I was searching something to collects fumes from from soldering but i couldn’t find something in a reasonable price. So, i begin to construct it and after a many practicing is now finished. It is a cheap soldering iron with a P.I.D controller along a pump for fumes. Let’s begin with the soldering iron . It is Hakko clone at 24V AC. Hakko has already a thermistor inside the ceramic resistor but it’s resistance is especially calculated for a specific circuit. I abolish it, and i connect my P.I.D. So ,i use just two wires for the resistance. Fumes are collected with this blank metal bar. It should be cut off at this shape for a better performance Next hard step is to secure the metal on the base of the soldering .
i use thisteflon that is special for high temperature applications and I tire up it an the body of soldering
Afterwards , secure the small rubber tube , and the switch that i ‘ll use to operate the pumper.
Next ,we have to take care the filter. It is a big deal to find the best solution ,as more as you are looking for a right filter ,you may have better results. In my project, i use a air filter from pumps in aquariums , i take of the rubber that was inside for the air and i place a small piece form an aquarium filter .Air ,pass through without any problem ,but the main point is that it need to be cleaned very often. I have not found any other solution. I secure this with tube shrink
And it’s finished,with the thermocouple placed on the soldering iron
Now move to main part . You can see here the transformer 17 Vac. This soldring iron need 24-25 volt Ac ,but i use 24 Dc. You can see the bridge rectifier and the smoothing capacitor. Down left is PID controller and here is the manual
This part here is easy ,i made all the connections , I power up the pump 12 V Dc ,the controller with 230 V and everything works fine
This is an awesome innovation… So is the soldering iron powerful enough?.. Also do you have any idea of its durability?
Yes it is powerfull enough, if you use it with 1mm soldering wire or less you don’t have any problem. I am using it at 300 Celcius standard. But it is not very ergonomic because this metal it thick ,so i take off this metal bar and now i am using it as stand alone soldering iron. I have never change resistance and i am using it for around 2 years without any problem