Repairing a cracked Spice case

[Jeff Kearns]

Hi everyone,

I just received a much anticipated 'Perfect Condition - Like New' HP 34C that is anything but...

It has a cracked case (1.5 cm hairline crack) on the lower edge of the battery compartment and the case is separated above one of the screws. Needless to say, the battery door does not stay on. Despite getting pictures and trying to ensure the state of the calculator, one can never be guaranteed that the unit will arrive as advertized.
The front face is in decent shape at least.

I know a good technique for separating the case halves on a Spice based on Spice Repair and have successfully separated the cases of my 32E and 33E in this manner.

My question is: Can I successfully repair the case cracks from the underside (to hide any residue) with a special glue made for adhering plastic to plastic? Will it resist the outward pressure of the battery? Which glue is recommended?

Geoff: When can I get a copy of your book??

Thanks,

Jeff Kearns

Edited: 19 Apr 2011, 10:40 p.m. after one or more responses were posted

[Jose Poyan]

Hi Jeff,

I had one with exactly the same defecf. I put trasluscent epoxy glue, the one you mix. It holded it for a short time. After three times installing and removing the battery cover, it broke again.
I used a screw driver to introduce the glue through a gap, since I didnt want to remove the back cover. That is to say, I didnt have the chance to prepare the surface propperly. You may try by sanding the plastic to get good grip, but I feel that the case is subjected to too much pressure and the glue wont hold. Anyway you could remove it easily if it doent work. Of course, dont evey try super-glue.

jose

[Jeff Kearns]

I have been in touch with Geoff Quickfall by email who is offering to guide me through a repair process. The fellow from whom I bought the calculator claims to not have been aware of the crack(s), and I want to give him the benefit of the doubt. Geoff points out that the likely cause of the stress fracture is the increased length of modern AA batteries. I wonder if the custom rechargeable battery packs that are sold on TAS (of which I have two sets) for Spice calculators are of the correct length? Has anyone else had this problem?

Nonetheless, I paid a substantial sum for the unit, believing it to be in "Perfect, Like New" condition. He has offered a reversal of the transaction and an apology, but I prefer to keep the calculator and simply ask for a rebate. If this is not an inappropriate question for the forum, could someone please tell me what a fair price 'should' be for this unit, based on the description above? If the forum is not the place to discuss this, please email me with your answer.

Thanks in advance!

Jeff Kearns

[Jose Poyan]

Hi,

Yes, it is a fact that the batteries in the original pack are shorter and if you replace them with normal batteries, leaving the aluminium case that keeps both cells toguether, the plastic case will visible suffer and actually you wont be able to introduce the pack into the calculator at all.

So in my case I replaced them with rechargable batteries and they got inside but only becouse the battery contacts were corroded and I had replaced them with copper foil which is very thin. They didnt make good contact though.

I imagen that the original pack used tagged rechargable batteries, but without tags so they are shorter.