Suunto Compass parts list ...

[ggaliens]

Suunto Compass parts list ...

I'd like to chat here with someone who understands all the removable, breakable, replaceable, whatever parts of a suunto compass.

A few years back ... I cracked the FACE-PLACE of the clinometer I had purchased when I also bought the compass. Somehow ... I found a large air bubble in the clinometer. Very very large. I think it emptied out of what was in it during repair. I drilled a small hole into face plate. Bought a course IV-Style syringe/needle, used it to inject MINERAL-OILD into clinometer to be the replacement dampening fluid. Thankfully ... this all WORKED OK. Clino movement is slower ... but works. Works fine. Oh ... I also EPOXIED a thick glass plate over broken plastic plate as final step.

Now ... after finding EMPTY / Dry compass in my car with broken face-plate recently, I start a similar repair process with COMPASS. AT one point ... I had the compass working mostly ... minus some inferference by an air bubble. So I tried again to get more MINERAL OIL into compass. The mineral oil was dumped into compass via eye-peice hole. Took the BLACK screw-in eye piece out and could see into compass ... so decide no need to drill face-plate hole. Eventually ... did the fill process under-mineral oil in a bowl ... including screw-down ... so as to make sure everything was filled with Mineral-OIL.


NOW ... to the question for peanut gallery ... does there need to be AIR somewhere like back-side of eye piece (ie did I look an O-RING and knowledge of how the compass is really supposed to be configured ? I think the optics with 100% mineral oil don't work. I needed a "BUBBLE" at one point to get the thing SORT of cludged up. Something tells me I'm missing some info on how the eye-piece is supposed to sit in the compass.

Anyone got complete knowledge of this compass ... and can you tell me if I might be able to affect a repair myself ? Right now I fell silly about it all. And also too poor to not try a FIX.

[GroundquestMSA]

I'm not the expert you seek, but here are a couple of previous topics that deal with the same problems:

http://forums.caves.org/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=11787

http://forums.caves.org/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=10080

[ggaliens]

Am I correct in my assumption that I should not have been able to pour fluid into the COMPASS via the vacant ey-piece socket (after black eye-piece unscrewed and removed)??

Simple question I hope.

[GroundquestMSA]

You are correct. That aint normal.

[ggaliens]

OK ... did is what I got basically ...

http://www.idealblasting.com/images/2521.jpg

How many O-Rings or similar should be involved in the eye-piece socket ? Something must have fallen out of there and been lost when eye-piece unscrewed. That's my theory. Is the clino built similarly in thie region of the device (eye-piece) ? I guess I can remove my clino eye peice and have a look ... and cross fingers at same time that it will be worth while.

[Extremeophile]

I don't have the individual instruments, just Tandems, but they appear to have the same eye piece. I believe the compass or clino is a sealed plastic capsule that is press-fit into the aluminum housing. There is no air within the capsule. The eye piece threads into the aluminum housing and has a single o-ring to prevent moisture or dirt from fouling the optics. It is extremely unlikely that you'll be able to repair these capsules and get back the same functionality you had originally. There has been much speculation about the type of fluid used, but nobody seems to really know. It doesn't appear to be mineral oil, and any oil you use is likely to be much too viscous. This may be less of a problem for the clino than for the compass, but you need to have very little resistance for the compass to read accurately. About the only option for repair is to send it to Forestry Supply, or the like, to get the capsule replaced. This service is roughly $70. You will not be able to refill the capsule by pouring fluid in through the eye piece. You might be better off finding a good condition used instrument on eBay or Craigslist. I've bought Tandems for as little as $60. If you repair or replace your instruments then use the method developed by Marc Ohms to protect them from future damage by gluing a 0.1 in Lexan window over the face.

[trogman]

If you look to buy one from Ebay, be very careful that the instrument you purchase does not have ANY air bubbles whatsoever. It's hard to tell from the photos, so I always ask the seller about bubbles and any other potential issues. I purchased a tandem type unit once that the seller claimed worked fine, and when it arrived, there was some sort of crud floating around in the clino fluid. It made it stick like crazy. Fortunately, the seller made good on it, so I wasn't stuck with it.

Trogman

[Scott McCrea]

The capsules that contain the compass and clino guts are completely separate, self-contained, individual units. And, they are waterproof until they crack. There is no connection between the capsules and the eyepieces other than a light/visual path. The gasket in the eyepiece helps keep the adjustment in place and tries to stop mud and stuff from getting to the back side of the lens. The capsules are held in place by a set screw accessed on the side under the red wax/glue seal (at least on the Tandem). The back (with all the tiny numbers) is a sticker. Peel it off and you'll find a flat spring, shaped like a Pringles chip with a hole in it. This holds the capsule up in the housing while it is adjusted/aimed/turned. Then the screw is set and glued.

The biggest thing you can do to protect your instruments is put something mostly transparent, thin and stiff (like Lexan) over the capsules. Clear packing tape over the eyepieces will save you from having to perform the morally degrading "clensilingus" when they get muddy.