Air cleaner for soldering area

[daz]

Can someone point me to a good bargain in air cleaning systems for a small room where i will be doing a lot of soldering. Compactness and cost is important. Range i would say is around $500 or less.

[g1]

Cheapies like these;
Fume, Smoke Extraction | Digi-Key
or something that actually extracts the air to the outside?

[Enzo]

An exhaust fan like for a kitchen or bathroom will pull most of it out.

Here is one from MCM
Tenma Solder Fume Extractor | 21-7960 (217960) | Tenma

[daz]

Thanks guys. However, theres no place for the fumes to go so i should have mentioned it needs to somehow swallow the fumes.....a filter i guess?

[Enzo]

Look at those bench top models.

[daz]

Any experience with those Enzo? Are they any good?

[Steve Conner]

Don't know about Enzo, but I used to use a similar gadget at work. They have a carbon filter inside that absorbs some of the fumes, but the main use of it is that it stops the smoke from going straight up into your face. If you can stop that concentrated smoke going in your eyes and up your nose, that's 90% of the battle won. An open window will take care of the rest.

I briefly worked in BBC Scotland's radio workshop, and they had a very nice system. Each bench had a nozzle for sucking up the fumes, and they were all plumbed to a device like a large vacuum cleaner that ejected them through a vent in the window. I tried making a ghetto version using the articulated arm from a desk lamp and an actual vacuum cleaner run at reduced voltage.

It worked surprisingly well, but I don't do enough soldering now to justify having one. Most of my time is spent programming, I need a similar device that vacuums away bugs and typos.

[km6xz]

Thanks guys. However, theres no place for the fumes to go so i should have mentioned it needs to somehow swallow the fumes.....a filter i guess?

If you are using lead free solder you might not need it except for solvents in cleaning. A carbon filter air cleaner used for cleaning room air, which often have electro-static screens for attracting and capturing particles of organic contaminates to boot. Those are around $100-200 for one that will handle 200 sq feet. If using lead solder, a bench top fume extractor is the answer.

[daz]

Problem is, the room is small and there is no window and the door has to be closed. If there was a window i'd just point a fan at it as i've done in other rooms.