Silva 150 compass refill

[Tibor- Puma 38]

Hi Folks,

It may be interesting for sooneone in similar trouble - i just successfully refilled my Silva 150 compass.
I checked several types of mineral oil and the lamp oil was the best - i poured a small amount of the original oil from the compass, than added some lamp oil - they mixed perfectly.

I used a small flannel, further reduced by a pen case, atrached to the fannel using electric insulation tape.

It may be a good idea to cool down the oil and the compass in the fridge for an hour before you start the operation, but our fridge on board is also under repair...still, by the 6th attempt i managed to fill it yp without bubble - you need to put the compass to the position so that the filler screw is at the highest point. You can also knock on the compass gousing to get the air out.
All in all it takes 3 liters to completely fill up an empty compass, so be prepared.

[Orion Jim]

That’s an extraordinary amount of fluid for a standard compass.

[tkeithlu]

Thank you for posting. I'll tuck away that understanding.

Did you get a decimal point in the wrong place? A Silva 150 might take 0.3 liters of oil.

[Nicholson58]

I found the W&P binnacle compass totally drained when we acquired our boat. The plug had dried and cracked in this 40 year old compass. I took it to a certified instrument repair shop at an airport. They service aircraft instruments and coincidentally many non aircraft stuff. It was Less than $200 including replacing the card, oil, plug and recalibration. I also took the opportunity to build a replacement LED tiny red light.

[Spot]

I like the rebuild stories. The Airguide compass on my boat was too far gone to rebuild, dome cracked in multiple places and screws missing on the gimbal. With a virtual tear in my eye I ordered a Ritchie B51 online.