Ritchie Compass Light Fix

My old boat had two Ritchie Compasses on it. The one on the flydeck was in pretty sad shape with a huge bubble and lettering that was browning. I was considering topping it off with more compass oil, but it also seemed to have defects in the glass so I'm going to toss it. The other one is in OK shape except that the internal light was toast with the lighting wire broken and using an old incandescent bulb mount that was completely corroded. I replaced that socket with a LED and thought I would share some pics. Taking these pictures exposed some more glass flaws which really surprised me. Maybe these just are too old?

I’ve never done it but I know Ritchie offers a rebuild service. Don’t know what the cost is or if it would be worth it.

Bustlebomb said:

I’ve never done it but I know Ritchie offers a rebuild service. Don’t know what the cost is or if it would be worth it.

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They also sell repair parts and you can get diagrams online. Repair is not difficult.

It may be the oil itself that has darkened.
Ideally it would be non photochemically reactive but who knows.

bayview said:

It may be the oil itself that has darkened.
Ideally it would be non photochemically reactive but who knows.

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I think you will find Ritchie recemmends odorless mineral spirits for fill. I've done a couple and repair/refill was EZ.
Follow directions for putting it in freezer prior to use to help drive out any entrapped air.

Greetings,
Mr. DB. Nice. I see the 280 ohm resister but is that a diode in the circuit as well?

I rebuilt mine. Go to grandbankschoices.

New glass fluid, seals, oil.

Not much to it, looks like new.
They have cards too.

Yep! LED. Light Emitting Diode

Greetings,
Mr. DB. Nope. NOT the LED, that other "device" in series with the resister on the, I assume, +'ve lead of the LED or is that 2 resisters in series?

RT Firefly said:

Greetings,
Mr. DB. Nope. NOT the LED, that other "device" in series with the resister on the, I assume, +'ve lead of the LED or is that 2 resisters in series?

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Oh! Now I get that you are referring to the pics! Those are actually four resistors. Two 360 Ohms in parallel in series with two 200 Ohms in parallel to equal 280 Ohms total. I did this so I could keep the resistors within their power limits. I am dissipating about 1/2 Watt through them and I only had 1/4 Watt resistors in my tool box. Good question!

Choices said:

I rebuilt mine. Go to grandbankschoices.

New glass fluid, seals, oil.

Not much to it, looks like new.
They have cards too.

Click to expand...

I think mine has too much glass damage to worry about fixing. Here is a picture of that one. The cracks REALLY show up if you light it and look at it in the dark. Bummer.

Greetings,
Mr. DB. Thanks. So I'm guessing a 1/2 watt 280 ohm on the + side is the way to go. I took "electronics" about 50 years ago and with my Dollarama spectacles and non-existent memory I just wanted to clarify.

DBoat said:

I think mine has too much glass damage to worry about fixing. Here is a picture of that one. The cracks REALLY show up if you light it and look at it in the dark.

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UV damage. Ritchie sells domes and o-rings. Simple repair and probably a lot cheaper than new compass (assuming you still have the model label attached.)

Your choice...but as often as I have used a compass in the last 20 years, as long as I can see the card under the lubber line..... I might just fix the light and any bubble and call it good.

SoWhat said:

UV damage. Ritchie sells domes and o-rings. Simple repair and probably a lot cheaper than new compass (assuming you still have the model label attached.)

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Exactly... Parts available. I found just cleaning the card helped brighten things up when I did a rebuild. There seemed to be a very fine/faint brownish haze on internal parts that wiped off easily when apart.

I went through my compass about 8 years ago. I replaced the glass and recall it was relatively cheap. I replaced the oil and a bubble showed up a few days later. I removed the fill screw, topped it off and put the compass in a small vacuum chamber for a bit. Compass has looked great ever since.

compass

I have had this company rebuild a compass for me:

Andrews Compass Service. (No affiliation with company) Just know from personal experience that they do good work.

www.andrewscompass.com

PROFESSIONAL MARINE COMPASS ADJUSTMENT SERVICE FOR DANFORTH ITT, RITCHIE NAVIGATION, PLASTIMO, CASSENS & PLATH, SUUNTO, DIRIGO, SESTREL/SIRS NAVIGATION AND C, PLATH COMPASSES

They are out of Mass.

I guess I'll keep it around in the Todo pile and see if I can clean it up and add fluid. Maybe after I get through my full-page of other fixes for the boat. I'm trying not to get overwhelmed! It would be great to do a complete overhaul and document it. It was fun replacing the light in the other one and am very happy about how it came out.

DBoat said:

I guess I'll keep it around in the Todo pile and see if I can clean it up and add fluid. Maybe after I get through my full-page of other fixes for the boat. I'm trying not to get overwhelmed! It would be great to do a complete overhaul and document it. It was fun replacing the light in the other one and am very happy about how it came out.

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To-do lists are great, as long as you look at them once in a while. Great stress reliever for me. Wake up in the middle of the night with a project on my mind? Reach over and tell the wife to remember - uh, NO!!! Forget that. I write it on a night stand pad.

The saga continues... I got my good compass all fixed up, took it to the boat yesterday adjusted it this morning to true North, went to install it later in the morning and BAM! a bubble has appeared. What the heck! It wasn't there before. I posted the pics above that prove it. Really not happy. Maybe need to get a new seal, and finally order more fluid. Ahhhhhhh! Also bought a cheap temporary one from Amazon that is all plasticky, that one actually seems to work ok for now.

Dang it, I made a really dumb and ignorant mistake. Should've done more research/Youtube watching. I "Adjusted" the compass using the FILL port! This is what caused my bubble. Ordering more fluid, watching more video how tos, reading more service manuals..... Rant done.

DBoat said:

The saga continues... I got my good compass all fixed up, took it to the boat yesterday adjusted it this morning to true North, went to install it later in the morning and BAM! a bubble has appeared. What the heck! It wasn't there before. I posted the pics above that prove it. Really not happy. Maybe need to get a new seal, and finally order more fluid. Ahhhhhhh! Also bought a cheap temporary one from Amazon that is all plasticky, that one actually seems to work ok for now.

Click to expand...

Were there any instructions with the fluid?
When I refurbed a Ritchie the instructions were to place fluid in freezer at least overnight before using it to refill.
Apparently that helps drive out dissolved O2.

Bacchus said:

Were there any instructions with the fluid?

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Haven't replaced the fluid yet. I just made a dumb mistake and "cracked" the seal on the fill port...

When I do add fluid, I'm going to freeze both then fill.

Bacchus said:

Were there any instructions with the fluid?
When I refurbed a Ritchie the instructions were to place fluid in freezer at least overnight before using it to refill.
Apparently that helps drive out dissolved O2.

Click to expand...

I did mine about 20 yrs ago. For the past 15 yrs or so, that little bubble has appeared and gets bigger, then smaller, then bigger,....
With the explanation now in front of me, Thanks very much Baccus! I will tackle it again before next summer.

I bought what was called at the time "compass oil". It came in a 1/2l bottle, that I should still have around the boat somewhere. Seemed very light, colourless. Maybe mineral spirits?

As for a light, at night I always run on radar, which is down in the wheelhouse. The Ritchie is up top, so I don't even recall there being a light, or if there is, how to find the switch to turn it on.

koliver said:

As for a light, at night I always run on radar, which is down in the wheelhouse. The Ritchie is up top, so I don't even recall there being a light, or if there is, how to find the switch to turn it on.

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Mine had a cable that had corroded and broken off out the back. No switch. You would usually connect the light up to your ignition switch or whatever source that your instrument lights are connected to. If it has been that long I would expect the bulb and socket to be severely corroded and in need of attention.

I just replaced all my Stewart Warner clear gauge lights with these red LED bulbs. I had a couple left over so I replaced the one on my Richie compass. Turns out that the Ritchie bulb wasn't burnt out (and it wasn't red). As I was working on it the wire pulled up through the dash. It had either been cut or else it was never connected. I traced the compass circuit breaker to a buss bar, but there wasn't a wire continuing on to the compass. Another mystery solved.

A syringe or eye dropper helps with the last little bit of fill to get in as much as possible and not leave an air bubble.

One way to leave your Lubber

I finally got my compass bubble free! It was a bit of a challenge to get the last little bubble vanquished with some turning and checking, plug screw in and out a few times. And yes I had the whole compass and new fluid cooled down from being in the refrigerator and used a syringe. After the bubble was finally gone I had something really confusing happen. My Rear Lubber Line was now a Front Lubber Line!!! I twisted and turned the compass trying to correct it but could not get the internal gimble that holds the lubber line flipped.

Really got me scratching my head.

It was a good thing I have the other bad compass still around so I drained that one and completely took it apart. While playing with the exposed gimble it finally dawned on me. The fill hole screw also limits the movement of the Gimble with the Lubber Line. I had to partially remove the screw, get the gimble to rotate around into the correct position then replace the screw, the Rear Lubber line was back where it should be. Voila!

Moral of the Story: "There may be Fifty ways to leave your Lover, but there's only One way to leave your Lubber"

Greetings,
Mr.DB....





Good one.

You are in Oceanside just north of San Diego. I would take the compass down to Baker Marine on Shelter Island and have them take a look. They rebuilt my Danforth and (IMHO) the older compasses were better built than many today. At any rate, they can tell you if it's worth rebuilding.