Compass trouble

[tiger 3]

I had a flowscan installed in my 2120 sc. It was installed to colse to the compass and now it is affecting the compass. Is there anything that I can do short of removing the flowscan. ie: some type of a shield around one or the other/ I really don't want a 2" hole in the dash.
thanks for any thoughts'
Bob

 

[DaleH]

You could try to twist the power leads that go to the flowscan, if enough slack in the leads, going for as many twist per inch as possible.

Or, re-wire the device and have the lead run as far away from the compass as possible. Hmmmmmmmmmm, I wonder if shielding them in lead roofing flashing would work ... ?? Sparky, where are you?

 

[tiger 3]

Dale,
Thanks for the come back. When you say " compass power leads " you mean for the light ,right. I was thinking about trying the lead shield. I have plenty of sheet lead.
thanks again,
Bob

 

[DaleH]

Thanks for the come back. When you say " compass power leads " you mean for the light ,right. I was thinking about trying the lead shield. I have plenty of sheet lead.

Bob:

I wrote it wrong, it must be a stray signal from the Flowscan pwer that's goofin up your compass, so it is the FloScan that is the route of the issue and must be addressed.

You STILL need to check the resultant compass deviation over at least the 4 cardinal points of the compass. You could be fine on a North heading, but off minus a few degrees on another heading and yet be off plus a few degrees in another.

Wonder how many here create a compass dev heading card?

 

[sparky]

Lead won't help a huge amount.
What you need is to put a shielding braid on the wires leading to/from the Floscan. You could also try installing some small magnets near the compass, to generate a strong enough field that you can calibrate the compass. Truth be told, calibrating a compass is very difficult, and you should find a good local compass "guy". We've got one, and what he does is practically black magic. I'm surprised that he doesn't slaughter any chickens during the process.

Here's a link with some wire choices, and some shielding options:
http://www.magnetic-shield.com/products/cable.html