Solder Fan Fume Extractor on flexible arm

Needed a fan which could easily be stowed away and easily be moved around the work surface. 

The biggest annoyance with solder fans it that they are large and clunky and hard to place. And a solder fan needs to be close to the action. Since the fan is often covering the parts you're working with, it also hinders the lighting. 

I therefore built this fan with a universal clamp and a arm with integrated lighting so that it could easily be moved anywhere and I get a well lit work surface. 

Version 2

Found out that it was hard to find 40 mm screws and I also wanted to implement some improvements.  Also decided I wanted to redo the wiring so I could individually control the fan and the LED lights.

V2 now has a recessed hole for 35 mm (?) machine screws and I also made the alu profile channels for the LEDs the full length of the fan. Think this is a more appealing design (the first design was shorter because I had scraps laying around and I wanted to use them). 

Also designed a protecting cover to place between the mesh and the fan along with a back cover which securely holds the nuts and makes the entire thing easier to grab and move around without suddenly putting a finger into the fan.

Parts

• 120 mm 12V DC fan
• Solder Carbon Filter (12x12cm)
• 12V LED strips
• LED aluminium profiles
• M4 screws
  • 40 mm in for my fan and for V1 design
  • 35 mm for V2 design
• M4 nuts
• Wire
• Barrel plug female
• 12V PSU
• Universal clamp
• GoPro mounts
• Loc-Line/Gooseneck/Flexible/GoPro arm

Assembly

1. Cut the LED profiles to 95 (V1)/118 (V2) mm length
2. The LED strip needs to be soldered before installing into the LED profiles 
3. Thread the LED strip wires through the hole in the 3D-printed casing while you insert the LED profiles
4. Solder the LED wires in parallell with the fan wires or add two separate power cords for the LEDs and the fan for individual control
5. Extend the wiring to the length of your arm and install a barrel plug at the end. 
6. Glue the GoPro quick release clip to the fan. 
7. Install a GoPro mount to the universal clamp.
8. Put it all together

Notes

I remixed fns720's Lockable GoPro quick release clip and glued it to the fan so I could use the fume extractor on my GoPro arm.

I have the setup plugged into a smart switches which I can control in Home Assistant. This let's me start and stop the fan in numerous ways, such as pressing the button on my desk controller.