Interesting Find - Tech Spray Blue Stuff

[Chris F.]

I recently bought a bunch of stuff from another closed-out repair shop,
and came across a rather interesting find. It's a very old can of Tech Spray
Blue Stuff, it's nearly full and still works. I remembered that 30+ years
ago (a bit before my time), many tuner sprays contained freon - some Zenith
tuners actually had stickers specifying it's exclusive use. Curious, I
sprayed a bit on my finger and found it extremely cold. Could this be a
(presumably rare) freon-based product of long ago? And is it something I
could actually use, on vintage TV tuners? And would it have any value to
collectors?

 

[Tim Schwartz]

On 11/12/2011 7:53 PM, Chris F. wrote:

I recently bought a bunch of stuff from another closed-out repair shop,
and came across a rather interesting find. It's a very old can of Tech Spray
Blue Stuff, it's nearly full and still works. I remembered that 30+ years
ago (a bit before my time), many tuner sprays contained freon - some Zenith
tuners actually had stickers specifying it's exclusive use. Curious, I
sprayed a bit on my finger and found it extremely cold. Could this be a
(presumably rare) freon-based product of long ago? And is it something I
could actually use, on vintage TV tuners? And would it have any value to
collectors?

As I recall, "Blue Stuff" was a spray abrasive in a can. It was like a
silver polish for the contacts, and will work well on SOME types of
switches that are heavily corroded. You would NOT want to use it in
posts, as you might polish the carbon track free of carbon. It was a
product of last resort when gentler cleaning methods were not enough.


Freon is not magical stuff. It did work well, but went away because of
environmental concerns. I'm not sure that some of the 'freon
substitutes' aren't nearly as bad.

Current cleaners also will make you finger feel cold when sprayed.

Regards,
Tim
Bristol Electronics

 

[John-Del]

On Nov 12, 7:53 pm, "Chris F." <zappy...@hotmail.com> wrote:

  I recently bought a bunch of stuff from another closed-out repair shop,
and came across a rather interesting find. It's a very old can of Tech Spray
Blue Stuff, it's nearly full and still works. I remembered that 30+ years
ago (a bit before my time), many tuner sprays contained freon - some Zenith
tuners actually had stickers specifying it's exclusive use. Curious, I
sprayed a bit on my finger and found it extremely cold. Could this be a
(presumably rare) freon-based product of long ago? And is it something I
could actually use, on vintage TV tuners? And would it have any value to
collectors?

Blue Stuff was a big seller to TV repair shops in the 70s. I used it
and it was very effective for "turret" type tuners, not so much on the
incremental type. Later on, Blue Stuff sold adhesive back foam strips
which would be placed in the bottom of the tuner shield and sprayed
with Blue Stuff. This would keep the turret type tuners much more
stable as the barrel would rotate into the foam pad every time the
tuner was used.

It was NEVER sprayed in RCA tuners as it carried solids with it that
would aggravate the neutralizing capacitor and cause all sorts of
havoc until the Blue Stuff was flushed out with Tuner Wash.

Ah.... memories.

John

 

[gregz]

"Chris F." <zappyman@hotmail.com> wrote:

I recently bought a bunch of stuff from another closed-out repair shop,
and came across a rather interesting find. It's a very old can of Tech Spray
Blue Stuff, it's nearly full and still works. I remembered that 30+ years
ago (a bit before my time), many tuner sprays contained freon - some Zenith
tuners actually had stickers specifying it's exclusive use. Curious, I
sprayed a bit on my finger and found it extremely cold. Could this be a
(presumably rare) freon-based product of long ago? And is it something I
could actually use, on vintage TV tuners? And would it have any value to
collectors?

Most sprays come out cold, some have butane.
I bought a couple cans about 3-4 years ago, NOS.

Greg