Turned on ti 86 and have a black screen. I have replaced all of the batteries and still is black.

Every time you change batteries this will happen to you. First press 2nd then press and hold the down arrow. Hold until their is no black in the background but you can still see the numbers on the screen.

Turn the calculator on. Press and release the 2nd key. Press and hold the down-arrow key until the screen lightens. If you go too far, press and release the 2nd key and then press and hold the up-arrow key.

Try adjusting the screen contrast. Turn the calculator on. Press and release the 2nd key. Press and hold the down-arrow key to lighten or the up-arrow key to darken the screen.

If this doesn't do it, please reply to this post and we can try something else.

TI calculators have an annoying habit of dimming the screen when the batteries are changed so that it appears as if the calculator isn't turning on. Turn the calculator on (or at least press the ON key). Press and release the 2ND key. Press and hold the Up-arrow key for a few seconds and see whether the screen becomes legible.

If the screen is completely black, go the other way, using the Down-arrow instead of the Up-arrow.

If this doesn't do it, please reply to this post and we'll go on from there.

Turn the calculator on. Press and release the 2nd key. Press and hold the down-arrow key until the screen lightens. If you go too far, press and release the 2nd key and then press and hold the up-arrow key.

Hello, First of all no; it is not normal for your screen to be black. How can you enjoy the wonderfulness that is Ti with a dark screen. For the solution; it sounds like your contrast needs to be adjusted. Hold 2nd and down. The screen should lighten. If it reaches about where you can not see the cursor, then press 2nd and up and this will darken it. Hope this helps; Happy Calculating

TI calculators have an annoying habit of dimming the screen when the batteries are changed so that it appears as if the calculator isn't turning on. Turn the calculator on (or at least press the ON key). Press and release the 2ND key. Press and hold the Up-arrow key for a few seconds and see whether the screen becomes legible.

Adjust the contrast. Turn the calculator on. Press and release the 2nd key. Press and hold the down-arrow key until the screen lightens. If you go too far, repeat the process using the up-arrow key instead of the down-arrow.

this is a firmware problem and you may need to upgrade the software or have carrier do it.

turn it on and immediately pull out the battery: fixed my TI-85 if not its ded :-(