Beosound Century CD lens replacement – difficulty removing the old lense

[langasi]

Hi all,

First of all, I’d like to mention that although this is my first post here, I’ve been visiting this forum for quite some time now to read up on all the knowledge accrued here over the years, and it’s been very helpful on multiple occasions. So thank you all for that! Since the covid hit, I’ve been enjoying a new hobby of buying various vintage B&O gear, and fixing it, while  learning about how it works.

At the moment I am replacing a cd mechanism in a Beosound  Century, and I’ve hit a certain roadblock. I would like to remove the laser lens and install a new one. However I found that that a gear that is moving the lens up and down is blocking the removal path, and I need to remove gear first. See the white gear in the photo below. I’ve tried pulling it upwards but it seems to be pretty firmly in place. I don’t want to break anything, so would like to confirm with someone who has done this before. Does anyone know – should I simply apply more force or is there another way to it?

Many thanks!

[langasi]

Solved. More force was the answer. 🙂

 

[filip_kbh]

Just my few cents here. Everyone says that the laser needs to be replaced but I found that not to be necessary at all.

I was given a Beosound Century by a lady for free (my luck), and she said that the CD didn’t work (well, the cassette also had problems and the remote control also had issues, all of which were easy to fix). True enough. It would spin a few times and refuse to play most CDs.  I came across a video on YouTube that showed how to clean the lens and the mirror behind it, and that did the trick. It was a bit fiddly but not too demanding even for a novice. The video is here: https://youtu.be/qXGubkovMEE?t=345

 

[matador]

I’ve two or three laser lenses that behave erratically, I’ll try that.

If it do works, I can predict second hand value of faulty 9000’s will jump for sure !

[matador]

langasi wrote:

Solved. More force was the answer.

Now I want Rita Mur’s Love Story Short cassette…

[langasi]

That was a limited edition, Rūta only had 50 cassettes made.

Interesting tip on cleaning the mirror behind the lense! I have another Beosound Century waiting for repair, will give it a go when I get my hands on it.

[matador]

filip_kbh wrote:

The video is here: https://youtu.be/qXGubkovMEE?t=345

It works…

Worth a topic on its own…

[leonardo.buffa]

Hello thanks for sharing this interesting video, I’m going to follow it but before I have a question: in maintenance mode, when I give code 40, 42, 44, etc, nothing happens… I’m guessing there’s another problem? (I have a Century 2651 MKII it should be the same of this)

[leonardo.buffa]

OK I did some test and… I’m quite sure the problem is CD power supply.. doing the same (maintenance, codes, etc) in another Century the laser moves, in mine nothing happens… I have to better investigate where’s the problem, radio, cover, CD lid works.. the problem seems to be only on the laser circuit

[leonardo.buffa]

Problem Solved: there was a flat cable with no good contacts, removing e reinstalling the CD became responsive again. I confirm the classic “Focus Error” I tried to clean but no luck, after this CD starts but randomly I get Radial Error or Focus Error. I dismantle another Century and I took just the laser module with lens, keeping my electronics, and it works. I found online the spare part in Germany and I’m waiting for it.

[Author]

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