[Dillen]

Hole?
Three dollars?
Honestly…

It’s a general misunderstanding that a B&O service manual will tell you how to repair something.
It won’t and it doesn’t.
It tells you how the thing was built, it gives part numbers for ordering, adjustment procedures and a few hints here and there.
The rest is up to your technical education, and in this case also experience as this deck is not a good project for a beginner.

Please understand that it’s neither the Beograms nor our fault, if you cannot repair your Beogram yourself.
Most of us here will do our best to help members in need with advice, guidance, ideas and perhaps even parts, – doing our
best – but we cannot take a guess at which part(s) you need to replace in this case, and we have no idea about the level of your skills.
Most likely, as I also told you in the PM, all of these decks will need a thorough restoration by now. There will almost certainly be several defective parts, broken connections and whatnots, often making it impossible to diagnose one single issue at a time.
When you have replaced the IC you may, or may not, have cured one issue. And with this cured, the next issue will become apparent. Working this way, it could take you two years.

Besides, many Beoworlders are located in northern hemisphere areas, – it’s summer here, people are out and about, and the forum is very quiet.

And one more thing – and don’t take this the wrong way, – I would like to help everybody the best I can, but
the “if you won’t help me, I will throw it away”-attitude tells a lot about the lack of importance this job and the lack of value this Beogram has to you.
Surely, it won’t see me upping my efforts.
My time will be better spent on something that will give meaning and value to someone.

As said before, Beogram 8000 is a great performing deck worth having repaired, or even restored, professionally.
Seeing as you are based in AZ/US, I would consider contacting one of the guys from Beolover.
What they charge I don’t know, but most of these jobs usually end up in the EUR 300-500 range here,
and a well serviced Beogram, if also nice visually, can sell for up to twice that amount.

If you don’t want to continue repairs, someone else surely will.

Martin

[Dillen]

You have already achieved more than most owners could/would.
These Beograms are wonderful decks, but not easy to service as they are so different from everything else, and it’s often seen that several problems and faults are present at the same
time, which can easily confuse matters immensely and make diagnosing difficult.
I suggest you leave servicing to someone with more experience. The results will be great and the Beogram is worth it.

Whenever I have problems with my car, I try to fix as much as possible myself, – and I can
do quite a lot myself, really – but every now and then a repair is necessary for which I simply don’t have the knowledge, experience and/or tools and instruments, and in these
cases I bring it in for servicing at a pro car repairshop.
I don’t throw my car away just because a problem comes up that I cannot solve myself.

Of course your Beogram can be repaired.
If you are in – or near – Denmark, I’d happily take a look at it.

Martin

[Dillen]

The “solid” marking indicates ground.
That’s not necessarily the capacitors negative pin because some capacitors work with negative voltages.
The best reference is what the factory fitted (though that is not always guaranteed to be correct either).

Martin

[Dillen]

The return to stop indicates a CPU reset.
Replace capacitors, replace CPU socket, check solder joints.

Martin

[Dillen]

What happens if you unplug the Beogram from the amp completely?

Martin

[Dillen]

This is not the only Bang & Olufsen product currently available on the market.
There are many others to choose from. And at many price levels, – for beach or home use.

You don’t have to buy any of it, if you don’t want to.

These Beogram based products may bring a respectable revenue – I cannot say – but I see them merely as novelty products, really.
Colors can be discussed. A matter of taste, I suppose.
Nice none-the-less.
Unique and special.

You could take a look at how Bang & Olufsen chose to mark their 50 years anniversary in 1975 product-wise;
Well, to put it short they … (insert drum-roll)… put a sticker on a number of portable radios and distributed them
to the employees who participated in the celbration party at the factory.

Not exactly an earth-quake of a product – but collectable still, –  almost 50 years later.

Martin

[Dillen]

Millemissen wrote:

That is not a flagship. It is just a modded turntable with a Core and the 28’s in a – admitted – beatifully crafted cabinet. Something for very few people with loads of money to spend on nostalgia (for some probably even just as an investment). Why so much efford on keeping an an inferior reproduction medium alive – I don’t get it? This is how a flagship looks – something that has future potential and something that a lot of people can have in their homes: Sorry, Steve – but thanks for the video anyway. MM

How much future potential does a flatscreen TV have – flagship or otherwise?
10 years? 25? 50?

Martin

[Dillen]

Yes
Has little glue remains, but they should file off easily.

Martin

[Dillen]

Weak power supply?
Check power supply voltages.

Martin

[Dillen]

So…

Sound drops out after a few seconds, and VU-meters follow?
The tape keeps running?
Both tape reels are rotating?
And if you touch the tapehead solder tags you get a buzz from the speakers and deflection on the VU-meter?

Sure the tape has a good recording on it?

Martin

[Dillen]

Check for cracked solder joints, particularly where connectors are soldered in the main PCB.

Martin

[Dillen]

Do you have a photo?

Martin

[Dillen]

Did you check the 7Vref?
It’s not important if Dolby is in or out. The signal runs through parts of the Dolby ICs regardless.

Martin

[Dillen]

Sounds like a mechanical problem, – misaligned tapeheads or something bent in the tape path.
Is the tape running off the head?

Martin

[Dillen]

And there are in fact two different counterweights – used in different models, but very similarly looking and not interchangeable.

Martin

[Dillen]

A capacitor problem, perhaps.
Check the 7Vref to the Dolby ICs.
Does the VUs still deflect or will they fall to zero as sound disappears?

Martin

[Dillen]

Did you adjust anything?

If you didn’t – DON’T!
If you did – that’s why.

Martin

[Dillen]

35V on a 5V rail is bad news.
This is one of those cases that will typically never be completely repaired, seeing as all circuits
running on 5V will be damaged.
Even after repairing and replacing everything that appears to be affected, some
components will still have scars that will show up as faults later.

My suggestion – find another Beomaster.

Martin

[Dillen]

Beogram CDX2 has more in common with Beogram CD3300 than CDX.
For some of the Beogram CDX2 circuits, you can use the CD3300 service manual.

Martin

[Dillen]

Yes.

Martin

[Author]

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