Hakko FA400-04 - Smoke Absorber

Works exactly as it should. I think a lot of people reviewing extractors don't have the most reasonable expectations for how these things work (which is a physics problem, not a problem with Hakko). I'll try to briefly cover why this unit is just fine for its price and promise. Pros: Quick setup and use. Pop the filter onto the front grate, plug it in, flip the switch. You're extracting. Good extraction. Anything close to the unit will be pulled through. As the manual notes, the most efficient use of the unit is to lay it face-down with your soldering job directly in front of the unit on your bench, so that the fumes go straight into the unit's lower grill. Used this way, the unit is amazing. Set upright, it does a better job generally clearing a room, e.g. if your shop is full of smoke and you need to leave the unit on for a while to process as much air in the room as it can. Either way, it does exactly what it promises. Hakko also sells a desktop arm. Really, the best way to extract maximum fumes with a unit of this sort would be to buy an arm to hold the unit right above your workspace. The hot fumes naturally rise, meaning it's much easier for the extractor to catch them. If you really want the most bang possible for your buck, fashion some way to hold this unit over your project. Cons / Explaining Physics Will not suck air from three feet away. Sorry kids, but physics doesn't work that way. There's no way for a simple fan unit to be able to input a column of air from a distance. What the fan does, is create a low-pressure zone directly in front of the unit. That means air rushes into the unit in a roughly semi-spherical pattern. Yes, you will have to put your soldering job right in front of the unit to get efficient extraction. No, there's nothing Hakko can do to fix that, nor anyone else. If fumes really concern you and you can't get your unit closer to the extractor, either ventilate your whole room (wear a mask and get a restaraunt-style extractor hood), or get an arm to mount this unit directly over your workspace. Isn't deathly silent. I see a lot of people complaining, and really this unit is exactly as loud as fan this size would be sucking air through a filter. It's quiet for its class, although I'm sure it's relatively loud right by your ear under perfectly laboratory conditions. In a real workshop, this is the normal sound of a quality fan. No big deal. The only real con: The slightly bulky plastic construction, although rugged, does cut down on the airflow a bit. This is a smart compromise, valuing durability over raw efficiency, so it's hard to argue. But a little more design effort might have led to let's say 10% more airflow without hurting the durability. Overall: There's a reason this Hakko unit is beloved by many people. It's pretty much exactly what you expect. Get one. Extra tip: If you want your filter to last a little longer you can improvise a simple mesh screen, or use some cotton batting, in front of the carbon filter. A simple screen will prevent the filter from sucking in ambient dust, while still processing all the bad stuff that comes through.

This is a great tool. If you solder indoors you should get one of these. There may be cheaper ones that are just as good, though. I always sort of knew that I should have a fume extractor, and would do silly stuff like bring my soldering station out onto the fire escape to avoid the smoke. But I also suspected that they might not actually do anything. It's obvious that this thing works, because you can see the trail of smoke just get sucked straight into the filter and yet nothing come out, and the flux smell is almost completely gone. Has made it more pleasant and safer to solder in my basement. Quiet enough (or at least, the sound is not bothersome) and has a few different ways to stand it for different scenarios. Very minor complaint: The power cord is weirdly beefy. On the one hand I am not worried about that fan getting enough power, but the cord itself is stiff enough to sometimes make positioning the extractor slightly awkward.

Does exactly what you need it to do, sucks away the fumes while soldering perfectly.

I got sucked in to the rabbit hole of mechanical keyboards, and decided to build my own custom keyboard. Probably should have went with a hot-swap PCB at first but I had already ordered a PCB from KBDfans and it was a solder PCB. So after watching hours of soldering videos and tutorials I ordered the HAKKO soldering station that is very popular and because I was going to be soldering inside, I ordered this fan as well. I set up the fan directly in front of where I was soldering and I could see the smoke get sucked in. I had to make sure I was soldering near the fan otherwise some smoke could have escaped but as long as you're near it it will suck up the smoke and you'll avoid inhaling it. Happy to report the keyboard works (using it to type this review) and the fan definitely made me feel much safer soldering inside. One final tip for beginningers like myself, get an ESD work mat but also maybe cover your entire work area with posterboard or a bigger board maybe plywood, as little pieces of flux will shoot off in all directions while soldering and you don't want to potentially ruin your kitchen countertop. Also make sure you wear eye protection, and I liked to blow while I was soldering just to guide the smoke towards the fan just to be extra safe. But yeah if you're soldering indoors I would say this product is a must-have. Sorry for the verbose review I just love typing on my new keyboard! It's like heaven for my fingers lol.

I've been breathing solder fumes for years without great ventilation. This smoke absorber works. I now consider this a necessity. So, I'm happy and I love it. But 4 stars because I was expecting the suction range to be greater. Positive: The solder fume/odor is reduced tremendously when sucked into the filter. It's made from high quality plastic, the switch is firm, the fan is loud but not annoying. No vibration. Negative: It creates a wonderful 'laminar' suction area in front of the filter, but only for about ten inches. You have to work very closely to the filter. It made no difference if I had the filter standing or on it's side. Both modes work just as well. It's easy to create plumes of smoke that escape filtration if you are just a little bit too far away. So, you can't have this filter on the back of your work desk; it has to be right up in the the action. Hakko sells an optional arm mount for this so that you can place it directly above your work. I would highly recommend purchasing that if you are doing a lot of work.

Absorbs not only solder fumes effectively, it traps fine dust created while grinding stained glass edges.

I've been soldering an analog synthesizer project with a really dense board, and got tired of inhaling all the nasty fumes. I finally sprung for one of these. I was nervous about getting one as I've read tons of bad reviews about desktop smoke absorbers. If your expectations are in line with reality for a small bench top unit, then you'll like this fan. Specifically, you'll need to solder the board right in front of the fan. On a big board (the synth board is about the size of a mini ATX), you'll need to turn the board so the part being soldered is within a few inches of the front of the fan. Unless you get an industrial quality hood, or something like you'd see over a kitchen stove, or even a small enclosed structure like my pain booth, any fan you get is going to work like that. I personally like the freedom of having this on my bench as a small unit as opposed to a large installation or a respirator. If you have a really cheap iron, the airflow may cool the tip as stated in other reviews. That's not the absorber's fault, though. Noise is fine. It's a small fan so it's not silent, but I've had computers with louder fans. I'm happy with this purchase, and so are my eyes and lungs.

Very effective. Use it all the time.

NO EMITEN CFDI.

Leider ist das nicht aus der Produktbeschreibung ersichtlich.

For a bench top fume extractor, this one is as good as it gets. It is not an industrial hood, so be reasonable about expectations. Ya gotta work with it no more than a foot away and even that is pushing your luck, but that’s physics for ya. I’ve used a half dozen different benchtop fume extractors and this one works most effectively.

Well built (made in Japan, not China!) and works as advertised, makes a huge difference at my solder station, no more noxious smoke smell, I feel much safer! My only criticism, it would be nice if it came with some spare carbon filters.

Keeps you safe from flux smoke when soldering stained glass.