HP35s Precision Error

[FLSurv]

I am a current student studying surveying and had to replace my HP35s. The TI-83 was what I used the first two years of college, but then I switched to the 35s about 1.5 years ago. My new calculator just arrived and I began using it in RPN.

When I enter a number, it adds values right of the decimal.
Examples:

5.111111 -> ENTER
Displays: 5.119117

1 -> ENTER
Displays: 1.000007

203.1234 -> ENTER
Displays: 203.1247

Can anyone give me some guidance on how to deal with this?

[grsbanks]

Looks like a fault to me. Have you noticed that you're always getting a 7 in 7th position?

Have you tried with different display formats (FIX, SCI, ENG)?

Try calculating 1/9 by using [9] [1/x]. Do you get wrong results then? And if you press [1/x] again straight away, do you get a wrong result again?

[Matt Agajanian]

On my 35s, I tried these same inputs. All entries were accurately displayed. Looks like you should send your 35s back to HP with a letter to have them input these three examples so they can replicate your experience and see for themselves.

[rprosperi]

(01-27-2018 06:26 PM)FLSurv Wrote:  I am a current student studying surveying and had to replace my HP35s. The TI-83 was what I used the first two years of college, but then I switched to the 35s about 1.5 years ago. My new calculator just arrived and I began using it in RPN.

When I enter a number, it adds values right of the decimal.
Examples:

5.111111 -> ENTER
Displays: 5.119117

1 -> ENTER
Displays: 1.000007

203.1234 -> ENTER
Displays: 203.1247

Can anyone give me some guidance on how to deal with this?

This is one of the oddest malfunctions I recall seeing for an HP machine.

Before returning it, try this:

1. Remove the batteries
2. Short the (+) to (-) terminals of one of the battery sockets, using a short piece of wire, paperclip, scissors, or whatever is handy. Just short them for a few seconds.
3. Press and hold the ON key for 10 seconds (just to drain residual current in caps)
4. Let the calculator sit overnight without batteries.
5. Next day, insert NEW CR-2032 batteries and check behavior.

If the weird behavior is back, the unit is definitely bad, contact HP support for a replacement.

Please report results here. Unusual problems are always interesting.

[FLSurv]

Thanks for all the responses. I am not a calculator wizard, but this definitely seemed like a funky issue. I will try out the trouble shooting recommendations and report back what I end up needing to do.