Circuit Specialists carries MG Chemicals' line of versatile super cold sprays, which chill to -51°C and are great for locating thermal intermittence and PCB cracks. Cold sprays are a good choice when you need to cool solder joints or protect heat-sensitive components during your soldering projects. In addition to super cold spray's myriad electronics applications, it can also be used to freeze gum and other adhesives for easy removal. Super cold spray should be a part of every electronics hobbyist and professional's arsenal.

What Is Cold Spray?

Cold spray, also known as freeze spray or circuit chiller, is a type of aerosol spray that can release blasts of freezing air to rapidly cool down electronics and other surfaces. Freeze spray is filled with pressurized liquid gas (much like air dusters) that, when activated, can chill circuits down to -50 °C (-60 °F). 

Note: Be careful not to confuse freeze spray for electronics with the type of freeze spray used for hair care or medical purposes. Additionally, galvanized cold spray is different from an electronic-cooling freeze spray like MG Chemicals’ Super Cold Spray. Unlike electronics cold spray, galvanized cold spray and cold spraying are used for coating surfaces in metal powder, not the spray cooling of electronics. 

What Is Freeze Spray Used For?

Freeze or cold sprays are used to rapidly cool electronics and can be used for the following applications

• Protect heat-sensitive components during soldering or desoldering
• Quickly cool solder joints
• Test various instruments and electromechanical devices under low temperatures
• Freeze gum and adhesives for easy removal
• Locate hairline cracks in PBC traces and defective solder joints
• Spot-cool electronic components and circuits while troubleshooting

What Is Cold Spray Made Of?

Cold spray are aerosol cans filled with compressed liquid gas of varying compositions, depending on what the freeze spray was designed to do. 

Most cold sprays designed for spray cooling electronics will have gasses like dimethyl ether or tetrafluoroethane. MG Chemicals’ Super Cold Spray, for example, uses 100% HFC-134a, a type of tetrafluoroethane with minimal impact on the world’s ozone layer.