Beocord 3300 – play spindle not turning

[CharlieWednesday]

I realise I’m very much chancing my arm here, but just in case anyone else has had the same issue!

I got my hands on a Beocord 3300 recently, which I thought I might gift to a friend who I know would make use of it.  It was cheap on eBay because it needed new belts, but is in fantastic cosmetic condition.

I have replaced belts on many B&O tape decks before and always successfully so far, but I’m having trouble with this one.  The new belts seem to be fitted correctly, and everything is turning quietly and smoothly, but it’s still having trouble playing tapes.  It will sometimes play, but only rarely.  Most of the time the pinch roller engages and turns, but the right spindle (the play spindle) does not.  With the cover off you can see the little white wheel that is connected to the paly spindle by a tiny belt is turning (I think that’s something to do with the auto-stop mechanism?), but the spindle either does not turn at all, or tries to turn in jerky, noisy movements.  It’s the same with FF – sometimes it works, sometimes it makes a racket and doesn’t work.

With no tape inserted, if I press Play or FF, everything seems to work smoothly and quietly, so it seems the tension of a tape inserted is causing it trouble.

I notice there is a black plastic ‘brake’ mechanism above the spindles that lifts away from both spindles when you press Play, FF or RW, so I wondered if that wasn’t lifting as far as it should. However, I can see (without a tape interested) it does seem to be clearing as it should.  It’s hard to tell  if it is clearing as much as it should when a tape is inserted, of course.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Location: Liverpool
My B&O Icons:

[Dillen]

Bad reel table spindle?
See here:

Reel table pulley Beocord 2000 3300 5000 Beocenter 2200

This part can decelop a crack down its hexagonal spine, causing the trident to lock in a low position, not gripping into the tape reel.

Martin

[CharlieWednesday]

I think you’re right – I just took a look at the reel and the spring-loaded part did appear to lock in the down position, if pushed down.  The rewind reel doesn’t do this.

The description of the fault given on Danish Sound Parts also seems to match the problem I am having.  I have some other parts I need to order from Danish Sound Parts anyway, so I might as well order it and try it.

Hopefully, disassembling and replacing it won’t be too difficult!

Thanks for the excellent advice, as always.

Location: Liverpool
My B&O Icons:

[CharlieWednesday]

You were right about the play spindle @Dillen, it was cracked, I ordered a replacement from Danish Sound Parts and fitted it.  I am still having trouble with my Beocord 3300 however!

If I play a tape, the play spindle only turns very briefly, then the Beocord stops, as though it’s the end of the tape.  It also struggles to RW or FF – it will do it, but it will stop after a little while, before it’s reached the end of th tape, try to play, and then stop.

I gave it a very good clean inside (residue from the old tape belts) and everything is moving quietly and smoothly; with no tape in the machine Play, FF and RW work fine.

I have discovered something though – if I push down firmly on the bottom of the cassette with my thumb (on the raised bit of the cassette), it works.  It moves only very slightly, but that seems to be enough.  It’s as if the cassette isn’t quite seated correctly.

I’ve made sure everything is screwed firmly into place and everything seems to be exactly where it should be, but somehow, the tape seems to be sitting a tiny but too high.  If anyone has any clues as to what might be causing this, I’d be very grateful for the help.  If fixed a number of B&O tape decks and this is the only one so far that has me beaten!

Location: Liverpool
My B&O Icons:

[CharlieWednesday]

I figured it out.  I noticed there were two little metal things either side of the central tape head, and when I looked closely, one of them didn’t seem to be lower than it should be.  The function of these metal things is to hold the tape down into position – they can however easily be bent out of place.  I bent it back into it was applying the right amount of pressure on the lower part of the cassette.  This means the cassette is now sat exactly where it should be, and plays fine.  The FF and RW also now work properly, and much faster, with less noise.

I was only a fraction of a millimetre, but it made all the difference.  Picture added in case it’s any help to anyone else with a similar issue.

Location: Liverpool
My B&O Icons:

[CharlieWednesday]

 

 

Location: Liverpool
My B&O Icons:

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