Hi all
Like so many of us, my binnacle compass bellows has failed and dumped all the oil into the bilge. I have done what I think many others have tried and made a new one out of a folding cup (+ Johnson's baby oil) and it seems to be holding but I'm not convinced it's an 'industrial' quality fix. Luckily I was able to take the old bellows out of the base cup and, although quite crumbly, have managed to glue it into a decent semblance of its original shape. Obviously it can't be used in this condition but has anyone tried using one to make a mold and creating a new one out of soft silicone. I've not done any silicone molding before but it looks possible. I think a Hardness value of 25A - 30A should be 'floppy' enough but would really appreciate any advice on manufacturers, techniques, etc. ...or, of course, that these soft silicones aren't suitable for immersion in oil!
Cheers
Mark
My silicon cup repair has now lasted about 15 years .top quality chinese silicon Geoff
Ours is apparently still there too. Don't see why not, the €1 silicone cup material was tougher and thicker than the Suunto original plastic membrane.
Hi guys
Thanks for the replies; yep, I appreciate a lot of these fixes have stood up well but mine is still weeping oil very very very slightly from under the hoseclip and I don't want to tighten it any further as I'm sure I'm near the limit of what the plastic can take before it collapses. Perhaps the cup I chose wasn't as good as the ones others have used. Plus, of course, a replacement bellows would allow the bottom cover to be reattached. Well, it was worth asking - I'll just have to experiment. I'll write it up if I'm successful.
Mark,
just don't file the groove for hoseclip / cup in the original housing any deeper to improve grip. Don't ask me how I know.
BTW Silva has a dimensionally quite suiteble replacement unit... how do I know this :)
Tommi
s/y Anniina
Hiya Tommi
yep commiserations. I know exactly how you found out 'cos you very kindly wrote it up and that's why I'm being so careful. That shallow taper is a real pain. I did experiment with a thin rubber ring that fitted the small channel that runs around the tapered bit. My reasoning was that, as the hoseclip was tightened, it would give the cup something to 'bite' on. I think it would have been successful but the cup rubber was a bit too thick and pushed the ring out of the channel rather than just slipping over it. I abandoned it in favour of the soft silicone idea as it will be neater if it works.