Leaky wet compass

Matthew said:
At what point does a leaking whiskey compass become inop?

On a solo training flight, maybe even an XC, I was taking off and the seal on the compass let go. A lot of fluid did leak out, but there was enough fluid inside that the compass was still able to float. I was headed back home anyway so I just squawked it when I got back.

Even though the fluid level was low, it at least 'seemed' to be working.
Click to expand...

Well, when it happened to me, the compass was still operable. But it was leaking down all over my coms/nav/gps boxes. Didn't start untill I was about 3000' in the climb on a long x-ctry vacation journey. Turned around and went back home to get it fixed.
 
Kaye said:
Well, when it happened to me, the compass was still operable. But it was leaking down all over my coms/nav/gps boxes. Didn't start untill I was about 3000' in the climb on a long x-ctry vacation journey. Turned around and went back home to get it fixed.
Click to expand...

Mine let go just after takeoff, while climbing. My hand was on the throttle, and my arm got all wet. I thought maybe it was just sweat from the hot day, but it was compass fluid.

The compass still worked, but it wasn't damped very well.

So, just how flammable is that stuff?
 
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