Resetting a magnetic Compass

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mrgoat

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Do any of you fellas know the procedure to resetting a magnetic compass. One of mine has got itself so the south white end points north so she out 180'. I know there is a way of resetting it with a magnet.
I tried putting a rare earth magnet on the work bench to the north and setting the compass so the red north end is attracted and pointing to it. I left it that way for several hours but when one removes the magnet the white end swings around to the north.

Anyone out there know the trick to doing this??
 
I've got one that points backwards too; just assumed that the wrong end of
the needle had been painted in the first place.

It came in an MWD kit once; and I keep it around as a teaching aid to show that nothing can be taken for granted. Ever.
 
I used a rare earth magnet. One end/side will attract the north end (red) of the needle. The opposite will repel it. Opposites attract so it is the south end of the magnet attracts the red (north) end of the needle. Place the magnet so the red end of the needle is attracted to the magnet, about a inch away, and leave it there. It took several hours before the red end of the needle started to stay pointed to magnetic north in my case.

This had happened to a couple of my large Silva compasses years ago and I sent them back to Silva and they corrected them so I new it was possible, and was told at the time they reorient them with a magnet.

In each case this one included it was the magnet closure on the flap my hunting coat that damaged these compasses. I have long since removed the magnets from the coat pocket flaps. This small compass was damaged and I hadn't used it in many years so I hadn't noticed it was disorientated.
 
Had the same issue. My compass was in a small tote in my back seat with a magnetic rooftop antenna. Got out of the truck to take a bearing on a hill and realized right away that something was very amiss.

Glad I noticed on the road and not while trying to navigate in the woods. I just held the back of the compass near the same magnet on the antenna and it reversed polarities again.
 
That is why I told him to buy new one you do not know the strength of the compass as a bush driver for 45 years and using better compasses than handheld ones every day when hunting I have the highest priced adjustable and check it once a year against
A master compass!
 
Wow! You guys are sure making the most of a simple magnetic compass. One would think the stories here are about a device for guiding a rocket through space.
I have never, ever, heard of a compass that the needle marked to point north, did not point north. Of course, you can magnetize the needle to point south, but the compass won't do this on its own!
The true north pole and the magnetic north pole, (the spot the compass points at) are not together. The true north pole is at the top of the globe, where it has always been. The magnetic north pole is in northern Canada and the only complicated factor is that the magnetic pole moves. Strangely, it has moved more in the last 25 years than it probably moved in the hundred years prior to that.
I just put the quadrants of Prince George, BC, into the computer and it showed magnetic north about 14 degrees east, moving at nearly 2 degrees a year. Fifty years ago the magnetic variation of Prince George was about 30 degrees east!
For practical purposes it is important, to keep you from getting lost, to have your compass needle point to 14 degrees east of north, if you are at PG. When the compass is sitting solid, adjust the ring on the face of it, so the needle points to 14 degrees east of north, then north on the compass will be true north and this should end your problems.
 
I had a 12 year old Silva 15TDCL mirror compass de magnetize on me in the middle of the jungle in Panama.

It was exposed to a lot of hard use by me as it was used 250 days per year

For guys who carry them for 2 weeks a year they will probably last a lifetime.
 
Last edited:
H4831 said:
Wow! You guys are sure making the most of a simple magnetic compass. One would think the stories here are about a device for guiding a rocket through space.
I have never, ever, heard of a compass that the needle marked to point north, did not point north. Of course, you can magnetize the needle to point south, but the compass won't do this on its own!
The true north pole and the magnetic north pole, (the spot the compass points at) are not together. The true north pole is at the top of the globe, where it has always been. The magnetic north pole is in northern Canada and the only complicated factor is that the magnetic pole moves. Strangely, it has moved more in the last 25 years than it probably moved in the hundred years prior to that.
I just put the quadrants of Prince George, BC, into the computer and it showed magnetic north about 14 degrees east, moving at nearly 2 degrees a year. Fifty years ago the magnetic variation of Prince George was about 30 degrees east!
For practical purposes it is important, to keep you from getting lost, to have your compass needle point to 14 degrees east of north, if you are at PG. When the compass is sitting solid, adjust the ring on the face of it, so the needle points to 14 degrees east of north, then north on the compass will be true north and this should end your problems.
Click to expand...

well -- sort of ... there is magnetic north, true north and grid north. Since most folks are using a map to navigate... you need to compensate for the difference between magnetic north and grid north (not true north - although maps will tell you the deviation between grid and true north)... anyway the Silva 'Ranger' and it's derivatives gained their original popularity because you could mechanically (and quickly) adjust the compass to reflect the total 'declination' from mag North to grid North ...and forget about using a paper and pencil once you had it dialled in. Was very quick to use compared to the old prismatics - although not as absolutely accurate. As an aside - with the prismatics - for absolute accuracy - you also had to know - and adjust for - the individual compass imposed deviation from mag North.
 
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