Binnacle compass problem

[mireland]

I have a Cassens and Plath mounted on a Whitlock Pedastal - 1985 ish vintage. The writing on the card is very hard to read now and I wanted to open it up and see if I could repair it. This was mistake number 1. I thought the large brass bezel surrounding the glass dome would allow me to lift the compass off once I removed it. Oh woe how wrong was I!! As I started to release the bezel the liquid started to drain out. Quickly put it back in place and now have large bubble at top of dome. Doh. There is only one screw which seems to be holding down the white coloured section on which the compass is mounted so I took this out and tried to lift off the whole caboodle. No lucfk. It may be 'welded' in place by 20 years corrosion of I may be trying to move the wrong thing. Does anyone have any experience of this or know where I can find diagrams of the thing to give me a clue. If I cannot sort this I shall be well skuppered. Thanks for any advice you can give. PS I don't know what the liquid is - Absolute ethanol?

 

[VicS]

Don't experiment with compass fluids. If you top up with the wrong thing it could be total disaster. Although you'll now get countless suggestions of what to use from people who have taken a chance and got away with it. A compass repairer should be able to supply the correct fluid. Eg Sirs Navigation or BPSC marine (our own BPSCmarine )