Edmunds dealer partner, Bayway Leasing, is now offering transparent lease deals via these forums. Click here to see the latest vehicles!
Options
Weird car compass problems with Honda Element?
I have a 2004 Honda Element and recently purchased one of those little "floaty" car compasses that has a suction cup to stick on your dashboard. When I take the compass more than, say, 20 feet from the car, it points the correct direction.
But when I put it IN the car, it consistently tells me I'm going South - might be southeast, or southwest, but it's basically telling me South.
When I take the compass and walk around the car with it in my hand, the "N" arrow points to something in the rear of the car - it's really weird - you can see the compas swivel around as you walk around the car.
Three separate compasses have shown this behavior so I don't think it's a malfunctioning compass.
What in the WORLD in my car is so magnetic it is throwing off the compasses?? Anybody have any ideas?
But when I put it IN the car, it consistently tells me I'm going South - might be southeast, or southwest, but it's basically telling me South.
When I take the compass and walk around the car with it in my hand, the "N" arrow points to something in the rear of the car - it's really weird - you can see the compas swivel around as you walk around the car.
Three separate compasses have shown this behavior so I don't think it's a malfunctioning compass.
What in the WORLD in my car is so magnetic it is throwing off the compasses?? Anybody have any ideas?
0
This discussion has been closed.
Comments
It is also possible that some of the steel in your vehicle has itself become magnetized. If you're lucky you can find a "neutral" spot someplace inside your car where you mount the compass. Sometimes, degaussing (removing magnetism from steel/iron) will work but is probably more trouble than it's worth.
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
Twenty feet is a big distance magnetically as magnetic fields decrease by the inverse cube of the distance from the magnet. So if at twenty feet the field is stronger than the earth's field, at one foot it would be 8,000 times stronger. Also, if the compass was always attracted to the car, it must be closer to the car's "south pole" which would suggest a vertical axis to the car's magnetic back.
Perhaps, if you were always facing the car when observing the compass, you had the magnetic source on you.
That's the classic dipole field which also depends on the angle relative to the dipole moment (cosine) so the orientation of the correcting magnet must also be considered. (Of course that also requires that you're not so close as to invalidate the dipole approximation.)
tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper
Anyhow, about the compensating magnet. Would you put it up front or in the back? Where would you purchase a magnet with the right strength?
Thanks in advance!
Face the car magnetic east and place the magnet (aligned with axis of the car) beside (left or right) of the compass. Move the magnet towards or away from the compass until it reads east. In your case the magnet should be red end (N) towards the back of the car.
Now face the car magnetic west. If the compass doesn't read west, adjust the magnet to remove half the error. The fore & aft field at the compass has now been corrected.
Blutac is pretty good to hold the magnet in place.