As I now have managed to fix all audio components of my recent purchase, I tested the Beocord VX5000 I got as a bonus.

It basically worked, but the picture was really bad, almost disappearing into noise. I did basic cleaning of the picture drum and fixed heads, and now I at least have colour (most of the time). The picture is still very noisy, though. In addition, the machine keeps shutting itself down after a while during play.

I don' t really need a VHS nor do I have a B&O tv set, so using the recorder would be awkward anyway. I could sell it as it is for any price and not miss it too much, but does this sound like it would be possible to fix it cheaply/easily? I could also keep it just for the looks (it's white, as my BS65000), but then it should work, though; it makes a rather big paper weight...

-mika

If the VX is still running a little bit, then it's easy to fix. The capstan motor needs to much current and becomes veeeeeery hot... that's the reason for the shutdown and also for the noisy picture

 Repair the capstan motor, it's an easy fix, just 3 capacitors. There is no need for smd parts, good 105 degree standard types last for years...

Check the temperature of the chip before and after the fix. Before it will be veeeeery hot, later just a little bit worm.

Martin

 http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/9286/kapstanlt2.jpg

 

But this is the real amount of bad caps in a 20 year old VX5000, no joke!

http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/1130/elkos3rb4.jpg

 

 

 

Hi i have one in black with similar problems (bad picture and sound) even with new heads! but not shutting down.

If you do hear about getting it repaired please could you let me know as i would like mine fixing? as these where the flagship of B&O vcr`s.

Mark

Tim Jarman repaired mine. These are wonderful decks but if you are not going to use it, why bother? It can be used as a very superior audio tape recorder as well of course. However these are complex machines and tracing the fault can be time consuming and hence expensive.

Don't they suffer with overheating problems too?

 

Craig

Craig:

Don't they suffer with overheating problems too?

I see it has a cooling fan (never seen one in a consumer VCR before!) so I wouldn't be surprised.

I think I'll try more throrough cleaning of the video heads, cleaning the mode switch if it isn't too much work, and maybe seeing if any of the power supply caps are obviously dead.

This machine doesn't look like it has been used much, so it would be really a shame to scrap it (or even sell it to someone who will eventually scrap it). I just noted an MX5500 (white!) for sale though, and these would obviously make a really nice pair  

Overheating? Yes and No!

If the VX is technically ok then there is no problem. But if the capstan motor has problems it causes a very high current and lot's of heat in the power supply. Then people think, the power supply is defect, but the real reason is the capstan. A bad picture is not a problem with the cylinder head, it's the motor! Test the chip on the capstan motor... if it becomes hot you found the defect. And it becomes really hot

And if the loading unit is broken... it's also the capstan motor. Then the chip maybe burned and can only run in one direction and cannot reverse any more. So the loading unit breaks...

The same problem is the tuner unit, the silver box. Inside are some caps with aging problems... causing high current and heat in the tuner unit. The symptom is grey snow when the internal tuner is used.

Some pictures are waiting ;)

Thanks Martin, you seem to address each and every one of my problems!

With this advice, I'll definitely take a closer look at the machine before letting it go. I wouldn't be afraid of replacing all the caps if they are easy to get hold of. I once scrapped a Panasonic S-VHS just because the power supply caps had cooked. There were 20-30 of them, all of different sizes, and so tightly packed that I just didn't have the patience to start hunting for caps that would physically fit...

-mika 

Try the capstan first... probably this small fix will last for several years.

Then try the tuner unit. The tuner has also some caps inside and becomes pretty warm in standby.... and hot if defect.

The sysmptom is a noisy black picture. The repair itself is easy... but the tuner unit has to be unsoldered from the upper mainboard. That's very difficult without experience...

I use for the 1uf and 6.8uf MKS types, they last a lifetime. The other ones are 220uf 105degree Low ESR miniature types instead of 100uf. They last at least 1000 hours at 105 degrees... that's long enough. Inside the tuner are around 50-60 degrees during operation. => around 50.000-100.000 hours

  http://img175.imageshack.us/img175/6771/p3040032hc6.jpg

 

The next part should be a close look to the power supply.

This board has several caps with problems... look at the dirt on the board, it's an exploded caps which has lost the electrolyt all over the board... The caps are already removed.

http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/4595/p3040024ep7.jpg

 

 

and the same board cleaned and repaired

 http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/3541/p3040027mu2.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

Very nice is this defect, almost every VX with the shutdown symptom has killed this part: it's the 7812 12V regulator. It becomes soooo hot, that the connectors and the tin/copper of the board corrode... either it will shut down or the 12V are open to 18-22Volts and grills the chips....

Repace the 7812 and clean the board

http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/2161/p3050003atj0.jpg

 

 

 Cleaned and ready for the new IC35

 

 http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/6301/p3050001bfm1.jpg

 

 

 

 

Very interesting info in here! The pictures help a lot. I might even get so excited that I start working again with the two non-working VX5000's I have... :) Other one works that much that it plays (thrue headphone socket) but no picture, black screen with random white horizontal lines... Other has a cracked board with causes the tuner to forget the tunings... But it was also said to be running very hot!

(Previous thread about VX5000's -started by me some months ago: http://forum.beoworld.org/forums/thread/21980.aspx) 

I think, in around 2 weeks, i will get some more VX recorders for repair.

Shall i make a workshop how to repair and improve this recorder?

Martin

Die_Bogener:

Shall i make a workshop how to repair and improve this recorder?

 That would be great! I suppose it would be very useful and it seems that many people still have these machines around and (like me) they would like to get it working. Picture-by-picture repair guide with instructions and tips would be really awesome! 

OK!

lausvi:

That would be great!

Seconded! I'll put mine on hold for the time being, I suppose the work will be much easier with advice on how to dismantle the machine.

Martin, do you have an approximation on how many different types of caps there are in that do-it-all replacement pile? Looks like a shopping list I wouldn't want to receive over the counter ;-)

-mika

 

It's not very expensive, the material is around 30-50 Euro. But it's a lot of work to exchanche them all, i need around one day per VX.

The types are not very different, most of them are 3.3uf, 4.7uf, 10uf, 47uf and some bigger ones in the power supply. Nothing really special. What helps is, using miniature types an the mainboards. The reason for all these defects is heat, when you see how many parts are on the boards then you understand, there is no empty space on these boards.

Using miniature types of capacitors has some advantages: more air around these parts will keep them cooler ... and it is much easier to work with.

I writing now a small workshop about these VX5000, dismantling will be a part of it.

It seems that the first part is already there! Looks good so far! 

http://forum.beoworld.org/forums/thread/76448.aspx

 

Are the internals the same as North American models?  Mine has been sitting in the basement for a couple of month because firstly, their is an unloading problem.  The guide pin on the left (facing the front of unit) that moves forward to play a tape, and then back for ejecting the tape, seems to get caught on one of the other parts that are moving.   Not very technical, I know.

 

The other trouble is the tuner section as mentioned above already.

 

Guy

The North American model is very similar to the European VX, almost no difference. The boards are almost the same, just the electronic parts are for NTSC system instead of PAL.

I know this tape loading defect, yes... i think that will/should be in the workshop, too.

Martin

I finally got around to looking into this. I replaced four caps on the capstan board (including the tiny 3u3, I didn't remember that it wasn't on your replacement list) and now the machine works just fine (everything l that I can check without a B&O tv, that is)  The solderings under the caps were really ugly, I had a hard time getting them to melt.

I suspect the tuner is toast also, but I don't think I'm going to touch it, since in two weeks, the analog transmissions disapper even from cable over here... unless it can fry something else when left unattended. Will the rest of the machine work if I just remove power from the tuner?

I got a 2 way VX7000.

Its on a electric stand with a LX5500 and it works well together.

However a few weird things is shown on the VX and it depends if the tape is recordable or not + a certain timeframe.

Option 1: I use a non recordable tape like a movie it will play fine with maybe a few ajustments of the automatic tracking.

Option 2: Use a recordable tape for playback of video/sound will give after an hour some white noise going across the screen and then black/grey screen with sound. If I unload the tape it will play fine for a few minutes and doing it again.

The other day I rewinded a recordable tape on the fast speed which ruined the tape. Thats the only time I have experienced that.

Any ideas? 

No, that's not a good idea... the tuner is IEC bus controlled, if there is no communication with the tuner, the system may fail... i have never tried to use the VX without a tuner... hmmm, i will try it next time ;)

 But probably nothing will happen, if you dont repair the tuner.

Hi,

the VX7000 has similar problems like the older VX5000/5500. The VX7000 has a power supply on the lower mainboard, there a 4 hot spots around the 4 power regulators... and dying caps.

The video signal matrix is on the cpu board right in the middle of the VX. That's a really hot area... and exactly there is also the biggest problem with the caps... more or less 100% of them are ready for replacement. Especially all the 1uf and 47uf types have got black feet

 

 If the cpu board looks like this, repace all caps, 100%

If the VX has problems with sound or recording, on the upper mainboard are also some caps...

Martin

Many thanks for this very interesting repair guide! I also have to fix my VX-5000 (North American) and I will use these repair instructions, particularly for the capstan motor. On the last picture, I recognize again the usual culprits: these horrible black Rubycon capacitors!

Regards,

 Jean