Trevor_swfyc
New member
Hi, there have been many posts on this problem. I have just put my Plastimo Contest back on the boat after cleaning it.
The problem was getting worse in that you could hardly see the rear of the compass card. I removed the compass from the boat drained down the liquid via the filling screw hole. The liquid was filtered even though it looked reasonably clear.
The plastic ball is two halves held by a rubber expander joint, the rear half is blue and the front clear, except it had become hazy. I washed out the compass with white spirit to remove the last trace of compass liquid, then washed it with soapy water (fairy), it still had a white film on the inner face of the compass. I then tried biological liquid solution and left it for 2hrs to soak. I then washed it out with water twice and then distilled water.
The water was removed by air blowing using an aquatic air pump and warming the compass globe with a hair drier.
The compass fluid was then replaced using a syringe the slight short fall in liquid was made good with double distilled Turpentine.
Result the compass is now as good as new, well nearly.
The compass always had a cover on it but it was not stopping light / uv getting in.
I have now painted the inside of the cover to completly eliminate uv degredation which I think caused the problem. PS the compass was 14 years old. Also take care not to scratch the plastic face of the compass, I protected mine with insulation tape while working on it.
Note Turpentine was not the liquid in the compass, but the dilution was less than 5% and it was completly miscible with the compass liquid so I do not expect any problems by using turpentine.
If you have a similar problem, give it a go!
Trevor
The problem was getting worse in that you could hardly see the rear of the compass card. I removed the compass from the boat drained down the liquid via the filling screw hole. The liquid was filtered even though it looked reasonably clear.
The plastic ball is two halves held by a rubber expander joint, the rear half is blue and the front clear, except it had become hazy. I washed out the compass with white spirit to remove the last trace of compass liquid, then washed it with soapy water (fairy), it still had a white film on the inner face of the compass. I then tried biological liquid solution and left it for 2hrs to soak. I then washed it out with water twice and then distilled water.
The water was removed by air blowing using an aquatic air pump and warming the compass globe with a hair drier.
The compass fluid was then replaced using a syringe the slight short fall in liquid was made good with double distilled Turpentine.
Result the compass is now as good as new, well nearly.
The compass always had a cover on it but it was not stopping light / uv getting in.
I have now painted the inside of the cover to completly eliminate uv degredation which I think caused the problem. PS the compass was 14 years old. Also take care not to scratch the plastic face of the compass, I protected mine with insulation tape while working on it.
Note Turpentine was not the liquid in the compass, but the dilution was less than 5% and it was completly miscible with the compass liquid so I do not expect any problems by using turpentine.
If you have a similar problem, give it a go!
Trevor