Great thread Soren, looking forward to hearing all about it!

Got this one from Jeff in another thread.

Søren,

Since you are working on your reel to reel can you tell me why they are SO expensive to repair?

I know this is not a workbench forum and we could move it there, but I thought you might shed some light on this.

I mean I had both my Beocord 8004 and 9000 repaired and it wasn’t too bad for either.

But with a reel to reel basically other than Soundsmiths NO one would touch it let alone fix mine, but they provided estimates from $800 to $4,000. You got that last number right, I have 3 estimates for $4,000.

My Tandberg is in for repair and it is being done by a nice chap who works on it daily in-between the paying jobs, but I have no idea what the bill will be when it’s done.

I mean my deck worked when I took it in, the motor and heads are fine (verified) but it needed a good contact cleaning, lubrication, a dozen solders repaired, and about 20 capacitors replaced.

Jeff

Søren Mexico wrote:

Søren,

 

Since you are working on your reel to reel can you tell me why they are SO expensive to repair?

 

I know this is not a workbench forum and we could move it there, but I thought you might shed some light on this.

 

I mean I had both my Beocord 8004 and 9000 repaired and it wasn’t too bad for either.

 

But with a reel to reel basically other than Soundsmiths NO one would touch it let alone fix mine, but they provided estimates from $800 to $4,000. You got that last number right, I have 3 estimates for $4,000.

 

My Tandberg is in for repair and it is being done by a nice chap who works on it daily in-between the paying jobs, but I have no idea what the bill will be when it’s done.

 

I mean my deck worked when I took it in, the motor and heads are fine (verified) but it needed a good contact cleaning, lubrication, a dozen solders repaired, and about 20 capacitors replaced.

 

Jeff

It is my first Reel to Reel, so I am not the right person to ask, I used 4 hours just to take mine apart. When opening an item, I did not work with before, I go very slow and check everything before loosening a screw or disconnecting anything, I also take a lot of pics and make notes where pics are not enough (on the famous BM 4400, I had 10 letter size (A4) pages). But for cleaning, lubricating and changing some caps on a BC 2000 RtoR I would use about 10 hours, (with the small experience I have now) if it is an unknown device the double.

Professional workshops has an overhead and to adjust any tape recording device you will need some tools (gauges) and instruments, only suitable for this.  If a workshop only repair an RtoR once a year they will calculate the tool and instrument cost (or part of it) into the end price, then they will have to have a repairman who knows at least something about it, and as these items only shows up maybe once a year it is like starting all over again every time. And thats where the money comes together, overhead, salary, tools and third part works (machining and forming parts, most electronics do not have a mech. shop like I do)

Thanks Søren, I understand.

I did the best that I could with my Tandberg replacing lamps, cleaning tape heads and tape path, and providing a general lubrication. So my deck was in reasonable good shape mechanically when it went it. Motor and heads are good and it has no belts.

Long story made short, this shop did two pieces for me, a VCR and a Sony D6C Walkman, both well done and reasonable. ($40 & $90.)

So I took them my Tandberg reel-to-reel. Like virtually everyone I approached this shop didn’t want this job, but let me talk to a tech, whom I managed to “charm” into looking at it, but that was all he promised to do, look at it. As such, no estimate, and that is what worries me now.

Intimidated at first, the Tandberg “grew” on him. This guy doesn’t get to interact with people too much, so he really lit up when he found a customer with passion for the item being repaired.

Now he delights with everything he finds wrong and is VERY determined to tell me the details of each find and its solution.

I like this and I now see that with the learning curve behind him he will not quite until my Tandberg is perfect.

It is not a question of you being the “wrong man” to ask, as there is no “right” man. My tech is fitting this repair in-between his “real” work which pays the bills. So what he charges is entirely up to him.

I was just hoping for a (frankly) wild, yet educated guess what someone would charge to clean all the contacts, sliders, pots, and most importantly the connections between the deck and the circuit board. Re-solder a dozen solder points and replace about 20 capacitors (@75¢ each.)

It all comes down to the tech likes me and my Tandberg, his boss has NO idea how much time he has in on this, so the charge can literally be anything.

I guess I’ll know when the deck is done and I have the invoice in front of me.

Jeff

Søren Mexico wrote:

. Its now 02:00 am, going to bed.

 

Very good, Sören!

Søren, this is a nice addition to any B&O collector! Of course I want one for my Beolab 5000 (almost complete, I might have found a pair of good condition cubes for very little outlay in the local ads 👍).

But then, you should perhaps look at the inside of a ReVox of the same era, you'd be astounded at the sheer simplicity of the mechanics: no silly clutches, no idler wheels in sight. Golden tracks, no oxydation. A bit like the mighty (for me) Beocord 5000 of 1976! 

chartz wrote:

But then, you should perhaps look at the inside of a ReVox of the same era, you'd be astounded at the sheer simplicity of the mechanics: no silly clutches, no idler wheels in sight. Golden tracks, no oxydation. A bit like the mighty (for me) Beocord 5000 of 1976! 

As this is the first RtoR I have seen open, I cant say much about it or ReVox, but since the disassemble I have been thinking about the complicated mechanical drive system, it has too many points where it begs for problems, as you say silly clutches, idler wheel and belts and brakes  a more direct and simpler system would have done it, on the other hand this unit is more than 50 years old, it may have been serviced at some point, but will have been working good for many years, if not, there would have been more signs of repairs.

In the 60es this was the Mercedes, and the Tandberg the VW. I had a RtoR back then, dont remember if it was B&O or a Tandberg, but we had a lot of fun with it. Grabbing the new hits from Radio Luxemburg late night, light out and volume turned way down, so my parents didnt find out.

I hope you get your cubes and a BC 5000, and yes it is a collectors item, took me 3 years to find one over here.

Søren Mexico wrote:

In the 60es this was the Mercedes, and the Tandberg the VW. I had a RtoR back then, dont remember if it was B&O or a Tandberg, but we had a lot of fun with it. 

And the ReVox was a Rolls-Royce, to continue the metaphor.

My 1966 G36, all valve.

The 1979 B77 inside, being serviced:

That said, a nice, unworn Beocord 2000 would suit me perfectly of course. But I know those Bogen heads were very tough, because they are used in my Uher open-reel recorder as well.

And I do have two Beocord 5000 4715, both operational. 🙂

Nice to see you working on the RtR, Soren.  Do you have any tapes in your collection?

By the way, when I got the stereo bug in the first half of the 80's, my goal was to one day own an Akai RtR.  Never did buy one, or any brand for that matter.