My First Classic

[jebem]

(08-21-2018 02:35 AM)xmehq Wrote:  I am now the proud owner of an HP 45 - my first classic!

Any thoughts on how long to let it charge and how best to clean it up would be appreciated.

I never managed to get a 45.
Although i own a 25, a 35, and once i had a 55 and a 67 that i let go in a momentary lapse of reason. Still banging my head against the wall for that.

Having worked professionally as a HP distributor in the late 70's in the repair shop, and after that as a collector hobby since the late 2000, i have destroyed a few of these models while trying to improve them.
This is my shortlist of things to NOT do (exceptions may apply for specific models but better to be safe than sorry):

- Cleaning the keyboard and face plate with agressive or even alcohol based products. This is the way to have the labels removed or just faded away if you are lucky.
Usually i dismantle the unit piece by piece (this is a hobby after all) and then the individual components can be cleaned in full. I use warm water and hand dish detergent and a soft brush for everything except the electronics here i use isopropyl alchool.

- Charging the battery inside the calculator using the original HP charger while at the same time you use the calculator.
It is a matter of time until you have the calculator fried when the battery makes a poor contact due to oxidation / dry electrolysis causing the internal circuits to receive unregulated power supply (this only applies to models where the charger plug uses two pins).

I am sure the many experts here will add more details and help on these subjects.