UKC

I have noticed that when my Dads compass has been put on the microwave,it has made the needle swing towards the east,and when it has been put on the fridge the needle has swung to the west.Baisically do i need to buy him a new compass?
Cheers,
Tim

In reply to Timmd:
wouldn't have thought so - its the magnetic field induced with the AC voltage thats making it move.

Same as putting it by a magnet!

In reply to Timmd:My knowledge of electronics is sketchy,thought i'd check as it's not my compass.
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Tim

In reply to Timmd:

Have you checked the compass against another one? Compasses are kinda delicate things, if you place a magnet near a compass you can permanently mess it up, same as if you store two compass together that can mess them up too. And yes the AC appliance would have been generating a magnetic field, if it was siting there a long while I would be checking to see if it still works.

Matt

In reply to Matt Wall:Thanks,it has only been there for about three days,it returns back to normal when away from the fridge and microwave.I shall see what my dad thinks,and compare it with the other compass.

Cheers,
Tim.

In reply to Timmd:

Does it swing North when you take it outside ? If so, its OK. After all, Its not often you need to navigate round a fridge or a microwave.

In reply to Matt Wall:

The only thing that should mess them up is heat really.

The reason being that the tips of the compass are premanently magnetic of the ferrous variety, and don't rely on shifting magnetism.

The other thing is that they can move, and so storing them next to each other will simply cause them to default to minimum energy, and consequently point towards (or away from) each other.

Heat though, that'll wreckem (microwave heating etc)

In reply to GrahamD:Yes it does swing north when out side,well,upstairs.It hasn't really been heated as the microwave hasn't been on at all.I have to admit that i tried to keep milk cool in the microwave though.Completly lost my bearings.
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Cheers
Tim

In reply to GrahamD: i dunno - have been pretty pissed an dneeded a lot of help to find the fridge