Compass Housing

[Kim Schoedel]

I removed the compass and housing to remove the teak ring for refinishing.

Would like to "refresh" the black housing and the light bulb holder. This stuff apears to be some type of plastic and is weathered. No cracks. Just looks old.

What is a good way to make this plastic look new again?

Thanks,

 

[Frank Langer]

On a previous boat with older weathered instruments I bought some flat black exterior paint--small Armour brand can--and painted the plastic with two coats, using a very small (artist like) brush. It turned out well and still looked good when I sold the boat a few years later.
Frank

 

[Loren Beach]

An idea, maybe

I have no direct solution to offer... but I have seen a local boat builder/repairer/restorer refinish old vinyl deck ventilators to a lasting white shiny surface by cleaning them and painting them with LPU.
He sez that the paint retains enough flexibility to avoid cracking and peeling. I have not inquired as to just exactly how much total abuse that new surface might take, however.
Since he shoots whole boats, he only does this when ramping up to do a big spray job and then lines up any small projects like this to do while the sprayer is set to go.

I have seen the results on his personal boat and they seem to retain that LPU shine for at least a decade.

Since an old cowl vent has always seemed like a really difficult item to recoat, to me, perhaps you could experiment with refinishing that plastic you have.
Maybe a small can of not-so-outrageously-expensive epoxy paint for a first attempt? Maybe?
Can the offending part be removed to go home to your garage "paint shop" ?



LB

 

[Glyn Judson]

Renewing your compass' looks.

Kim, If you're talking about a Kelvin White or Danforth compass, that body is most likely black Bakelite. If so, get some 1500 grit wet/dry sand paper and using it with Joy liquid or such, you can renew the appearance of it immeasurably. Use plenty of water, a trickle from the kitchen sink will do and test it first somewhere like the inside of the movable lip if fitted. I just walked over to my Hi-boy desk where a spare White Constellation compass sits on a shelf, one I did that very thing to and wow, I'd forgotten just how much it improved its appearance. Take your time and don't sand randomly, keep it all horizontal to the base and you won't believe how much better you've made it, trust me. This trick was passed on to me from a compass repair fellow many years ago, something he has done for a long time on many black Bakelite compasses. Good luck and share your results with us, Glyn Judson, E31 hull #55, Marina del Rey, CA

 

[treilley]

Wow, Kim, you must be psychic. I was just on the phone with Viking Instruments in Kingston Ma. talking about rebuilding my Ritchie Globemaster compass. I believe they also sell parts for these(among others). See the link below.

http://www.vikingoptics.com/globelow.html

BTW, I removed the wooden spacer from my pedestal. I am not sure what purpose it served other than needing to be refinished occasionaly.

 

[Kim Schoedel]

Thanks a bunch everyone. Yep, I couldn't remember the name but it is the bakelite. I was thinking of wet sanding and if that didn't work then some kind of plastic paint. I will try the 1500 on the inside of the little movable hood first and see how it comes out. It does help that I brought the stuff home and can work on it in the garage.

Thanks again,

 

[Cory B]

Hi Kim,

We don't have the teak ring that you have on our boat. But when we rebuilt our pedestal I needed a few compass accessories. I called up Ritchie direct and they took care of me - maybe you can buy new for not much more than the can of paint?

 

[Kim Schoedel]

Just an update. I tried the 1500 wet & dry with water and soap. It helped but I was not satisfied with the results so I dicided to take the easy way out and painted the housing and the hood with Black Satin Krylon Spray Paint for Plastics. I had used some of this product in white for the exhaust vents mounting plates on the stern last year and it has held up so far just fine. The compass housing turned out lookin like new! Forgot the camera but will try to remember to share a pic or two later.

Thanks again for everyone's input on this.

 

[Mindscape]

To add to the story

I just noticed this thread and thought I'd copy an email I got back from the Danforth folks when I had this same problem. Ulitmately I sanded, primed and painted mine, and it has been looking good for 4 years now.
__________________________________________________________
Mr. Bunker,

Your compass is an Express model C458. The visor material is bakelite. There is no way to bring it back to bright black as it was originally with a cleaner. Most folks paint it with a black enamel.

Regards,
Ken LeBlanc
Product Manager


-----Original Message-----

Sent: Tuesday, January 06, 2004 12:19 AM
To: Leblanc, Ken - Jabsco WW
Subject: RE: Danforth Compass - Hood replacement


Ken - thanks for getting back - I'm attaching a
picture of the compass. Additionally I've found some documentation that leads me to belive the model may be a C55? The light for the compass is in the hood, if that helps. I'm interested in trying to clean up the plastic hood (I've tryed a bunch of different cleaners already with no luck) or just replacing it. I'm surprised it's discolored as much as it has. Thanks for any help you can lend.