Displaying Time on BeoLab 3500

[Madskp]

Guy wrote:

I am not sure if it is safe to leave PL pins 1 and 4 connected, but that was just temporary so I will research further if I ever have to use this setup permanently.

It might not be a good idea since you are connecting to different circiuts. But for a more permanent solution you can solder (I know you don’t like that 😉 ) an adapter where you connect pin 4 from the Becenter to pin 1 on the Passive. That should be safe.

Guy wrote:

I think the clock is running properly in the BeoCenter and simply sends out an ML time signal ‘on the hour’, which updates the BeoLab.  And yes I should be able to set the clock in the two-way BC2300 but to do so I need to find one of my Beolink 5000s – that search is presenting a problem!!!  I also need the BL5000 to ‘read’ the clock in the BC2300 – I tried selecting CLOCK with a Beo4 and nothing happens.  I’ll look at these and your other question if/when I find the remote!

Ok I thought you could only program the time with a Beolink 5000, but do I understand correctly that you can not even see the clock on the display of the Beocenter 2300? If so the Ouverture is much of an improvement in that regard.

[Guy]

Madskp wrote:

It might not be a good idea since you are connecting to different circiuts. But for a more permanent solution you can solder (I know you don’t like that 😉 ) an adapter where you connect pin 4 from the Becenter to pin 1 on the Passive. That should be safe.

Yes if I make it a permanent setup I will indeed make an adaptor.  No need for soldering – I can just use PL to RJ45 cables and copy @Tignum’s adaptor from here:  https://forum.beoworld.org/forums/topic/beoplay-connection-hub-beolink-passive/#post-52183 (And I’d forgotten that I had contributed to that thread earlier this year – I must be getting old!)

Madskp wrote:

do I understand correctly that you can not even see the clock on the display of the Beocenter 2300?

That’s correct – you need to use the BeoLink 5000 remote; pressing CLOCK will show the time only on the reverse remote screen.  On the older BeoLink 5000 with the CONTROL button you press SHIFT then STATUS and the time is shown on the remote’s front screen.   BC2300 will send the time to BL5000 whether in stand-by or playing, whereas BC9500 has to be at stand-by.

Incidentally, I was just reading about the Ouverture clock in its User Manual, and noticed this text (my bold):

Note: If you use the BeoSound Overture in a fully
integrated Bang & Olufsen AV system (see page
39), the clock must be set via the TV.

… which does suggest that a Videomaster clock takes precedence over an Audiomaster clock.  Hence the NL/ML Converter (when set as V.Master) can correct the BC2300’s clock.

[Madskp]

Guy wrote:

Yes if I make it a permanent setup I will indeed make an adaptor.  No need for soldering – I can just use PL to RJ45 cables and copy @Tignum’s adaptor from here:  https://forum.beoworld.org/forums/topic/beoplay-connection-hub-beolink-passive/#post-52183 (And I’d forgotten that I had contributed to that thread earlier this year – I must be getting old!)

Oh yes remember that thread to. Could just not remember what the topic was.

Guy wrote:

That’s correct – you need to use the BeoLink 5000 remote; pressing CLOCK will show the time only on the reverse remote screen.  On the older BeoLink 5000 with the CONTROL button you press SHIFT then STATUS and the time is shown on the remote’s front screen.   BC2300 will send the time to BL5000 whether in stand-by or playing, whereas BC9500 has to be at stand-by.

Ok I understand the concept now. A little vierd since the BC2300 has a display, but of course many systems before that did not, so might have been to keep the controls the same

Guy wrote:

Incidentally, I was just reading about the Ouverture clock in its User Manual, and noticed this text (my bold): Note: If you use the BeoSound Overture in a fully integrated Bang & Olufsen AV system (see page 39), the clock must be set via the TV. … which does suggest that a Videomaster clock takes precedence over an Audiomaster clock.  Hence the NL/ML Converter (when set as V.Master) can correct the BC2300’s clock.

Ok that make sence then that a Video Master is the Master clock in the system. However B&O might no have thought this through for the BC2300 without a Video master and connected to a Beolab 3500. Of curse if the clock was set correct from the factory it would probably hold up for years, so might not have been an issue before the batteries in the units began to get old

[Guy]

While I have all the equipment out, I just did a quick check that the RJ45 Powerlink outputs on both the NL/ML Converter and the Essence Mk2 will turn on/off the Beolink Passive.  As expected, this works fine as long as the RJ45 to Powerlink cable is the fully wired MK2 powerlink compatible version such as that supplied by Steve here: https://soundsheavenly.com/bang-olufsen/31-325-rj45-to-powerlink-compatible-all-in-one-cable-convert-new-2013-ethernet-powerlink-to-traditional-8-pin-din-powerlink.html#/9-length-18m

Tonight’s task is to search for the elusive BeoLink 5000 so I can get back to those BC2300/BL3500 timers tests!

[Guy]

Good news – I found the BeoLink 5000 😀  Bad news, the display is starting to fail! 🙁

Anyway, something similar happened previously and the display improved as it warmed up, so I will bear with it for now before resorting to one of the known modifications!

I just tried a couple of experiments:

With just (two-way) BC2300, BL1611 and BL3500 connected:  If time is not showing on BL3500 (because it has been powered down/up again) I can use the BeoLink 5000 to set (or re-set) the BC2300 time and as soon as I press the final ‘Accept’ the time appears on the BeoLab 3500 display.

I then tried setting an incorrect time on the BC2300 (showing when interrogated with Beolink 5000 and also permanently on BL3500 display) and then power down, connect the NL/ML Converter, and powered up.  If I then tick the NL/ML Converter menu to ‘Push Time to Masterlink Products’ then as soon as I press ‘Save’ the time is corrected on both the BC2300 (interrogated with Beolink 5000) and on the Beolab 3500  display.  If I change the time-zone on the Converter that will also change the BC2300/BL3500 times.

So all is pretty much as expected – the NL/ML Converter as Videomaster will correct/over-ride the Audiomaster time.

I am not going to try adjusting the BC2300 time with the BL5000 when the NL/ML Converter is also ‘pushing time to ML’ as I don’t want to risk mucking up the Converter!

I can’t think of anything further to test so that’s it for now 😀

[Madskp]

Great findings, and great that you found the Beolink 5000 and it still worked enough to do the testing.

I have also done some testing her. Since you already have confirmed that the NL/ML converter can adjust the time on the BC2300 I tried with my Beocenter 6-23, BS Ouverture and Beolab 3500.

If I set a new incorrect time on the Ouverture as soon as I confirm with go the time will get updated on both the BS ouverture and BL3500.

I just wonder why this does not work with the BV8 and BV10?

And also B&O might not have thought this through on the Beocenter 2300 if it was not in a setup with a TV that could adjust the time on the BC2300. Of course most People would only notice if they had a Beolab 3500 connected to the BC2300 and the time was starting to be wrong

[Guy]

Madskp wrote:

If I set a new incorrect time on the Ouverture as soon as I confirm with go the time will get updated on both the BS ouverture and BL3500.

That’s good to know – hopefully all this information will be useful for someone else one day, not just us geeks!

Madskp wrote:

I just wonder why this does not work with the BV8 and BV10?

Perhaps because BVs 8 and 10 (unlike the BC6-23) were introduced when digital TV tuners were around, hence the availability of what should be a much more accurate time signal with the TV signal.  It’s a shame that this signal will not update attached ML devices, both audiomasters and BL3500.

Madskp wrote:

People would only notice if they had a Beolab 3500 connected to the BC2300 and the time was starting to be wrong

I think that the advice from B&O would be to turn off the time display on the BL3500!!

Yet another aside/thread drift:  The CD player is starting to behave erratically on my older two-way BC2300 – some (not all) discs turn then make noises and spin rapidly backwards!  It has the older CDM-4, curved-laser-path CD mechanism and a bit of research suggests that it may be worth replacing C100 on the servo board (the BC2300 equivalent of C2103 on other models).  It’s 47uF according to the Service Manual and I know from other threads that I must fit a blue axial Philips/BC – can anyone link me to an exact item that I can click to purchase in UK?

I checked Beoparts and can’t see a capacitor kit for the BC2300 CD board, but I am sure that I have read somewhere that BC9300 was basically a re-packaged BeoCenter 2500 so I wonder if there is read-across from other kits. 

Funnily enough, whilst swapping CDs between players last night one of my BeoSound 1s suddenly decided to refuse to play CDs!  I simply put it in Test Mode and ran through the CD tests to ‘exercise’ the CD mechanism and it started working perfectly again!  That suggests a sticky CD mechanism to me and it probably needs cleaning/lubricating, or just using more frequently!

• This reply was modified 2 days, 13 hours ago by Guy.

[Madskp]

Guy wrote:

That’s good to know – hopefully all this information will be useful for someone else one day, not just us geeks!

🙂

Guy wrote:

Madskp wrote: I just wonder why this does not work with the BV8 and BV10? Perhaps because BVs 8 and 10 (unlike the BC6-23) were introduced when digital TV tuners were around, hence the availability of what should be a much more accurate time signal with the TV signal.  It’s a shame that this signal will not update attached ML devices, both audiomasters and BL3500.

Technology change could be a reason yes, or maybe going away from the timer function. But yes a shame.

Guy wrote:

I think that the advice from B&O would be to turn off the time display on the BL3500!!

Yes, a nice and quick fix 🙂 Alternativly take it to the dealer to have the time updated.

Guy wrote:

Yet another aside/thread drift:  The CD player is starting to behave erratically on my older two-way BC2300 – some (not all) discs turn then make noises and spin rapidly backwards!  It has the older CDM-4, curved-laser-path CD mechanism and a bit of research suggests that it may be worth replacing C100 on the servo board (the BC2300 equivalent of C2103 on other models).  It’s 47uF according to the Service Manual and I know from other threads that I must fit a blue axial Philips/BC – can anyone link me to an exact item that I can click to purchase in UK? I checked Beoparts and can’t see a capacitor kit for the BC2300 CD board, but I am sure that I have read somewhere that BC9300 was basically a re-packaged BeoCenter 2500 so I wonder if there is read-across from other kits.

Searching google I can see that it is possible to find the blue axial Philips caps in 47uf value, so maybe just buy and try.

Guy wrote:

Funnily enough, whilst swapping CDs between players last night one of my BeoSound 1s suddenly decided to refuse to play CDs!  I simply put it in Test Mode and ran through the CD tests to ‘exercise’ the CD mechanism and it started working perfectly again!  That suggests a sticky CD mechanism to me and it probably needs cleaning/lubricating, or just using more frequently!

That is indeed interesting how much effect old sticky lubrication might have on these CD player issues in case of the linear laser mechanisms. Maybe I should try to look into that on one of the defect Ouvertures that I got recently, but thats for another thread 🙂

 

[Guy]

Two quick updates for completeness:

• Muting of Passive when connected to BeoCenter 2300 now solved by making an adaptor as described over in this thread: https://forum.beoworld.org/forums/topic/beoplay-connection-hub-beolink-passive/#post-60141
• After several hours of ‘Adele 21’ on Random/Repeat (to ‘exercise’ the mechanism and ‘warm-up’ capacitor C100), the BeoCenter 2300 CD-player is now behaving itself.  I may look to replace the suspect capacitor in slower time.

Apologies for removed glass doors – they are still in the box for safe keeping!

[Guy]

Guy wrote:

I may look to replace the suspect capacitor in slower time.

After extensive research, and reading this 14 year old post from JoeyBoyGolf, I think I will try the Vishay 138 AML series 47uF 25V listed here:  https://cpc.farnell.com/vishay/mal213836479e3/cap-47uf-25v-alu-elec-axial/dp/CA08777

[Author]

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