Ritchie uses Odorless Mineral Sprits on all Spherical Dome Compasses. This process was stopped in the 1960's. If you have a Flat Top Compass it is recommended that you test the fluid to see if it is Odorless Mineral Sprits or Isopropyl Alcohol. Most Ritchie Compasses come equipped with a night light system which needs to be connected with the boats' DC electrical system. It is not necessary to connect these lights for the compass itself to operate.
Magnetic Compasses work by aligning the internal dial magnets with the earth's magnetic field.
Unfortunately, the earth is not the only thing with a magnetic field. Objects on your boat may also have a magnetic field that can interfere with the accuracy. This is known as Onboard Compass deviation. These fields can sometimes be tricky to find. You may refer to our compass instructions located in our Technical information page for more information on correcting this problem.