11 March 2020

Litronix 2235

Litronix 2235.
I had the opportunity to visit Torino's flea market "Barattolo", that is (currently) held every Saturday and Sunday. This is where you can find the cheapest used garbage things. It is not as large as Hrelic in Zagreb, but it shares the same philosophy.

I did not have much time and it was almost time to pack up for everyone. Nevertheless I could find three 1970's pocket calculators, which required a bit of successful price negotiation.

How I got it.
First in the blog show is Litronix 2235 with very curious LED display from 1975.

It felt heavy, a sign that batteries were inside but it did not switch on. Good cosmetic conditions, though. When I removed the battery compartment lid, I saw a little horror show (see picture). One AA battery had even cracked! Nevermind, that is the kind of trouble that I am looking for.

Fresh batteries!
Fortunately the leak had not spread to the circuit, probably because both of the position of batteries within the case and how it was stored. The worst block of salt was on a removable part, that had a bath into pure white (apple) vinegar and a was under tap water. All within 10 minutes time. The plating is now gone, but contact is restored.

Three AA batteries later the Litronix 2235 LED display said hello. It is an 8 digit calculator, but it has a 9-digit display. That's because a decimal point is shown in the position of a digit instead of being subscript intra-digit. What makes it even more peculiar is a dim LED showing that there is Memory content in the upper-left corner of the display.

The LED display. Can you see the small dot in upper-left corner?