Honestly that's such a good tip. I had a similar thing happen a few months back on a call in a really cramped laundry room where I couldn't get a good angle on the evaporator coil. Some old timer saw me contorting and just handed me a piece of stiff wire he bent into a hook. Let me reach behind the panel without pulling the whole machine out. I still carry that same piece of wire in my tool bag today. Ngl, the little tricks from people who've been doing this forever always beat the fancy tools.