Classic cleaning tips?

[Kees Bouw]

I am about to clean the HP-80 that I won a few years ago on eBay. Because it works fine, I am only going to clean the outside. The back label is intact and I do not want to open it. It is not very dirty and there are no particular problems with its appearance. There is just some dirt and dust here and there, like on the borders of the keyboard and at the sides of the keys. What would be the best way to clean it? Obviously, I don't want any liquid creeping in between the keys or the on/off switch. Does alcohol dissolve the key legends on the keyboard or on the keys? Anything else I should definitely NOT do? I don't have a lot of experience with this, so all tips are welcome. Thanks!

[Jan]

Does alcohol dissolve the key legends on the keyboard or on the keys?

Possibly or even likely. It actually DID on my 67 (tested it on a small spot => test failed so I stopped immediately). With the 80 more or less being of the same generation as the 67 I would not take any risks: avoid alcohol or any organic solvents in general.

[aurelio]

I tryed ttwo years ago to clean with alchool my 67 and actually I did it unsuccesfully, no good results but in confidence no damages too, only don't insist too much in the same point, problems could be in that case due to a too strong mechanichal action.
I can say you: absolutely not try to clean even with water the woodstock calculators: the key legends on the keyboard dissolves just looking at them..........but in the classic models legends are pretty hard to dissolve

Anyway the best advice I can give you is to avoid any risk with these kind of jewels, let them be as they are, just remove the dust with a soft brush...calculators are like cats, don't like the shower and your 80 will apreciate if you will leave it "in peace"

[Jan]

Much of the commercially available alcohol contains some water. Maybe that's the reason of the problem I had with the 67 (after all, the 67 is in fact a 2nd generation calculator, just like the woodstocks (same manufactoring techniques probably)). So avoid any cleaning with liquids and/or rubbing.

[Kerem Kapkin (Silicon Valley, CA)]

I use a cotton swab and micro fiber cloth with lens cleaning solution holding the keyboard upside down. Works very well removing any black dirt on and around the keys, on the overlay.

Edited: 11 Feb 2012, 6:03 p.m.

[Nick R]

I use a Q Tip slightly moistened with Windex for removing dirt, followed by another Q Tip moistened with water to get rid of any Windex residue.