need advice on whiskey

[zero.one.victor]

Whiskey compasses,that is! After doing a little instrument panel remodelling, I recently installed a panel-mount compass & removed the windshield-mount compass . It's an oldie that a buddy had in his parts box. It points about right,right enough for me anyway,but it's hard to read due to the insides being kinda tinted brown. Looks like the windows in a heavy smoker's car! It looks like the darn thing is actually full of whiskey!
I don't know if it's the alcohol turned brown,or the glass,or the numbers themselves.
It's an airpath 2300. Has anyone ever rebuilt one of these? I see that Spruce sells a repair kit for about $15: new diaphram,face-glass gasket,and a half-pint of fluid. However,maybe the glass is permanently stained? Or maybe I can just take it apart,clean the brown off the glass or whatever,and reassemble?
Since I don't actually use the darn thing to speak of,I hate to spend too much time or money monkeying around with it. It just looks funky in the panel,I'd rather have a nice shiney-white display.

Eric

[N2540V]

Eric,
The liquid inside is essentially kerosene. The kit consists of new seals and kerosene.

The discoloration is the seals dissolving – Kind of ugly.
I took mine apart, but the lubber line was broken and not repairable.

When you reassemble it, you immerse the compass in the liquid to exclude all air.
I would recommend carefull disassembly and cleaning in kerosene. If it looks repairable, order the repair kit.
Jim Mathis
N2540V

[GAHorn]

The staining is unlikely to be the glass. It's probably the numerals/indices on the compass card that is stained. An instrument overhaul shop can clean it up and make it like new again, but you might prefer to simply buy a new one from Spruce, the inst. shop, etc.

Be careful when dealing with old instruments. Many of them were originally "glow in the dark" radium-coated numbers and they are illegal to ship and/or service. (Radioactivity hazards.) Many instrument shops will refuse to work on them. They must be treated as a hazardous material, and you don't want any of it on your hands or crumbling off onto your table.

[zero.one.victor]

The staining is unlikely to be the glass. It's probably the numerals/indices on the compass card that is stained. An instrument overhaul shop can clean it up and make it like new again, but you might prefer to simply buy a new one from Spruce, the inst. shop, etc.

Like I said,I don't want to spend much time or money on this--"new compass" and "instrument shop" equal money. I'd rather spend it on gas!
So Jim,you believe the fluid is discolored from seal breakdown? So I need new fluid.I was hoping maybe just to take it apart,clean the glass &/or compass ball,and reassemble. I hate to even spend the $15 or so for the repair kit,so maybe I won't even mess with it. OR,maybe I'll take it apart and rebuild it with the innards from my old "Magic 8-Ball" toy.

Eric

[N2540V]

Eric,
The black rubber seals were so soft that they were liquefying and coloring the liquid. I would pick up some kerosene and take it apart carefully. Your seals may not be as bad as mine were.

I used cotton Q-Tips to clean the inside until I discovered the lubber line was already broken. I tossed mine on the recycle shelf.
Jim

[GAHorn]

Although kerosene has been used many times for a cheap re-fill, it is not the correct fluid. The correct fluid is a compass-fluid; a specific type of napthatic safety-solvent. It does not turn yellow with age as does kerosene. (And replacing the kero with fresh kero will not solve the problem of compass card numerals stained by improper fluid, which is the usual problem.)

[Tom Downey]

The correct fluid is a compass-fluid; a specific type of napthatic safety-solvent.

[zero.one.victor]

I yanked the compass out of the panel yesterday,and pulled the glass face off of it. The fluid appears to be pretty much clear,but the inside of the glass was stained a yellowish brown. I cleaned it up with brake cleaner. I noticed the numbers on the card were discolored also,but figured if I pulled that out & tried to rub the staining off I'd probably end up rubbing the numbers off as well! So I just put it back together & reinstalled. It's about a 50% improvement. Still kinda dingy looking. I might end up swapping out the guts with my old windshield-mount compass,the numbers in that one are as white as the driven snow,if it turns out that nobody wants to buy it.

Eric