Compasses go nuts

[ethelwright]

I took my 81 year old mother out for her first ride in my pride and joy today . We were running along about 35 mph on plane when I noticed my compass literally going nuts , spinning rapidly in fast circles . I said to my mom that "I guess the compass isn't going to do me any good" , and she said " yeah I think it has a problem" . I realized that I mounted the compass too close to my fishfinder so I guess I will have to move it, either that or I will be running in circlesout in the bay.

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: Compasses go nuts

Remember Close Encounters.....Could be aliens <br /><br />I had the same problem, with all that wiring/steering/windscreen hardware etc my compass was usless. Solved the problem with a GPS, wanna buy a used compass? <br /><br />Aldo

 

[ethelwright]

Re: Compasses go nuts

Actally I am going to look for a GPS now that I no longer trust the compass. I was out with my sister and brother in law and he brought along his handheld GPS that he uses for camping . I liked how the gizmo worked . I will probably get a handheld one that I can remove from my boat ( foil the thieves).

 

[Dunaruna]

Re: Compasses go nuts

I rarely boat out of sight of land but I also carry a small handheld compass as backup. Your on the Great Lakes right? I imagine you can easily loose sight of land there. <br /><br />Moving your existing compass and having it calibrated will probably fix your problem. Thats what I did but like you, I don't trust it now.<br /><br />Aldo

 

[ethelwright]

Re: Compasses go nuts

I will definitely be moving the compass and as yet I am a rookie so I don't go out of sight of land .I live on lake Superior , a very nasty lake at times . I just believe in outfitting my boat with all the safety stuff.A bit of overkill with the safety stuff.As a rookie I will have to share some of my stupid human tricks especially while i try to dock the boat . At least I haven't hit any other boats although one of the veterans at the marina told me I came in too fast the first time I docked.

 

[TwoBallScrewBall]

Re: Compasses go nuts

Really no such thing as overkill with the safety stuff. The one time you end up really needing something you'll be glad it's there.

 

[gsbodine]

Re: Compasses go nuts

I had the same issue with my compass until I got one of those hinged mounts with little suction cup feet. I stuck it to the underside of my windshield. It works great now. It sounds like it may work for you, especially if you're just using it as backup to a new GPS.

 

[woodrat]

Re: Compasses go nuts

My compass is mounted right next to the GPS fishsinder unit, and has suffered no ill effects.

 

[KM2]

Re: Compasses go nuts

A compass works by using a magnet to read the earths magnetic field. Metal and electronics too close will mess with it. <br /><br />I got a little lost one day in the woods with a GPS I borrowed. I didn't know you had to be moving to get accurate directions. Went the wrong way for a couple of miles downhill. FYI I as mountain biking. <br /><br /> With the new GPS's that map getting lost is almost impossible.

 

[Chris1956]

Re: Compasses go nuts

I mounted a compass in my speedboat. It was a nice complement to the tach, speedo and gas gauge. Nice matching set! I launch the boat and of course the compass always indicates my course is north, no matter what direction, never a deviation, always zero degrees. That day I found out that the compass always points to the steel fuel tank under the bow! When I installed the compass, the bow was facing north, so I did not see anything unusual.

 

[NOSLEEP]

Re: Compasses go nuts

Vibration is causing the problem with the spinning<br />compass. You can solve it by putting a piece of<br />rubber hose cut to fit under the head of the <br />compass to the mount to stop the vibration. If<br />you have a different kind of compass you can <br />figure out a way to dampen the vibration.

 

[ethelwright]

Re: Compasses go nuts

My compass was not only spinning fast in circles but I also noticed it doesn't move no matter what direction I am going in . I tried an experiment yesterday , I took the compass off it's mount and stood in the middle of the boat and it worked fine . I kept it away from both the electronics and the big metal gas tank and it worked . I might just make a lanyard for it and keep it on my person when I go out .

 

[Seamus]

Re: Compasses go nuts

In regards to removing the compass and replacing it with a GPS because you don't trust the compass anymore. First, you can't replace the compass with a GPS unit. The GPS will tell you what direction your boat is moving (assuming it is moving - otherwise the bearing readout is useless) but it will not tell you what direction your boat is POINTING. Important difference. Some GPS units allow you to attach a fluxgate compass as an accessory. A word of caution, though. If it plugs into your battery that means it probably runs on electricity. If it runs on electricity and it is on a boat, that means it CANNOT be trusted. Never rely entirely on navionics. Have a compass on board, have it swung (read about this in Chapmans or somewhere) and learn how to use it. Having a backbearing compass on board is also useful. I have a set of binocs (Fuji) with a built-in compass and stadia lines. Even if you always are within sight of land you should have a compass and know how to use it. Fog can appear more rapidly than most people imagine. Your engine could quit and you could drift a long way before you get it going again... Etc, etc.

 

[sloopy]

Re: Compasses go nuts

And to add to Seamus McFadden (hey we have the same last name!) All that safety equipment is useless if you don't know how to use it.

 

[ethelwright]

Re: Compasses go nuts

thank you to all of you for the valuable info. I intend to take a power squadron course this year which includes navigation etc .I just hope I can get them to answer my calls because they have not in the past .

 

[Maximerc]

Re: Compasses go nuts

Did you hear that they have discovered the magnetic poles are fixing to switch?? we are overdue by a couple of thousand years for the poles to flip flop.. HONEST !! in the mean time they are getting weaker.. they found this in pottery of all things

 

[jtexas]

Re: Compasses go nuts

I bet that's cause we're using up all the electricity.

 

[jprasisto]

Re: Compasses go nuts

OK this had to be about 45 years ago, my Dad is about 30 miles off central NJ trolling for tuna. At the end of the day he plots the course for home with the compass on the flybridge and makes the 2 hr ride home. As they get close the the beach he realizes he doesn't recognize anything on land. After a while they finally see the steel pier and realize they were off Atlantic City! Now my Dad was in the Navy and been around boats a long time so this had him baffled and my grandfather none to happy. After a while they realized that one of the crew left his STEEL beer can under the compass which threw it completely off! Just glad it was off in a westerly direction!

 

[Mr.Ladyfish]

Re: Compasses go nuts

Sunday when we went offshore we let LF drive for about 15 miles. My buddy told her to just keep a heading of 124 degrees. Neither of us told her to use the GPS not the compass. We were bullsh*tting in the bow and not paying too much attention. I noticed that we seemed to be heading straight for a rig off in the distance. He said the spot was south of the rig and went back to check on LF. She had been using the compass and spotted the rig so she just decided that was where we were going. After getting back on course we explained to her that the compass is messed up because it sits between the GPS and the fishfinder. I know she won't make that mistake again because she's a quick learner on the boat. It was our fault because we didn't explain it to her so we couldn't say a word. She actually kept a pretty straight course, even if it was the wrong one.