Elerctrical engineers and tinkers! I need your help!

From time to time, I need to break out my soldering gun and repair various electrical bits. I do this in my garage with the door open and a fan on, because the smoke and fumes from the melting solder makes me gag and cough for days.

Years ago I saw a photo of a device that collected the smoke/fumes and, I assume, pulled it out of the building. The part I remember looked like a squarish funnel perched on the bench directly behind where the worker was soldering. The smoke would therefore be sucked directly into the funnel.

What are these vacuum things called? I’ve spent half an hour googling, and have come up with squat. I’ve found some dust collection devices designed for woodworkers, but that’s not what I have in mind. Maybe it was just a specialized funnel doohickey that clamped on the end of some sort of traditional vacuum system, but I doubt it. But who knows. I certainly don’t, and would like to find one of these devices.

Solder Fume Extractor.

Here’s one thats a bit cheaper.

Any small fan will pull the smoke away from you. I used to keep a 4" cooling fan on the bench. Just connect some power and point it towards the window. The link above for a $40 unit looks like a pretty good deal.

A ducted fan kit intended for a shower room or similar could probably be modified to do the job. Extracting the fumes and ducting them away is probably going to be better than just using a fan to disperse them.

Smoke and fumes dissipate pretty quickly. It’s the acrid concentration that kills you. I have an old 5" 12VD computer fan on the bench that I turn on when I solder. This works well enough for me. The smoke never sets of the smoke alarm nearby. If you are merely soldering electrical parts with rosin core solder, that’s less harmful than solders with zinc chloride and other chemicals.