I have my orders placed, and will receive them in a few days. I found the BF859* transistors at MCM, the rest at Digikey. I decided to shotgun all the electrolytics, since I have heard the RDE's are ticking timebombs.

* BF859 shares a datasheet with BF857, and appears to be a higher-voltage version of the original, Vce/Vcb is 300V, vs. 160V.

Well, good news and bad news. I got all the suspect components swapped out, and all the wiring harnesses put back where they go. The receiver powers up, and tests (Monitor + Standby) fine.

However, the power amp section does not power up. There is no voltage across the main filter caps (should be 55V), and there is no delayed relay clicking on. Upon the first turn-on, there was a wisp of smoke from...something. Something around the "Startup" board. However, nothing looks bad. So...

What do I look at now?

If the "startup"-board is the one at the back with the fuses etc. then I suggest you take a good look at the board and the fuses.

If the relay(s) does not click, check that you got all the cables and connectors back on correctly. Eventully, check
for cracked solder joints at the connectors.

Martin

There are two distinct relay "clicks". I'm not sure how many there are onboard, though. I believe the fuses are good, also. One I visibly checked, the other ohmed at a dead short. I'm thinking something happened on that board, but what? Other than the relays, fuses, wires, and two big resistors, there are two small diodes. They "look" OK, but my next move is to test them, and replace if necessary. It's weird that even the big rectifiers have virtually no voltage across them.

And, the computer is acting up now. I left the unit on all night, and this morning it was on the fritz. I was able to run the self-test, and it came back with TE 3...what does that mean?

The Beomaster 8000 is a wonderful machine but not the easiest to repair. Even experienced tech guys
develop grey hairs occasionally.
The service manual is download'able from our main site at a small fee - well worth it for all the info
kept in there and this site will be happy to see some support.
That manual would tell you that TE3 is a defect around 9IC3. Pin 31 in particular may be shorted.

Martin

Thanks, Martin. I already have the SM, but didn't see the error code matrix before. I just found it. I will definitely check 9IC3, especially in the vicinity of pin 31. The unit works for a while, so I imagine the issue is heat related. Possibly a bad solder joint, or debris, or something. Thanks for the direction.

I will check over the startup board (7) tonight, I have replacement diodes if needed. It seems like the startup circuit is not powering the 55V system up at all.

Thanks again,

Jeff

I discovered something: the two diodes on the startup board test OK (out of circuit, of course). However, the two big power resistors, 5.6 ohm, measure at ~200K! That would certainly explain the lack of power to the transformer, as those are the first components the AC sees as it comes in from the mains. Time to look through my junk and see what I've got...

Update: this morning I replaced the bad power resistors on the startup board. But the problem is continuing. I've traced it back to the "delayed relay" section of the power supply board (6). Could the receiver be refusing to come out of a "protect" mode?

No,

If the relays click one after the other with a few tenths of a second between, that part is working.
If they release again soon after, something is wrong in the amplifier(s). Could be a too high
idle current or badly adjusted DC offset (or something else).
Try measuring the +/- 55V and see if it is supplied to the amplifiers at all.
If so, then try putting a voltmeter to the amplifiers center rail (speaker output) and check for DC.
Does the "clipping" light flash on the front panel at startup ?

Martin

Here's what's happening:

At startup, RL2 instantly closes. However, RL1 never does. So I have full preamp/control functionality, but there is NO 55V voltage in the system. RL1 never energizes, there is 0V across its terminals, traceable back to the "delayed start" circuitry on Module 6. I get lost there, though. The capacitor is new, and all else looks visually OK.

Is this circuitry part of the "protection" system? (The "clipping" light never comes on at all.) I did pull and test the output transistors; B-C and B-E were OK, but C-E were shorted. Would this cause the +/-55V rail to shut off?

How much would it cost to get those transistors (TIP141/146 x3) from you?

I read, in another thread, you guessed (correctly) that a trimmer pot shorted, and took out the emitter resistors and output transistors. This appears to be exactly what happened in my unit. I have replaced the trim pots (on both output boards) with 10-turn Bourns type, but I am very frustrated that I can't get the 55V to the board to properly set the bias voltage!

Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

Jeff