DOC's Fix-A-System Plus Kit - I have questions

[Tanooki | 4,932]

I posted this on discord, but figured it would be better here since it won't be scrolled off and lost.

I got this kit yesterday at a local collectibles shop for $5, remembered it back in the day and was always curious.  It was lightly used and cleaned up well so I decided to clean all my consoles, did the game gear too.  Everything went well, but then what got me was the NES (action set, and top loader) definitely came away funky, turned the material black.

What is that material wrapped around that plastic wand?  I used my 91% alcohol on it, not what it came with which surprisingly is still fully in that bottle, it's 2-Butoxyethanol.  Any chemically minded people here know exactly what that is other than the overly technical wiki write up? Does it have an expiration date?  Still safe or dump it?  Did not using it make the contact cleaner surface more black than it would have?

I was shocked even more so not the action set (it did help, it's even more stable now) but the top loader so much black crap came off to the point it gunked up on the top flap of the system that closed up on it and wouldn't wipe off without using more alcohol on a paper towel which is just nasty.  Do I keep going at that one until it stops funking up or is the alcohol making more funk?  I've never really had a problem loading a game in the top loader but that shocked me.

Any ideas or real answers to these mysteries?

** I ended up getting (black) Tengen Gauntlet with it, ran it over its cleaning pad too which was perfect since I can't open that due to the sticker over the screw hole and it fired up like a new cart the first time.

[Tulpa | 3,491]

37 minutes ago, Tanooki said:

I used my 91% alcohol on it, not what it came with which surprisingly is still fully in that bottle, it's 2-Butoxyethanol.  Any chemically minded people here know exactly what that is other than the overly technical wiki write up? Does it have an expiration date?  Still safe or dump it? 

It's an ethyl alcohol, as opposed to isopropyl that's more commonly used for cleaning games. They both work fine when fresh.

Ethyl can last for decades in glass, but in plastic I might be concerned about some leaching. It's probably okay, but if you already have 91% iso, I'd just stick with that.

Just don't dump it down a drain if you do get rid of it. Toss it in the trash or dump it on concrete and let it evaporate.

Edited May 31, 2023 by Tulpa

[Tanooki | 4,932]

Well then it's possibly aged out.  The idea was the empty the bottle, clean it thoroughly with dawn soap and warm water (repeatedly) and then re-fill it with alcohol for easy application.  I did that for like 15 years on a naki cleaning bottle I found in the late 90s early 00s until it fell apart.

[Tulpa | 3,491]

The bottle's probably fine if it still feels firm and isn't cracked or too squishy. The alcohol inside probably has microscopic plastic contaminates floating in it by now. It's probably not going to harm your games, but since you have fresh alcohol available, I'd just use that.

[Tanooki | 4,932]

2 hours ago, Tulpa said:

The bottle's probably fine if it still feels firm and isn't cracked or too squishy. The alcohol inside probably has microscopic plastic contaminates floating in it by now. It's probably not going to harm your games, but since you have fresh alcohol available, I'd just use that.

It's sealed up tightly still, good squeeze or not to it, it didn't hiss and bubble due to any gaps.  So it would come down to breakdown of the liquid or what it could have done to the plastic getting into it as you put it.

I'd really love to figure out what that material is though.

I'm speaking of this weird plastic not plastic, whatever this stuff is.  It did wonders with finding black crap all over my pins nothing else found.