Is this a needed tool or..

[aussiblue]

Or just tool companies trying to create demand; fuses terminal cleaners e.g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UQn0RfrEnE ? I don't think it anything I have ever needed and if I did I might just disconnect the battery and re-purpose an old points file. But perhaps with engine bay fuse boxes becoming more common and thus fuse terminals thus becoming more exposed to water and in some places salt.... Now a relay socket cleaning file is something that I could often have really used (on those relays in the E series next to the coolant recovery tank) ; where the old points file and contact cleaner spray wasn't also really doing the job easily. Hmm perhaps these: https://www.mcmaster.com/products/relay-cleaners/

[prktkljokr]

How many times have you used a battery terminal cleaner should answer your question, I have 1 in my tool box I have never used in 35 years

[aussiblue]

ow many times have you used a battery terminal cleaner should answer your question, I have 1 in my tool box I have never used in 35 years

Well I have actually worn out a several few battery terminal tools over the last 50 on years. But perhaps battery terminal and leads have changed over time or not parking in beachside carparks any more has something to do with it as I don't use one often now.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by prktkljokr

How many times have you used a battery terminal cleaner should answer your question, I have 1 in my tool box I have never used in 35 years

Same, but 14 years

I've come across a corroded fuse panel, precisely once.

Was on a few year old VAG, local car too so no sea spray.

[Itsme]

Most are gimmicks except for the old battery post cleaners when in the old days where most batteries breathed out acid fumes, when you were forced to clean them, these days with modern batteries these tools are virtually redundant.

[mad2]

made cheap ........ and someone will buy em.

[aussiblue]

Well, today's YouTube video from Eric O (Obrochta) at South Main Auto suggests these fuse cleaner files and similar tools may be useful after all at least in the snow salted road states of North America; see the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNG9rgOee5I at the 9 min mark.

[Interceptor]

If they are in any way abrasive, I cant see it doing any more than reducing the force the fuseholder can apply to the pins on the fuse, leading to further problems with poor contacts & corrosion.
But hey, we're in an era where the wealth of knowledge has convinced every thomas, richard and harrison that professional tradesman only exist to rip the average joseph off, and that everything can be DIY'd after a quick clip on youtube.

[aussiblue]

If they are in any way abrasive, I cant see it doing any more than reducing the force the fuseholder can apply to the pins on the fuse, leading to further problems with poor contacts & corrosion.
But hey, we're in an era where the wealth of knowledge has convinced every thomas, richard and harrison that professional tradesman only exist to rip the average joseph off, and that everything can be DIY'd after a quick clip on youtube.

I would never dismiss anything Eric O says; follow his South Main Auto YouTube channel for a while and you will recognise that he is an extremely competent mechanic and an outstanding automotive diagnostic technician. He also has a great sense of humour. He's also one of those "professional tradesmen" you referred to. I follow his channel mainly to be entertained but I also often learn something along the way. And you do also know I have been DIY for more 55 years well before YouTube existed; learning by growing up in a very isolated part of WA where it was either DIY or go without.

Eric and I also both have psoriatic arthritis and accordingly the same issues with our fingers and fingernails.