Let’s Talk About Pets Being In The EE Lab - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: t1d
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2021, 03:49:14 pm
content: We love our pets and enjoy their company, even when we are pottering around in our labs. So, we need to give purposed attention to making their presence safe and enjoyable, for them, as well as ourselves. Cats, dogs, ferrets, rabbits, even aquarium fish all require unique accommodations. Let’s identify those issues and come up with some solutions that work.The bottom line is the only safe way to have a pet in the lab is to not have a pet in the lab. Hazards exist for the pet, the human and the expensive electronic equipment. Examples include electrocution, poisoning, hair/dust, and sneaky component theft… So, if you are going to take the risk of allowing them in the lab, you have a duty to make it as safe for everyone as possible.To start us off, I will talk about my cat. I try to remember that she is a cat and that I am not really going to train her to perfectly behave. The best that I can do is come to some compromise with her.Poisoning AvoidanceLead Poisoning - After each and every soldering session, I clean up every spec of (Leaded) solder spatter, with blue painter’s tape. Then, to be double-sure that I got it all, I wipe down the bench with a dry paper towel, brushing the remains into the dedicated lab waste bin. Afterward, I fold the paper towel to enclose the used side. I use the clean side for the final step, wiping the bench down with Isopropyl Alcohol.The lab waste bin is secured, so that the cat can not turn it over, to go fishing through the waste.After using the bench, I cover anything that is dangerous with old cloth bath towels… The solder wire spool, solder iron, any projects left unfinished.Respiratory Irritation – From flux fumes. I use a DIY fume extractor… A 120v computer case fan with a charcoal filter strapped onto it. This seems to work for the both of us. My cat does not leave the bench, while I am soldering, which I think she would naturally do, if she was being bothered by the fumes.Electrocution AvoidanceAn Approved Location - I would rather she not be on the bench, ever, but that is not realistic. She is going to explore the bench. Part of the compromise is to give her a secure location that is approved and appealing. So, I gave her her own box, slightly too small, because cats like to squeeze into a nesting spot. It is located slightly out of the way, but it is positioned to give her a clear line of sight, so she can watch the activities. Positioning it slightly above the bench might add to the box’s appeal, as cats like a high perch. I am thinking on how to accomplish this.Danger To Expensive EquipmentCat Hair and Dander – Surely they will eventually clog up the equipment’s cooling system. Collecting on the edge of the fan blades, which kills the fan’s efficiency… Coating the components, causing them to retain heat…To be honest, I am still thinking on this one… If you add filter material, or wire mesh, over the air inlets, you reduce the air flow. And, hair is simply going to clog the filter. Yes, a careful cleaning routine would be needed.Liquids – I simply don’t have open drinks on the bench, where she can knock it over.Component TheftYep, cats can be naughty. They love to play with small trinkets. My solution is to keep them put away. And, when there are components on the bench and she starts to become too interested in them, I redirect her attention (as you would a small child) with an approved toy.“I need your attention, NOW.”When my cat demands attention, that mean she n-e-e-d-s attention. Attention speaks to her “love” language. I try to recognize that that is what is occurring. And, as I am retired and just doing electronics as a hobby, I can take the time to pet her, for a bit. It doesn’t take long for a cat to get their fill of petting and to go do something else. So, enjoy it while you can.That is the basics of what I do for her, presently. (I am sure that I have forgot some detail and I will add it, as it comes to mind.) And, it should do as an introduction and to spur the conversation. So, what do you do to safely accommodate your pet in your lab?

author: Sal Ammoniac
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2021, 04:00:54 pm
content: My policy is no pets allowed in my lab under any circumstances.

author: Bud
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2021, 04:12:46 pm
content: My cat does not seem to have any desire to stay in my lab, just briefly walks in and out.

author: m98
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2021, 05:17:20 pm
content: No cats in the operational vacuum chamber is one of the animal welfare policies we have at work.

author: PaulAm
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2021, 07:21:29 pm
content: Depends a bit on the individual animal. 3 of my cats come into my work area. One just steals the chair when I'm not in it. Otherwise she only comes in when she's hungry to remind me to do something about it. Another likes to sit on my desk on a blanket that's there for her and look out the window. Otherwise she likes to manipulate the printer into odd states and see how many sheets of paper she can get it to spit out. The third one likes to steal small jumpers or wires and she's the one I have to keep an eye on.I've had sufficient cat hair accumulate in my keyboard to prevent the keys from working. Other than that, I've not had any issues with cat hair in equipment.The work area is closed off when I'm not in it and they will get the boot if they get too annoying when I'm trying to work on something.

author: Kasper
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2021, 09:07:54 pm
content: I solder in the garage. No cats allowed in the garage, there is often wet wood stain or varnish or metal shavings on the floor or other things that he probably wouldn't like. My cat doesn't come into my office often but often when I start playing with wires, when he is least welcome, he shows up. Sometimes crumpling a sheet of paper and throwing it will distract him. Thankfully I have an actual office with a door in my new house. Old house had office in the kitchen/dinning room without a door so I couldn't leave things out. It's really nice having an actual office.

author: jpanhalt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 29, 2021, 09:32:56 pm
content: What a silly proposition. Should we also discuss in "Technical Chat" why not have dogs in a bakery or operating room? That list is endless.That said, I love dogs. My last dog, Charlie, was like my shadow, he just sat at my feet or shoulder (if I was working under a car). He chewed on nothing, which is how he was bred (Boykin Spaniel). But when he ran under a large log I was lifting with my excavator, I figured it was time to time to tie him up. Their devotion is unquestioned, but we remain responsible.

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2021, 12:58:51 am
content: Wouldn't aquarium fish (or any pet confined to an enclosure) exist quite well in the lab just by maintaining enough spacing from equipment to prevent damage from a leak?Quote from: m98 on September 29, 2021, 05:17:20 pmDid that come about because someone pumped down a chamber not realizing that there's a cat inside? A friend of mine who's a HVAC engineer told me a story about someone who had a stray cat sneak into the unit he was working on and didn't realize until it was time to start it back up, what a mess...

author: xrunner
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2021, 01:08:34 am
content: Quote from: PaulAm on September 29, 2021, 07:21:29 pmSame here. My cat Maxim (male Russian blue) sheds very little. However he likes to chew off the ends of Q-tips and eat them. So I must throw any used ones away in a covered trash can. He brings his own toys into the lab room but that isn't a big deal. When I run the large vacuum cleaner he's scared and hops up on the lab bench to hide behind my spectrum analyzer. Other than that he doesn't mess with anything. But at night and when I leave, the door is shut.

author: Kerlin
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 30, 2021, 04:03:56 am
content: No cats in the lab for me thanks. This is quite a well known scientifically proven problem with those vermin and its why your hooked on them.https://www.livescience.com/can-cat-parasites-control-human-brains.htmlA cute puppy dog, mans best friend that helped him evolve out of cave dwellings - well that's different - and they will do as directed.I had an Old English Sheep dog that was very much at home in the lab. When when something made a loud bang and let the magic smoke out she would just raise one eyebrow, then go back to sleep.

author: station240
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: September 30, 2021, 05:27:11 am
content: Has someone been watching DiodeGoneWild videos ?Not sure he has a single video w/out his cat in it.Fish or other marine life in a lab, absolutely not. Chemicals in the air can easily make fish sick/dead, no one makes 100% sealed tanks.Rabbits ?RIP cables, and bugs too perhaps.Honestly it would be easier to make a second mini lab/filming area, which is pet safe.

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2021, 06:24:03 pm
content: If the cat prefers a box with a nice old T-shirt or towel with suitable scents as their observation post somewhere up when their human is around and stays out when the human is not around, I don't see a problem.If the dog loves to sleep on a cushion near their human, positionable in a safe place under some table (so no danger of falling hot stuff or heavy items), I don't see a problem.If the bunny likes to sleep in their cage in the same room as the lab, and the human doesn't mind lugging the cage around, I don't see the problem.All this assumes the lab is safe for the human in the first place, including proper ventilation and filtering for soldering fumes.I like to think child- and pet-proofing similarly to organizing my work area so that even the dead-tired-me is unlikely to hurt themselves, while the perky me has everything within reach and organized. Yes, some pets like to chew wires, so that's a problem; but you can work around that using conduits and (plastic) shields and such.Leaded solder is not a problem. In the solid form, it really passes through the intestines of animals with almost no absorption; it's the fumes (solder pot too hot?) and certain lead compounds (like tetraethyl lead that used to be added in gasoline, or the lead compounds used in paints) that are much more dangerous since they actually do absorb easier. I recommend reading theNIH report on carcinogens; lead and lead compoundsalthough it does not address solid lead alloys like Pb-Sn as used in (leaded) soldering. My own estimate is that leaded soldering with colophony-based rosins (based on pine resin) issaferthan lead-free, because the lead-free rosins are much more toxic, and not all hobbyists have fume extraction with activated charcoal filtering.(For example, few people realize that depleted uranium chemical toxicity is much more important than any radiation it produces. The chemical toxicity LD50 dose -- the dose that on average kills at 50% probability -- is a fraction (1/4 to 1/2, depending on the activity left in the depleted uranium) of the LD50 dose due to radiation. That is, if you ingest enough powdered depleted uranium, or breathe in enough depleted uranium fumes, you die from the chemical (heavy metal) toxicity much before you getanyeffects from the radiation involved. Yet, all the experts and military using depleted uranium address, is the radiation; never the heavy metal toxicity. Same is with soldering: the fluxes and rosins are often much more dangerous than the metals used.)Right now, I don't have a pet, and live in an apartment with only an ad-hoc electronics workstation (no fixed test equipment even, with the largest unit a programmable single-output power supply), so this is more based on when I had pets and lots of electronic devices (so chewing wires and hair plugging up stuff were the key issues), and I could be missing something.

author: cgroen
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 01, 2021, 07:27:37 pm
content: I never try to keep my two critters out of the lab, after all, they are like colleagues

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2021, 08:17:36 pm
content: Two of my cats hang out in my "lab" frequently, mostly they want to sleep on my chair when I'm not sitting in it or curl up on my lap while I work. They seem to have no interest at all in my workbench and the stuff on it, I've never seen any of them get up on that. If they had a tendency to get into things I'd keep them out but they're old, mostly they just sleep.

author: TheSteve
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: October 01, 2021, 08:32:42 pm
content: HunkyBill is almost always in the lab with me. He has his own chair and never jumps on the lab bench or the equipment. He does have some sort of fascination with the transmit foot pedal for my amateur radio station though and seems to enjoy weaving his way through all of the wires/cables below the bench. It just wouldn't be the same without him.

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 01, 2021, 11:00:31 pm
content: Quote from: TheSteve on October 01, 2021, 08:32:42 pmIf you are civilized and don't wear shoes indoors, it could be the scent on the pedal.Gifting a sock or a t-shirt with your scent on it can really make a pet relax.One of my brother's dogs, giving birth the first time, insisted on making a nest out of my brothers snow suit, even though she had a nice comfy bed right there well prepared (so it definitely wasn't the place). When puppy, and her people were away, she sometimes stole socks to surround her favourite bed with a comforting scent. I wouldn't be surprised if cats found the scent of their human similarly calming and relaxing.

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2021, 07:20:30 pm
content: They do, at least some of them do. There have been times when I've gone on a trip for a few days and one of the cats will find some of my clothes to sleep on, or they will curl up on my pillow.

author: AlbertL
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: October 02, 2021, 07:32:30 pm
content: If they're going to be in the lab, at least they should help out...