Smoke Absorber bad smell after soldering

[mySystemEngineer]

I bought this smoke absorber on ebay.
when I turned it on, it just blew some air and all was good.
but when I soldered and the gasses passed through it, the unit started to smell very bad. like burned plastic.
it is worse than the soldering fume itself.
the filter smells fine, so it is definitely the unit.
has anyone experienced it?
do you have other recommendations?

[wraper]

This is not a smoke absorber but "smoke spreader". The only thing such devices are capable of is distributing smoke among the room.

[xani]

Well if it smells worse than fumes I'd even call it smoke generator  .

This thing is barely useful, I guess it would at least drag fumes away from your face but you'd still need open window

[ChrisLX200]

You could cobble together a box with some activated carbon filters in it. Put it in front of the fan so air is drawn through it.

[kalel]

Don't these types of things generally come with a filter?
Otherwise, it should be the same as a (cheap) fan.

Are they more useful than a small fan? I'm curious as I am also thinking of getting a similar looking unit (that does have an activated carbon filter) to "upgrade" from just using a fan. The fan really does help not to smell almost any fumes, but it doesn't filter things.

[mySystemEngineer]

it has a carbon filter in the front grill.
i think the fumes are hot, maybe if i damp the filter, it would cool the fumes so it won't burn the plastic.

[wraper]

it has a carbon filter in the front grill.
i think the fumes are hot, maybe if i damp the filter, it would cool the fumes so it won't burn the plastic.

This hakko clone unlikely to have carbon filter. Fumes are not hot at all, they already cool down few centimeters away from soldering iron.

[mySystemEngineer]

it has a carbon filter in the front grill.
i think the fumes are hot, maybe if i damp the filter, it would cool the fumes so it won't burn the plastic.

This hakko clone unlikely to have carbon filter. Fumes are not hot at all, they already cool down few centimeters away from soldering iron.

it has these filters

[mcinque]

Could be something related to the fan? Can you read the fan voltage and see if it suit yours? Does it rotate freely without braking from any plastic near it?

[mySystemEngineer]

Could be something related to the fan? Can you read the fan voltage and see if it suit yours? Does it rotate freely without braking from any plastic near it?

it's a good point, but it says 220V on the label and in the product listing, so it should be fine.

some reviewer on amazon complains about the same issue
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R4OTXJ1QQW8CK/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B001RLZGKK

[stj]

the black foam is not charcoal, it's just anti-static.
they are intended as fan-filters on pc's to reduce dust ingress.
i'v used them for years - they are good at stopping dust - you got scammed! 

[Cyberdragon]

That's probably an electronic fan (aka brushless) that they're powering through some capacitor dropper and rectifier and maybe some underrated limiting resistors. It's probably their terrible electronics burning up.

[amyk]

That's probably an electronic fan (aka brushless) that they're powering through some capacitor dropper and rectifier and maybe some underrated limiting resistors. It's probably their terrible electronics burning up.

The hub diameter shown in the picture suggests a shaded-pole mains fan.

Either way, the OP should open it up to see where the source of the smell is.

[kalel]

Is the filter really fake and not what they suggest? I've seen multiple of these types of devices (look similar, plug into mains) looking almost exactly the same and at different prices, and considered getting one. But if the "filter" is not a filter at all, then there are cheaper small fans that work for just not inhaling the fumes directly.

[mySystemEngineer]

if it wasn't for the bad smell of the unit itself, it seems that this black sponge does absorb the gasses.

i took a picture of the unit disassembled. it's nothing but the fan, and i'm sure the smell is from the fan itself.
this fan can be found on ebay:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/SUNON-DP200A-120mm-38mm-AC-220V-Metal-Industrial-Ventilation-Axial-cooling-Fan/222366204032?hash=item33c60f0080:g:Qd8AAOSwUKxYa6dp
mine says "SUMOM" and this one says "SUNON", so maybe it's a ripoff of a ripoff.

by the way, the ground wire is not connected to the chassis (which is plastic).

[kalel]

At ~30w if I read properly, that's definitely more powerful than most PC fans (there are some crazy Delta fans around for servers), but maybe it overheats inside?

If you just recently received it you should notify the seller of this issue and see if he can offer return or some kind of compensation (if purchased from China). If you bought it from a local seller you would probably have warranty as well.

[wraper]

SUMOM fan, LOL. Not SUNON  . Yeah, this says all about the quality of this crap.

[mySystemEngineer]

i measured the current with a clamp meter,
the live wire reads about 0.18A, while the neutral wire reads about 0.16A.
the label says 0.14A.
is it normal?!?!

EDIT: the rotating fan caused the current meter to read higher (young players mistake).
the current is about 0.16A which is greater than the rated current.

[wraper]

It is inductive load, therefore measuring current in not enough to calculate real power consumed. Though it's strange that you got different readings. Probably you placed the fan differently, as it will impact consumed power.

[amyk]

As I suspected, it's a mains fan. Check the connections for any signs of burning/discolouration.

Open the fan and inspect the stator windings too:


(Do not power it on without the rotor in place, or the stator will draw excessive current and burn out.)

[mySystemEngineer]

I replaced the fan with another model from ebay. it's clear that the new fan has higher quality by the looks of the metal and thickness of wires. i also replaced the mains cable, it had thinny wires. i replaced it with a proper cable.
this is the fan i put inside:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Centrifugal-Axial-Fan-AC-220v-0-13A-SANJUN-SJ1238HA2-120-120-38mm-Cooling-Fan-/142107314379?hash=item21164188cb

[kalel]

Delta makes some good fans, but you probably don't want a huge RPM thing while soldering (it would be quite loud). I don't know the size of these, but for example Delta has 120mm 4000RPM+ fans (although the ones I saw are usually 12v).

[wraper]

Delta makes some good fans, but you probably don't want a huge RPM thing while soldering (it would be quite loud). I don't know the size of these, but for example Delta has 120mm 4000RPM+ fans (although the ones I saw are usually 12v).

Delta fans are expensive. Sunon (not Sumom as OP got) fans IMO are the best for which you won't pay excessive amount of money. I use their ball bearing fans as replacements in equipment which runs them 24/7 in hot environment (50+^oC). I cannot recall any of them failing after more that 5 years of operation in such harsh conditions.