Compass problems

[gwwannabe]

Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend. From the boat and PWC traffic on the rivah, you'd never know that fuel prices are out of sight.

My boat has been sitting on the lift for the last 3 weeks. When I went down to get her ready to take out I found the compass was all cloudy and the numbers barely visible. Wasn't like this when I put her up. Anyone know what caused this?

Also, coming home I had the GPS and VHF radio on and, for the first time, the compass was spinning like a top. Turning the radio off stopped the spinning. Is this related to the cloudiness? If not, what else would cause the compass to go nuts? Radio was in the boat when I bought her and the GPS was installed last summer. Prior to this, the compass reading was always close to the GPS. Both the radio and GPS had been on about 5 hours when I noticed the spinning.


Thanks for any insight.
Gary 89 Overnighter

 

[plymouthgrady]

compass

time to get it refurbed. Oil has leaked out causing cloudiness and spinning.
I'm assuming it's a Ritchie. They are located in Pembroke, Mass.
I would recommend getting it refurbed vs. buying a new one b/c the deviation is set for your boat already (or at least what you are used to for deviation on your boat), it's less expensive and it comes back looking BFN.

 

[gwwannabe]

Thanks for the info on refurbishing it. I was assuming I had to buy a new one.
Gary 89 Overnighter

 

[fishhrd]

I wish I had know this. I just replaced my compass yesterday. I popped out the old one and just put in a new one. Do you think it will get a true reading?
I have thrown away the old one.
Thanks,
Matt

 

[plymouthgrady]

COMPASS

Did you take a bearing before you put it on the boat and then one when it was at the helm? That way you will know any deviation caused by interference at the helm. The new compass should have come with a little brass tab-you can adjust the deviation caused by interference.
A little deviation is OK as long as you are aware of it AND COMPENSATE FOR IT!

 

[enfish]

I wish I had know this. I just replaced my compass yesterday. I popped out the old one and just put in a new one. Do you think it will get a true reading?
I have thrown away the old one.
Thanks,
Matt

The process for compensating the compass is not that difficult if you do find that it's not reading correctly.

Compass Compensation

Next time you're out, do a comparison between your GPS heading and compass heading, taking note to whether your GPS is set to display true headings or magnetic headings. If the former, you'll have to know the magnetic variation for your area.

 

[fishhrd]

Plymouthgrady I didn't see a brass piece that it came with. I didn't even think about checking the bearing before and after I placed it at the helm. I think I am just going to try to check between the gps and compass next time I run the boat.

 

[CaptKennyW]

do you go offshore? or stay in a river? do you have a GPS? how often are you out of sight of land? the deviation on a small fiberglass boat will be so slight it wont matter. hell its not very far off on the steel hulled tug i work on. me personally i wouldnt even worry about it. besides unless you have a paper chart and can plot a course, use variation and deviation the compass is only a good reference for those dark nights that you cant see the sourounding lights.