* Back to Offline Hours

* Back to Mechanical Calculators

This machine was manufactured by FACIT in Brazil, although I'm not certain when (the XNumber guide does not cover this machine's serial number). I bought it at an online auction site, in April 2024. No keys were missing, and the seller posted a video of the motor running. I received the machine by mail along with a box of parts the seller had taken out and didn't manage to put back. The plastic gear used for protection was broken, and I received several pieces and attempts to copy it. So, of course, tha machine was completely jammed, with excess lubricant everywhere. The exterior was OK, very similar to the classic FACIT C1-13 that I knew as a teenager.

This machine is basically the ESA-0, with the more modern case. Since my ESA-0 is working nicely, I hope to be able to put this one back in order.

Initially I cleaned the exterior, designed and 3D-printed rollers and their axes for the base, and printed NEA gears to see if they would fit. As it turned out, the center hole of the NEA is narrower than the on in the CA1-13, so I revised the 3D model and reprinted some gears in ABS for the restoration work. I'm also working on a new power cable: I'll model a plug from the machine's female connector (which is different from all others I've seen for CA1-13s online). I also plan to design and 3D-print the logos for the front and back, and the small indicator (MULT-DIV) for the front.

Have a mechanical calculator stored somewhere, and want to get rid of it? Send it to me!

1951 FACIT CA1-13 s/n BE-53162

Front view, notice there is no secondary control lever to the right of the main lever

Left side, cover off

Right side, cover off

Motor, by Electrolux, another Swedish company that decades later acquired FACIT

Electrical connections in the motor shaft

Front view, still missing three keytops

Power label at the back. I adapted a Brazilian 20A connector to fit the thick prongs used back then

Bottom panel, after treating some rust and replacing the rollers with nylon cylinders

3D printed replacement buttons

As purchased

More about this machine

The evolution of FACIT calculators

Video: a demonstration of the FACIT ESA-0 features and use modes

Manual of the FACIT CA1-13 (in German), similar to the ESA-0 except for the cover, and the separation of the SUB/STOP lever functions into two keys. For some reason, FACIT inverted the numbering of the input and accumulator registers, but not the position of the keys

Another description of the CA1-13, in English, mostly applicable to the ESA-0