Binocular compass sticking

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KAM

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I've got a pair of binocular compasses bought from Aldi or Lidl branded Traveler but identical to many other brands and unbranded on sale. They've been excellent up to now particularly after the gooey plastic cover phase cured itself. Unfortunately the compass is now sticking. There seems to be plenty of fluid. I was wondering if anyone has taken these apart or could shed light on what the problem might be. They seem to work OK when tilted up from the horizon. I was wondering if the compass maybe has a balance weight
 
Easy enough to remove the compass. Rather strange appearance. The underside of the compass card seems to be covered with what looks like iron filings which when tapped are mobile and can jam the card. A bit difficult to imagine the degradation mechanism. Anyone any ideas where I could get a replacement.
 
My identical Traveller Binocs compass failed about five years ago (after ten years). The fluid suspension was contaminated in the compass capsule and it had all gone very manky inside. I messed it up further taking the lid off the capsule, so I hope you are less cack handed than me if you give it a go.
I did try googling and searching to see if there was a suitable replacement capsule out there, but never found one.
Good luck. I told myself no compass is better than a dodgy one ?
 
Yes my thoughts better to remove it than have it sticking. Can't seem to to see a way into mine appears to be moulded. I'm going to drill a hole and see if I can clean it out. Strange contamination almost looks like seaweed.
 
KAM said:
Yes my thoughts better to remove it than have it sticking. Can't seem to to see a way into mine appears to be moulded. I'm going to drill a hole and see if I can clean it out. Strange contamination almost looks like seaweed.
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I think the lid comes off, but I think I was a bit brutal in removing it. I can't really remember, except that it wasn't one of my successes in fiddling with "stuff" ?
 
Found a manufacturers logo on the compass card. Post mortem reveals the magnetic material under the card must have been a compressed iron powder disc and has now disintegrated into the damping fluid. Looks like a challenging repair indeed.
 

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Thanks for sharing.

I have the same product and same story albeit not completely dead yet as can still get it to indicate direction. Not reliable though.

Your post saved me the hazzle and time. As always eVilbay and the Junglezite have plenty of products that allegedly can do everything and then some, but I'll check some shops and get my hands on the actual products before trying my luck online.
 
I see that the same binoculars are still for sale under various brand names. Changing the compass is a trivial 5 minute job. I've found them very good otherwise and a bargain when I got mine from Lidl many years ago. No luck sourcing a spare yet. "China bouy" do exist but only seem to make bouys as far as I've been able to tell.
 
I notice the Bresser Nautics look exactly the same as the ones I am repairing as do the Seago branded ones and many others. Maybe the extra cost is so they can cover the warranty costs when the compass fails.
 
I tracked down the manufacturer in China who were quite responsive. Looks like they make all the ones that look similar you can have any logo you want. 50 dollars a pair. They can't supply a spare compass. Repair looks promising the top is off and all the loose magnetic material cleaned out. A dry assembly indicates it's now swinging freely and the view is good. Plan is to take the needle off an old cheap compass and glue it under the card. Make a new plastic top from an old CD box. Glue in place and refill through a small hole. May work. An interesting little project. Suspect the material causing contamination may be something to do with damping the mechanism seems to be too much just for a magnet.
 
KAM said:
I tracked down the manufacturer in China who were quite responsive. Looks like they make all the ones that look similar you can have any logo you want. 50 dollars a pair. They can't supply a spare compass. Repair looks promising the top is off and all the loose magnetic material cleaned out. A dry assembly indicates it's now swinging freely and the view is good. Plan is to take the needle off an old cheap compass and glue it under the card. Make a new plastic top from an old CD box. Glue in place and refill through a small hole. May work. An interesting little project. Suspect the material causing contamination may be something to do with damping the mechanism seems to be too much just for a magnet.
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I have a similar issue. How did the repair go?
 
It's still on my desk and the to do list. Cutting an old needle in half didn't work as I thought. Obviously it will give a NS NS. It should be possible but i think it needs to be magnetically connected across the pivot. Might explain why the original was made of a strange iron powder mixture which disintegrated. I'll have another go as the binoculars are still good. If you come up with anything please post.
 
Action optics used to post on here and repair binos. Compass cards on this type of compass usually have two rods either side of the centre instead of a magnetic needle. The iron filings you mention sound very strange.
 
When I took it apart there appeared to be what looked like iron filings hanging from the bottom of the card. They just brushed off. It looked like some sort of soft iron magnetic compound had been used but it had reacted and softened with the compass fluid. I'll try a couple of strips either side of the pivot. It's very likely that a huge number of this type of binocular will suffer the same fate. Hopefully it's been rectified in more recent production.
 
KAM said:
When I took it apart there appeared to be what looked like iron filings hanging from the bottom of the card. They just brushed off. It looked like some sort of soft iron magnetic compound had been used but it had reacted and softened with the compass fluid. I'll try a couple of strips either side of the pivot. It's very likely that a huge number of this type of binocular will suffer the same fate. Hopefully it's been rectified in more recent production.
Click to expand...
Sounds like you are correct in that the magnet rods have disintegrated. Sounds like you have it well under control.
 
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