HP45 Adaptor for use in Australia

[siri-g]

Hi there, I recently bought an HP45 as a gift for my Dad - his all time favourite calculator. You’ll have to excuse my unfamiliarity with correct terminology with my question. .
It doesn’t work with batteries but I know the lead worked in the US. I’m in Australia and we have 240V. I saw that the back of the power pack allows me to switch from 86-127V input to 172-254V input. When I inquired locally in an electronics store about an adapter (to convert from the US 2 pin to an Australian plug), they said they have this https://www.jaycar.com.au/50va-240vac-to...49f7a2dc33 (which outputs down to 115VAC) and has a US 2 pin socket, but they said to confirm with the manufacturer if the calculator will tolerate the voltage. Does anyone know if it will?
Is there a safe way to test this?
Thanks.

[teenix]

Switch the HP charger to the 254V side.

Then buy a 2 pin US to 3 pin AUS power adaptor. There are plenty around cheap.

If the calculator does not work on batteries, make sure the brass bar in the calculator charger socket does not have corrosion. For the batteries to work the two outer brass pins must be shorted together with this bar. When plugged in, the charger plug pushes this bar away from those connectors and allows the charger to charge the batteries and also power the calculator.

cheers

Tony

[siri-g]

Thanks Tony. So just any cheap adaptor is fine (as opposed to the $60 stepdown transformer I shared earlier?). Or if I don’t want to risk causing permanent damage, am I better to play it safe?

No corrosion. And it came with this battery case ‘insert’. I don’t know if that’s an original part? I just tested it with regular AAA alkaline batteries and they didn’t work. . Should I have used rechargeables?

Thanks again.

[Paul Dale]

Don't waste money buying a transformer. Switch the power supply to 172-254V setting and it will work here.

To covert the plug, discount stores carry cheap and nasty international plug converters -- they are perfect for this job. JB HiFi and similar also carry them at many times the price. I'd strongly recommend going this route. Failing this, it is sometimes possible to twist the pins using a pair of pliers -- I do *NOT* recommended doing this to save the cost of a $2 converter.

[AndiGer]

You have a modified battery inside - for use with 3 AAA batteries - rechargeable or not. If you use rechargeable batteries you can charge them outside the calculator with standard charger.
Andi

[teenix]

Looks like the shorting bar on the charge socket is missing, which is why it won't wok on batteries

[John Garza (3665)]

(11-21-2023 06:13 AM)teenix Wrote:  Looks like the shorting bar on the charge socket is missing, which is why it won't wok on batteries

Sharp eyes Tony!

A workaround is a wire jumper across the left and right pins.
Just push the wire into the center holes in the pins.

-J