Maintenance, Errors, Repair
REFLECTA/5
Page D3
Mounting & Operations Manual
Errors, Diagnosis and Help
Visible Compass Errors
•
Bubbles in the fluid, broken cover glass, buckled compass bowl, tilted compass bowl, loose in suspension,
dirty or cloudy fluid or similar.
⇒
Take compass out of operation immediately (replace with spare compass or order replacement compass,
see below) and hand over to a qualified service workshop as soon as possible.
•
Directional system tilted
Possible reason:
A slight sinking of the north mark on north latitudes and of the south mark on south latitudes is normal and
result from the variation of the vertical earth field on different magnetic latitudes.
Remove the compass from its position within the binnacle and take it to a magnetically undisturbed location
for example ashore. If the tilt remains the reason is the earth´s vertical field and not the ship´s vertical field.
This tilt does not exceed about 5°.
⇒
No further action is necessary.
Possible other reason:
The ship´s vertical field or the heeling corrector is unadjusted.
Remove the compass from its position within the binnacle and take it to a magnetically undisturbed location
for example ashore. If the tilt disappears the reason is the ship´s vertical field and not the earth´s vertical
field.
⇒
Carry out heeling adjustment.
Possible other reason:
A strong card tilt often in combination with bubbles in the fluid, with the upper or lower points not near to the
north or south mark may be caused by a leaking float. Sometimes the upper or lower points are moving with
time.
⇒
Take compass out of operation immediately (replace with spare compass or order replacement compass,
see below) and hand over to a qualified servce workshop as soon as possible.
Indication Errors
•
Static Indication Errors:
Indication errors can be discovered by comparison of magnetic compass and gyro compass indication.
Magnetic and gyro compass indicate different types of heading: Magnetic and true. So when compare both
apply variation and deviation correction.
These indication errors may be caused by a faulty compass (non visible errors) or by a faulty adjustment.
⇒
If friction and swirl error test (below) are not successful, the reason might be a defective compass. Take
compass out of operation immediately (replace with spare compass or order replacement compass, see
below) and hand over to a qualified service workshop as soon as possible.
If friction and swirl error tests are successful the compass seems to be in order. Carry out compass
adjustment.
•
Dynamic Indication Errors
Indication oszillates correlated with rolling of the vessel. If the oszillation is strongest on north or south
headings and smallest on east or west headings this is most probably caused by unadjusted ship´s vertical
field.
⇒
Arrange heeling adjustment.
•
Unstable indication, seemingly arbitrary oszillation of the indcation
Possible reason:
Strong vibration of the compass which results in a rise and spin of the directional system.
⇒
Fix compass binnacle more strongly. Install lashings for the compass binnacle (supply Cassens & Plath).
Possible other reason:
Pivot/jewel suspension of the directional system is defective.
⇒
If friction and swirl error tests (below) are not successful take compass out of operation immediately
Alterations / Errors reserved
Cassens & Plath GmbH, Am Lunedeich 131, 27572 Bremerhaven, Germany, Tel. +49 471 483 999 0, Fax +49 471 483 999 10
www.cassens-plath.de
