What fume extractor does DAVE using in his lab, a pretty good looking one?

[TheEENerd]

As

[Simon]

not sure anyone has ever seen one - and who cares ?

[Psi]

he has two i think. one you ca definitly see at his bench in most videos

[deephaven]

Didn't Dave point one out in his last live blog?

Actually you should care, I know of someone who did a lot of soldering over the years and had his lungs severely damaged by the breathing in of all those fumes. I don't have an extractor, but if I'm doing a lot of soldering I will set up a desk fan to one side to blow the fumes away from me.

[Simon]

I'm just wondering why someone is so intersted in the specific extractor Dave uses.

I've never done any exstensive soldering but once i setup my lab room in my newly bought house I'll be keeping the window open and may setup a fan to take fumes out although in the summer leaving the bathroom window open too will generate a nice draft with no need for a powered unit

[Zero999]

I see no need for an extractor.

Solder flux fumes are not really harmful, only a minor irritant which can at worst trigger asthma. They don't contain enough lead to be harmful, even over long term exposure, soldering occurs at too lower temperature to evaporate significant quantities of lead so it's a non issue.  If you're worried about lead then use gloves, more will be absorbed through the skin than inhaled. Use a fan to blow the fumes away from you if they're annoying and open the window slightly, if the smell gets too much.

[alm]

I wouldn't be worried about the lead, not so sure about the flux fumes (anyone have an MSDS handy?) though. Especially the flux in lead-free solder, which needs much more aggressive flux.

[Mechatrommer]

this is one branch in air conditioning. to get the one like dave's, you either ask air-con people to install it for you, or just buy the ducting, piping material from them, get one extractor fan that fit to size and get it installed. i got one fan extractor that suppose to install on the wall, no need ducting. bought for kitchen or my lab, but yet to install as i still rely on natural air flow to extract and think i dont want to screw the wall. 2cnts.

[deephaven]

I think you need something which extracts or gets rid the localised fumes, I don't think an extractor fan is near enough to get rid of them. The problem is with flux fumes from soldering over a long period of time. Just a few soldered joints isn't an issue, but, like I said, I do know of someone who had lung damage caused by them.

[Simon]

I'd be inclined to have something like a fan on a board made to cover the window so that I can open the window and put the extractor over it - in the case of using a bedroom as a lab, if your in a shed or garage: fan over a hole hopefully with a way of closing it off in winter

[deephaven]

I'd prefer to have something a bit nearer to where you are soldering. A fan in a window won't get rid of the smoke coming up from the soldering iron and into your nose.

[Simon]

yes I'd probably be inclined to use a small local fan if need be, I've generally never had a problem though

[TheEENerd]

Geez, look at all the replies, thanks for all the replies. Have to admit I'm a person who prefers the looking over functionality. However, I do think I need an fume extractor, I just can't bear the smoke from soldering, it's not healthy to smoke for sure. I guess it's just personal preference. Also, it's not because it's "Dave's", I just like the looking of that particular one. 

[Zyvek]

I love the smell of hot solder in the morning. :-)  I did install an oven vent hood above my soldering station, it works really good, but I'm so old school I rarely turn it on.  It was only $30 or so and it's up and out of the way, taking up less bench space.

[EEVblog]

It's an old Pace fume exhauster.
They dont work very well sucking up the fumes though (like the Hakko ones), you have to be working almost directly under it to capture the fumes.
So I usually just turn it backwards and use it as a fan to blow the fumes away.

Dave.

[Psi]

he has two i think. one you ca definitly see at his bench in most videos

Is that video is available on You tube? I would like to check it out!!!

you can see the fume extractor sitting on his desk in pretty much every episode but the episode where he talks about it a little is in one of the live shows, maybe #6 or #7.
They are all on youtube.

[Leo Bodnar]

I had a chat with bold and experienced industry chemist regarding the fumes.  Basically what he said is "worry not about what you see but what you don't."

Getting rid of smoke is not a problem.  The problem is very small size airborne particles getting deep inside the alveolar channels and staying there.  If they cannot be dissolved they may cause cancer.
With introduction of lead-free solders the situation actually got worse because the soldering temperatures increased and this has worsened flux burnout and airflow.

I solder about 1-2 hours each day so I got this extraction machine: http://www.bofa.co.uk/website/electronics/v200-v250.htm

[sacherjj]

I've been pretty happy with a $50 Weller WSA350.  Carbon filter and kills the smell of solder, epoxy and many other wacky things I may do in the basement lab.

[Ed.Kloonk]

Solder fumes have never done me any harm. any harm. any harm. any harm.

[ales22]

Solder fumes have never done me any harm. any harm. any harm. any harm.

I have mid serious asthma, my lungs are much more sensitive to smog, chemicals, solvents, etc. Flux fumes and especially pure colophonium can give me an asthmatic attack in 10 minutes, grasping for breath. When I was young, I cheated my doctor one time and got 1 week release from school :-)  (Don't try it please, you can damage your health. I wouldn't do it again.)
Flux fumes and similar stuff aren't harmless only because you can't sense that.

[free_electron]

Just get the aoyou / hakko / weller/ whatever fan with active carbon filter. They work like a charm.
Drawback is the y are a bit noisy and you do need to put them close and they are big and bulky. Bit of a problem when you are doing smd work under a microscope. I just bought a used OKI off ebay and ordered the extension hose and clamp from allspec. Filter unit sits on the floor. Has a particle filter and active carbon cartridge. A baffle connects the air intake to a flexible semi-rigid hose that goes up , clamps to the edge of the table and then can be pointed anywhere i want. Ill post some pictures tonight. Works excellent.
These things come by on ebay once in a while for cheap. Grab em if you can.

[sprocket]

You don’t really get fumes from the lead, it needs to be at a much higher temp. The flux is unpleasant, but not really harmful unless in large quantities where people with respiratory problems might get problems..

The bigger culprit here is the PCB. PCB's are made of various types of fiberglass and LOTS of epoxy's. Epoxy's when not exposed to heat is not much of a problem either, the problem starts when you heat up PCB's, THEN the PCB's will start to leak small amount of airborne epoxy particles, and those are lethal in the long run. The toxin in the fumes will actually never leave your body, they accumulate over time, and if you are really unlucky you will get respiratory problems, chemical allergies, or get an single bedroom apartment 6 feet under.

 It’s not just for show that people working with fiberglass and epoxy’s have to wear all sorts of respiratory protection gear.

And those particles are actually airborne for quite some time, so if you value your lungs and you do any sort of soldering other the occasional resistor or two, I’d strongly advise you to get get some sort of fume extractor that either vent the fumes to the outside, or use an extractor with carbon filter. Blowing the visible “fumes” away simply won’t cut it. 

[alm]

This is the first time I've heard of this. Do you have any sources listing the concentrations one can expect from electronics soldering in your average home lab (whatever that is)?

[sprocket]

Not sure if I can provide any documentation in English, what I have is in Danish, but that being said, if you just dabble with a few PCB's once in a while the risk is obviously not that great at all, but that doesn’t mean its safe. You have to keep in mind, if you get intolerant and allergic to these substances that will never ever go away, and most likely get worse over time.

But just as an example, if our government agency that checks up on safety standards in businesses sees a work shop where is soldering going and that particular soldering station doesn’t have a fume extractor where the fumes exits the building, and thus not get recycled inside the workshop, and if the fume extraction isn’t at the point of soldering, the work safety agency will simple close down that work shop, forbid any work going on until it's corrected, and probably fine the owner. Rules like this is not implemented just for fun I promise you that.

And it actually happened to where I work. Some of the time I spend as a technician onboard an ocean research vessel, and the workshop I have does have an extractor, but the pipe that went from the ceiling down to workshop bench had broken at some point. And that particular work safety agency did a surprise inspection a few weeks back, and they actually withheld our permit to departure for almost an entire day while we had to replace the pipe and send proper documentation to the agency that we had fixed the issue.

[ashley.hughes]

We use one at work as its part of workplace health and safety, but I do the same thing as Dave and turn it around as you have to be working right next to it for it to do anything. Which is useless as it gets in the way.

For home I am normally working right over my projects, other than a bad smell I don't have any problems. I wouldn't waste my money