• Hello there guest and Welcome to The #1 Classic Mustang forum!
    To gain full access you must Register. Registration is free and it takes only a few moments to complete.
    Already a member? Login here then!

New fuse clip cleaning procedure!

Midlife

Well-Known Member
Staff member
Moderator
Donator
RustyRed's recent post got me a-thinkin', along with a 1968 harness that I just got an order to refurbish. This harness had some moderately corroded fuse clips, leaving me with a choice of trying to sandpaper the clips, replace the entire fuse box with a less corroded one, or installing new fuse clips. I couldn't find a really good one in my stock, and I'd have to splice at least 8 lines. So...my wheels started turning inside my tiny little brain...

What about using my sand blaster cabinet? Naw...the sand would go everywhere once the harness was in the cabinet. Hey! Wait a minute...I have a portable blaster that I use outside with recycled sand! Got it set up, and removed the clips from the fuse box. Went outside, and within 5 minutes, those clips looked extremely nice, and no sand in the harness itself! Some of the clips were made of copper; others of steel under the anodizing. Meanwhile, I soaked the fuse box itself in diet Coca Cola for 20 minutes, and that came out as clean as a whistle!

When I checked the continuity across the fuses as my final check, there wasn't a single issue and got the best readings ever! So...I now have a new procedure for refurbishment. It will take longer (approx. 30 minutes to remove clips...they are a bugger to get out sometimes when there are three clips to a lead), but it's worth it to improve product reliability. And I won't increase the price.
 
Did the diet coke remove all the built up dust and dirt? I have some rubber pieces that I think I will try that on.
 
Yes it did, although I washed it under water and air-dried it. It removed at least 95% of all the dirt and gunk. I heard of this trick from AZPete and attempted to use it on a corroded battery terminal, but it simply wasn't strong enough or the corrosion was too much.

I'd prefer a soda with a bit more phosphoric acid in it...I hear DrPepper or CrownCola are better...*LOL*

I wouldn't recommend drinking it after the cleaning...
 
i'm curious what the result would be when blasting the clips if you used crushed walnut shell in the blaster. it might clean without removing the plating. i've got some shell thats really fine like sand that i use to clean my fired brass before reloading. think i got it at petco.

if you want to try some, i could send you a scoop of it.
 
That would be great! I can't get walnut shell media down here except by online ordering, and the shipping would kill me!
 
Glad to help improve the process Mid.

Mine were working fine though when I drove it a couple of times last weekend. Guess I had to get the fuse in just the right spot but I also replaced the fuse so it could in theory also have been a faulty fuse...not sure but it seemed to be working ok last weekend...now she sits in the paint shop...
 
If you ever have problems in the future, I'm more than willing to take the harness back and clean the clips properly. Shipping will be on my nickel both ways.
 
Back
Top