It's probably a bit late in the game to start worrying about the carcinogenic effects of flux and lead solder fumes. But as the price of peace of mind was only £20 on eBay, I thought "better late than never" and decided to get one.
I was a bit surprised by how big it was. I was expecting something more the size of a 12 volt computer fan. But it sits nicely on the filing cabinet next to my drop-down workbench. I just have to think of somewhere to put it when it is not in use!
Hello Julian
ReplyDeleteI used to work in electronics and was responsible for trialing something like one in the picture.
Unfortunately the ones we tried did not work particularly well and I ended up buying the much more expensive types that used suction tubes and remote pumps and filters.
These work well but I found that the suction tubes tended to get in the way a bit, which was a pain at times.
Apart from the lead issue one of the health issues with soldering was something called Colophony which is an allergy to the rosin or resin in cored solders. The link below to the HSE web site has a good fact sheet on this
http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/indg249.pdf
I suggest anyone soldering should take a look as solder fume is really quite nasty stuff and can have permanent effects on ones health.
Regards
Kevin
G6UCY
Good evening Julian, very nice unit and great price for sure. I have one but it was from my XYL's time when she did stained glass. It's good but as yours it's a large opening with a fan and filter. (not that there is anything wrong with that) I am looking for one that has a vacuum cleaner type nozzle you can aim at the work area.
ReplyDeleteMike
Best use of Soldering fume extractor is also a type of pollution control device specially designed to be used where soldering is done. These machines have suction capacity ranging from 250 CMH to 800 CMH, which is perfect for wide range of applications.
ReplyDelete