Weller fume extractor - rubbish

[Leo Bodnar]

I have received Weller fume extractor FT91012699N from Farnell.
My overall impression is pretty poor.  I would not buy it again.

First thing first - it does not turn on.  Well, it does - 5-10 seconds after flipping the switch.  During this time nothing indicates it is going to.  There is no beep or noise or anything else. Perhaps it's booting up.  Perhaps it's going through startup countdown.  I don't want to know.
What an amazing crap design for a cheap plastic box with a fan inside or for anything that has a switch and a human operator.

The plastic arm is floppy and tired - creeps down under the force of gravity and won't stay put.

I wish I could say that this does not matter while it filters the fumes but it is so annoying that often stays turned off while it should be working.  It's a sort of working desk extractor so its purpose is to be able to bring its arm in, turn it on, do quick 30 seconds solder job now and then but it is so irritating to use that it stays turned off.

I have tried to talk to somebody in the UK Weller office but all their phones are on answering machines (including sales) and they have not returned the calls.

Overall for the price and what used to be a good brandname it's disappointing and will probably be the last thing I have bought from Weller.

Leo

[thm_w]

Either the fan motor is AC and its taking its time to spin up, or its purposefully soft starting it. That doesn't really seem like a major issue to me, since a soldering iron takes 5-10s to warm up as well.
The arm not staying in place does sound annoying.

If its been less than 21 days you can return it: http://uk.farnell.com/help-return-policy

[Jeroen3]

I don't think these systems are intended for the "occasional solder work", but more like "full time solder work".
Anyway, what is the sound level like?

[Leo Bodnar]

Either the fan motor is AC and its taking its time to spin up, or its purposefully soft starting it. That doesn't really seem like a major issue to me, since a soldering iron takes 5-10s to warm up as well.
The arm not staying in place does sound annoying.

If its been less than 21 days you can return it: http://uk.farnell.com/help-return-policy

I have an iron that heats up in about 2 sec.  The extractor motor is definitely not trying to spin up.  I am probably going to trash all the electronic smarts from inside it and just wrap the whole arm in ghetto duct tape when we get another power cut day.  Well done Weller, been nice knowing you.
Leo

[wraper]

I am probably going to trash all the electronic smarts from inside it and just wrap the whole arm in ghetto duct tape when we get another power cut day.  Well done Weller, been nice knowing you.
Leo

Try to grab the tube at both ends, and pull/extend it as much as it allows. It helps with my older WFE 2ES unit.

[Leo Bodnar]

Try to grab the tube at both ends, and pull/extend it as much as it allows. It helps with my older WFE 2ES unit.

Tried it with not much luck - the plastic is smooth and oily.  Perhaps applying something like rosin might help but I don't play violin.

[wraper]

Dunno about oily. On the photos tube looks exactly the same. When spiral joints are in extended state, they can hold more weight without creeping.

[wraper]

BTW, small lifehack: put some aluminium tape onto the nozzle to prevent it from burning when accidentally poked with soldering iron. My tube is attached to a desk holder instead on direct attachment to the filter.

[Leo Bodnar]

BTW, small lifehack: put some aluminium tape onto the nozzle to prevent it from burning when accidentally poked with soldering iron. My tube is attached to a desk holder instead on direct attachment to the filter.

I am going to test this tomorrow in anger.  Hopefully, I can make mine as stiff as yours. (Mind the context.)

[Leo Bodnar]

No, it does not stay put - desk clamp or not, expanded or shrunk.
http://leobodnar.com/balloons/NTP/Weller-fail.mov
Leo

[awde]

Try to twist the tube. One way it should get tighter.

[Leo Bodnar]

Try to twist the tube. One way it should get tighter.

Thanks, this does help slightly on the section that is above the desk.  I will take the whole tube out and twist it as far as it can go later today.

[zitoune]

I have a Zero Smog 2 - very similar to yours - and it works very well for a while already; I did not encounter any of the issue you describe.

Your unit has definitely a problem - I'd rather contact the after sales department. Good luck.

[free_electron]

what are you complaining about ?
That hose is meant to be like that. the reason the trumpet has a flat side is so that you can position it on the bench at one side of the pcb ...
it is supposed to lay on the bench !

there is a different arm that is stiffer for suspended positioning

[Leo Bodnar]

what are you complaining about ?

Is this a genuine question?

Extraction arm model that was included with my kit is 0F15.

[wraper]

what are you complaining about ?

Is this a genuine question?

Extraction arm model that was included with my kit is 0F15.

I think this picture answers the complain. There should be a desk clamp in the kit. There is none attached in your video.

[frozenfrogz]

If you don’t like it, put it back into the box it came shipped in, request an RMA label from Farnell and send it back. Problem solved.

[donkey77]

Pack the return carefully though so that who ever buys it from toploser in a couple of months gets a good one!

[TopLoser]

Make sure you include all the accessories as well, I’m sick of having to buy spare parts at extortionate prices!

I have 3 of those hoses at the moment and I can stick them end to end and the whole thing keeps it’s shape no matter how many bends and kinks I put in it.

[free_electron]

what are you complaining about ?

Is this a genuine question?

Extraction arm model that was included with my kit is 0F15.

that is the arm that should be able to be pointed anywhere.
you have the 'trumpet' arm. that one is designed to be floppy and lay down on the bench ! it cannot stand under its own strength.

There are different arms for this thing ...
looks like something got mixed up.  the longer arm is stiffer ( OF15) than the short one (OF10) .. or was it the other way around.

I remember when we configured our extractors  ( previous job) they installed a long sold )(hard) pipe and then had plug-on arms. one was floppy. it was a different length than the other ones.
Also : the arm needs to be clamped to the bench for the 'twist-to-solidfy' feature to work. otherwise the base simply spins on the intake port.

[AllTheGearNoIdea]

Just thought I would mention that Farnell in the UK are doing 15% discounts on the Weller fume extractors. Sorry I cannot advise the price as the flyer I received in the post does not say.

I keep thinking of buying one of these, but I’m over 45 so will probably die  soon anyway and wouldn’t get my monies worth.

Regards Chris

[tititoto]

Hi all,

I recently buy the Weller Zero Smog bundle (EL KIT) from a known distributor.
It works fine.
The plastic case is not very sturdy but it should be enough for its purpose. I mean if it falls down or if something hard and heavy falls on it it could breake the plastic from my point of view. But you should avoid sutch a thing of course!
The arm is a basic one. Once it's plugged (on the base) I found myself unable to remove it...
On the other side the horn is easy to place and remove if needed.
There are 4 suction speed. The first one is very quiet an is not realy usable unless you put the suction mouth realy above and close to your solder zone.
The second speed makes more noise etc...
We use it on the second speed as this is enough for our task. It really changes the quality of air after one day of moderate work.
It's used to and we have to get it from our euros.

So on the panel there is a RJ9 connector to connect to weller solder iron (through hub RJ9-RJ11) or directly to a switch box.
Does someone know if a little hack can be done? Does speed could be controlled?
I check voltage on RJ9 i've +32V,+5V and two 0V lines. Well We open the base and there is a little pcb with a PIC16F468A. This 8bit contoller has serial interface and it's wired on the PCB. So maybe the base need serial datas to do things.
QUESTION: does somebody knows the protocol (pinout) on previous or current station from Weller. It should be a small project for a internship studend.

Any information will help.

Thanks,

chris