Hi there everybody,
this is one of those "just registered and the first post is a help request" situations. Sorry for that. But i'm no complete stranger to this forum, and as a lurker have searched and read everything i can find during a last week or so, but without result. I'm no *real* amateur of B&O, nor a collector, just someone appreciating the craftmanship and beauty of their work. I'm rather a vintage design buff. These things are just a thing of beauty to look at, just as a Polaroid sx-70 (just one example) is a thing of beauty to look at. I've especially always had a soft spot for the Beomaster 900 & 1000 variations, and wanted to get me one one day, but as it was not an obsession, time went by. Then recently i had the opportunity to get one 900K for the cheap, and so... i got it.
And here's why i'm here.
It doesn't work. I'm no technician, but am handy. I've already repaired and built stuff, as long as it's mechanics, but am at loss with electronics when no direct instructions are given, and here it's clearly *way* over me. I've downloaded and studied all the service manuals and schematics from the web but am just illiterate with electronics. I called the local B&O shop, but to my disappointment their prices already *begin* at a bit expensive, without any idea as to how high it might end up with. And this without knowing if it's going to be a complete overhaul or just one capacitor. And so i wanted to ask you specialists, if there might be something symptomatic with these models that i could try as a first aid before writing it off as definitely needing *professional* help. You know, testing this, measuring that, with those few components that are the most often the cause of failure in these models ?
Should you accept, i'll describe the patient a little to begin :
so it's a 900K with the dark grey grille in front. On the serial number sticker at the back, it's marked "S 290 BEOMASTER 900 K 919369". It is a model with the stereo decoder installed. It also has - and i don't know if it has any meaning, but i've seen different models so here goes - the voltage range of "150, 220, 130, 250, 110, 240". The exterior is in quite nice condition, nothing indicating bigger shocks. The knobs are all the heavy metal ones. Didn't come with any documents, outside or inside. That's for the model identification.
Symptoms :
does nothing. When i plug it, nothing happens. No sound what-so-ever. When opened, nothing seems broken or burnt to the eye. Nothing gets hot with time when plugged to the wall. All the lamps (well, all three of them that i've found) are burnt. I've tried with one replacement lamp and it doesn't light. The three fuses (is that all ?) seem all right, even though they were a bit covered in dirt (cleaned since).
And that's that. I've no idea as to what to try next. So if any of this inspires any of you, i'd be grateful for any advice, or be more than happy to measure or test any suggestions that you might have. I have a simple multimeter for testing. I can take photos if needed, but can't do extreme close-ups for a few days since i've not my camera with me (will be with an iPhone in the time being).
So there, thank you so much in advance for *any* assistance you might be able to provide, i'll sure appreciate all the attempts.
Sebastian.
