Published February 2, 2021

Arduino Based Automatic Solder Fan

Automatically turns on and off your solder fan when you remove your iron from the holder.

BeginnerFull instructions provided2,428

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Arduino UNO Wifi Rev.2

KY-032 INFRARED OBSTACLE AVOIDANCE SENSOR MODULE

5V One Channel Relay Module

Mounting Bracket

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Soldering iron (generic)

Story

Backstory

Building electronics is a fun and creative process, but one must also be mindful of some of the dangers that come with it. Specifically, when soldering electronics fumes are released which should not be inhaled. The solution is a solder fan, a simple way to capture those fumes.

My issue with using a solder fan is simply a fault of my own. Often times I'll be in my own head, thinking about the next connection or about the project and I'll forget to turn the fan on. Other times, I'll only need to fix one connection here or solder a wire or two there and it doesn't seem worth the extra time to reach towards my fan, turn it on, do my work, and turn it off. Is it lazy of me? Perhaps!

On the other hand, someone might just leave their fan on for the duration of their work, and while this solves the issue, the added noise to the environment can be distracting. I'd rather be listening to my music than hearing my solder fan run for the next 30 min.

So, is there a solution?! Yes! A DIY Automatic Solder Fan!

Building the Project

A DIY Automatic Solder Fan is essentially a way to automatically have our solder fan run every time our iron is removed from its stand and then automatically turn off when its placed back in the stand. This way we never have to mess with turning our fan on and off and we will always be removing those solder fumes! Lets take a look at the project!

DIY Automatic Solder Fan

The heart of the project is the KY-032 Infrared obstacle sensor. Often used for obstacle avoidance, I found through testing that it performs well at simply detecting any object, including our soldering iron. We will use this sensor to detect if the soldering iron is in front of the sensor, or if it has been removed from the stand.

KY-032 Infrared obstacle sensor

Step 1

3D printed bracket

First I designed a bracket in fusion 360 to hold our obstacle avoidance sensor. I settled on placing the sensor perpendicular to the iron so as to avoid heat from the iron warping the bracket.

3D printed bracket

Step 2

Relay and junction box

Next I wired up the high voltage power cable to the relay. Do not attempt working with 120v if you do not feel comfortable, safety first. When our sensor detects that the iron has left the stand, a signal will energize the relay and we'll get a closed connection, powering our fan.

Relay and junction box

Step 3

Wiring the Arduino.

See schematic. After wiring, the Arduino was mounted to the junction box and enclosed in its own protective case.

Finished box with Arduino

Step 4

Coding the Arduino.

The code for our project is very simple, essentially we have a loop reading the state of our sensor. If the sensor doesn't detect an object, the relay will turn on the solder fan and vise versa. It's that simple.

Results and Conclusions

Automatic Solder Fan

All and All this project works great and I had fun making this. I hope this inspired someone to make something creative as well! Happy building and happy coding!

Code

Solder Sensor Code

#define ledPin D4
#define sensorPin D1
#define relayPin D2

unsigned long previousMillis = 0;
const long interval = 1000;
int serialAlert = 0;

void setup() {
  // put your setup code here, to run once:
  
  Serial.begin(9600); 
  pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT);
  pinMode(sensorPin, INPUT);
  pinMode(relayPin, OUTPUT);
}

void loop() {
  // put your main code here, to run repeatedly:

  unsigned long currentMillis = millis();

  if (currentMillis - previousMillis >= interval) {
    previousMillis = currentMillis;

    if (digitalRead(sensorPin) == LOW) {
      if (serialAlert == 0) {
        Serial.println("Objected Detected");
        serialAlert = 1;
      }
      digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH);
      digitalWrite(relayPin, LOW);
    }

    else {
      if (serialAlert == 1) {
        Serial.println("No Objected Detected");
        serialAlert = 0;
      }
      digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW);
      digitalWrite(relayPin, HIGH);
    }

  } //end millis loop

}

Arduino Based Automatic Solder Fan

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

Backstory

Building the Project

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Results and Conclusions

Schematics

Solder Fan Schematics

Code

Solder Sensor Code

Solder Sensor Code

Credits

kzim94

Comments

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Arduino Based Automatic Solder Fan

Arduino Based Automatic Solder Fan

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

Backstory

Building the Project

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Results and Conclusions

Schematics

Solder Fan Schematics

Code

Solder Sensor Code

Solder Sensor Code

Credits

kzim94

Comments

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