how can i fix my calculator??

Question

juice spilled in my backpack and go into my calculator..early today i was using my calculator fine and now it is not working and it is going very very slow. i took on the batterises and cleaned them and now it says "ram cleared" when i turn on my calculator but it is not working

Answer 1

Hi there:
I have a great many calculators.
Many have had accidents of one kind or another.
Whenever ANYTHING electronic gets water in it, REMOVE ALL POWER immediately!
Rip out the battery as fast as possible, since the battery powers an electrolytic action that eats the circuits, and shorts out the pins on the chips, which require VERY little power, and the chip is shorted as though you are pressing all the keys - overheating and eventually burning out.... ( Positive shorts to negative pins etc. )
Then, take apart the calculator ( or remote control, or whatever electronic device ) carefully, to separate the components.
You will usually find one of two or three types of ' button ' action.
There will be a green circuit board on the bottom. ( or some colour) This will have the main traces of button pads on it. Above will either be a sheet of clear plastic with holes where the buttons press, and above it, rubber buttons with a black dot of electrically conductive rubber, or a second sheet of plastic with traces painted on it, that buttons press into the bottom plastic traces. There may be black traces which act as jumpers across traces.

In any event, separate the parts, and wash all the rubber buttons with ordinary soapy water, rinse with hot water, blot with paper towels, and blow dry with a hair dryer. If the circuit board is standard electronic and SMT ( Surface mount technology) then take a typical kitchen sink brush, soapy water, and wash the circuit board, blot, and hair dry. Tap the board on the 4 edges with blot paper under it, on the counter to remove water from under the chips and SMT parts. Hair dry quite hot, and leave sit on its edge overnight. Wash all the case parts, blot and dry.
If there are thin sheets of plastic, with or without electrical traces on them, wash gently by hand in hot soapy water, blot gently, and dry gently, and leave overnight.
The next day, hair dry the cirucit board again, and reassemble the calculator ( or remote control ).

There are exceptions to this method, and you have to use common sense. If your calculator has complex backlighting, complex LCD ribbon strips, motors, or other parts that dont react well to water, you must wash the parts you can - like rubber buttons, the case, and whatever parts are simple, and then use a damp soapy cloth to wash the parts that have motors or other components that you do not want to get wet. This method works with keyboards as well, and usually, the common keyboards today can be taken apart, and the circuits, including the chips, can be washed in the sink, blotted, and dried. The ONLY thing you must make certain of, is that you remove all traces of water, before you re-assemble.
During dissassembly, take your time. You will likely need a small jewelers screwdriver set ( dollar store variety) to remove screws, and a flat, small screwdriver to pop the case snaps apart ( carefully ).
Remember that the circuit boards were dipped in molten lead and acids and water during assembly, so ordinary soapy water does not usually affect them.
If you remove all traces of the liquid ( coffee, soda pop, beer, orange juice ), then the unit will usually work as good as, or better than new, since you just cleaned it. The liquids, like pop, conduct electricity very well, and litterally eat the circuits. If they dry, they act like glue - and they short out the buttons.
There is usually little problem in cleaning a calculator -- IFF you remove the power soon enough to prevent damaging the circuits.

Hope this helps...

A tip you might use is to get sheets of paper and scotch tape, and put small screws and parts on the paper with numbers - 1, 2, 3, and a description of where they go as you take apart the unit. Most calculators have very few parts, but a few complicated ones may be tricky to work with. When re-assembling, just use the parts in the reverse order...

I read one other answer that stated just to blow dry the entire calculator - note that this might work with pure water, but will have long term problems with " JUICE" which contains things like SUGAR and ASCORBIC ACID ! You may temporarily gain use of the calculator, but the sugar will attract water in the air, and the sugar/water/ acid combination will slowly eat away at the traces, and in higher humidity will short out the buttons - you are better off to remove the case, clean the buttons and circuitboard the best you can, and totally eliminate the problem...

good luck

robin

Answer 2

It probably sunk into the calculator. That's a really bad situation.
But have you tried new batteries?

If it said Ram cleared, that means that the memory has been erased. Similar to my graphing calulator, if I turn it off and on again, I can use it.

If that doesn't work, I suggest finding a new calculator. Sorry I couldn't help as much as I wish...

Answer 3

Well, eighter use the calculator on your puter,, Or if you must use the one the isnt working do this.... Take a blow dryer and dry it. This will get into the damp areas you cant see, and after a few minutes of drying it will work.. GOOD LUCK!