[HBQRP] SMT vac tool. A HB tool thats easy to make and is useful too.

[Sean Pepin]

Hey folks,

Arnie, I do remember talking about vacuum pickup stuff!

There seem to be two ways of going about converting aquarium bubblers to 
vacuum. I've read of those where you can simply flip a valve over, but 
I've never been sure which models those are. I picked up a bubbler for 
making and maintaining cupric chloride etchant a couple of years ago, 
and I figured I'd take it apart to see what the story was.

Turns out mine nearly the same as the one in the writeup. It looks to be 
functionally identical and would require drilling. It's an 'Aqua 
Culture' MK-1501, and you can get them from Wally World for a bit less 
than $7 (search on their site for the number 10532632 and you can see if 
it's in stock where you go). So this one is super cheap, but requires 
drilling and maybe sealing.

Which one did you have Arnie? If you only had to flip the valve then 
it'd be way easier to use your model.
How much did it cost?

They don't say it in the writeup, but I'd advise against using aquarium 
tubing for the hose. That stuff is stiff and kinks easily. The only 
in-town (Omaha/LaVista) place I know to get small tubing is Hobby Town, 
which sells it as gas line for model airplanes (I think). I think 
silicone would work best, and it's resistance to high temperatures might 
come in handy if I start messing around trying to make a desoldering gun 
(muahaha).

The shorter the hose, the faster the wee little pump can evacuate enough 
air to provide good suction. I'm not sure if this is an issue, but if 
you run ten feet of the stuff you could be in for a bit of lag before it 
can pick up a part securely.

These pumps have bumper feet to keep vibration down, but there can still 
be quite a bit of shaking. Don't let your parts cha-cha off the edge of 
the table.

My pump was designed to pull it's intake air through a filter on the 
bottom and kind of (sort of) past the solenoid. I think this was 
intended to be a half-arse way to cool the interior of the pump. Modding 
the pump to take in air through a tube will remove this small cooling 
effect. I don't think it's a serious problem, but it might be advisable 
to check the pump during long sessions to see if it's getting too hot. 
These are designed for 100% day and night duty after all.

I have about three spare syringes (1mL insulin) if anyone needs one for 
a project. There's a heap of ways you could go about making the pen end 
(like a pen!) but if you want the hook shaped tip it'll be hard to beat 
a syringe.

Also, is it just me or are Big Macs shrinking? I can't believe I'm still 
hungry!