Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech How to Clean Corroded Fuse Box Terminals???

Does anyone have a preferred method for cleaning out the fuse box terminals. After the Speedmaster wouldn't start, I replaced 3 of the fuses, and noticed alot of corrosion dust coming off the fuse prongs, and from the terminals themselves when I blew on them a little. In all cases, the old fuses tested out as good, so I'm assuming that just a tad too much corrosion built up there and was screwing up the electrical connectivity. I've breathed my sigh of relief, the Speedmaster starts up like a champ again, and I left the new fuses in, but I'd sure love to really clean those terminals out!!! Thanks for any insight!

Get one of those real thin metal nail files and square off the pointed end. It will slide right in and clean the contacts.

Then use di-electric grease.

Get a can of Electro-Sol. It comes in a spray can and is great for cleaning corrosion and contacts. It is supposed to be safe for paints and plastics too, but try not to get it on the paint anyway. Then use the dielectric greeze as Phil said. The grease is also called "bulb grease" in some auto stores, same stuff. It looks and feels like vaseline, the stuff Michael Jackson uses, and you just put a dallop of it on all your electrical connections and in all your plugs. It keeps water out and makes the contacts good as new, forever.

hey dinqua how do u know michael uses vaseline? have u been to the neverland ranch? hahahah but yes the di-electric grease and the electro-sol work good

Frank

Roundslide, have had the same problem twice with my bike. Make sure to disconnect the battery cables, clean up the battery terminals and cable ends then put all back together with dielectric grease. Did that and bingo, good as new.

In response to all,

Thanks for all the input, have got some emery boards from Wally Mart and got some di-electric grease. Should be going to town on those connections here later on today. Thanks again!

Don't use the sandpaper emory boards, they will leave nasty little pieces of sand grit in there.

Oops, thanks for the tip!

Absolutely do not sand or emery board those terminals. Pat is right. Clean with Electro-sol or even WD-40. Make sure to disconnect the battery before you do this and let dry. Take -dielectric grease(blub grease) and work it into the terminals. Replace fuses. Those terminals are coated with thin layer of conductive alloy. If you take sand paper or emery boards you'll take that coating right off those terminals and leave grit. You'll have more problems down the road with moisture and even more corrosion.

Uh, that's why I suggested the METAL nail file and di-electric grease after

I have one of them and it is as thin as the metal on the fuses. Even has a plastic handle so as not to mess up my delicate fingers.

I cut off the pointed end and rounded over the edges. I had corrosion (white, flaky...., kinda' like Pat) last year and this two step method works like a charm.

You mileage may vary...

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I had corrosion (white, flaky...., kinda' like Pat)

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After reading this thread I went and checked mine out and noticed that I'm starting to get that white flaky stuff too. Now I'm going to have to clean them out before I start I start looking like Pat. Where can you pick up that Electrosol up at? I think I do have some old contact cleaner around somewhere, maybe. Hafta look.

Advance Auto parts had the Stuff, about $8 for a little can of the stuff, but the bike's been doing fine since I put the stuff in the fuse box. I'm sure O'Reilly's, Autozone, Pep Boys, any of your ubiquitous auto parts places should have, Wally World (Wal-mart) didn't have it, I was heart-broken.

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Wally World (Wal-mart) didn't have it

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That OK I try and stay away from that place as much as possible. But I will check out the autoparts stores for it.

Yeah, I've heard and participated in whole dissertations about how Wally World is strangling the Mom-and-Pop places, and smaller retailers, but I ain't gonna lie, if I don't have a Super Wal-Mart within 15 minutes max of where I live I break down and cry like a little girl, in Mississippi, there's unfortunately not much of an acceptable alternative. Advance Auto Parts has been taking care of my needs fairly well in the past, so I tend to keep going back.

Resurrecting this one from the dead. I did a Google search for cleaning a corroded fuse box and this was the second result that came up. Woop Woop!

9 years must be the new record

Timely!! I just had mine open inspecting it yesterday. Thanks!

Definitely good timing. I just burned a fuse up rewiring some lights and found the white flaky when I replaced it.

Thanks for the input.