Ritchie Explorer compass - filling fluid?

[GreatLakeSailor]

All,



I have been looking in to trying to add fluid to my Ritchie Explorer. It has a a bubble that is a bit less than a US dime in size, so it isn't terrible, just annoying.



In inspecting the compass I see it has a rubber seal/diaphragm on the bottom. The side of the bottom of the encapsulated compartment has a round protrusion that is covered with a red plastic of some kind. This is sealed off - like a welded shut port. It does not have a plug or screw type opening in it.



Looking online it appears that a lot of large binnicle mount compasses have a port on the side of the encapsulated compartment that is accessible via a screw with a grommet style seal or another plug of some kind. I don't have that.



Are there any suggestions on how to get fluid in to the compass?



I am not sure of the age of the compass, I found it in my tackle shed so it is something my grandpa had. It could be 15 years old or it could be 30 years old, no idea. I see there was a change in fluid at one point from "mineral spirits" to some other kind of improved fluid. As to what side of that break my compass falls on I have no idea.



The model is B-51- it is a bracket mount. SN is 010300010952 and there is also a note on the SN tag that says "no refill". Yet the manual states the compass is 100% repairable.



Do I have to drill the welded port open, fill, then seal back up somehow? That might be a delicate process so as to not get plastic chips in the fluid but I can try....

[sparrowhawk1]

How is the diaphragm attached? Seems to me the best thing to do would be to loosen the seal when the diaphragm is on top and then push out all the air by pressing on the diaphragm.

[Alan Mighty]

Originally Posted by GreatLakeSailor

Do I have to drill the welded port open, fill, then seal back up somehow? That might be a delicate process so as to not get plastic chips in the fluid but I can try....

https://www.ritchienavigation.com/care-maintenance/

[GreatLakeSailor]

Originally Posted by Alan Mighty

https://www.ritchienavigation.com/care-maintenance/

All that tells me is how to clean and to contact the factory.

Originally Posted by sparrowhawk1

How is the diaphragm attached? Seems to me the best thing to do would be to loosen the seal when the diaphragm is on top and then push out all the air by pressing on the diaphragm.

The diaphragm is sealed in. There is no way to open the capsule. It is welded/glued together. So that gets back to the same predicament as the welded shut port - I have to drill that or break in to the capsule somehow.



I suppose the good thing is how small the bubble is for how old the compass may be. It isn't loosing fluid fast.

[Geoff Ferrell]

i'm perplexed by your statement about 'the only way' to get fluid in. i've rebuilt a couple of compasses for my 30 to 38 ft boats (2 compasses, several times each - because i did it wrong the first ___ times). i do not remember anything especially exotic about access.
One recommendation i can make with confidence is that, when you refill, you need to immerse the whole shebang in a bucket of the fluid. i ended up using an old plastic gallon container that had cat litter in it. Everything barely fit - so it took less fluid. those last bits of air take time to bubble & burp out.
don't buy the Ritchie fluid, go to the hardware store and get paraffin for torches.

Geoff
SV Callae Jane
(compass was bone dry on purchase, no bubbles now in 2 years)

[GreatLakeSailor]

See if the pictures do a better job of describing what I have...

[sparrowhawk1]

With a bubble that small I would wait till it got bigger. In photo number four is that white tab what you're talking about as a sealed off area? If you can get your hands on a hypodermic needle, I think they're sold for diabetics in drugstores, you should be able to inject mineral oil and then seal it off with a glue gun.
Edit. You might have to drill through the welded shut port and then seal with a glue gun or epoxy. I would recommend putting everything in the freezer for a few hours first.

[GreatLakeSailor]

The left side of photo 4 is an area surrounded by red plastic/coating. That is the sealed off area. You can also see it in the bottom right of picture 2.


What looks like a white tab is an open spot in the plastic housing that you can see through to the white paper I used as a backdrop for the pictures.

[sparrowhawk1]

Okay so drill a small hole about the size of the hypodermic needle in the most appropriate place fill with mineral oil and then seal with epoxy, glue gun or you can even probably melt the plastic to seal with a soldering iron.

[Geoff Ferrell]

This is what i would expect to be the access point - is THAT what is 'welded' shut?
The ones i worked on had screw-plugs.
might be a mass-production, planned obsolescence, they want you to buy another one...
IF you do try and re-fill it - definitely do it all completely dunked.

[sparrowhawk1]

Or you can drill and tap a hole and have a threaded bolt with an o-ring or rubber washer so you can repeat if necessary. Once again best results if fluids are cold. most likely the problem is your diaphragm is not flexible enough and the compass was in the sun

[GordMay]

“Until 2001, all Ritchie compasses (see exception) were filled with Odorless Mineral Spirits (100% Paraffin based). Ritchie now uses a fluid called Isopar L that has similar properties but some added benefits over Odorless Mineral Spirits.
Exception: Some old style Flat Top Compasses used a mix of denatured alcohol and water. This process was stopped in the 1960s. If you have a Flat Top Compass, it is recommended that you test the fluid to see if it is Odorless Mineral Spirits or an alcohol/water mix.”
“All Ritchie magnetic compasses should be completely filled with fluid. If your compass has a bubble or no fluid, most likely, the compass needs to be repaired or replaced.”
See ➥ https://www.ritchienavigation.com/ca...ked-questions/

[Spot]

Mine came equipped with a 'NO REFILL' sticker...
Maybe contact Ritchie for a warranty claim?

[GrowleyMonster]

A dime size bubble? Meh. Do you know how to check your compass error and set up a deviation chart? THIS IS ESSENTIAL, PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE MOST BASIC OF NAVIGATIONAL INSTRUMENTS, and most important, and also sadly the most neglected, is your magnetic compass. You trust your compass to show you which way is what, but you never check it. How do you know that 270deg magnetic is actually 270deg magnetic? What true heading is that? Do you have a clue as to what the compass is supposed to be telling you, or what to do with that information? Do you ever venture out of sight of land? You MUST MUST MUST understand the magnetic compass, how it works, why it has error, why that is not a bad thing, how to compensate for those errors, even more than how to get rid of a tiny bubble. Anyway, if it works, don't mess with it. But check it, and check it often, both by ranges and by celestial azimuths.Set up a new deviation table every year or after any change in boat configuration or any lightning strike. Take an azimuth or an amplitude every day on an ocean passage. That is part of the navigator's days work. Even on ships, an azimuth or an amplitude is customarily taken every day, Even gyrocompasses have error, and can malfunction. This is not hard to learn. Not complicated. If you can't learn it, it is because you are not interested enough in learning it. God, help all mariners unfortunate enough to be sailing among disinterested skippers! Protect us from their reckless ignorance, and have mercy on their helpless passengers! Amen.



So step one is to learn how to find variation, and take azimuths on ranges, and calculate your deviation on a number of different headings. If you have no more than three or four degrees deviation on a small boat compass, you are doing better than many. Set up a dev table for navigational use and for future reference to see if deviation has changed. NOW figure out whether your compass is still functioning normally or not. As your heading changes, does the compass seem to drag and jerk? Does the compass card tilt over to one side and stay there? Problems arise when there is too little fluid but it takes a significant loss to affect the compass function. A dime size bubble should not be noticeable.



After properly checking your compass, if it seems to be working properly, don't try to fix it.



A lot of budget compasses are made with no provision for refilling. Don't bother. Get a new one instead and call it a lesson learned. You get what you pay for.


If you carry a spare, even a handheld one, set up a deviation table for that, too. Handhelds must always be used in the same location, or the deviation will be different from the table.


And don't think you can navigate by the Sun if you don't even know how to shoot an azimuth and calculate compass error. Be a navigator, not just a boat steery guy.

[foufou]

When I rebuilt my Ritchie compass several years ago it needed parts like the dome and the o ring that seals it. I called the phone number in the link above and got very good advice and help. They recommended that I fill it with oder-less paint thinner from Home depot.It was one of my best customer experiences. Foufou