Chosen Solution
Hello! When I was trying to delete the history on my calculator, I must have done something wrong and now, slowly but surely, the screen is disappearing. Please refer to the picture posted and help me solve this problem.
The cable that connects the display to the board has failed. Unlike the color versions of the TI-84, the display is held onto the calculator with a TAB (Tape automated bonding) connection that cannot be removed non-destructively. You will need a TAB machine, new display (the cable will be damaged upon removal) and a lot of experience to get this right. In addition, like the TI-84 Plus (also B&W), the board is held in with plastic - these need to be broken and fixed with screws in order to secure the board correctly again. Supposedly TI sells refurb calculators for $100 (they may want the bad one back), but it’s usually cheaper to get one from a high school/college student who only used it for 2-4 years (and took care of it and then forgot about it) or a bookstore who sells used TI calculators.
The TI-84 Plus (the one I own), the SE (yours) and the CSE (discontinued quickly) are all equally as disposable.
If this only happened right after you cleared the history, then it’s not the display, you just need to do a RAM reset. (Take out the backup battery and one of the AAA batteries. Hold down ON for 10 seconds, then put the backup battery back in lastly, put the AAA battery back in.) It may also help to reinstall the OS. Since that’s a more complex procedure I’ll refer you to this video that explains how to do it. If this has been happening over the course of days or weeks then it’s definitely either display issue or a battery issue. You can try just replacing the batteries but it that doesn’t work then Nick’s answer will help you out.
