cleaning fuse panel / terminals / wire harness

Any of you guys have any suggestions on cleaning the terminals and fuse block on my dash harnesses? I was thinking about soaking the fuse block in a bowl of vinegar. My other idea is maybe evaporust. I want to put my harness terminals to look as nice as the flawlessly restored dash assembly. Looking forward to the responses. Working knowledge is best.
-KD

If the terminals and fuse clips are just oxidized and /or light surface rust, use an abrasive pencil ink eraser or emory cloth to polish....
Also don't forget to bend inward slightly the tension on the fuse clips as well..

Just my $0.02...

CAIG DeoxIT Spray

I used a brass brush along with some electrical contact cleaner and then also a product from CRC (cant recall product name) that was a wiring protectant. Kind of an oil. I wiped the terminals and cleaned the insulation the entire length looking for any breaks/cracks or issues.
I dont think evaporust works on brass.

Deoxit D5 from Amazon. Will remove light corrosion and protect in the future. More aggressive corrosion will need to be removed an other way. Soaking in evaporust or vinegar would work, but be careful not to get ends of wire soaked. Liquid will wick up the strands.

Do you think there would be issues in the copper strands if vinegar were in the mix?

I cut a nail file down much smaller so it fit, and cleaned my bulkhead on my Power Wagon. You could try that for fuse panel.

hi

yes get the cardboard nail files at wally world and cut them as needed .

works great with some electrical cleaner and air hose !

If the harness is out of the car I've sandblasted them. Actually works pretty well.
Doug

I used a HF $10 dremel. hardly any torque but worked good on my fuse panel

Evaporust

I soaked my bulkhead connector in it for 24 hours, rinsed with water and hit it with air. Came out squeaky clean. Removed corrosion, dirt and rust.

yes. vinegar is acidic.

ketchup works great in a matter of minutes natural mixture of acid and vinegar.

vinegar and a bit of salt, then baking soda to neutralize the acids. but thats just for sulfated/oxidized terminals, grease and dirt must be cleaned with soap, brush... etc...

Wonder if I can do that with the female/fixed side of my bulkhead connector?

More of a spray it on and wash it off type situation.

on a side note the next bulkhead I do I am gonna replace all the brass terminals & do Nachos' bulkhead parallel bypass

I guess it depends how bad it is. If it is out of the car blasting them with the finest glass beads, or baking soda, at low pressure, like 20-30 lbs, and a flush with ideal 40-610 contact cleaner will do the trick. Walnut shells work pretty good on some of the plastic, LOW pressure. I have never been a fan of soaking crimped wire in any acidic solution, if it is that bad a new one would be wise. Never use simple green or purple power on them, stick with lacquar thinner or an eletrical contact cleaner that evaporates fast.

I should be clear, I use size AH, or #13 glass beads, they are .001-.003 size, like dust. The crap harbor freight sells need not apply.

I soaked these in tomato juice for several minutes and just rinsed it off. No polishing needed. Just put the connector in a cup of juice and see how it works. Mild, cheap, and non toxic.

Looks like this after walnut shells, glass beads, flush with cleaner, why soak in acidic material? Silver tube is what I clamp on the blaster to direct beads at terminal, one I actually use has flattened tip, buy at craft stores, cake decorating section.

Backside, then use a new terminal to test that the females are tight. Only remove what is loose and squeeze them.

Even the red and black are tight on this one.

Yes, I did that also. I had a 65 Chrysler300 from San Francisco. Has a lot of corrosion. I pulled the bulkhead portion and soaked it in a plastic pail. Did the same to the connectors. Both soaked overnight. Took the out, used a spray bottle of water to rinse and blew them out with compressed air. They looked new. Poured the contents of the Evaporust bankin the container to re-use later.of course I disconnected the battery.

evaporust and a dremel with a wire brush head