The Museum of HP Calculators

HP Forum Archive 14

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Egad! I dropped a stapler on my 12C!!!!
Message #1 Posted by Barry on 28 Dec 2004, 11:37 a.m.

Fell from the top bookshelf to my desktop where my innocent and (until now) unscathed 1984 12C was sitting. Ouch! Put a nice little dent on the gold display surround. Still works like a charm, though, of course. It stinks that it's marred now, but I guess that just gives it a little character.

      
Aargh! I dropped my 15C twice in a backpack!
Message #2 Posted by Karl Schneider on 28 Dec 2004, 8:57 p.m.,
in response to message #1 by Barry

I usually carried my 15C (purchased Nov 83) in the outer pocket of my backback. Twice, the book-laden pack slipped from my fingers and landed on the ground, damaging the bezel of the 15C. The second time caused a deep scratch from a loose mechanical pencil. Fortunately, the display window was unscathed and the calc works perfectly to this day.

            
Re: Aargh! I dropped my 15C twice in a backpack!
Message #3 Posted by Trent Moseley on 29 Dec 2004, 1:43 p.m.,
in response to message #2 by Karl Schneider

I remember years ago reading in "Key Notes" about some guy accidently running his car over his 15C, and it still worked afterwards!

tm

                  
Re: Aargh! I dropped my 15C twice in a backpack!
Message #4 Posted by Ed Look on 29 Dec 2004, 7:50 p.m.,
in response to message #3 by Trent Moseley

Don't try this at home, folks.

                        
Re: Aargh! I dropped my 15C twice in a backpack!
Message #5 Posted by david bowers on 8 Jan 2005, 9:13 a.m.,
in response to message #4 by Ed Look

hi i am an aussie surveyor, i drop my hp 42 about twice a week onto concrete from 1 to 3 feet and it still ticks along,they used to say you could drop them from 3 feet, i have done that onto wooden floors off plan desks lots of times and no probs i have 2 48g a 48gx with cogo, 2 32s and the 42, one 32s needs repairs, does randy have a tel no. i keep the 48s in the office except when doing setout but i use the older ones to rule marks on slabs, scrape away the dust etc, and they are great i ordered a 33 then read reviews and cancelled it cheers david

                              
Re: Aargh! I dropped my 15C twice in a backpack!
Message #6 Posted by Ed Look on 8 Jan 2005, 3:04 p.m.,
in response to message #5 by david bowers

Oh, you shouldn't have cancelled it! I've dropped my 33S, too once or twice and it still works.

Further, it has grown on me since I bought it and in my heart, it has come to almost occupy the same place as my 32SII. Again, the ONLY real complaints I have with the 33S are the femtoscopic decimal point and comma. I have to look twice sometimes to be sure of an order of magnitude.

Otherwise, it is a pleasure to use. Cosmetics? For kids.

                                    
Re: Aargh! I dropped my 15C twice in a backpack!
Message #7 Posted by david bowers on 11 Jan 2005, 7:56 a.m.,
in response to message #6 by Ed Look

well i would like to buy some 12/15/32s if anyone wants to sell, they are great for the site work, i need a clear decimal point as i work in dim light when the stuctures are up setting gridlines and that complaint would bug me, i need clear displays always anyone know where i can send my 32s for a fix cheers david

                                          
Re: Aargh! I dropped my 15C twice in a backpack!
Message #8 Posted by Ed Look on 11 Jan 2005, 10:09 p.m.,
in response to message #7 by david bowers

Well, I think the guy may be swamped, but Randy Sloyer at www.fixthatcalc.com would be my first try if it came to fixing a HP calculator. He is also one of the posters here on this forum.

                  
I *DARE* you
Message #9 Posted by Steve Doran on 30 Dec 2004, 9:07 p.m.,
in response to message #3 by Trent Moseley

Anybody brave enough to donate their 12C or 15C to "MythBusters" to prove this story?

12345

                        
Re: I *DARE* you
Message #10 Posted by Hugh Evans on 31 Dec 2004, 2:25 a.m.,
in response to message #9 by Steve Doran

I have a feeling they would be up to at least testing the rhino story involving a 12c. They have the budget to afford an old 12c easily.

As for surviving being run over by a truck, I have personally seen an 11c back in the '80s that met with an 18-wheeler. It was somewhat slimmer to say the least.

                              
Re: I *DARE* you
Message #11 Posted by Trent Moseley on 1 Jan 2005, 9:26 p.m.,
in response to message #10 by Hugh Evans

Great! But did it still work afterward?

                        
Re: I *DARE* you
Message #12 Posted by david bowers on 11 Jan 2005, 8:06 a.m.,
in response to message #9 by Steve Doran

about the dropping, when i was a student,30 years ago, another engineer with a late 70,s model dropped it on the site office wooden floor,intentionally, he told me they were able to withstand a 3 foot drop, i always believed him and never worried about not dropping them, he said they were drop proof i would have dropped my 42 and my 32 at least100 times each onto the office floors and i still use both, they get caught between the plans, when i hang up the plans they slide onto the floor, as for concrete i have lost count, many times they fall out of my survey pouch,most times i can break the fall with my workboot, i have had both since new. the metal trum plate have come off the older ones i dont use anymore, i have had more trouble with faulty keys sticking in the older ones the 32s that doesnt work,it always stays in the office and it never restarted one day after changing the batteries i take them o/s hiking and i really say they are robust

                              
Re: I *DARE* you
Message #13 Posted by David Smith on 12 Jan 2005, 6:49 p.m.,
in response to message #12 by david bowers

The HP41 machines seldom survive a drop onto hard surfaces. The upper screw bosses in the case are sure to go. In hard drops the lower screw posts will break.

                                    
Re: I *DARE* you
Message #14 Posted by Ren on 20 Jan 2005, 5:36 p.m.,
in response to message #13 by David Smith

I Double Dare you!

                                          
Re: I *DARE* you
Message #15 Posted by david bowers on 22 Jan 2005, 6:25 a.m.,
in response to message #14 by Ren

i thought i would get intelligent responses from others who drop them also, not those who are scared to do just that.yesterday i dropped the 42s onto the level 5 concrete deck from 700mm and its fine , i guess the 100 times would include the dirt i walk on as well so in 15 years or more the 100 times includes concrete dirt and timber site shed floors i always thought they were made, as i was told , to survive desktop falls, and again i say they do, maybe positive thinking does it, who knows, i get more worried about them being stolen as the second hand price increases than dropping, they slip out of my field bag when i pull out my plumbob and string line. if you sit at a desk and dont go into the real world, try it, its no use having a logical calculator and no brain to match. if the person hadnt written voicing concern about dropping the hp then i would not have written saying, from my own long experience that i dont consider the dropping part a big concern. i wouldnt drop my 48 gx for that matter, but my oldies have hung in there, which is why i use them outside, i climb thru handrails,and they pop out when the survey bag gets caught up, also i often dont use the cover so they get scratched from mickey pins and nails and chalk reel dust. if they broke as easily as people say, then i would have bought countless ones to replace the 42s and 32 s, and i havent thanks david

                  
Wasn't that an...
Message #16 Posted by Vieira, Luiz C. (Brazil) on 30 Dec 2004, 10:10 p.m.,
in response to message #3 by Trent Moseley

... HP12C found "spread around" the street, as if a car had ran over it? At least I remember someone at this very forum mentioning this particular event.

Anyway, I keep an intriguing Educalc Catalog (# 59) with the title "Fake Displays?". It shows both an HP42S 'bitten by a dog' and an HP48SX after an "18-wheeled road hazard". Jim Carter's issue letter mentions, amongst others, an HP32S that survived a fire accident in Ithaca. Its owner had his building burned up and found the HP32S working fine, X-contents unchanged, inside his "charred book-bag".

I would not doubt about anything else.

Cheers.

Luiz (Brazil)

Edited: 31 Dec 2004, 1:12 a.m.


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