Dillen wrote:

There seems to be a lack of good repairers in the states. Some areas worse than others.
I get loads of requests for repairs, also from the US, almost daily, and many owners are more
than willing to ship across the water for repairs but it's still expensive (and I only have so much time).

Maybe this is one reason.

Martin

I think you state more the case: those few old ones in the US are probably going in the bin, instead of to the recycler.  In my business I see a few old A/V machines from time to time.  Usually tell them you can get them running nicely if you can find a nice repair technician, but if they have to look perfect there is going to be a problem. 

I agree. But I must confess that's how I got my impossible-to-find Beogram 4000 pulley... When it's there waiting for you, you grab it.

chartz wrote:

I agree. But I must confess that's how I got my impossible-to-find Beogram 4000 pulley... When it's there waiting for you, you grab it.

Call me crazy (or just someone immersed in the 'American Way'), but I view it as a wise business decision that's also 'green'  in the sense that it's recycling valuable parts instead of merely disposing of a dead carcass.  Aren't these parts bringing to life another potential throwaway?   With regard to it being a wise business decision, what's a broken Beogram 1800 (sans cartridge) worth?   Around $25?  That's what Soren paid for the tone arm alone.   He gets a valuable part that's unavailable elsewhere and the seller makes $$.  It's win-win.  I see no evidence here that a working BG 1800 was broken up to sell as parts.

MediaBobNY wrote:

chartz wrote:

I agree. But I must confess that's how I got my impossible-to-find Beogram 4000 pulley... When it's there waiting for you, you grab it.

Call me crazy (or just someone immersed in the 'American Way'), but I view it as a wise business decision that's also 'green'  in the sense that it's recycling valuable parts instead of merely disposing of a dead carcass.  Aren't these parts bringing to life another potential throwaway?   With regard to it being a wise business decision, what's a broken Beogram 1800 (sans cartridge) worth?   Around $25?  That's what Soren paid for the tone arm alone.   He gets a valuable part that's unavailable elsewhere and the seller makes $.  It's win-win.  I see no evidence here that a working BG 1800 was broken up to sell as parts.

I cant argue your point Bob, its a good business decision to sell this way, but my point is that it has gotten more the last 6 months or so. The tonearm I bought, not because I need it, but because I know someone will some day USD 24.99 shipping 11.25. And yes, its nice to be able to find parts

Some time in the future, I will have to do a major cleanup in the dungeons.
I have many parts sorted neatly in boxes, some marked, others not, and I have boxes with a little of this and a little of that,
some of which I haven't touched since the late 1970s.
Furthermore, I have a number of units that are all parted out to some extent, none of which would be fit
for restoration, even if combined.
They were deemed out decades ago and many parts were harvested over the years to complete repairs to other units so
some are now missing a few parts where others have very little left.
I don't know the exact number of units I have of this kind but the figure is in the hundreds. Many parts from these
"skeletons and ghosts" are surplus to my own needs and will surely be sold on the net when I get the time to go through
the lot.
I can't throw anything out when I know that parts are needed elsewhere - the feeling of helping to save a unit elsewhere on
the globe can't be described - but it all takes time to do and from an economical point of view it would also make sense
to sell as much and throw out as little as possible.
My eventual listing of these parts should not cause bad feelings anywhere, I hope. 😂

The immense lack of good repairers is a sad story. And I do know that this is not just a problem in the US, it's
more or less worldwide.
We've talked about it before; Could we make a list, a forum thread or a FAQ or something else with contact information
for repairers ? There ARE some good ones out there. I know from email contacts, Ebay questions, parts requests etc..
Some are registered business (prof.) repairshops, some even authorized B&O ones but there are also quite a
few "kitchentable"-DIY'ers that are quite skilled and knowledgable when it comes to the older things.
Maybe we could urge some of them to step forward, maybe even stating their level of skill and/or pointing out
their preferred jobs.

Martin

few days ago I bought a pair of Beolab Penta for peanuts in mint condition.....The gentleman advised the speakers as : 1 fully working, one for parts only. He told me that he called the service center in Montreal who said the speaker is not repairable and better scrap it!

Now , both speakers are working. Turn out that the bad speaker has a bad fuse! Shame for the B&O technician in Montreal    !!! !!!!!!!!!!!!

Indeed one NOT to include in the list.
And haven't we heard that song before ?
Is their business running THAT good that they can afford to reject repairs like this ? Apparently, they didn't even look at it.

Martin

A list of repairers has been discussed before, but left by the discussion, I would appreciate a list containing professionals with a link to the web site, maybe a small fee could be sourced from these. And of course these will have to have been recommended from members who have gotten good repairs done there. Another list of members willing to make repairs on a private basis, member to member.

Rich and I at some point also discussed about making a spare part stock someplace over here, but better maybe a list where each member tells what he or she has in stock for sale or exchange.

all this kind of list or archives should be available for silver or gold members only, this to make paying memberships even more attractive and give some air to Lee.

I am willing to put in some hours to run and activate lists, or a moderator could be assigned to it. 

Good idea!

I also have requests from all over the world, some of which I have referred to other tech members in the customer's local area. And other members have referred work to me. 

Of course, shipping costs are a big factor, and sometimes prohibitive.

Usually, I ask the customer to have a local tech remove certain PCB's and just send me those PCB's for overhaul. Cheaper shipping, and less chance for damage. Then his local tech can reassemble, and make any adjustments necessary under my guidance.

And I have also pulled apart non-repairable units, and sold off the parts - sometimes it's the better solution. There are also units which have very low resale value (not worth the repair cost - the market decides that, not us), and their parts are usable in other more valuable units - so why not?

Menahem

I reckon we are just going to see more and more of this. More people are finding time to try out diy or repair job, with sites like Instructables turning up, and less people wanting the expense of single life items, its a trend that will continue.
Atleast people are learning new things!