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Appreciation post: the old mechanic who showed me the penny trick on a 2003 F-150 fuse box

Had a truck that kept blowing the same 15 amp fuse for the radio and nothing I tried worked for over a month. This retired guy at the parts counter told me to wedge a copper penny under the melted fuse holder to restore the connection, and it ran perfect for another six months until I sold it. Has anyone else had an old school fix like that actually save them from buying a whole new harness?
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3 Comments
rodriguez.mia
An old timer fixed my washing machine with a butter knife once, ran for years.
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alice_allen5
Man, I read somewhere that old car guys swear by the penny trick for busted fuse holders because copper conducts way better than the cheap metal in those old housings. Honestly sounds sketchy but if it worked for six months, hard to argue with results.
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sammartinez
sammartinez5d agoMost Upvoted
Used to think the penny trick was just some old guy myth. But then I saw a buddy do it on his '72 Bronco where the fuse holder was completely shot. That penny and a wad of tin foil kept his brake lights working for a solid year until he got around to replacing the whole harness. It ain't pretty but sometimes the stupid hack is the right hack.
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