Just trying to get some good tools before I start a large build again.
I've seen these fume extractors online, like this one:
The cost is not insignificant. I am wondering if it is worth the money. Has someone used one of these in production or prototyping? The more I work on arduino projects, the more I find myself soldering circuit boards and smelling fumes. I've switched to leadless solder already, after going through an 8-oz spool of 60/40 solder. How soon after starting an arduino hobby should a hobbyist consider one of these? I'm doing a build that will likely take 8 hours of soldering. It's cold where I live so no way to have good air circulation. I should have this, right?
Now about a soldering iron, I've been using a radio shack 30W iron, replacing tips every 500-800 junctions I solder. I think it's time to get a decent iron for larger builds. I know there are decent ones at less than $100 and I also know Weller is a good brand. I wonder why this one would cost over $300. Is it for production work? Anyone used it before?
Fume extractors are definatly worth using although they do tend to be noisy. I wish that they would have been arround when I started out. I now have a chronic cough that is made worst by solder fumes. I have one the size of an iPad but it is not on a stand like that one so it is not always convenient to use and I don't use it as much as I should.
They can be a good DIY project.
I have had the same Weller iron for the last 40 years and it is still going strong. The thing is you can have them on all day without them burning out yet they still have the power to do joints in quick succession when you need it. It also handles different sizes of joints so you don't have to worry abut the iron getting cold and forming a bad joint.
Hi, we have a similar extraction fan at work, nice and quiet, but I think I could build one out of a vent fan.
Look for one that has slow rpm, and use a bit of large diam plastic/wire hose that I can get down at Bu******ngs to pipe the fumes away.
I have one of these soldering stations. http://www.thermaltronics.com/tmt-9000s.php
Nice quick heat up, we use them at work and have had excellent tip life, all the heat is at the tip, good for SMD.
I got mine as work bonus Christmas 2012, the distributor was trying to get his quota for December, so we had one and decided to make his day and buy two more.
quoted at $799.00 recommended, but you can get them for $350.00 or lower if you look.
The desolderer that hooks up to it is probably the best hand held unit I've seen, but you need a good source of compressed,yes compressed air, to make it suck.
The solder pen is the 65W one WMP model tips, left page, top right portion. I've never soldered surface mount chips before. This NT1X tip has a bent round tip. Is it used to solder surface mount? The bend may save you from having to hold the pen at uncomfortable angle?
The type of solder smoke remover you linked to, I have had little success with.
Better a larger, lower RPM fan that moves a lot of air. A small fast, noisy fan isn't going to move much air. And it is fighting the chimney effect around your body. Warm air rises from you, pulling in air from around you. That's why solder smoke heads right towards your face.
In the end, I now just have a fan blowing across right in front of my face. It has to be aimed so it doesn't blow across the soldering iron or it cools it off.
How many here have developed the automatic reflex to gently blow as you are soldering?
Thanks. So what you mean is that if I mount a fan at the correct angle and push air out of my face, maybe into a fume extractor, it would work better?
I hold my breath and blow the fumes but with air stagnant around me, it only helps the first few minutes or so. polymorph, do you have a good fume extractor you can recommend.
The bend may save you from having to hold the pen at uncomfortable angle?
No it makes you hold the pen at different uncomfortable angles.
It has to be aimed so it doesn't blow across the soldering iron or it cools it off.
That is one of the advantages of an iron with lots of reserve power, it will not cool off. If you blow the air then you can't catch the resins in the fans filter. All the fume extractors I have used are suckers.
I've never had a problem with fumes from 60/40 or 63/37 Sn/Pb solder, in fact I kinda like the smell of the rosin-core stuff I grew up with. I'm using mainly no-clean types now, they don't smell quite as good but certainly not what I would call noxious. I guess that's a personal thing, but how much smoke can one person generate with a small iron? I use 0.020" solder and the amount used is tiny. Pretty sure I use more solder tinning the iron than ends up on the circuit board.
Not much incentive for me to use lead-free solder, so I haven't tried it, but it seems that I read that it's the flux in the lead-free stuff that's nasty. Can anyone confirm that?
I use a Weller WESD51, it works well including SMT parts. People rant and rave about Hakko irons, I haven't tried one, but check those out too. But definitely get a decent temperature-controlled iron.
I'm doing repair, not production, so there isn't so much smoke that dilution doesn't work.
I'm not convinced those thin carbon filters catch a whole lot. In any case, I suspect rosin vapors tend to sink out fairly quickly, and I have an electronic air filter going.
Regarding bends or pistol grips, I find a straight pencil-type iron works the best for me.
I only solder occasionally and the fumes don't bother me. I don't blow-away the smoke, but I suppose I've learned not to breath-in. Like Jack, I used to LIKE the smell of rosin flux. But, after many years I don't really notice it as much and I no longer enjoy it. The water soluble flux we use at work has a slightly unpleasant odor but again it doesn't really bother me.
The Assembler I work with doesn't solder full-time either, but she has a little unit with a carbon filter that sucks-in air, plus a small fan to blow-away the smoke. Sometimes she solders without turning-on either of these, so I guess it just depends on how much the smoke is bothering her at the time.
At work, I use a nice Weller soldering station with a digital display. After many years of getting-by at home with a "three dollar Radio Shack special", I bought a Weller [u]WCL100[/u] ($70 USD). So far, I'm happy with it. It doesn't have as much wattage as the one at work, but it has interchangeable tips so I can work on the smaller stuff. But, I'm still managing to avoid surface-mount on my home/hobby projects.
Cheap tools are expensive. I wasted a lot of time and effort with cheap soldering irons. I am not interested in using one without a temperature control.
Careful, some of those cheap adjustable irons are really adjustable -power-. Not much use, IMHO.
polymorph:
I'm not convinced those thin carbon filters catch a whole lot.
Have you ever cleaned one that has been in use for a year? That would change your mind.
in fact I kinda like the smell of the rosin-core stuff I grew up with.
Yes I never disliked it but the point is that it did make me ill and does aggravate a bronchial condition so I would advise you to avoid it before it does you permanent damage.
So the fume extractor is actually working alright, as long as you position it well enough. If it is doing its job, I can't smell the fume.
On the other hand, I didn't have space to use the articulated arm yet, which should make positioning easier.
The weller iron is fast. It heats up to 720 F in just a few seconds. The tip that comes with it is NT1, which is for surface mount components (will get to that later this year), a bit too small for thru-hole components, especially power barrels or other bigger components. I've ordered larger tips (BTA, NT4) for the iron. The wire on the soldering pencil is not memory-forming, thanks goodness! My radio shack iron wire has formed a memory and will only want to sit on the stand at that angle. The iron seems to be good construction. Hope it is the last iron I ever have to buy.
The NTA tip works nicely. It is a chisel tip that does a better job than a conical tip when I solder flat pins. I haven't tried the NT4 circular tip yet. I suppose it's good. I did get some gold coated onto the tip when I was working on the boards with gold coated contacts. I don't know if that is normal.
The fume extractor works best if I have it facing down and elevate the circuit board. Thinking cooking food on a stove under a range hood. Hot fume has a natural tendency to rise so the extractor just needs to give it a little lift. One thing I don't like about the extractor is the air director behind the fan. It either directs air up or down. This means when facing down, it either blows air at your face or away from it and onto the articulating arm. They could have made the mounting hole on a square so you can direct air to the side.
Verdict:
Weller WD1001 iron (including 65W pencil and NT1 tip for surface mount) + NTA tip = $350 Very good Fast heating and pencil is comfortable for working 2 hours at a time.
OK electronics fume extractor + articulating arm = $220 good. Arm works and supports the weight ok. Wish the air director can be mounted sideways. It's also noisy.
