Finally got some feedback from Ritchie who said I should use ODORLESS
mineral spirits. They now use a souped up version of this in their newer compasses
that you can buy from West, and it will mix with the old stuff. According to
Sunnyside, their product can be either mneral spirits or paint thinner as long as it

is specified as odorless. The odorless spec guarantees that the fluid was refined
enough to be used in a compass and it basically is 100 percent mineral spirits. I
topped up my compass by cooling the fluid first. As the fluid warms up, it expands
and forces out any remaining air bubbles. Worked for me.

Sherwin

sherwindu wrote:

Any suggestions for replacing some liquid in my Ritche Helmsman compass. I
opened the wrong screws and let some leak out. It may contain a light oil or
glycerin. Is there a filler port on these compasses? Any suggestions would be
welcome. I would rather not send it back to Ritche as the compass may get
damaged in shipment and bringing it to a repair place can tie it up for a while.

Sherwin D.