The Museum of HP Calculators

HP Forum Archive 14

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Faulty HP33S
Message #1 Posted by Ken Emmens (Auckland, New Zealand) on 22 May 2004, 6:19 a.m.

My ten day old HP33S has, since day one, had the following problems and I was wondering if anyone else has experienced them. The display suddenly dies and is replaced by a line of horizontal dashes, sometimes thick (3 pixels) and other times narrow. The line gradually gets dimmer from the right-hand end and over about a minute it slowly disappears. The line appears randomly anywhere on the screen each time this happens (about every 10 - 15 minutes on average). The keyboard doesn't respond and pressing "C" and "LN" doesn't reset the calculator. New batteries haven't fixed the problem. The other problem is that the calculator sometimes won't turn on. The only thing that gets the calculator working again for both problems is by pressing the reset button on the back. The self-test does not indicate any problem with the calculator.

I'm 99% sure I've got a dud HP33S, but before returning it for service or replacement I would appreciate any suggestions as to possible cause and/or fix. Thanks in advance.

      
Dud!
Message #2 Posted by Wayne Stephens on 22 May 2004, 9:37 a.m.,
in response to message #1 by Ken Emmens (Auckland, New Zealand)

This is the first I have heard of any of those problems. If it was mine, I'd return it for replacement.

Take care.

Wayne.

      
Return it right away!
Message #3 Posted by Karl Schneider on 22 May 2004, 5:18 p.m.,
in response to message #1 by Ken Emmens (Auckland, New Zealand)

I bought mine from a small US retailer that allows return of defective merchandise for only 10 days after purchase. I'm sure that there's some time limit in your case -- don't delay.

I seriously doubt that there's a user fix for the problems you describe, or even that HP would be able to fix it. A replacement is in order.

Edited: 22 May 2004, 5:19 p.m.

      
Re: Faulty HP33S
Message #4 Posted by Ken Emmens on 22 May 2004, 11:31 p.m.,
in response to message #1 by Ken Emmens (Auckland, New Zealand)

Thanks your your answers guys. I will return it tomorrow. I thought perhaps shorting the battery terminals or something like that "may" fix the problem but it is probably unlikely although I haven't tried it.

All the best and thanks again.

Ken


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