Thanks folks,

Yes, BCD is what it is I guess. And that explains why it works to use HEX2 to send to the LCD and why DEC2 doesn't work right.

It also explains why when manually loading the time..

Code:
rtcmin = $11    'Set Minutes
..it works to say the numbers are HEX when you're really entering DEC info. For numbers from 0 to 9 it works, AND it puts the digits in the right place for BCD.

If I want to set the minutes to 11, it works to say "rtcmin = $11"
But if I try to enter it as "11" with out the $..
Code:
rtcmin = 11    'Set Minutes
..when it loads into the clock as BCD, it ends up as "1A" on the display.

I can picture what's going on (although I don't think I've put it in words well)
but I don't know how to solve the problem...

After I increment my variable "rtcmin" by 1, is there a way to "fool" things into thinking it's hex again? (without actually to converting hex. I want "12 = $12", not "12 = 0C")

Am I totally lost?