Threaded Mode | Linear Mode

Marcio · (This post was last modified: 10-29-2015 05:07 PM by Marcio.)

Gentlemen,

I just found this little beast in the mail box. Note that the part that surrounds the display and the logo were reworked. I think the seller did a superb job restoring this classic from the past.

The machine passed all the tests, it's working like it should. The ON and ENTER keys, however, seem to be behaving a little differently than I expected. The ON is a tad soft while the ENTER key is bit (very slightly) harder to press than all the rest. Although acceptable, I wonder if this was by design. Or it could be me being paranoid.
Would anyone confirm this?

Very much appreciated.

Marcio

TASP · 10-29-2015, 05:17 PM

I've never handled a 15C, but I'm assuming there are 2 domes under the ENTER key.

Might explain that one. ON button, idunno.

Dwight Sturrock · 10-29-2015, 08:45 PM

My 1980's 15c purchased new has gradually developed less key travel on the + , however normally the keys had an approximately equal feel except ( of course) the ON key which is slightly lower to prevent accidental activation.

Jlouis · 10-29-2015, 09:38 PM

(10-29-2015 04:36 PM)Marcio Wrote: Gentlemen,

I just found this little beast in the mail box. Note that the part that surrounds the display and the logo were reworked. I think the seller did a superb job restoring this classic from the past.

The machine passed all the tests, it's working like it should. The ON and ENTER keys, however, seem to be behaving a little differently than I expected. The ON is a tad soft while the ENTER key is bit (very slightly) harder to press than all the rest. Although acceptable, I wonder if this was by design. Or it could be me being paranoid.
Would anyone confirm this?

Very much appreciated.

Marcio

WOW! What a sexy beauty! Congratulations!

As for the keys, mine have both on key soft, with more travel and rotate than the enter.

I guess yours are ok, just relax and enjoy this magnific state of the art 15c!

P.s.: it is difficult to find a shining logo as yours 15c!

Marcio · (This post was last modified: 10-30-2015 12:15 PM by Marcio.)

Thank you gents for your inputs. Really appreciate it.

(10-29-2015 05:17 PM)TASP Wrote: I've never handled a 15C, but I'm assuming there are 2 domes under the ENTER key.

Might explain that one. ON button, idunno.

TASP, I think it does have two domes. I have been playing with it quite a bit since yesterday and I can confirm that the top dome is a tad more responsive than the bottom dome. But again, all the keys are working nicely and it is quite a pleasure to press them, best tactile feedback if compared to others HP machines I have (50g, 35s, 30b/34s) or had (Prime).

Marcio

Marcio · (This post was last modified: 10-30-2015 03:20 PM by Marcio.)

(10-29-2015 09:38 PM)Jlouis Wrote: WOW! What a sexy beauty! Congratulations!

As for the keys, mine have both on key soft, with more travel and rotate than the enter.

I guess yours are ok, just relax and enjoy this magnific state of the art 15c!

P.s.: it is difficult to find a shining logo as yours 15c!

Jlouis,

Would you mind uploading a picture of yours showing details of the keyboard? I managed to damage mine last night trying to clean it with a cotton swab and alcohol 20% in water. I didn't know alcohol could do that, and I was very careful while handling the swab.

Notice how far more robust the keys are if compared to the keyboard plate. (NOT visible by the naked eye!!)

See attachment.

Very much appreciated.

Jlouis · 10-30-2015, 02:35 PM

(10-30-2015 12:26 PM)Marcio Wrote:
(10-29-2015 09:38 PM)Jlouis Wrote: WOW! What a sexy beauty! Congratulations!

As for the keys, mine have both on key soft, with more travel and rotate than the enter.

I guess yours are ok, just relax and enjoy this magnific state of the art 15c!

P.s.: it is difficult to find a shining logo as yours 15c!

Jlouis,

Would you mind uploading a picture of yours showing details of the keyboard? I managed to damage mine last night trying to clean it with a cotton swab and alcohol 20% in water. I didn't know alcohol could do that, and I was very careful while handling the swab.

Notice how far more robust are the keys if compared to the keyboard plate. (NOT visible by the naked eye!!)

See attachment.

Very much appreciated.

Sure Marcio, I will upload, just wait some hours.

It was not a good idea too clean with alcohol. Even with only a drop of water, I managed to remove the thin gold coat that surrounded the bezel of my 17bII, wich was in meant condition till then.
My 15c's is cleaned with a soft dry cotton kinda fabric (I really don't know the name in english and very lazy to grab the dictionary).

emece67 · 10-31-2015, 12:44 AM

To my knowledge, the enter key has a single dome on its middle. Being the hinge at the bottom, the key is softer when pressed at the top than at the bottom.

I use to use isopropyl alcohol to clean the machines, but one time I managed to remove the keyboard painting of a 48 GX with it, so great care is advised.

Marcio · 10-31-2015, 12:48 AM

(10-30-2015 02:35 PM)Jlouis Wrote: It was not a good idea too clean with alcohol. Even with only a drop of water, I managed to remove the thin gold coat that surrounded the bezel of my 17bII, wich was in meant condition till then.

Did you ever get it fixed or remade? If so, how?

Thanks

Marcio

Marcio · (This post was last modified: 11-12-2015 04:03 PM by Marcio.)

Luis,

I exchanged this unit for a near-mint condition original 15c. The seller bought the previous one back for the same price and then exchanged one of his for one of my kidneys and he even got to keep the manual, also original.

See pics.

Didn't think something like this would be possible.
There is actually one tiny tiny scratch right above the screen and the logo also shows very little sign of time but they cannot be easily noticed unless one takes a very close look.

The unit was produced in Brazil.

Marcio

Namir · 11-12-2015, 07:12 PM

It's the machine showing some aging!

Namir

Marcio · 11-12-2015, 07:47 PM

(11-12-2015 07:12 PM)Namir Wrote: It's the machine showing some aging!

Namir

Yes, but still, I was surprised this machine could remain near-mint for so long. It was certainly barely used, if at all.

Marcio

ElectroDuende · (This post was last modified: 11-13-2015 07:24 AM by ElectroDuende.)

(10-30-2015 12:26 PM)Marcio Wrote: I managed to damage mine last night trying to clean it with a cotton swab and alcohol 20% in water. I didn't know alcohol could do that, and I was very careful while handling the swab.

Notice how far more robust the keys are if compared to the keyboard plate. (NOT visible by the naked eye!!)

See attachment.

Hello Marcio,

I'm afraid that your problem was not caused by the alcohol you used; it was present before. If you look at the picture you posted, around the "SOLVE" lavel, you can see that the paint is not flat; it has "blistered", and is already detached from the base plate. Anything you use to clean it (even a dry cloth, if you press enough) will break the paint and remove it.

It is the first time I see this on a Voyager series, but it is quite common on pioneers; I have an HP22S with the very same problem. For the moment I don't know a way to fix it; maybe a protective lacker coat... but it may help to dissolve the already weakened paint. If it was completely ruined, i would try to use a vinyl sticker, like the one used on WP34S, but it is not something easy to create...

Regarding on what caused this problem, it is difficult to say, but maybe an extended exposure to UV ligth (sun), high temperatures, moisture, certain chemical agents... is the back label also affected? If so, I think we could discard sun...

Marcio · 11-13-2015, 11:23 AM

(11-13-2015 07:21 AM)ElectroDuende Wrote: Hello Marcio,

I'm afraid that your problem was not caused by the alcohol you used; it was present before. If you look at the picture you posted, around the "SOLVE" lavel, you can see that the paint is not flat; it has "blistered", and is already detached from the base plate. Anything you use to clean it (even a dry cloth, if you press enough) will break the paint and remove it.

It is the first time I see this on a Voyager series, but it is quite common on pioneers; I have an HP22S with the very same problem. For the moment I don't know a way to fix it; maybe a protective lacker coat... but it may help to dissolve the already weakened paint. If it was completely ruined, i would try to use a vinyl sticker, like the one used on WP34S, but it is not something easy to create...

Regarding on what caused this problem, it is difficult to say, but maybe an extended exposure to UV ligth (sun), high temperatures, moisture, certain chemical agents... is the back label also affected? If so, I think we could discard sun...

Hello ElectroDuende,

The unit had many signs of wear. It was actually all over the machine. The bezel and the back were remade, kinda replaced with aluminum plate/coating. Whoever did it, was a professional no doubt. The keyboard plate however was noticeably old and certainly had been exposed to chemicals before, or the sun. The idea was to pay for a full repair and then find someone who could redo the back, maybe my making a sticker and gluing it there permanently. But then I figured that would not be so easy and decided to purchased another one from the same seller instead. Luckily, he had one that is near perfect, to the point I am using more and more the 15c app on my phone than the calculator itself just to keep it like that. I would consider a 12c as a backup if it had a few more scientific functions like solve or trigs (although there are programs for the 12c published in the old forums that will find roots of polynomials and calculate trigs will full accuracy but they are sadly not enough for me).

Marcio

Gerson W. Barbosa · 11-13-2015, 12:12 PM

(11-12-2015 01:33 PM)Marcio Wrote: The unit was produced in Brazil.

Olá, Márcio!

It looks very nice, congratulations!

Two of mine were made in Brazil as well. This one (SN starting with 2905B) was bought from a former collector in São Paulo for quite an affordable price eight or nine years ago. He told me it was bought brand new for collecting purpose only and it had never been used (unboxed, however). One annoying thing is the rather faint LCD display. Perhaps one of this days I will open it (my suspect is a faulty tantalum capactitor, even though I haven't noticed any battery drainage).

Gerson.

Brian D · 11-13-2015, 12:48 PM

And to think I used to keep my 15C in the pickup to compute gas mileage! One day it developed a small black blotch on the LCD and I wised up and got a cheap Casio for the truck, and the 15C is still in use on my desk.

Marcio · 11-13-2015, 01:01 PM

They are not easy to find. It's pretty much a very rare item and is fetching big bucks on auctions sites worldwide. If I remember correctly, the LE version, which experts claim it doesn't have the same quality and has quite a few firmware bugs, was issued in 2011 and was quickly sold out before hitting the market. And yet, they can be purchased on Amazon (11 units available, 7 of which are used) for US$750.

What I don't understand is why HP can't keep this magnificent and very much sought after calculator (the 42s too) available.

PS Gerson, yours looks great!

Marcio