Hi ,

I'm not a refrigeration professional, in fact I don't know much about refrigeration at all. I joined this forum just to ask the following question:

I just moved an old Gibson refrigerator from the fifties or sixties out of my basement. I didn't have anyone to help me and it was too heavy to get up the stairs by myself without taking it apart, so I took out the compressor and removed as many parts as I could.

Before cutting the copper tubing coming out of the compressor, I crimped it with a visegrips to seal in any refrigerant. I guess I didn't crimp it tight enough, because when I cut the larger tube, white foamy stuff started coming out of the end. While trying to crimp the end tighter, I got the stuff all over my hands. I was like motor oil, but had a different smell. I finally got it sealed, and got everything out of the basement. The compressor by itself weighed a ton!

My question is: what was that oily stuff that I got all over my hands and is it toxic or anything like that? I washed my hands with mechanic's hand cleaner, but the smell of the oil lingers on.

Thanks for any insight.

Homer