HP 38c Battery Door

[Joel Braun]

A while back, I was given an HP 38c Financial but found it didn't have a battery cover/door. After a few months of fiddling with it on and off, I have to say that it's started to bother me, though. It's not used as regularly since I got my 35s, but it seems a shame to have this calculator in great condition that has a gaping hole in the back.

From what it says on the 30 series reference page, this is a rather common issue, but after searching around, the only solution appears to be to buy a replacement calculator, which doesn't really align with what I'm trying to do here.

Does anyone know of some site where one might be found, or have any suggestions?

I'm not really fond of the idea of going back to duct tape.

[aj04062]

While not a solution, I did attempt at one time to create a new cover using modern rapid prototyping techniques. Came close with a cover that fit as new, but it didn't work. Then my friend who was making these for me got out of the business of selling the machines, so I lost my cheap source to make them. Asking any of the web based shops to make one based on my 3-D model was futile as they wanted way too much money. I am not confident this technique would have produced a rugged solution anyways.

I had toyed with trying to make a metal version.