Any experience with changing the feet?

If you're having problems with the hardware of a DM41X or DM42, post about them here.
Post Reply
nlj
Posts: 15
Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2019 8:04 pm

Any experience with changing the feet?

Post by nlj »

My DM42 arrived at the end of last week. [9 days to Ontario, Canada.] It is my first SwissMicros machine.

I'm thinking of replacing the rubber feet, or installing taller feet outboard of the existing ones. There are two reasons for this:

1. The existing feet are not all of the same thickness (or the case is warped) with the result that the bottom right foot is not in contact with the tabletop but thumps down annoyingly whenever a key is pressed. The other three feet do touch the tabletop (of course) but only along their inside edges -- most of each foot is up in the air.

2. It seems the feet are not close enough to edge of the case so that when I press one of the keys in the rightmost or the leftmost column, the calculator tips. (Perhaps this would not happen if the keys were not so stiff to press, or if the outside edges of the feet touched the ground.)

I thought a solution might be to buy four small self-adhesive feet and stick them in the outermost corners of the case.

Does anyone have experience with a foot "upgrade" of this sort? Does it help?
fridlmue
Posts: 23
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2019 9:57 am
Location: Germany - Saxony

Re: Any experience with changing the feet?

Post by fridlmue »

I just can append that I experienced the same Issue but never solved it. So I'm interested in a solution as well.
HP-41cx, HP-35s, DM42
jvanoort
Posts: 16
Joined: Wed Feb 24, 2021 1:30 pm

Re: Any experience with changing the feet?

Post by jvanoort »

Here same problem. My 'solution' is to rest the machine on top of its empty case while using...seems to reduce the wobbly feel.
toml_12953
Posts: 795
Joined: Wed May 03, 2017 7:46 pm
Location: Malone, NY USA

Re: Any experience with changing the feet?

Post by toml_12953 »

nlj wrote:
Sun Mar 21, 2021 8:25 pm
My DM42 arrived at the end of last week. [9 days to Ontario, Canada.] It is my first SwissMicros machine.

I'm thinking of replacing the rubber feet, or installing taller feet outboard of the existing ones. There are two reasons for this:

1. The existing feet are not all of the same thickness (or the case is warped) with the result that the bottom right foot is not in contact with the tabletop but thumps down annoyingly whenever a key is pressed. The other three feet do touch the tabletop (of course) but only along their inside edges -- most of each foot is up in the air.

2. It seems the feet are not close enough to edge of the case so that when I press one of the keys in the rightmost or the leftmost column, the calculator tips. (Perhaps this would not happen if the keys were not so stiff to press, or if the outside edges of the feet touched the ground.)

I thought a solution might be to buy four small self-adhesive feet and stick them in the outermost corners of the case.

Does anyone have experience with a foot "upgrade" of this sort? Does it help?
I had that problem. I twisted the case ever-so-slightly and now all four feet sit firmly.
Tom L

Some people call me inept but I'm as ept as anybody!
DM10L SN: 059/100
DM41X SN: 00023 (Beta)
DM41X SN: 00506 (Shipping)
DM42 SN: 00025 (Beta)
DM42 SN: 00221 (Shipping)
WP43 SN: 00025 (Prototype)
pipedwho
Posts: 10
Joined: Sat Feb 13, 2021 4:40 am

Re: Any experience with changing the feet?

Post by pipedwho »

I have similar 'problem' here, but I don't think it's because of placement or skew. On my unit, the base is bowed outwards ever so slightly so the bottom is slightly concave. This means the feet sit at a slight angle where the inner part of each piece of rubber touches the table, while the outer part floats up slightly. So when pushing buttons on the far left and right rows, the foot is pushed flat causing the calculator to want to lift on the opposite side.

One way to fix it is to use smaller feet and place them at the outer edges of the existing foot bevels.

Personally, for me the issue isn't that bad, and I usually sit the DM42 on its case anyway.
nlj
Posts: 15
Joined: Thu Oct 31, 2019 8:04 pm

Re: Any experience with changing the feet?

Post by nlj »

My region underwent another stay-at-home order so I haven't been able to go to the shops to buy rubber feet. I deem them the sort of thing not easily bought online; I'd want to eyeball their dimensions and feel their heft and texture. Consequently I didn't pursue the foot-fitting experiment.

Meanwhile, reading
pipedwho wrote:
Wed Mar 31, 2021 1:45 am
On my unit, the base is bowed outwards ever so slightly so the bottom is slightly concave.
led me to read another post in this forum: "Bulge in the steel case of DM41X and suggested solution". [I had previously seen this topic but had not read it yet. (Before posting my question I did a search in all the forums and browsed through the titles of all the topics but my mind failed to make the connection between a bulge in the case and uneven feet.)]

This turned out to be exactly the problem. The case, rather than being shaped like a flat-bottomed barge -- like a landing craft, say, was rather shaped in a uniform curve like a coracle. Holding the calculator up to my eye and placing a straight edge against the bottom of it, with the straight edge touching the case in the centre there was about a millimetre gap at each side when the straight edge was across the width of the calculator, and an even bigger gap along the length.

After bending the case so that all four feet make good contact with the tabletop the problem is now solved.
astra4
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Mar 31, 2021 8:55 pm

Re: Any experience with changing the feet?

Post by astra4 »

Someone has posted a video about that on youTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ji41DzipIU
The SwissMicros DM42 rocks. But should it?
870 views, Jun 25, 2021

His solution: "install additional rubber feet [...]"
Post Reply