Compass Interference from Electrical Panel ?

[wolfenzee]

The original location for the compass on my boat was a bulkhead compass in a companionway crib board..OK for day sailing...I guess. So I moved it to where a dead light was beside the companionway. This was fine (when you were on a starboard tack), but I am installing companionway doors to replace the hatch boards so it only works when the doors are closed. The only other place I can put a compass is a bulkhead compass in the forward end of the cockpit or a flush mount on the nav deck (with appropriate guards to keep it from being stepped on). In either case that puts the compass about 6" from my very basic 12v electrical panel (3' or more feet from battery switch, batteries, charger, inverter, etc). Will this cause interference and if so how can it be shielded.

[Ike]

Yes it probably will cause interference. Supposedly twisting the positive and negative wires together helps to eliminate this, but you would have to do that for any near the compass. There may be other ways to shield it.