Plastimo Compasses

PLASTIMO COMPASSES: 40 YEARS ON THE RIGHT COURSE

For ultimate quality, Plastimo selects the best components in order to ensure that your compass is a highly dependable instrument which will provide years of reliable service.

Sapphire bearings are at the heart of every Plastimo compass. Their hardness is a guarantee of the long life and precision of your compass.
All Plastimo compasses feature an anti-vibration system, which ensures minimal contact between the pivot and the sapphire cup; the "Vibration absorber" device damps spinning caused by high-speed pounding and vibration
A compass is a meticulously engineered instrument: all the "precious" components are produced by Swiss clock-makers, famous worldwide for their legendary precision.
The soft VitonÂ« diaphragm or the semi-soft ultra-sound welded diaphragm is fully waterproof and has an extreme expansion and retraction capacity: it compensates for fluctuations in fluid volume caused by the differences in temperature and atmospheric pressure.
All plastic components -more specifically the material used for the dome- are carefully selected to withstand shocks, UV-rays and harsh marine environment.
The crystal transparency of the dome and the exceptional magnifying index of the fluid contribute to the perfect legibility of the card.

To be allowed on your boat, a Plastimo compass must pass challenging quality control tests

Needless to say, all Plastimo compasses comply with the regulationÃ but Plastimo's stringent requirements are even more demanding: at every stage of production, each compass is tracked, checked and thoroughly inspected, so that quality is never a coincidence.

Accelerated ageing tests, carried out in Plastimo laboratories, guarantee that the dome and all other components are totally impervious to UV rays.
Vibration tests used to simulate the vibrations generated by rough sea and high-speed: the card must remain absolutely stable, whatever the vibration frequency. While the regulation requires tests from 7 to 40 Hz, Plastimo challenges its compasses to tests between 5 and 100 Hz.
Temperature tests: Plastimo compasses are tested in heated and refrigerated cabinets from +60? to -20?C (+140? to -4?F). Even in these extreme temperatures, the compass must not leak or develop bubbles.
Stability tests: when the card is deflected (40? or 90?), it must return to its original position and settle within a predetermined time (called the "half-period").
Precision and accuracy are tested on each cardinal point. After a 95? deflection, the card must return to its original position, within a 1? maximum allowance.
Packaging protection: in order to guarantee optimum protection during transport, we regularly drop test Plastimo packaged compasses from a 1 metre height to a hard surface.
Final quality tests: assembled, packaged and ready for shipment, Plastimo compasses are once again inspected with a statistical sampling.