Removing Plastimo Bulkhead Compass

[etapper]

How do I remove a Plastimo bulkhead compass? There are no screws showing on the compass when viewed from the outside (apart from 2 small ones which hold the light fitting), and the ends of nylon bolts showing when viewed from the inside bulkhead. And once I have removed it, how do I top up the liquid (I have a fairly large bubble) - and what fluid do I use?.

Many thanks, Fred

 

[ShipsWoofy]

if it is the 101...

Feel at the bottom, you should have a small oblong hole am 10mm in the cover. Inside this hole should be a plastic tag, using a small screwdriver to push the tag upward, this should release the front cover.

There are four plastic threads with nuts, you should now have access to these from the rear of the bulkhead and the now opened up front. You may have to click off a rear cover if it goes right through the bullhead.

As for opening to fill, not a clue, sorry.

 

[awol]

As described by Dogwatch, 4 plastic nuts on plastic threads. I too had a bubble in one of mine, when I removed it I found the clear plastic globe was split - not the bellows bit and the rest of the contents (smelled and felt like light mineral oil) decanted. At this point I gave up and bought a new one. Good luck!

 

[john_morris_uk]

They usually get a bubble when the rubber bellows between the two plastic hemispheres gets a leak. You will find a small plastic screw to top up with, but the chances are another bubble will develop fairly soon. Sadly these are not economical to repair as far as I know. (I have had to replace a couple in the past...)

 

[Egbod]

P M sent

 

[etapper]

I have now sorted my compass. It's a bulkhead fitted Plastimo Contest. I removed it by undoing four plastic nuts from the back of the bulkhead. I topped up the fluid after removing a small brass screw set into the rear edge of the plastic bowl. This screw was sealed over with black paint. Taking the screw out leaves a small threaded hole through which it is possible to top up the fluid. The fluid in my Plastimo compass is white spirit (which is interesting as a search of the web came up with a variety of other suggestions). After a bit of experimenting I found the easiest way to top up was to attach a small dia pipe (e.g. the spray extension pipe from a can of WD40) to a longer piece of clear plastic tubing of larger dia. I connected the two using electrical tape, which worked OK. I then syphoned some white spirit up into the tuble, placed the small dia pipe in the filling hole, and let the white spirit run into the bowl. After making sure all the air had been removed from the bowl, I replaced the brass screw, being careful not to compress the two halfs of the bowl, which would have pushed the fuid out and sucked air back in. I then sealed the screw with a blob of paint - using paint which is compatible with white spirit, since there was a tiny amount around the head of the screw. Seems to be OK but I have not yet refitted the compass to the boat and seen what happens over time. I also wondered whether I should have compressed the two halves of the bowl as I was finally fitting the top-up screw, to make more allowance for the fluid to expand when it gets warm. In the end I sealed it in its relaxed state, bearing in mind the ambient temperature was about 20 degrees C, and about the middle of temp range the compass is likely to see. Eventual success will depend upon where the compass was leaking intially. This appeared to be from filling screw and hoping therefore it was not the bellows.

 

[gandy]

How did you find out it was white spirit? Just from the smell and appearance?

My similar compass is cloudy, I'm not sure if it's the fluid or the globe, but it sounds like it may be worth trying changing the fluid. (Mine's easy to remove)

Tony S

 

[graham]

I used a childs medicine syringe from Boots or any chemist to top up an old Sestrel compass I had. I was advised to use pure alcohol which I got from the chemist who was reluctant to sell it too me until I convinced him what I wanted it for.Another time I think a drop of vodka would do ,Cheaper and you can party on the rest /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif