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chinooktrail

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Ok, in the last few years I have gone through 2 compasses. I have no idea why, but they both did the same thing. First they got a very large air bubble in them, and then they would freeze when I was hiking.

The first one was a Silva Ranger, the one I have now is a Suunto MC-2.

What am I doing wrong, and what compass should I purchase?

It is pretty frustrating to try to learn a new skill with equipment that keeps failing for an unknown reason...

:(
 
:( :( :(

80 people have looked at this post and not ONE reply???

Doesn't anyone use a compas anymore?

How am I going to learn to triangulate and all that neat stuff?

:(
 
Well, I am by no means an expert so I will help best I can....

The bubble should not be a problem (it is formed when the outside plastic bezel expans faster than the liquid creating a vacum and thus a bubble....at least thats what Brunton says). According to the Brunton website a bubble will not cause any accuracy discrepencies.

But as for freezing....I have no idea why its doing that, nor how to fix it......sorry :eek:

Brian
 
Presumably you had a leak in the compass capsules.

Freezing should not be a problem and the size of the bubble can expand and shrink as the capsule expands and shrinks with the temperature.

I've had a Silva Ranger for over 30 years without problems. (The temp spec is -40F-- +140F.) I also have 2 small (.5--.75 inch) backups that have never had a problem.

But I did have a car compass develop a leak.

Doug
 
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chinooktrail said:
Ok, in the last few years I have gone through 2 compasses. I have no idea why, but they both did the same thing. First they got a very large air bubble in them, and then they would freeze when I was hiking.

The first one was a Silva Ranger, the one I have now is a Suunto MC-2.

What am I doing wrong, and what compass should I purchase?

It is pretty frustrating to try to learn a new skill with equipment that keeps failing for an unknown reason...

:(
My favorite Ranger developed a bubble after heavy use for over 25 years. It still works, but the bubble is just too annoying. I retired it from serious backcountry use, but it's like losing an old friend. Sometimes the bubble goes away, but it always reappears again, usually after a large temperature change (I think). I have a new Ranger now, but it is built differently I don't like it as well.

I also have a variety of over a dozen high quality simpler baseplate style (non-mirrored) compasses (I teach wilderness map & compass to small groups). I use one of them more often than the new Ranger. Only one has developed a bubble after several years but the others are ok. Short of blaming it on radical temperature changes and age, I don't know what causes the bubble in an otherwise good compass.

At a boy scout camp I noticed a whole rack of baseplate orienteering compasses, each and every one had a bubble. I mentioned it to the trading post manager - she thought they were supposed to have bubbles! i told her to send them back.
 
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This is not a little air bubble we are talking about.

When i returned the Silva Ranger to L.L. bean, the guy said he had never seen that happen before. Lucky me. :mad:

I replaced it with the Suunto, but oddly enough, I had the same problems. Large air bubble, I mean LARGE, and the liquid freezing and the needle unable to rotate freely.

I am not traveling to the poles or on an extended Greenland Expedition for ice surveys yet, but what is the dael with these compasses?

Seems a bit odd to say the least.

:confused:
 
so you think that is what happened to both of them? From camping or hiking I sllowed them to freeze and the 'seal' was broken?

hum. You would think compass makers would know you are taking these things out in cold temps for extended periods of time.

Ok.

off to search the web for a great compass deal.

Maybe they make a four season one!

:D
 
The freezing part is what is most odd. The liquid in the compass in not just plain old tap water, and I was under the impression it would take quite a temperature drop to freeze a needle.....like temps way lower than you would find around here. Doug, care to comment????

Brian
 
The coldest I have camped out in NH is -28*. That was while dogsledding on Lake umbagog for 3 days and 2 nights.

The coldest I camped in Alaska was pretty darned cold...

The coldest I have seen any thermometer was something like -58* in Tok Alaska on my way home. That was cold.

I did have the Silva Ranger on both of these occasions.
 
I have had similar experiences and frown when my compass "develops" a bubble. I never thought it to be freezing as I always thought they where oil filled.

On my last one I saw a very small crack. That and the rejects I've gotten from the manufacturers when I request a warranty replacement have lead me to consider my conduct as the cause. It's tough to think of that hard plastic as delicate, but it appears to be more fragile than it appears. I speculate that impacts on adjacent stuff (in the pack or elsewhere) is the cause.

So I've taken a new precaution. When I added a compass to the collection of compasses with bubbles that I keep (never could bring myself to throw them out) I decided to make a protective cover. The easiest and most compact option that I saw was to make one from the blister package the compass was sold in. I simly cut around the compass keeping a 1/8" border on 3 sides. On one side I kept a 1/4" border. On this side I stapled the front and back of the blister pack plastic to create a crude hinge. I keep it closed with a rubber band. :cool: I keep the compass in this case except when I have it out for use.

No bubble yet.
 
40 years and still going.

I have a Silva compass that I have used for over 40 years. It does have a bubble but this does not seem to impact its performance at all. It has been out in very cold conditions without freezing. I appears that you just had a string of bad luck in selecting a compass. May be it is time to buy a lottery ticket.

I retired this old Silva last year because the printing on the base plate was becoming illegable. It was replaced by a Suunto MC-2G that went on a 5 day snowshoeing trip this year. Temperatures dropped to -20F at night--No leaks and no bubble.
 
Huuummmm....

You are the 5th person in 3 days to tell me to buy a lottery ticket.

It isn't as though I have had much bad luck these last few years...

:rolleyes:

Maybe I will just go and get myself a lottery ticket, at least it is for education right?!

And I guess I will just buy yet another compass as well.

:)
 
To be honest I never paid much attention to a bubble. I do think I have seen them but wasn't sure so I got out my two compasses. One had no bubble, but the one I regularly use had a small one. Reading the link Wambek provided it suggested if there is a bubble to put it in a warm area, such as a sunny window sill. I did that a little over an hour ago and the bubble is gone. Learn something new everyday. :)
 
carole said:
Reading the link Wambek provided it suggested if there is a bubble to put it in a warm area, such as a sunny window sill. I did that a little over an hour ago and the bubble is gone. Learn something new everyday. :)
Don't get your hopes up too much... if it is anything like bubble in my old favorite it will come and go, lifting your heart when it is gone and then dashing it again upon it's unwelcome ugly return. :(
 
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John H Swanson said:
So I've taken a new precaution. When I added a compass to the collection of compasses with bubbles that I keep (never could bring myself to throw them out) I decided to make a protective cover. The easiest and most compact option that I saw was to make one from the blister package the compass was sold in. I simly cut around the compass keeping a 1/8" border on 3 sides. On one side I kept a 1/4" border. On this side I stapled the front and back of the blister pack plastic to create a crude hinge. I keep it closed with a rubber band. :cool: I keep the compass in this case except when I have it out for use.
A leather case used to be available for the Silva Ranger--I have carried mine in such a case. It certainly protects the compass from small dings, but is unlikely to protect it from a crushing force (eg falling or sitting on your pack*). Perhaps the case is a factor in the 30+ year survival of my compass.

* It resides high in my pack and I tend to sit and fall on the bottom of the pack.

One should note that is case is too heavy for the modern ultra-lighter. For that matter, so is the Silva Ranger (3 oz)...

Doug
 
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chinooktrail said:
And I guess I will just buy yet another compass as well.
IMO, the expected value of a compass is much higher than that of a lottery ticket...

BTW, I just ran into some comments complaining about poor quality control on the current Silva Ranger CL. Read the customer reviews under http://www.rei.com/product/408031. One of the complainants suggested the Suunto MC-2 (http://www.rei.com/product/652898) as a very similar, but better made substitute.

BTW2, the compass store lists several versions of the MC-2 and a cordura case. http://www.thecompassstore.com/suunto.html?gclid=CIiJx9rr7pECFQHhPAodDn77xg

(Standard caveat--I have no connections with the above stores. I am only referring to them as sources of information.)

Doug
 
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I also had a compass with a bubble, started tiny and grew. When it got big enough to be annoying I tried draining all the liquid but it didn't seem to work as well so I got a new one. (Many cheap compasses never have liquid.)

It used to be that in the better grade you had a choice of liquid-damped or induction-damped compasses, if you have bad luck with liquid buy one without.
 
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