PZL compass repair - Tom ?

OK, my mechanic says I need a compass.
I told him the mountains haven't hardly moved
at all, but he was unmoved as well.

Tom, were you able to stop yours leaking ?

Enquiring minds want to know,
Thanks,
Best Regards, Dave

Dave,

I've been using a small PZL now for 3 years with no leaks.

It's actually my second one - the first also didn't leak, but the
window got all blurry (UV, moisture, bugs, plants in the liquid?) so I
had to replace it. But it didn't leak either.

I do mount mine a bit differently, against the face of the panel,
without using the supplied mount. Don't know if that makes any
difference.

And it actually came in handy once when the visibility was so bad here
in S IL that I had to fly a compass heading to make it home. Nice to
have to crosscheck the magic boxes.

Kirk

wrote:
Tom, were you able to stop yours leaking ?

Yes. I followed Bumper's advice from a different thread and got some
Loctite Depend 330. I built a fillet around the threaded back and so
far it's holding up. I also made sure to only fill it enough so the
air bubble doesn't show in a normal attitude.

-Tom

Ya gotta love it. My compass needs "Depends".
Thanks !
See ya, Dave

5Z wrote:
wrote:
Tom, were you able to stop yours leaking ?

Yes. I followed Bumper's advice from a different thread and got some
Loctite Depend 330. I built a fillet around the threaded back and so
far it's holding up. I also made sure to only fill it enough so the
air bubble doesn't show in a normal attitude.

-Tom

Also, what's the correct fluid ?
To avoid fogging the window or worse ?
Thanks Tom !

A great memory: Vaunted glider-guider demonstrating
instruments to Dave and friends in our infancy:

"Here lads is how you how you top off a compass.
Make sure you've got the right type of fluid. Here
we use type XYZ, carefully filling with a syringe".

Hard to recall which was more amazing - the
numbers gently floating off the compass ball
more or less intact like some weird power-point
animation, or the look on said
vaunted glider-guider's face...

Remember Todd - you were there, right ?

5Z wrote:
wrote:
Tom, were you able to stop yours leaking ?

Yes. I followed Bumper's advice from a different thread and got some
Loctite Depend 330. I built a fillet around the threaded back and so
far it's holding up. I also made sure to only fill it enough so the
air bubble doesn't show in a normal attitude.

-Tom

wrote:
Also, what's the correct fluid ?
To avoid fogging the window or worse ?

I used compass fluid ordered from Aircraft Spruce:
http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalo.../repairkit.php

Still have most of the quart left after filling the compass several
times, so pint should do ya!

-Tom

Hi Tom - Two more questions:

Yours was definitely leaking out the threads
in the back ?

Loctite 330 costs more than our gliders.
From the Loctite product data it looks like
good-ole Loctite 243 is more appropriate
in any case - What am I missing here ?

Thanks for the help !
Best Regards, Dave


5Z wrote:
wrote:
Tom, were you able to stop yours leaking ?

Yes. I followed Bumper's advice from a different thread and got some
Loctite Depend 330. I built a fillet around the threaded back and so
far it's holding up. I also made sure to only fill it enough so the
air bubble doesn't show in a normal attitude.

-Tom

wrote:
Hi Tom - Two more questions:

Yours was definitely leaking out the threads
in the back ?

Yes. I'd put it on the dash of the car on a paper towel and let the
winter sun heat it up, then look for damp spots. Tried to figure out
some kind of tool to open it up and look for O ring to replace, etc,
but all attempts at opening failed, as I didn't want to break it.

Loctite 330 costs more than our gliders.
From the Loctite product data it looks like
good-ole Loctite 243 is more appropriate
in any case - What am I missing here ?

Probably any decent epoxy stuff will do the trick. Bumper's into
exotic tools & such...

I roughed up the gap with a Moto-Tool first.

-Tom

The problem with regular epoxy is that when cured it is relatively hard and
brittle. Thermal expansion and contraction of the epoxy may not be the same
as the plastic being glued.

Loctite "Depend 330" when cured remains flexible and bonds well to a variety
of materials. It will, for instance, bond metal directly to fiberglass with
no lay-up of FRP over the metal required. Useful stuff to have around, but
it does have a limited shelf life, so the large "economy" size ain't.

bumper
"5Z" wrote in message
ups.com...

wrote:
Hi Tom - Two more questions:

Yours was definitely leaking out the threads
in the back ?

Yes. I'd put it on the dash of the car on a paper towel and let the
winter sun heat it up, then look for damp spots. Tried to figure out
some kind of tool to open it up and look for O ring to replace, etc,
but all attempts at opening failed, as I didn't want to break it.

Loctite 330 costs more than our gliders.
From the Loctite product data it looks like
good-ole Loctite 243 is more appropriate
in any case - What am I missing here ?

Probably any decent epoxy stuff will do the trick. Bumper's into
exotic tools & such...

I roughed up the gap with a Moto-Tool first.

-Tom

Not familiar with Loctite 330. How does it compare with Aviation Permatex
for this use?

--
Hartley Falbaum
"bumper" wrote in message
...
The problem with regular epoxy is that when cured it is relatively hard
and brittle. Thermal expansion and contraction of the epoxy may not be the
same as the plastic being glued.

Loctite "Depend 330" when cured remains flexible and bonds well to a
variety of materials. It will, for instance, bond metal directly to
fiberglass with no lay-up of FRP over the metal required. Useful stuff to
have around, but it does have a limited shelf life, so the large "economy"
size ain't.

bumper
"5Z" wrote in message
ups.com...

wrote:
Hi Tom - Two more questions:

Yours was definitely leaking out the threads
in the back ?

Yes. I'd put it on the dash of the car on a paper towel and let the
winter sun heat it up, then look for damp spots. Tried to figure out
some kind of tool to open it up and look for O ring to replace, etc,
but all attempts at opening failed, as I didn't want to break it.

Loctite 330 costs more than our gliders.
From the Loctite product data it looks like
good-ole Loctite 243 is more appropriate
in any case - What am I missing here ?

Probably any decent epoxy stuff will do the trick. Bumper's into
exotic tools & such...

I roughed up the gap with a Moto-Tool first.

-Tom