Beocenter 2 buying considerations

[Madskp]

I am a little tempted to buy a Beocenter 2 (yeah I know the Beovirus), but but I have some considerations that I like to hear if others have experience with.

If I wan’t to go the cheap route most units on our local “Ebay” here in Denmark are sold as the head unit and the socket unit seperatly, and as of now I only find one socket unit for sale.

I noticed in one add for a head unit that the seller mentioned that he has the pin code. My consideration here is if the pin code is only for the head unit or if the socket unit is using the same pin code and therefore need to be with the head unit the pin code was set for?

Also could there be other dependencies between the head unit and the socket unit I will have to think of?

Quite a few of the adds for the head units mentions that reading CD/DVD’s might be problematic. Are there any known cure to this other than replacing the laser?

Any other things that I have not thought through?

Thanks in advance for all inputs

 

 

[Madskp]

Thanks for the info. very good points

B3OHACK3R wrote:

As far as I know the pin code is stored in the socket unit. I have two BC2 here. One with pin code enabled, the other came disabled. I remember connecting the “pin code” head unit to the other socket unit (several un-powered hours in-between). It then didn’t ask for the pin code, so…

Ok that is indeed worth to know. Funny enough the one seller who is selling a socket unit also sells a head unit separatly and tells that he has the pin code for that. But Of course if you don’t know it it would make more sense that the pin cpde was in the head unit.

B3OHACK3R wrote:

Watch out for sticky soft touch paint on the head unit.

Did not even think about that. But that is an issue with a lot of products from that era. I also have a sticky Beolab 7.1 and Beomaster 5.

B3OHACK3R wrote:

Also worth checking the display for signs of wear. The VFD technology used has a limited life-time. If people let it running 24/7 or enabled the standby clock some pixels will be worn out heavily and pretty dim while other will still be bright. While it still functions then it will just look bad.

Yes this might be a deal breaker. And for the sellers who only sells the head unit this will not be possible to check before buying.

B3OHACK3R wrote:

The wing mechanism tends to stop working properly. Usually caused by a slowly failing rubber belt.

This I was expecting as I can see that the Beoparts shop has the belts for it.

 

Anyone knows what to expect about laser durability?

[Madskp]

Madskp wrote:

I have yet to test this as the door mechanism as expected also has some issues which is certanly the rubber band giving issues.

This was solved with a new belt from Beoparts shop. The doors are now moving smootly as they should.

Madskp wrote:

Also the CD clamper might need some adjustments as well as the clamper mechanism which dos not seem to reach the bottom and has problems getting the CD to land on its spindle. This might also be related to a rubber band for this mechanism.

I replaced the belt for the CD clamper mechanism with 25×1.5mm round belt and the tray now falls into place as it should.

Madskp wrote:

The Head unit was advertised as having difficulties with playing CD’s.

The BC2 now seems to play both CD’s and DVD’s just fine, so I guess that this issue was related to the CD clamper not securing the disc on the spindle.

Madskp wrote:

The coating on both the head unit and the socket unit is still in ok condition, but it might be a matter of time.

I think I will remove this just in case, and also the bottom of the head unit might be a little sticky.

But all in all a succes, and a quite easy fix 🙂

[Gaea]

My mother’s BC2 has the clamper somewhat sticking to the sticky plastic underneath, so the clamper has sometimes difficulties opening.
I used a q-tip with silicon spray to relieve the stickyness of the clamper seat.

I replaced the belts and used the Kose trading video to remove the wings

[Rolf2]

Gaea wrote:

I replaced the belts and used the Kose trading video to remove the wings

Yes, those videos are definitely a good knowledge source. Thanks for pointing toward it. Additional help is available in the BC 2 Service Manual, 5.3 – 5.5.

[Madskp]

Rolf2 wrote:

Guess it will be all the same for cleaning products with sticky soft touch coating, e. g. BC 2 table charger / dummy, BeoMedia 1, etc.

Regarding beomedia 1 and Beomaster 5 as well I don’t know if the Bang & Olufsen text will survive this treatment. But might be better than the alternative.

Gaea wrote:

I used a q-tip with silicon spray to relieve the stickyness of the clamper seat.

Good to know there is also other alternatives

[Madskp]

Yeah it might be a little hard to search for it as it seems do depent a lot about where spaces are set in the search phrase and whether you use . or , for decimals.

I will send you a private message linking to the one I bought.

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