Solder Fume Extractor - FA-400 Review With DIY Extractor Comparison

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 29 มิ.ย. 2024
  • If you're in the market for a solder fume extractor and considering an FA-400 clone like I was, you'll find this review interesting.
    My little DIY 12V solder fume extractor works better than this particular FA400 solder smoke absorber did!
    IMPORTANT UPDATE - The FA400 is now working properly! Here's a short little update video I made showing the improved performance: • FA 400 Update - It Works!
    Personally, I would not spend much money on any of these solder smoke absorbers. If you do a lot of soldering, a much better option is to exhaust the fumes through an external exhaust vent. For hobby work however, I think most people will find any fan that moves the solder fumes away from their face & eyes works fine. At least that has been my experience.
    Product Links Below:
    Generic Metal Cased 110V Solder Smoke Absorber:
    amzn.to/3gbNcYx
    Clone FA400 Solder Smoke Absorber 220V Version ONLY:
    www.banggood.com/custlink/DmG...
    Genuine Hakko FA400 Solder Smoke Absorber:
    amzn.to/35DEwlu
    FA-400 Replacement Filters 6-Pack:
    amzn.to/3nAAa4Y
    Thingiverse Solder Fume Extractor 3D Print:
    www.thingiverse.com/thing:830924
    Video Chapter Time Index:
    - Introduction to solder fume extraction: 0:00
    - Testing FA400 2:56
    - Testing 90mm DIY Fan 5:38
    - Looking inside the FA400 7:18
    - DIY Fan with carbon filter in place 9:52
    - Conclusion 11:17
    DISCLAIMER: Links included in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product or service with the links that I provide I may receive a small commission. There is no additional charge to you! Thank you for supporting RCHelicopterFun.com & my channel which helps me keep creating content.
    Please consider giving a thumbs up & subscribe if you enjoy my content - thank you.
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ความคิดเห็น • 45

  • @Rchelicopterfun
    @Rchelicopterfun  3 ปีที่แล้ว +12

    IMPORTANT UPDATE... The FA 400 is working! After having the fan out and apart, and then refitting it - it's working like it should and is doing a good job of pulling the solder smoke & fumes. Here's a quick little update video showing the better performance: th-cam.com/video/33kR0ZRE5rk/w-d-xo.html

    • @4Relax
      @4Relax 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I am using same smoke absorver and it is working very good for that price.

  • @feliciachong2197
    @feliciachong2197 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I like the tear down to show the internal, good work John

  • @marcomonea3103
    @marcomonea3103 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Thank you for your review. I was looking for a fume extractor but I have always doubted about their efficiency. I was instead hugely impressed by my new PC case fan and the amount of air it can extract and guarantee lower PC temperatures. The thought of combining one of those to a vent hose in some way apparently it is not a bad idea.

  • @AnthonyFrancisJones
    @AnthonyFrancisJones ปีที่แล้ว

    Excellent! Thanks for this. I get a bit of a headache after soldering close up. Guess it is the flux fumes and I am always a bit worried about soldering with my young son watching. Agreed, extraction to the outside would be the best simple solution.

  • @electron7373
    @electron7373 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Thanks John. Great review. Helped me out!

  • @hrvstmn31
    @hrvstmn31 3 ปีที่แล้ว +10

    Hah if it takes a 120mm just slap a Noctua in there. It'll have no problems moving air after that.

  • @za_ozero
    @za_ozero ปีที่แล้ว

    I have an exact same fan in my device which have 8w power. Ordered a 50w fan, hope it will bump its effectiveness

  • @obfuscated3090
    @obfuscated3090 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    It's easy to find used shop vacs for next to nothing (I collect them so I can deploy them throughout my shops and home). You can use them as a true fume extractor by routing an exhaust hose (with or without PVC pipe, extra vacuum hose from donors etc) outside your work area. HEPA filters of all sizes are plentiful and cheap. Rather than use a little DIY extractor which would merely pi$$ me off I sliced the top off an antifreeze jug, inserted a small shop vac hose which fit without modification, then duct taped a leftover cabin air filter to the result.
    Keep in mind your filter does not need to be on the inlet side of a vacuum to work. It may be more convenient to make filter box (wood is fine) connected to an exhaust hose instead if your workspace doesn't permit exhausting outdoors. Unlike pathetic PC fans a decent shop vac moves enough CFM to be really useful which is why my next project will be a small indoor downdraft welding table (which will exhaust outdoors for reasons which should be obvious but include clean air ingress to the room in my steel building).

  • @countryboycharlie9793
    @countryboycharlie9793 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Aquarium filter looks like. Try the big one without the filter and leave the front cover off as well. Like to see that test but I’m with u on this anyway just like to see the comparison to be fair 👍❤️

  • @AtlantaTerry
    @AtlantaTerry 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    At about 11:19, you mention that you can see light through the carbon filter so wonder how good it can be to trapping fumes.
    Try an experiment: spray the filter with a can of "Endust" then see if the filter works better.

  • @briankweiser
    @briankweiser 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    I got one from amazon that claims to be from Qwork, and it seems to work just fine. It's fan is slightly higher in RPM than I'd want to hear, but it's not super loud really. It also seems quite well balanced, and does not vibrate.

    • @dopemasters210
      @dopemasters210 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Same one I ordered have yet to receive it

  • @andreiciora2765
    @andreiciora2765 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    But i have a question who of this 2 desoldering iron work much well

  • @PiratCarribean
    @PiratCarribean 3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    I bought some filters but all it does is just blow the fumes straight out the back

  • @davidsalas545
    @davidsalas545 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    I saw another review of this unit and it looked really great. I got one and it's certainly underwhelming by comparison. I think it works best lying down, but I still have trouble getting it to work well, or at all. I will probably go back to my old extractor since it works okay, and has a much smaller footprint. Anyway, thanks for the review!

    • @Rchelicopterfun
      @Rchelicopterfun  3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Thanks for sharing your similar underwhelming FA400 experience.

    • @beefstickswellington1203
      @beefstickswellington1203 ปีที่แล้ว

      I have the same problem. My home made cheapo fan with 120mm grille works better.

  • @andreiciora2765
    @andreiciora2765 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    I am buy a zd 915 and work very good thanos for the video with desoldering iron

  • @bryanmurphy1396
    @bryanmurphy1396 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Hi John, watching the video at the 7:24 mark you have pulled off the plastic grill,it looked to me that the wires feeding the fan were probably being sucked into the fan blade just enough to slow it down and make it sound like the old beat up tractor. Sloppy wire management I believe was the culprit.
    Cheers

    • @Rchelicopterfun
      @Rchelicopterfun  3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I first thought that as well, but even with the fan out of the unit well away from the poor wire management it was still running very slow and noisy (just couldn't hear the noise as much as when it was in that big plastic resonance chamber). I believe the problem was the magnetic motor bell was not pressed all the way into the motor core. You noticed how that section of the motor just pulled out of the center core/windings. When I did the follow up video after I put it all back together where it was working fine, I heard a definite "click" when I pressed it back into the motor core, and it would no longer pull off afterward. It's been working great since. 🙂

    • @bryanmurphy1396
      @bryanmurphy1396 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Gotta love a cheap fix!!👍

  • @erdepfel
    @erdepfel ปีที่แล้ว

    thank you for this nice video

  • @azmrblack
    @azmrblack 8 หลายเดือนก่อน +2

    Just so everyone knows, the simple carbon pad fume extractors don't work - they do basically nothing but remove the odor, fooling you into thinking your removing the flux fumes - there is still particulates going right thru it and back out into room. You need a HEPA filter system to do anything worthwhile. The KOTTO w/ the optional HEPA filter is a good start, but if you are serious about your health you need to look at the $300-400+ fume extractors that use 3 different filters.

    • @KnocKoffReviews
      @KnocKoffReviews 4 หลายเดือนก่อน

      Do you recommend any brands?

    • @gabrielresendea
      @gabrielresendea หลายเดือนก่อน

      Is it better to use a fan with a vent hose to the window?

    • @azmrblack
      @azmrblack หลายเดือนก่อน

      @@gabrielresendea Sure. Just don't let it blow back in 😀

  • @kurbeco
    @kurbeco 3 ปีที่แล้ว +4

    I wonder if it'd move more air when running on 230v 🤔

    • @Rchelicopterfun
      @Rchelicopterfun  3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

      I had the same thought. I'll give it try tonight & post back (if I'm still alive afterward).😀

    • @DavideSacco73
      @DavideSacco73 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@Rchelicopterfun right... you almost chop you finger there ;-)

    • @Rchelicopterfun
      @Rchelicopterfun  3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @Kurbeco - Interesting little update. After putting the FA400 all back together to test it at the higher voltage, the motor was running much stronger and faster at normal 120V. No idea what I did to fix it? You gota love those type of repairs.
      I did a really short update video if you wanted to see the performance improvement: th-cam.com/video/33kR0ZRE5rk/w-d-xo.html
      After that, I also plugged it into an EU 220V step up adapter and it ran strong as well, but at the same speed as it did at 120V (after the fix). So no speed increase. Runs at that same speed regardless of 120V or 240V input.

  • @jeeglepoozler
    @jeeglepoozler 3 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Despite the dud-of-a-fan, good video, nonetheless.

  • @WaschyNumber1
    @WaschyNumber1 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    👍

  • @benbaselet2026
    @benbaselet2026 3 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    That's a huge amount of money for a plastic frame with a $5 fan. Just DIY.

    • @davidbolha
      @davidbolha 3 ปีที่แล้ว

      Indeed. 😶😕

  • @aktech3271
    @aktech3271 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    Getting cheap can become more expensive.

    • @Rchelicopterfun
      @Rchelicopterfun  2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @AK Tech, this fume extractor has actually been working great after re-seating the fan correctly as I mentioned in the first pinned comment & in the description. th-cam.com/video/33kR0ZRE5rk/w-d-xo.html
      Granted it's something that shouldn't have been an issue to begin with out of the box, but stuff sometimes happens - with big name brands as well. All in all, a great little fume extractor for the price.

  • @rodsofgod6863
    @rodsofgod6863 3 ปีที่แล้ว

    Your little fan needs a filter to make the comparison fair..

    • @Rchelicopterfun
      @Rchelicopterfun  3 ปีที่แล้ว +2

      You mean exactly like I show @ 10:22 !

  • @FlowerPowerNZ
    @FlowerPowerNZ 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    "that's noisy", "there has to be something wrong with the motor"... Its called a knock off.

    • @Rchelicopterfun
      @Rchelicopterfun  2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      If you watch the follow up video I made a day later, the noise was gone after I took the fan motor out and refit it - something obviously not lined up and it has been working great since. th-cam.com/video/33kR0ZRE5rk/w-d-xo.html
      I've had my fair share of costly name brand stuff crap out in short order and come half ass assembled too - that's even more annoying. As other commenters have mentioned, their "knock off" FA-400's worked great out of the box.