Fumeclear® FC-350 350W Laser Fume Extractor

Awesome in a metallurgical analytical laboratory!!! - George Villar

Things I like about this machine: The gooseneck is long enough to be easily placed; three suction speeds (low, medium, high); lightweight; and wheels. Best thing: In the studio, I can see the flashing red light out of the corner of my eye. It's easy to fix, I just use the remote. It would be better if it was a solid light instead of a flashing light. I also think the funnel should be metal. It's rubber, so you can't put it close to the soldering station or you'll melt it. You probably don't need to put it on your brick, but I wanted to get it as close as possible without worrying that I would melt it. Do I *think* it works??? But the smoke is invisible, so, who knows. It does have suction, and when I waved a paper towel in front of it, it sucked it up immediately.

It fulfills its function, good extraction and easy to place, the only bad thing is the quality of the wheels

First off, I am very happy with this purchase and would buy it again, despite a few failings. It is used for fume extraction and does a fine job of it. It is louder than the adjacent Quattro Solderpure, and has three distinct speeds vs the rheostat speed control of the Quattro. Because it’s loud, I needed close access to the switch to quiet while not in use so had to squeeze it into a location between work tables. The switch is close to the floor so less convenient than the foot pedal switch of the Quattro. The segments of the “arms” are less durable and cracked under my heavy pressure to get the hoods in a good position. Once I recognized my mistake, I was able to repair with strips of gorilla tape while retaining segmental flexibility. The arms attach ti the body of the machine with a shallow-lipped opening that is only compatible with accompanying flexible arms.

I bought 2 of these and have 2 workstations set up in my lab where we do PCB soldering. Our workstations are both equipped with a microscope connected to a monitor, a voltmeter, a hot plate, a soldering iron, a heat gun, a microphone stand to hold the heat gun, and a Vevor XF180, so it's pretty crowded. The Fumeclear fume extractor is great value for the price! My facility manager was very skeptical that a portable unit would be enough to filter solder fumes, but it works great using an adjustable hose to bring the machine's air intake close to the action. We've been using it for a few weeks now and I'm happy to say that these sub-$900 units are doing their job and are really helping us save on our budget to build our lab.