Hello!
This is meant to be a thread including all calculators which were ever disassembled (on codewalr.us). So if you enjoy opening hardware, please feel free to contribute with pictures, tear down-instructions, strange things inside your calc, hardware-hacks-ideas and more.
I'll try to make a list of all disassembled calcs so nobody has to tear-down twice ;)
List
[spoiler]
fx-9860GII USB Power Graphic 2
TI-81/TI-82/TI-85
Casio PRIZM
[/spoiler]
fx-9860GII USB Power Graphic 2
[spoiler]
Tear Down
(1) Remove the battery cover.
(2) Remove your batteries. No, there is no hidden screw behind it, but otherwise you'll not be able to remove the board.
(3) Two screws above the RESTART/RESET-button are hidden under rubber plugs. Remove those plugs using an extra-thin-slotten screwdriver.
(4) Loosen the 3 screws under the battery cover and the 4 other screws on the backside of the calculator.
(5) Carefully lift the backside up. It's not a snap-in-shell, so that shouldn't be too hard. Don't face the keyboard/screen-side, otherwise keys might rain ;)
(6) Remove the 3 screws on the LCD and the 2 screws of the keyboard-board. (English is not my main language, sry).
(7) Lift that 'construction'. Voilà, you're ready.
Do the same steps backwards in order to assemble your calculator. I didn't face any problems with that method, and I think everyone can tear down the calc if he knows how to tighten/loose screws :P
Extra
That capicator is 470µF.
For OS-Image PM me, you'll get my email.
Here are the pictures:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0mk4dyez4wrjzun/fx9860GIIPG2.zip?dl=0
[/spoiler]
TI-81/TI-82/TI-85 by CVSoft
[spoiler]
Tear Down
(1) Remove the two Phillips screws from the bottom of the calculator, and remove the screw holding the backup battery in place.
(2) Push the battery compartment side of the housing in towards the center of the calculator while lifting it to release the two tabs on each side of the calculator.
(3) After the fourth tab is released, DO NOT open the calculator by hinging the housing open at the top; there are two longer tabs on top, and they will break off if you do this. Instead, once the fourth tab releases, push the battery compartment side up, and it will come free.
(4) Remove the LCD board screw on the right side and the two small screws on the bottom of the PCB to remove the RFI shield.
(5) To remove the PCB, remove the six screws on the PCB and the one remaining LCD board screw. Be sure to remember which type of screw goes where. Push on the bottom of the LCD board to get a hold on the top of its sides, and simultaneously pull this out with the main PCB by lifting that by the backup battery spring. The key mat and some keys may stick.
[/spoiler]
Casio PRIZM by gbl08ma
[spoiler]
(1) Remove the battery cover;
(2) Remove the batteries*;
(3) Unscrew all the screws on the back, including those on the battery compartment. The screws are all the same;
(4) Profit!! Be careful not to lose the reset button. For even more profit,
(5) Unscrew the two screws holding the circuit boards in place;
(6) Gently lift them (be careful not to break any connections);
(7) Extra profit!!
[/spoiler]
As I said before, I have a Casio 9750g Plus, I believe, and I think I've already lost all the keys to it when I took it apart. So, it is no longer a calculator, I want want to do something with the screen now. I wonder if the screen resolution of an 83+ could be changed?
Quote from: Unicorn on August 10, 2015, 05:48:58 PM
As I said before, I have a Casio 9750g Plus, I believe, and I think I've already lost all the keys to it when I took it apart. So, it is no longer a calculator, I want want to do something with the screen now. I wonder if the screen resolution of an 83+ could be changed?
It's not compatible. The TI-83 Plus expects a Toshiba T6A04 (or other display driver if the 83+ is newer), which is glued to the LCD via a ribbon cable. The maximum resolution for that display driver is 64x120 but the calculator OS isn't built for that.
Quote from: CVSoft on August 10, 2015, 05:57:22 PM
Quote from: Unicorn on August 10, 2015, 05:48:58 PM
As I said before, I have a Casio 9750g Plus, I believe, and I think I've already lost all the keys to it when I took it apart. So, it is no longer a calculator, I want want to do something with the screen now. I wonder if the screen resolution of an 83+ could be changed?
It's not compatible. The TI-83 Plus expects a Toshiba T6A04 (or other display driver if the 83+ is newer), which is glued to the LCD via a ribbon cable. The maximum resolution for that display driver is 64x120 but the calculator OS isn't built for that.
Ah, ok, thanks for the clarification. I guess I need something else to do with it. ;)
Quote from: CVSoft on August 10, 2015, 05:57:22 PM
Quote from: Unicorn on August 10, 2015, 05:48:58 PM
As I said before, I have a Casio 9750g Plus, I believe, and I think I've already lost all the keys to it when I took it apart. So, it is no longer a calculator, I want want to do something with the screen now. I wonder if the screen resolution of an 83+ could be changed?
It's not compatible. The TI-83 Plus expects a Toshiba T6A04 (or other display driver if the 83+ is newer), which is glued to the LCD via a ribbon cable. The maximum resolution for that display driver is 64x120 but the calculator OS isn't built for that.
What would happen if a screen of that size with those drivers were attached?
Also I've taken apart my 83+. It's pretty easy but it seems durable. I accidentally dropped the screen which hit the side of the calc. It was so scary but it worked fine after.
THe question is... how did Unicorn lose all his calculator keys at once? I could understand losing 1-3 keys somewhere during disassembling, but unless parents just saw the bag of key and threw it away in the trash or that Unicorn accidentally dropped the bag off a bridge, then I can't see how that's possible. O.O
Quote from: CKH4 on August 10, 2015, 09:43:11 PM
Quote from: CVSoft on August 10, 2015, 05:57:22 PM
Quote from: Unicorn on August 10, 2015, 05:48:58 PM
As I said before, I have a Casio 9750g Plus, I believe, and I think I've already lost all the keys to it when I took it apart. So, it is no longer a calculator, I want want to do something with the screen now. I wonder if the screen resolution of an 83+ could be changed?
It's not compatible. The TI-83 Plus expects a Toshiba T6A04 (or other display driver if the 83+ is newer), which is glued to the LCD via a ribbon cable. The maximum resolution for that display driver is 64x120 but the calculator OS isn't built for that.
What would happen if a screen of that size with those drivers were attached?
Also I've taken apart my 83+. It's pretty easy but it seems durable. I accidentally dropped the screen which hit the side of the calc. It was so scary but it worked fine after.
Yeah I dropped my 83+ a few times before. A TI-80 would never survive any drop, unlike the other models.
My friends 2 years ago gave me their broken 4-function calcs so I could disassemble them :P
I somehow fixed one by stomping on it too O.O
If I remember to keep some of the broken 4-function calculators that I can get from my science teacher (and not use a hammer to disassemble it) I could put a few pictures.
Since we seem to be drifting away from the topic, TI-81/TI-82/TI-85 disassembly instructions!
[spoiler]
- Remove the two Phillips screws from the bottom of the calculator, and remove the screw holding the backup battery in place.
- Push the battery compartment side of the housing in towards the center of the calculator while lifting it to release the two tabs on each side of the calculator.
- After the fourth tab is released, DO NOT open the calculator by hinging the housing open at the top; there are two longer tabs on top, and they will break off if you do this. Instead, once the fourth tab releases, push the battery compartment side up, and it will come free.
- Remove the LCD board screw on the right side and the two small screws on the bottom of the PCB to remove the RFI shield.
- To remove the PCB, remove the six screws on the PCB and the one remaining LCD board screw. Be sure to remember which type of screw goes where. Push on the bottom of the LCD board to get a hold on the top of its sides, and simultaneously pull this out with the main PCB by lifting that by the backup battery spring. The key mat and some keys may stick.
[/spoiler]
I would post pictures of the inside of my Casio Prizm, but since it has a special condition ("a poor repair job from Casio's service center in a south European country"), I believe it's best if I don't do it, to avoid confusion. They, along with pictures of "normal" Prizms, are widely available on other websites, including a nice curated list of links on the Prizm Wiki, so I guess not much is lost.
As for the tear down, it's really simple:
1. Remove the battery cover;
2. Remove the batteries*;
3. Unscrew all the screws on the back, including those on the battery compartment. The screws are all the same;
4. Profit!! Be careful not to lose the reset button. For even more profit,
5. Unscrew the two screws holding the circuit boards in place;
6. Gently lift them (be careful not to break any connections);
7. Extra profit!!
When putting everything back together, take care to make sure the battery springs go into their correct positions in the case. You really don't want to break them, if you do, you better have soldering skills :)
Also, in case more people have the screens of their Prizms lightly scratched: it's an unfortunate property of the plastic they used. I'm yet to see a screen protector for the Prizm that doesn't look ugly.
* People for the Ethical Treatment of Prizms recommends that the calculator be properly turned off before removing the batteries, to avoid damage to the highly vulnerable flash memory component (and to save me from hearing more stories about dead Prizms).
Weren't you one of the person that sent your fx-cg20 calc to get it repaired by Casio, only to get it back as an fx-cg10?
And yeah I noticed that unlike my TI-84+CSE, 84+CE, Nspire CX, ClassPad II and HP Prime, my PRIZM screen is quite scratched. It's almost like if dust alone did it.
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on August 14, 2015, 11:21:02 PMWeren't you one of the person that sent your fx-cg20 calc to get it repaired by Casio, only to get it back as an fx-cg10?
Yes :) And the big capacitors went missing, too. Well, at least we now know the calc can work fine without them, even though probably the components are less well protected/working under more stress. Something People for the Ethical Treatment of Prizms certainly does not approve :)
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on August 14, 2015, 11:21:02 PMIt's almost like if dust alone did it.
Indeed, and it appears that the metallic gray ink on the border also wears out as our fingers rub on it (on mine, the border near the EXE key is black instead of gray because the ink disappeared).
Well, at least they didn't replace the calculator fonts with Comic Sans. It would be even worse than stripping the calc from its big capacitors. :P
And wow it sucks about the gray ink. I didn't notice myself, since I use the calculator less frequently than the color TI and HP models. One thing I noticed, though, is that my PRIZM smells very bad, like how most brand new electronic devices smell like, but ten times worse and the smell lingers on your fingers after using the calc. That alone might be one reason to not disassemble my PRIZM. <_<
A bit back, but my deskt is a mess,and we just rearanged myroom, soI'm not sure where they went :P
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on August 15, 2015, 02:34:52 AMWell, at least they didn't replace the calculator fonts with Comic Sans. It would be even worse than stripping the calc from its big capacitors. :P
Actually I would consider that an improvement, since for everything other than numbers and math symbols, the normal size font is quite ugly and doesn't help with fast reading. At least Comic Sans is sans-serif and variable-width ;)
Yeah but the calc would most likely receive massive hate from the entire internet since Comic Sans is the most hated font because of the Geocities era. At least it should have been Arial or something like that. :P
Actually I hate fonts which are variable-width. It's just too confusing, concerning both data and reading.
Oh, and I updated the first post, I hope you guys are ok with that.
Yeah I prefer monospace for calcs. It's easier to make games with them because you don't need to draw the chars one by one if you want them to look monospace in games.