PA-28 pilot reported deviating from the departure clearance due to a malfunctioning HSI and compass.

Attributes
ACN	1739390
Time
Date	202004
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	PA-28 Cherokee/Archer/Dakota/Pillan/Warrior
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Route In Use	Vectors
Flight Plan	IFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Compass (HSI/ETC)
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 76 Flight Crew Total 327 Flight Crew Type 160
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Track / Heading All Types

Narrative:

IFR instructions were to takeoff runway 17; turn heading 190. On runup and check; all instruments were working as normal. After takeoff; I entered the clouds at roughly 800-900 ft. MSL. After reaching a safe altitude 1;100 ft. MSL; being in IMC; I was relying on my instruments. I look down to realize I was off of my runway heading; and was instead on a heading of about 240; indicated by the HSI. This lead me to believe that I had possibly gotten disorientated upon entering the clouds and had inadvertently turned to the right. Based off a heading of 240; I initiated a turn to the left to intercept 190. Upon doing so; ATC started yelling that I was on the wrong heading and needed to turn right. With the information being received from the HSI; I believed that they were wanting me to do a 360 turn in order to intercept 190. I verified the HSI with the compass. While still in the right hand turn; the compass was holding due south and was not moving at all. I consulted ATC and got no assistance; but rather told that I was 'incompetent and couldn't follow directions'. I reported to him that both compasses were impaired and that we were getting wrong readings. I then consulted foreflight and followed the magnetic heading that was reporting on there. After rolling out on the correct heading; the compass came swinging around and was reporting correctly; matching foreflight. The HSI continued to precess; but was frequently corrected for the remaining on the short flight.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PA-28 pilot reported deviating from the departure clearance due to a malfunctioning HSI and compass.

Narrative: IFR instructions were to takeoff RWY 17; turn heading 190. On runup and check; all instruments were working as normal. After takeoff; I entered the clouds at roughly 800-900 ft. MSL. After reaching a safe altitude 1;100 ft. MSL; being in IMC; I was relying on my instruments. I look down to realize I was off of my runway heading; and was instead on a heading of about 240; indicated by the HSI. This lead me to believe that I had possibly gotten disorientated upon entering the clouds and had inadvertently turned to the right. Based off a heading of 240; I initiated a turn to the left to intercept 190. Upon doing so; ATC started yelling that I was on the wrong heading and needed to turn right. With the information being received from the HSI; I believed that they were wanting me to do a 360 turn in order to intercept 190. I verified the HSI with the compass. While still in the right hand turn; the compass was holding due south and was not moving at all. I consulted ATC and got no assistance; but rather told that I was 'incompetent and couldn't follow directions'. I reported to him that both compasses were impaired and that we were getting wrong readings. I then consulted ForeFlight and followed the magnetic heading that was reporting on there. After rolling out on the correct heading; the compass came swinging around and was reporting correctly; matching ForeFlight. The HSI continued to precess; but was frequently corrected for the remaining on the short flight.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.