Does your compass have a bubble in it? This annoying air bubble will make it hard to read your compass at certain angles. The bubble is caused by either air getting into the compass or oil leaking out of the compass. Either problem can be remedied easily by adding more oil to the compass.
To fix your Ritchie Compass, you will need Ritchie Compass Fluid, a blade screw driver, and a syringe.
Begin by removing the compass from its mounting apparatus and locate the only screw on the side of the compass. This is the only screw in this area so it is hard to miss. This screw serves the purpose of keeping oil in, keeping air out, and adding more oil if needed.
Simply turn the compass on its side so that the screw is facing up and begin unscrewing it. Don't be alarmed if it takes you a while to get the screw out, it is rather long! Be sure to orient the screw up though, otherwise oil will begin to drain out of the compass and make a huge mess!
With the screw removed, add oil through the little hole with your syringe. As you add the oil, be sure that air is able to escape. Once all the air is out of the compass, oil will begin to work its way up to the top of the opening. It is important to have oil all the way up to the top that way the end of the screw is immersed in oil from the beginning. If there is a small bubble in the screw hole, the screw will simply force the bubble back in and you will find a tiny bubble inside of your compass instead of a large bubble.
Once all the air is out and the screw put back in tightly, you can turn the compass back to being right side up! If everything worked well, there should be no visible air bubble inside the compass. If some air got trapped in the screw hole, then you would see a tiny bubble in the compass. Simply repeating the steps will get that pesky little bubble out of there so that you can easily view the compass from all angles.
