Super-flexible tubing - what to search for ?

[Adrian Brentnall]

HI Folks New Year project is to do something positive about flux fume extract for my stained-glass activities.

I have one of those free-standing 'maplin' filter/fans - but it only works over a small area, and it's not that efficient when it does.

I see that some electronics soldering irons come with a thin (?rubber?) tube mounted on the iron, that terminates in a metal intake that collects the fumes near the soldering iron bit.

The plan would be to connect this to some kind of fan-in-a-box, and (ideally) push the fumes outside the workshop.

I'm familiar with the sort of pvc clear tube you'd use in wine-making - but it tends to be fairly rigid.

The stained-glass work often involves running a continuous bead of solder over several feet without stopping, and I think the PVC tube would be a bit restricting.

So - does anybody know of any other applications that use a fairly flexible tube? (so I can search eBay etc) I'm thinking of something maybe 10mm outer diameter ? Heat-resisting would be a bonus!

Thanks Adrian

[Andy Burns]

silicone tubing? google turns up a few e,g. 1mm wall thickness 12mm bore

seems to get classed as "medical" hence spendy ...

[T i m]

Then try 'Silicon Vacuum Hose' in your searching. ;-)

Your local model shop may stock plain silicone tubing (fuel lines and exhaust couplings and possibly more flexible than reinforced silicone) for you to see if you think it's suitable.

Cheers, T i m

[The Natural Philosopher]

silicone (fuel) tubing>

Or brake pipe tubing.

Silcone is good for that.

[alan_m]

The ones I've used have similar problems in that they only work over very short distances and the tube has to be very close to the tip of the iron. It gets in the way of fine soldering.

[Adrian Brentnall]

HI Tim Ah yes, that turns up a selection of 'possibles'. Actually, I may have a ready-made solution. Tucked away in (one of) the sheds is a bath/shower mixer tap, with a long shower hose attached. ISTR that the hose is a coiled metal outer with a fairly flexible ?rubber? inner. If I extract the inner pipe then that just might do the trick! - I can't imagine generating enough 'suck' in this application to collapse it...

I'll look it out today, while I also search for the clamp-on hot-water cylinder thermostat, to replace the current one which gave up the ghost yesterday. Existing 'stat is, of course, an in-tank, 18" one - and the tanks's been installed with 6" headroom - thanks Mr Plumber!

Thanks Adrian

[Adrian Brentnall]

See my reply to Tim - I may have found a way of doing it with the bits I have to hand. Just need to scrounge some metal brake-pipe tubing for the 'business' end (to avoid the rubber / silicon going all droopy with the heat)

Thanks A

[Adrian Brentnall]

HI Alan I can imagine that being a problem for electronics, but with the stained-glass we're using a 1/4" or 3/8" bit and 5mm-wide solder, laying down a fillet that can be 5mm or so wide.

I was thinking of mounting the pipe to the soldering iron body with 'terry' clips, so it can be easily repositioned, if it happens to get in the way.

The other approach, of a large fan sucking over a wider area, becomes a problem when you're soldering a long stretch, as you either have to keep stopping to reposition the fan, or have such a large airflow that the joint gets cooled to rapidly.

We'll have a play & see what we see! Thanks A

[spuorgelgoog]

The obvious answer is to have the fume collector nozzle suspended on 3 wire s run from small winches, computer controlled to be placeable in 3 dimensio ns. Then attach infra-red reflectors on your soldering iron and cameras to detect the position of the iron in 3 dimensions. Then whenever the iron is over the work area the collector will position itself 6" above the iron, an d retract out of the way when the iron is returned to its stand.

(It was all explained on the Royal Institution lecture last night except th ey used a quadcopter and a teapot.)

Owain

[Adrian Brentnall]

You're right, of course. It so obviously simple! So - where do I find three small wenches & a teapot ?

A

[spuorgelgoog]

One small wench might be sufficient to hold the nozzle, unless you want three on a shift system. I don't intend to be sexist but small boys might be more technically minded, or less objecting to solder fumes, than small wenches.

Winches on the other hand can be obtained from automotive and theatrical rigging suppliers.

Owain