Introduction: Fume Extractor

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This is a homemade ventilation system for home use. It's made from an IKEA lamp where the lampshade works as nozzle and is placed above the soldering, using the smoke's upward direction of travel to make the uptake of smoke more effective.

The fume extractor sucks away hazardous smoke created when soldering and blows it out the window. Hence, for this project, you will need an opening of some sort to outdoors near your workplace to place the venting hose (usually a window). With too long distance to the window, the venting hose will be too long and hence decrease suction power.

Most of the items are recycables

Materials

  • 1x Table lamp with a directional head and a suitable funnel-lampshade for smoke collection. The lamphead should be tubular, be opened at front and back and have enough room for placing the fan. the lamp should of course have a lamppost and a bottom. Recycled item.
  • 1x Hairdryer fan including motor. Recycled item.
  • 2x Electric cables about 75 centimeters each.
  • 1x Push button switch (for ON/OFF mode). Found in a vacuum cleaner.
  • 1x 9 volt battery snap.
  • 1x 12 V battery pack.
  • 1x 0.5 L PET-bottle.
  • About 3 m vacuum cleaner hose. (length is optional depending on distance to window).
  • Duct tape.
  • 2x M4 screw (fits to attach lamphead to lamppost).
  • 2x M4 nut (for the screws).
  • 1x 3 cm shrink tubing (electrical tape works too).

Tools

  • Solder iron + solder.
  • Third hand (with a few different smileyfaces depending on the situation).
  • Wirestripper (scissor works too).
  • Screwdriver (that fits the screws).
  • Key (that fits the nuts).
  • Hobby knife (to cut plastic).
  • Working gloves (rekommended to prevent cut, tear or burn injury).

Step 1: Disassemble Lamp

Screw off the lamphead from the lamp post and remove the socket and its cables from the head.

Step 2: Thread Wire Through Lamppost

Take the two cables with about 75 cm length each and thread them from end to end. Threading through a side-hole comes later.

Step 3: Attach Lamphead to Flexible Neck

Thread the power cables through the sidehole in the lamphead.

Use the two M4 screws and their nuts to attach the head to the flexible neck of the lamppost. Holding a nut with a key while screwing might be a good idea.

Step 4: Solder Wires to Motor

The motor had a couple of capacitators soldered on at dissassembly that I left on. Other than that, I removed the old power cables and soldered the threaded wires to the poles of the motor. It doesn't matter which poles you choose.

Step 5: Attach Fan to Lamphead

After soldering, you put the fan in the lamphead. In my case, it fit like a glove and had a sufficient attachment through friction.

When its attached, you remove excess wire in the lamphead by pulling the wires a bit from the bottom end of the lamppost.

Step 6: Wiring Out the Sidehole

Now, you need to create a hank of wire and use it to "catch" the cables in the lamppost tube and pull them out from the sidehole.

Step 7: Finishing the Circuit

Connect one cable from the motor to the battery snap. Follow these steps:

  1. Take the black motor cable and thread it through a piece of shrinking tube (with an enough inner diameter to not be too tight),
  2. strip the end of the wire from the plastic cover,
  3. strip the end of the negative wire (black) of the 9 V battery snap,
  4. twist the ends together,
  5. solder the wires.
  6. Now cover the solder with the shrink tube and heat it by holding the solder iron close to the tube, not touching it.

Next, you connect the other motor cable to the power switch. Follow these steps:

  1. Strip the end of the blue motor cable,
  2. tin the end with solder and
  3. solder it to one connector of the On/Off switch.

Lastly you connect the positive wire (red color) of the battery snap to the last avaliable switch connector. Follow these steps,

  1. Strip the red battery snap wire,
  2. tin the end and
  3. Solder it to the connector.

You may now attach the switch to the lamppost. I did this with tape. Not pretty, but it works.

Suggestions for electric improvements I'm..... TOOOOO LAAAZYYY... to do:

  • Use an 240 V AC to 12 V DC adapter instead of a batterypack. That would remove the problem of the power source running out during long soldering sessions.
  • As an addition, use a pulse width modulator to regulate the force of the fan. This allow you to reduce motor noise when there's only little smoke.
  • Make a LED loop and attach it on the inside of the lampshade. It provides focused light for the solder point.

Step 8: Hose Adapter

Cut the PET-bottle on both sides so that it can be attached by friction to the back of the lamphead and to the hose. To attach the hose to the "adapter", I wired some towelpaper around the hose, put it in the adapter and taped them together.

Step 9: Hose Extension

If the vacuum hose is long enough to reach the nearest window, you can skip this step.

If you need to extend it, simply take another vacuum cleaner hose, cut the ends of both hoses to fit eachother and tape them together. Since the hose is heavy (especially an extended one) the end of the hose may have to be attached through wire to the window frame.

One last step is to curve the hose toward the window by binding it with thread to the flexible neck.

Now we're finished. Comment what you think of this project or if there are any questions.

For more homeprojects in progress, visit marcusslilprojecs.blogspot.com