HP-67 Gummy Roller Successfully Repaired Message #1 Posted by Grant Henson on 17 Dec 2006, 3:07 p.m.
This morning I was able to repair the gummy roller on my HP-67, S/N 2011S02569, using the instructions by Mike Davis on this site. The card reader works great now. The successful repair was remarkable on four counts: (1) I was able to get the calc apart without destroying it, (2) the fuel tubing I had happened to be the exact right diameter for replacing the roller, (3) the calc still worked when I put it back together and (4) the roller repair worked!
The only thing I would add to his excellent instructions is that when you put the card reader back onto the keyboard assembly, you should reassemble the two pieces like closing a book, instead of placing the reader on the keyboard, otherwise the leaf springs will fall out of their little grooves. One interesting thing was that before I took the calculator apart, I noticed some crumbly material that I thought was just random crud, inside the battery compartment. Upon opening the calc, the crumbly material turned out to be pieces of the old roller that had gotten through the little holes at the top of the compartment. The old roller had turned into goo and was all over the inside of the upper housing. But other than that, the calc is in quite good shape. The silver trim is almost completely intact, and the LED lens is clear.
I have a 55, a 67, a 97, a 34C and a 41CX that my former employer surplused to me. The 34C, 55 and 67 work fine, although the batteries on the latter two are "rigged" with alligator clips for the time being. The 97's battery pack is dead, but I do have the adapter, so it'll power up. Not enough current to run the printer and card reader. There are some non-functional keys on the 97, so it's more of a hangar queen at this point. The 41CX is out of commission due to some disintegrated internal posts and eroded battery contacts. I find it ironic that the youngest calc in my collection (the 41CX at a youthful 22 years) is the only one that is totally non-functional. My 55, which will be 32 years old in a few weeks, still works like a charm. Could HP's quality standards have started eroding as long ago as the early 1980s?
I acquired the "Standard Pac" of programs with my 67, including the famous "Moon Rocket Lander". My son nearly soiled his pants when I told him we would be able to play a moon rocket game on my nearly 27-year-old calculator, but I think he was disappointed that it was just a sequence of little red numbers instead of the color graphics he's accustomed to on his Game Boy.
I celebrated by ordering the site DVD. I can hardly wait to whip out the old '67 tomorrow morning at the office and say, "Excuse me one moment" while I feed a magnetic card into the whirring reader!
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