Repair service for HP 48GX?

[fred74]

Team, my name is Federico and I am an happy owner of a 26-years old HP48 GX.
Unfortunately, few months ago the calculator felt down from my desk and display got damaged. There is a liquid spill from the the display that started with a tiny pixel and now is becoming every week bigger and bigger (see attached picture).

I am interested in getting it repaired but I am not sure whether replacement parts for display are available. Are you aware on how to get spare parts for display? Do you have any recommended company providing repairing service in Europe (or US)?

I've tried to contact Bruce from Vintage Calculator without success.

Looking forward to getting your hints!

Federico

[mfleming]

There is a U.S. seller on eBay who does LCD replacement for 48's using better contrast displays from cheaper donor calculators. I and other members can attest to the quality of the work, and I can send you his seller id by private message if interested (seller advertisement posts are generally discouraged on the forums).

The cost, particularly with the higher International tracked shipping, might put you in the range of buying a used replacement from the various auction sites. Have you considered getting a replacement instead of repairing? The price of a 48G or 48G+ is not quite as bad as a GX, but you can find a bargain on a 48GX if you are patient enough.

Repairing the calculator itself is quite an adventure since it is not really meant to be opened, but once opened the LCD is not too hard to replace. There was a recent thread on suitable donor calculators, and instructions for repair can be found in the articles forum and elsewhere on the web. You might want to practice on a dead 48S/SX first though

[fred74]

Thanks a lot for your kind reply!
Just sent a PM to get info about the repair service.

Best regards,
Federico

[JDW]

What about replacement parts for the 50g? A fellow 50g owner asked me about that recently, saying they damaged their display and want to replace only the display.

Please post the info in the open forum as it would help a lot of people and result in fewer PM exchanges too. There's no reason to hide the info as it would be very useful to many.

Thank you!

[mfleming]

The HP48 and HP50 are entirely different fellows! The repair servicer I mentioned can be found advertising his services on TAS and the Classifieds here, but they are limited to the 48. I was probably being too cautious by not mentioning him directly, but he did post his own web site url recently in the Classified forum. Go have a look and see yourself what he has to offer. I've only seen mention of two other individuals offering repair service for older models, but I don't think either are still working.

As to parts for repairing the 50, you'll occasionally see several calculators in a lot offered by recyclers as Parts or Repair. These are almost always missing the battery door. I picked up five for around $30 that should serve as a repair pool in the future. Others here probably do the same.

To summarize, there is no magic repair service I'm hiding from everyone. A quick skim of the forums will confirm that most people do their own repair work. There is a really decent amount of articles and threads here on how to do this yourself, not to mention the many knowledgeable people on tap, as you saw yourself when seeking help for your friend.

Now, if only we had The Book

(BTW, the servicer has been mentioned numerous times in the open forum, and I guarantee any mention I make in this thread will disappear into that Great Pile of Previous Postings, just like all the others)