstickswellington1203]

I have the same problem. My home made cheapo fan with 120mm grille works better.

[@azmrblack]

Just so everyone knows, the simple carbon pad fume extractors don't work - they do basically nothing but remove the odor, fooling you into thinking your removing the flux fumes - there is still particulates going right thru it and back out into room. You need a HEPA filter system to do anything worthwhile. The KOTTO w/ the optional HEPA filter is a good start, but if you are serious about your health you need to look at the $300-400+ fume extractors that use 3 different filters.

[@KnocKoffReviews]

Do you recommend any brands?

[@gabrielresendea]

Is it better to use a fan with a vent hose to the window?

[@azmrblack]

@@gabrielresendea Sure. Just don't let it blow back in 😀

[@kurbeco]

I wonder if it'd move more air when running on 230v 🤔

[@Rchelicopterfun]

I had the same thought. I'll give it try tonight & post back (if I'm still alive afterward).😀

[@DavideSacco73]

@@Rchelicopterfun right... you almost chop you finger there ;-)

[@Rchelicopterfun]

@Kurbeco - Interesting little update. After putting the FA400 all back together to test it at the higher voltage, the motor was running much stronger and faster at normal 120V. No idea what I did to fix it? You gota love those type of repairs. I did a really short update video if you wanted to see the performance improvement: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aWTOg2OQh6poqM0 After that, I also plugged it into an EU 220V step up adapter and it ran strong as well, but at the same speed as it did at 120V (after the fix). So no speed increase. Runs at that same speed regardless of 120V or 240V input.

[@briankweiser]

I got one from amazon that claims to be from Qwork, and it seems to work just fine. It's fan is slightly higher in RPM than I'd want to hear, but it's not super loud really. It also seems quite well balanced, and does not vibrate.

[@dopemasters210]

Same one I ordered have yet to receive it

[@techtronics7]

you can try putting 4 of those fans together. 2x2 grid you can get those out of old desktop pc power supplies.

[@bryanmurphy1396]

Hi John, watching the video at the 7:24 mark you have pulled off the plastic grill,it looked to me that the wires feeding the fan were probably being sucked into the fan blade just enough to slow it down and make it sound like the old beat up tractor. Sloppy wire management I believe was the culprit. Cheers

[@Rchelicopterfun]

I first thought that as well, but even with the fan out of the unit well away from the poor wire management it was still running very slow and noisy (just couldn't hear the noise as much as when it was in that big plastic resonance chamber). I believe the problem was the magnetic motor bell was not pressed all the way into the motor core. You noticed how that section of the motor just pulled out of the center core/windings. When I did the follow up video after I put it all back together where it was working fine, I heard a definite "click" when I pressed it back into the motor core, and it would no longer pull off afterward. It's been working great since. 🙂

[@bryanmurphy1396]

Gotta love a cheap fix!!👍

[@PiratCarribean]

I bought some filters but all it does is just blow the fumes straight out the back

[@andreiciora2765]

But i have a question who of this 2 desoldering iron work much well

[@hrvstmn31]

Hah if it takes a 120mm just slap a Noctua in there. It'll have no problems moving air after that.

[@benbaselet2026]

That's a huge amount of money for a plastic frame with a $5 fan. Just DIY.

[@davidbolha]

Indeed. 😶😕

[@jeeglepoozler]

Despite the dud-of-a-fan, good video, nonetheless.

[@erdepfel]

thank you for this nice video

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Thank you too

[@erdepfel]

@@Rchelicopterfun

[@andreiciora2765]

I am buy a zd 915 and work very good thanos for the video with desoldering iron

[@aktech3271]

Getting cheap can become more expensive.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

@AK Tech, this fume extractor has actually been working great after re-seating the fan correctly as I mentioned in the first pinned comment & in the description. kzbin.info/www/bejne/aWTOg2OQh6poqM0 Granted it's something that shouldn't have been an issue to begin with out of the box, but stuff sometimes happens - with big name brands as well. All in all, a great little fume extractor for the price.

[@WaschyNumber1]

👍

[@rodsofgod6863]

Your little fan needs a filter to make the comparison fair..

[@Rchelicopterfun]

You mean exactly like I show @ 10:22 !