Repair, black batten inside

[helissimo]

Hi,
nice site here.
So my Problem is:
My HP 41C (~22 years) dropped down yesterday, no reaction anymore . If I press the keyboard down, everything ok, so the old conact story... I will fix it, seems to be not a big issue.
But as I opened it (of course, the posts for the screws are rotten), a black plastic batten (board) fell out. It is about 2.5 inch long (slightly more than the with of the calculator inside, or the same, depending where you hold it). Seems to be a cover of a edge. But which edge? I tried to check the photos, but I did not see it anywhere. I wonder, if it is part of my problem.
Can anyone help?

Regards from Austria
Helissimo

[dlachieze]

Hello,

Can you post a picture of this loose part? It will help to understand what it is...

Regards from France

[johnboy]

If the piece of plastic has an "L" shaped cross section, then it belongs just above the display. It's not vital for operation.

Cheers,
John

[helissimo]

Yes its that L-shaped thing. There was only one pssition, where it fits. Thanks for your replies.

For the repair, I did:
From a stainless tube, (thickness ~ 1mm), I had, I cut four about 2-3 mm pieces as an hull ("envolope") around the broken posts, without any glue.
So screws had some strenght in the thread again.
The glue will be applied the next time (hopefully not necessary).

Regards
helissimo

[johnboy]

Good to hear you have a successful repair - is it all working ok now ?. The SS tubing is a great solution, I wish I had some !!. I have heard of other people winding some thin(ish) copper wire around the posts and covering that with glue to form a tube. My approach is to open up the keyboard and replace the screw posts with nylon ones, drastic surgery !!

Cheers,
john