Attempts at Beogram 8000 repair

17 replies

Pete,

Thanks for your reply.  I do have a question for you as you have replaced the b&o what-ever-it's-called connector with rca's.  My b&o cables are junck.  I have a phono input on my pre-amp, so I assume I'll just have to hook up the right and left channels and keep the ground?  Can you post how you did it? 

 

Martin,

Thank you also for your help. 

- I plan on doing the caps last. 

- The tachodisc is the metal kind.

- There doesn't seem to be any scraping or problem there.

- I did a quick look at the solder joints and other than some corrosian they seem fine - I'll remove the boards and use my magnifier/light to check for sure.

- Carriage seems to operate smoothly, what type of lube is best to use?

- Just replaced the little belt which helped a bunch.

While I was pulling it apart I noticed that the back panal connected to the dust cover and metal cover was more or less toast.  Are there replacements available?  I also need the mechanism that holds the dust cover up too.

I then started to "set up" the detector and pick-up arms per instructions which seemed to go well.  I got to the point of setting the pick-up arm balancing and realized that I have no idea how to lower the pick-up arm.  How do you do that?

Thank you again for your time and patience, I very much appreciate it.

ross

ps. boy do I miss spell-check!

As a matter of fact, now the pick-up arm doesn't want to fall at all.  Upon "play" it moves to the correct spot and drops a tiny fraction and stays.  When I hit "stop" it pops back up to were it's supposed to be and returns.  Any thoughts?

Thanks again...

ross

If your B&O cable works for the time being, why not use it. I only put in RCA jacks for testing purposes, they are not properly attached. I used an alligator clip lead for ground. I have yet to sort the proper way to do this.

Pete

Clean the threaded shaft and the carriage nylon bushing and add a couple of
drops of acid-free oil. f.e. sewing machine oil of the type that evaporates in months
rather than hours, to the shaft.
On the Beograms that come here, I like to use a type of oil that is normally used
in aviation instruments. It will work for a very long time.

Yes, use a microscope to check the solder joints.
If the board was not already re-done, it will have at least 30 cracked joints.
Most have more.
I like to use solder with a hint of silver in it to prevent it from cracking
again soon.

You should never touch the rear plastic panel unless absoutely necessary.
It's not necessary to take off the rear cover to gain access to the innards and
even the dustcover and metal plate hinge can be replaced without touching it.
It will just break or even shatter in hundred pieces if you try to unlatch it.
There are no machine specific parts available from B&O for these decks.
You will have to repair what you have or find parts from a donor machine.
The rear cover can be permanently fixed using 2-comp. epoxy. It will never come off
again but won't have to either.

While repairing, I use an old MMC cartridge with no needle.
That will allow for safe testing of the mechanics and controlling electronics
without damaging an expensive stylus while at the same time providing the correct
tracking force (cartridge/tonearm mass).

With the old caps still in, you will have to check the power supply voltages to make
sure that suitable operating conditions are present for the rest of the
electronic circuits. Use an oscilloscope and a multimeter.
The Beogram will not be able to perform correctly if it receives
too low voltage or too much ripple on one of the secondarys.
Deciding to leave the old caps in the board will make diagnosing very difficult
and other given faults will be very hard to find.
90% or more of the faults in these machines are caused by aging capacitors so I would
recommend you start there.

Martin

Aaaww...Crap!

I was hoping the do the caps this winter.   I wish I hadn't taken off the back cover too...

I did find in the packaging that the tacho thingy was replaced (the old plastic one was there in pieces) and also there was a seperate schematic with a few miscellaneous part #'s and prices, so maybe some work on the boards has already been done?

Martin, I'll pm you for the cap kit.  The only problem is I don't see how to "pm" you?  Do I "start a conversation with" or "talk about"?

So I take it that there is no "magic" to getting the tone-arm to drop?

There could be something physically blocking the tonearm and/or solenoid, preventing it from dropping. I cannot tell you exactly
what and where, sometimes a cartridge protective cap, a screw or some other object, maybe even an old cartridge is found
rattling around inside, but it could also be an electronic fault. The solenoid is driven by a ramp voltage.

PM = Start a conversation.

Martin

I'll validate: replacing the caps got both my 8002s behaving. 

Surprisingly, I found no broken solders in either. #3-solder city!

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