Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1243344
84 SMT007 MAGAZINE I MAY 2020 that's looking for VOCs to let you know when it's time to change the carbon. As the glass paper filters capture particulate, they start to restrict the airflow, so there are sensors built into it that are able to tell you as the filter's getting full when it's time to change that fil- ter. As carbon gets saturated, it doesn't change the airflow; it works like a sponge. You fill up a sponge with water, and if you pour more water into the sponge, it passes through. That's what will happen with carbon eventually, so you can add a sensor into the exhaust that's look- ing for a certain level of VOC to say, "It's time to change it." Of course, a lot of people also use their nose. Some VOCs have more odor, and your nose tells you right away when it's passing through; they'll change it then. Johnson: Any parting comments within the context of fume extraction, fume management, and the current state of the art in soldering? Mitchell: What we try to do with this equip- ment is to create not just a safe environment, but also a productive environment, less down- time with the equipment, less downtime with your operators, and using the filtering capabil- ity allows you to do that. Johnson: That's a pretty good claim. How does that help with the downtime? Mitchell: The particulates and fumes that are generated—such as with lasers—if you're not getting the fumes and smoke pulled away adequately from the laser, it's going to start to cause problems with your optics, which is going to cause more downtime as you have to stop to clean the optics every X number of hours. This is going to greatly extend that amount of time. Operators hand soldering with the potential for breathing, sinus issues, occu- pational asthma, and those types things—there will be less downtime for your operators if you're properly removing the fumes and odors from their work environment. Working with routers and those types of things for remov- ing boards, you have a lot of debris. Again, if you're pulling that away from the equipment, but the equipment is able to go longer without requiring the maintenance of cleaning all that material out. Where it's taking off is both on the consumer side of it and even in the manufacturing indus- try side of it. The 3D printing industry is becom- ing quite an industry, both from the consumer hobbyist, such as people who have a little 3D printer at their home to companies that are making every kind of part you could ever imag- ine with 3D printing—they're now 3D printing with both plastic and metal materials. We find that's sort of the industry where there's a lot of education taking place now of the need for fume extraction. We see a lot of schools and universities realizing this—even elementary schools. You're essentially heat- ing up that plastic and liquefying it. It depends on which material you use and all of that, but some things would be better not to be breathed in; they are starting to look at the different ways to filter that so that you don't contami- nate your environment. Johnson: That's a good point because 3D print- ing technology is appearing in the electronics manufacturing sector much more readily. Mitchell: Exactly. Johnson: Thanks, Andy. SMT007 The BOFA 3D PrintPRO 2 extracts fumes generated by the printer without causing the filament deposition area to be cooled.