Hello!

After one year of rest in their original boxes due to a move, I brought back to live my 1987 Beocenter 9000 and 1984 Beogram 6006.

The Beocenter has unfortunately several faults and a strange behaviour when playing CDs. It was OK before it's "hibernation".

- No more sound on the main outputs, but the other ones are OK --> The amplifiers seems to be OK but no more "mute" function and I do not hear the relay clipping when touching the "mute" button.

- No more memory. As soon as I unplug it, the Beocenter looses the time and I have to input the time when re-plugging (before, time was held for a few moments).

- The Wind/Rewind function of the tape player do not work. If I touch the "record" button, the level display works for a few seconds, then disappear.

- The CD player refuses to play SOME CDs. The disc spins for a while, then the player stops.

I found the following workaround (it works for 75% of CDs):

1: I put one CD in the player (always the same Nina Simone CD which always plays without problem).

2: I stop the CD, then change it for the one I first intended to play and was "refused" by the player... and it works.

I hope my beloved BC9000 is not dead, since the CD player seams to be able to read some CDs.

Is it the "capacitors" syndrom?

I have no ability to repair the BC by myself, but I have a good dealer who might be able to do.

When I explained the problem to the tech, he told me that CD units are no more available (a thing that I know), but I refuse to let my BC die without trying to do something.

Some of you seem to repair vintage units and havesets of belts, capacitors and other spare parts. Are they still available?

In one word:

                                       HELP !!!!!     [:'(]    

Thanks by advance for any diagnostic, advise or help to get spare parts.

Yann.

The problem with the CD might be a capacitor problem on the servo PCB. This capacitor is easy to get hold of. Just saying that the Cd-unit is no longer available is the easy way out not to repair the BeoCenter. The other problem is probably caused by an empty back-up battery on the processorboard. 

Before repairing a BeoCenter 9000 it is very wise to check if the glass panels are still in good condition. They might fall off and break when you open the BeoCenter. I always remove the glass panels before I start repairing a BeoCenter, just to be sure.

I agree with the above plus the mute relay is probably faulty and the tape belt/belts have deteriorated with age. Possibly perished and stuck to the drive wheel/s or fallen off!

Member Dillen can supply you with a belt set and the mute relay is available from Maplin Electronics (in the UK)

The belt of the tape mechanism of BeoCenter 9000 is almost never the problem. The lubrication of the tape reel spindles is mostly the problem. Take them apart, clean the axle and the spindles, lubricate them and it works again. The belts is most often the case with the MKII tape mechanisms of BeoCenter 8500 and 9500.

Just to add - the internal 3V Lithium coin cell battery has more than likely died now which would explain the loss of memory. It is a soldered item & should only be replaced for another one with solder tags - if you try & solder in a similar sized item which doesn't have tags there is a high likelihood it will explode on you.

These are available if you search long enough - I have a source for these myself but it requires a minimum order level of 10 units due mainly to the ridiculous carriage & packaging restrictions.

Chris.

To Graham and Chris,

Thanks for you advises.

Unfortunately,  having no service manual, I do not know the specifications of parts needed. May you give me details?

Being in France, I am not sure to de delivered by Maplins.

May you help me, I can pay you through Paypal.

Kind regards,

Yann.

My BC9000 CD has recently developed precisely the same problem and I too discovered the work-around of playing a different CD first. If you should discover a proper fix then I would be grateful if you would PM me.

For small batteries generally I buy from http://www.smallbattery.company.org.uk . Postage is free within the UK but ukp3 to Europe.

And yes, the glass panel does fall out. Take care. I didn’t find this thread until afterwards but luckily mine survived without damage.

Cheers

OJ