Cats and my soldering station

[Lavane]

So awhile back my soldering stations transformer burned out. So did the cable on the iron. The cable melted right in half causing the transformer to overheat and short out. I thought it was a short in the cable that caused it. Nope! New station and the cable in the condition I found it today. Luckily I saw the cable before turning it on. I keep two irons with different tips on them to quickly swap if need be, so I do have one left. Now kept in a drawer until needed.

 

[Dave_1962]

I don't see a connection from your thread title to your post. What am I missing?

 

[Hunted11]

I would say the OP has hungry cats.

 

[Mr Creosote]

 

[Lavane]

We only have a couple cats that have been around for some time now. The first soldering station I had for 7 or 8 years before one of them chewed the cable. I've never had a problem with them chewing on cables or wires before.

 

[OMGCat!]

I've got a friend who has a cat that eats wires like they're cat food but somehow knows not to chew on mains cords. Smart but irritating critter that thing. I've had to resolder so many tiny cables for her when she forgets to sanitize her house of accessible wiring before going out.

Is the soldering iron the only thing your cat chews on? If that's it then just hide it and hopefully it won't figure out how to open the drawer up and eat it again.

 

[whoaru99]

A hint of jealousy, perhaps?

 

[Lavane]

I've got a friend who has a cat that eats wires like they're cat food but somehow knows not to chew on mains cords. Smart but irritating critter that thing. I've had to resolder so many tiny cables for her when she forgets to sanitize her house of accessible wiring before going out.

Is the soldering iron the only thing your cat chews on? If that's it then just hide it and hopefully it won't figure out how to open the drawer up and eat it again.

That's the thing. It has only chewed up the cables on the soldering iron. Maybe it gives off some smell? I put the remaining iron away and ordered a new one.

 

[bhunter]

That's the thing. It has only chewed up the cables on the soldering iron. Maybe it gives off some smell? I put the remaining iron away and ordered a new one.

We'd like to get a view of the culprit.

 

[w1jim]

I’d rub the cable with something nasty tasting like ammonia or vinegar.

 

[Lavane]

Suspect #1

 

[Lavane]

I’d rub the cable with something nasty tasting like ammonia or vinegar.

I do have bitter apple spray I used for my dog when she tried to eat her bed a couple years ago.

 

[arts]

Cute pusser,and certainly has the old ''who,me??'' look down pat

 

[restorer-john]

My beautiful little Birman only died 2 weeks ago. She was 15 years old and had a great life. I miss her a lot. This is her recently.



As a young kitten, she feasted on my Hakko soldering cord as it hung off the edge of my bench. It was the soft silicone she liked- nice and chewy. Replacement silicone cables were $50 each from Japan- I think I did three before I gave up. The last time I replaced the cable, I gave her the old one but about 10 minutes later, she had attacked the new one leaving it like this:




I even gave her an old soldering iron lead, but she only liked 'mine'. I figured it was a small price to pay for having such a glorious animal in my life for 15 years.

Someplace I have the pic I took 14 years ago when she ate the first Hakko lead. I'll dig it out.

 

[Lavane]

My beautiful little Birman only died 2 weeks ago. She was 15 years old and had a great life. I miss her a lot. This is her recently.

View attachment 1167264

As a young kitten, she feasted on my Hakko soldering cord as it hung off the edge of my bench. It was the soft silicone she liked- nice and chewy. Replacement silicone cables were $50 each from Japan- I think I did three before I gave up. The last time I replaced the cable, I gave her the old one but about 10 minutes later, she had attacked the new one leaving it like this:

View attachment 1167273
View attachment 1167274

I even gave her an old soldering iron lead, but she only liked 'mine'. I figured it was a small price to pay for having such a glorious animal in my life for 15 years.

Someplace I have the pic I took 14 years ago when she ate the first Hakko lead. I'll dig it out.

Maybe it's the silicone? Mine don't cost that much but are silicone clad.
Suspect #2 "Homeless"

 

[restorer-john]

I reckon they tag-teamed the cable pretending it was a small reptile or snake...

 

[sregor]

I would guess something in the jacket - maybe silicon or PVC. We had one cat who like to chew on toothpaste caps and stick type pens... That's out of 8 cats over a 30 year period. You just never know.

 

[Raynald]

My beautiful little Birman only died 2 weeks ago. She was 15 years old and had a great life. I miss her a lot. This is her recently.

View attachment 1167264

As a young kitten, she feasted on my Hakko soldering cord as it hung off the edge of my bench. It was the soft silicone she liked- nice and chewy. Replacement silicone cables were $50 each from Japan- I think I did three before I gave up. The last time I replaced the cable, I gave her the old one but about 10 minutes later, she had attacked the new one leaving it like this:

View attachment 1167273
View attachment 1167274

I even gave her an old soldering iron lead, but she only liked 'mine'. I figured it was a small price to pay for having such a glorious animal in my life for 15 years.

Someplace I have the pic I took 14 years ago when she ate the first Hakko lead. I'll dig it out.

Sorry for your loss, she was beautiful. You obviously gave her a very loving home for her time with you.

 

[Tim64]

I wonder if the insulation has any soy or peanut oil in it. This has been a big problem on peoples cars for rodents eating the wiring harnesses. I found out when I worked for Hyundia the wire insulation has a peanut oil derivative in the insulation and we had a lot of cars come in with rodent damage from eating the wires.

 

[Lavane]

I reckon they tag-teamed the cable pretending it was a small reptile or snake...

Could be. I wasn't really a cat person until a few years ago. Sorry to hear you lost yours. I lost a crazy fun Manx a couple years ago. She had better balance than any cat I ever saw even without a tail.
Homeless got her name because a homeless guy shoved her as a very young kitten into the open window of our car. "Hey lady you want a kitten I found?" Of course my wife took it. The kitten had to be bottle feed. She was was too young to be away from the mother.