Review on Adjustable Soldering Extractor Absorber by Poafamx by Mark Marcellus

UPDATE March 17th: This is the second update for this review. I would like to thank Poafax Account Managers for their quick and no-questions-asked approach in trying to troubleshoot issues. If you read below you will know that one night the base of my exhaust unit broke, causing the entire exhaust fan and arm to fall onto my workbench. Fortunately, neither I nor the parts I was working on were harmed. But since I'm working with molten solder while the blower is on, it's easy to imagine how it could have been worse. shipping too. I was impressed - this was before my original review was posted. For the cynics among you who were quick to point out that companies only react when their image is in jeopardy, take note - this appears to be active good customer service from Poafmax. But the replacement product suffers from many of the same disadvantages as the original product. In fact, the new lever is slightly less functional than the old one, as the connections cannot be tightened enough to keep the fan housing from moving. There are positions where the lever stays in place, but there are also positions where it just bounces off on its own no matter how hard I try to tighten the adjustment knobs. This may result in less chance of the base breaking under load, but this may be intentional. However, this does not allow me to keep the suction close to the workpiece, which is a problem given the poor performance of the fan itself. So it's definitely a plus to buy from a company that tries to do the right thing with their customers. I just want the product to be as good as the company selling it. SEE UPDATE AT END OF REVIEW. I bought this in December 2020 because I need an exhaust fan that can be mounted on the edge of my workbench instead of taking up a precious desk. Place. It was a bit disappointing right from the start: the suction power of the fan is barely sufficient. It only works if the extractor is within 6" to 8" of the parts to be soldered. Otherwise, the fumes will simply rise past the hood without stopping. However, I think this shouldn't be a problem as the articulated arm allows the extractor to be placed close to the working part. But the lever itself has flaws in design and execution. it is cheaply made and constructed. The links are stiff no matter how loose the adjustment knobs are because they don't have actual bearings - just friction fittings. To make matters worse, the springs used in the linkage are poorly matched and too stiff. This makes lever manipulation a chore and always results in high load transfer to the base and clamp. And that is almost always a two-hand operation, because the strong springs almost always bring the hand into a straight position after a while. This means that when moving the extractor, you have to apply pressure to the middle joint with one hand to ensure the hand articulates properly (for machine builders, this is a classic case of "singularity" in mechanics). broke down (literally) when I got the extractor in the right position. The pressure on the cheap plastic base eventually got too much and it broke into several pieces with a loud, sickening CRACK! There is no way to repair the base damage and I'm not sure how to get a new one. And even if I do, I'll have to modify the arm to reduce the stresses caused by poor design. I would definitely avoid this product, especially given the current price which has increased significantly since I bought my product. UPDATE: The manufacturer has offered a quick replacement of the entire assembly. I've temporarily added a star for excellent customer service. When I receive a new block I will update the rating again.