When I assemble surface mount components in combination with solder paste, I find it quite frustrating to have resistors and caps stuck at the very tip of the tweezers. So I decided to build a suction pen that I could bring with me and could work off the grid.
Isac is an hambugerized stack of common components:
- 5V mini vacuum pump
- 500mAh LiPo battery
- TP4056 battery charger (with battery protection circuit)
- 1803BK motor driver
The price to build one is around 10€. Print the housing and assemble the parts with minimum effort. The electolithic cap at the motor driver has to be placed horizontally so the motor can fit in the enclosure.
The 2-part casing can be printed either with FDM or with resin, just thread the motor driver supports with an M3 tap.
To build the actual pen, use some silicone tubing and the body of a plastic pen. The tip can be anything pointy and hollow, like a syringe needle. Heatshrink tubing can be used to connect the pieces. Pierce a hole at the thumb height to activate and release the picking-up.
The TP4056 charger has built-in over-charge and discharge protection for LiPo batteries. Th case has an opening for a micro-USB connector and two holes aligned with "charging" and "charged" LEDs.
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