Hi B&O fans,

this is a little guide how to test and repair this magnificent VX5000 video and audio deck. I think, it was besides the VX7000 the most advanced and highest evolution of all video recorders. 12kg high tech in a small cabinet, very stylish ... and very complicated.

The VX5000 is a pretty old machine today, most of them are over 20 years old and have a lot of bigger and smaller defects. All have problems, i have had a lot of them (several hundred...) and 99% could be repaired.

OK, first the defects which you can see on the tv.

1.) Noisy Picture with horizontal bars, sometimes distortions, black and white horizontal bars

The capstan motor is defect.... and the power supply. 

2.) Sometimes very strong humming sound, shutdown after some minutes or it's impossible to load or unload the tape

The capstan motor is defect, yes...

3.) It is impossible to load unload the tape, the loading unit is broken

The capstan motor is defect, yes, again... 

 4.) the internal tuner shows bars, noisy picture, the sound is dull or just a grey/black picture

The tuner unit is defect.

5.) the recorder is dead, just the display shows 0000, no further reaction

power supply defect, fuse blown, probably capstan used until dead...

 6.) recorder is working, but the sound is missing, speed is not ok.

There is a small mechanical part broken or missing near the audio heads.

7.) lost time, forgotten adjustments, strange behaviour, slow or no operation when connected to mains

Lithium cell defect

8.) defect tension arm (on the left side of the drive), collision with tape guide unit 

Missing part, lost spring, broken part, misalignment

9.) The VX goes into "STOP" mode without any reason

The capstan motor is defect, power supply defect, 12V regulator unit defect, lower mainboard regulator unit defect, defect caps

10.) some more? Tell me ;)

Defects 1-3: The defect Capstan Motor:

Noisy and distorted picture: this has nothing to do with the cylinder head, cleaning the heads will not solve the problem. The VX5000 cylinder head is one of the very best heads ever used, it shows almost no wear even after 20 years, even heavy use shows almost no wear. I had only 2 defect heads until now... and they were mechanically killed by a cleaning attack by the user...

So, DO NOT CLEAN THE HEADS! That's not necessary and just a risk to damage them.

The capstan motor is responsible for the constant tape transport, winding slow and fast, reversing and for loading the tape.

This ist the capstan motor.

 http://img258.imageshack.us/my.php?image=p3100003wp4.jpg

 This motor is 90% responsible for all defects. It is a 3-phase motor with a variable speed and has a tacho unit. So this part is real hightech... and expensive. The last price for this motor was around 110 Euro, i dont know wether it is still available or not.

But it can be repaired. at least around 80% of them... if necessary, i still have some new and used in working condition.

There are 4 silver capacitors on this motor, smd parts.  1x 3,3uf , 1x47uf , 2 x 22uf . These capacitors dont like age and heat. And they become hot, the board is steel and cooling unit at the same time. SMD parts like these have a lifetime of around 1000 hours on permanent use, not longer. If they go defect, they loose electrolyt and the board becomes black around the caps.

The motor runs now without control, uses to much current and becomes hot, really veeeeery hot... you will burn your fingers especially when you touch the chip.

Exchange the 4 caps, it's really easy. Dont use a solderiron, just use a plier and turn them around... dont pull, just turn. Then clean the contacts on the board with new solder, wash it with some hot water and bathroom cleaner. Disassemble before cleaning the motor axle (just push it through, watch the small plastic washer...) and the plastic cover. Dry it and oil it a little bit when assembled. Clean the axle afterwards.

I dont use smd parts here, just normal 105 degree caps so it's pretty easy.

The capstan is located here. Just open the black metal cover on the underside of the VX, just 7 bolts. Watch for the small noses on the front cover, dont break them off.

 The motor itself is mounted with 3 bolts and a fourth one for the power transistor. Just pull off the cable and disassemble the motor. Thats really easy.

http://img521.imageshack.us/img521/229/p3050001xw8.jpg

This is a close up of the caps. You see the black dirt around the caps? The copper has turned from green to black, it's oxide. This motor is completely dead and will become very hot... let's see wether it becomes a second life.

 http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/5576/p1060021dm9.jpg

 This is the backside, even zinc plated steel gets corrosion problems with the acid electrolyt.

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/7564/p1060024by3.jpg

 Disassemble the motor this way...

 http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/6765/p1060028cy5.jpg

Now remove the four caps with a plier, just turn them around. they will break off without a damage to the board. But do not pull, just turn! Clean the contacts with solder and with paint thinner, then wash it.

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/9894/p1060001za0.jpg

Wash the unit with hot water and a bathroom cleaner. Mainboards can be washed, that's really no problem, i have washed already complete tv sets. The only thing is, how to get them dry again... and very fast.The only problem is, that steelparts can corrode if water stays inside. This one is small enough, dry it with a hairdryer.

But it becomes clean as new.

Here it is already completed with new caps. All you need is:

2x 22uf 25V (original 35V)

1x 47uf 16V (original 6.3V)

1x 3,3uf 16V (original 50V)

Minus is the black bar on the smd parts.

 http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/8239/p1060003zc9.jpg

Some more details...

http://img386.imageshack.us/my.php?image=capstanqz4.jpg

Finished, the motor should now be working again. Assemble it to the VX, load a tape and test it. If load works, reversing and the chip does not become hot, then it's ok for the next 10 years. If you used 105degree caps, you will not repair it again in your life.

The VX5000 has a self test program and some test modes. So you can test the motor, the drive and the general function of the VX.

LED test:

Press "HQ OFF" on the front keys and at the same time connect the VX to the mains. After 10 seconds release "HQ OFF", then press it again. All leds and indicators will now light up in a sequence.

RAM/ROM test:

Press "HQ OFF" on the front keys and at the same time connect the VX to the mains. After 10 seconds release "HQ OFF", then press ">>". On the screen you will see ... maybe you must press "VTAPE" on the Beolink 1000...

VX5000

Version x.xx

Datestamp

Rom PASS

Int Ram PASS

Ext Ram PASS

Drive test:

Load a tape before test. Disconnect mains. Press "SOUND" on the front keys and at the same time connect the VX to the mains. When the VX starts to play, release the button. Press VTAPE on your Beolink 1000 to see status messages.

It will play, rewind, record and play again and eject the tape. If everything is ok, it will go into standby. If something is wrong, it will show "FAIL" on the display.

 All tests are ended by disconnecting mains.

How to dismantle the VX:

 OK, here we are, a quite normal black VX5000. There is no difference to VX5500 or VX7000. The steel cabinet and all covers are quite the same.

This one here had an accident, it was dropped by the owner... you see later what happened

http://img164.imageshack.us/img164/5321/p1060009sw2.jpg

 Put some thick newspaper or a towel on the desk and flip it over.

 These are the 7 bolts on the black steel bottom cover. Open them. Pull off the cover, watch for the noses on the front cover, they can break off. If some are broken off, then i know at once, that this unit was opened  

http://img263.imageshack.us/img263/6209/p1060010xv3.jpg

To remove the sidepanels, use only your hands, nothing else! Pull the corner a little bit outwards, around 5mm.

 http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/8242/p1060011gl4.jpg

Push it backwards, around 10mm.....

 http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/9738/p1060012df9.jpg

and pull upwards and the sidepanel is disassembled without any scratch. Most of the VX decks were treated with a screwdriver... nasty [:'(] 

 http://img406.imageshack.us/img406/2335/p1060013eu1.jpg

Remove 2 bolts on each side, these here...

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/7816/p1060014zh4.jpg

and 2 on the rear side...

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/5851/p1060015ug3.jpg

Then you can remove the top cover.

To remove the front cover remove 6 bolts, 3 on the top, 3 on the bottom. Pull on the left side here...

http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/9049/p1070001uj2.jpg

Now you can remove the the frontcover.

Watch for the ground cable... it must go under the display.

http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/2340/p1070003no6.jpg

When you assemble the front cover, take care for this hook. Open the cassette flap when mounting the front cover. If you forget it, you can load a tape, but unloading is impossible. It will break the flap, the front cover or the gear wheel !!! The hook must be in a guide rail inside the flap.

Move all 4 potis to one side, also the sliders when mounting the front cover... or you will have no sound on the next recording because the connection slider-poti is lost. ;)

On the headphone jack is the next point, put a small screwdriver inside and move it a little bit around until it snaps into the front cover, the headphone jack can move in a slide.

http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/1530/p1070006dy2.jpg

The broken loading unit:

If you see something like this, then the loading unit is broken.

 http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/7349/p1060018sm9.jpg

OK, the real reason is a defect capstan motor. The motor did not reverse and has broken the gearbox. Maybe a very rude owner can also cause this defect by pushing the tape inside fighting against the crazy VX...

How to repair the motor was in part 1. How to dismantle the VX was in part 2.

To repair the broken loading unit, you must dismantle the VX completly, also the front cover must be removed.

You need a spare part from B&O, it is still available, costs around 20 Euro, has the part number 2700082 Gear Wheel. VX5000,5500 and 7000 have the same part. But there seems to be a number change, the box says part number 2700011 Gearweel VX7000... but it fits perfectly.

 http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/2196/p1090013gz7.jpg

Ok, here we are, this is the broken loading unit... the gear wheel is broken   Quite normal after 20 years. B&O has noticed this defect on the VX5000/5500 series and has improved/changed the material of the plastic. The newer VX7000 has almost no problem with this part.

It is mounted with 2 bolts and is hooked to the frame in the front.

http://img338.imageshack.us/img338/1026/p1090009hy0.jpg

It cannot be fixed with glue or anything like that... at least not for a long time.

http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/8452/p1090012bj0.jpg

To open it, open these small plastic hooks veeeeery carefully, they break off easily. Then you can pull out the gear wheel.

Mount the cassette holder and assemble the unit again. Watch for the alignment of the gear wheels, it must look like that:

http://img249.imageshack.us/img249/9215/p1090015rt0.jpg

The 2 gearwheels and the frame of the gearbox must fit together like shown on this picture and must be aligned like this.

 http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/5087/p1090011ox5.jpg

 If there is a problem to mount the axle and the gearbox, press the left button, inside the gear is a nose on the gearwheel....

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/2333/p1090017gq3.jpg

 Insert the 2 bolts in the holes and mount it into the VX again. On the front there are only 2 hooks, in the back the 2 bolts. Check wether it's horizontal and then tighten the bolts.

The defect tuner unit:

The defect power supply:

Most of the VX5x00 have problems with the power supply. 20 years of use have left some wear and tear, some more, some less. Up to now i found on every VX at least one defect cap in this power supply, none of them was 100% intact.

The power supply is easy to remove. Just remove the black steel cover on the back, two bolts. Remove the 3 bolts on the upper mainboard and open it a bit and move it 2-3cm to the front.

Then pull the 4/5 plugs from the power supply, use a small flat plier for this. There are two 2-pin wires used, there is no risk to use the wrong one, they are electrically parallel. Then remove 3 bolts to the steel frame and lift it out of the VX frame.

OK, here is the power supply, the regulator unit is already removed (1 bolt), just unsolder the black wire.

 http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/5920/p9060001aw6.jpg

This picture shows already the repaired unit, your unit looks a little bit different.

B&O used here a big 4700uf 35V and a smaller 4700 16V cap. These caps have direct contact to each other, there is no gap between... so there is no cooling air for them and the hot part above, the diodes. The unit becomes very hot and the parts become grilled. That's a very bad design.

Ok, i use here 2 x 4700uf 35V types, they are smaller than the original caps and there is a 5mm gap now between, you can see it on the picture. The left cap needs also an additional drilled hole for the ground pin, the distance between the pins is different to original. 

The hight of these caps should not be more than 35mm, otherwise they wont fit. This modification keeps the complete power supply almost 10 degrees cooler than original... that means twice the lifetime: 20-40 years

There are also 2 x 220uf caps on this board. Usually they have always dirty black feet, up to now only a small handfull survived, 95% are dead.

What you need is:

2x 4700uf 35V (or 1x35v and 1x25V), maximum 35mm hight

2x 220uf 16V

USE ONLY 105 DEGREE TYPES ! 

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

This board has always very serious trouble with the 1000uf cap. Usually every VX5000 and most of the newer VX5500 have a problem. The 1000uf sometimes really explodes and you find pieces of this cap in the power supply, most of them make a puddle of acid on the board, the copper of board is black and corroded around the pins... and it stinks awfully, really nasty.

Clean it with water, remove the caps, then clean it with paint thinner under side. Take care not to destroy the copper when you remove the 1000uf cap, sometimes the copper is so damaged and corroded around the pins that it seperates from the board.

 ... and the same board cleaned and repaired

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

 For this board you need for repair:

1x 1000uf 16V

3x 47uf 25V

2x 4,7uf 35V Miniature

USE ONLY 105 DEGREE TYPES !

 This here is the 12V regulator and HF modulator board. For disassembly remove the black plastic cover on the backside, 2 bolts and bend 2 hooks a little bit. Remove the wires with a flat plier carefully.

VX5000 and VX5500 use the same board, but modified components. So, if your board looks different, no problem.

The 12V regulator becomes hot, really hot, in normal operation already around 60 degrees. If the capstan motor is defect, it becomes so hot that the solder around the 12V 7812 chip melts and the chip seperates from the board... sometimes up to 180 degrees and more. If this has happened the board material turns from bright brown to dark black, sometimes so crispy that it breakes. The alumenum cooler material turns colours to yellow or even blue... unbeleavable. All caps on this board are then scrap and must be replaced. Surprisingly the two 47uf bipolar caps survive this torture every time and had never to be replaced... must be an extrordinary quality.

http://img380.imageshack.us/img380/2503/p9070005oi4.jpg

 Unsolder the cooler for better replacing the caps and for rework of the IC35 7812 contact pins. Bend the two hooks of the cooler to allign with the board, remove the small plastic clip.

Interesting is the black plastic clip. It can tell you the condition of your VX. If you can open it without any problem and use it again, the VX is in pretty good shape. If it breaks like glass, ok, then the VX was used for a long time and has probably lots of problems.

 http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/7328/p9070006ot4.jpg

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....

Surprisingly this chip survives this torture, it's a special version with insulated case, not easy to get. If it is necessary to replace, use a insulation foil to the cooler.

Clean the pins and the pads for the chip, scratch the green paint off the copper and make them bigger.

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

 Cleaned and ready for the new IC35

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

For the 12V regulator you need:

1x 1,0uf 35V Miniature (or 1uf MKS, better)

1x 3,3uf 35V Miniature (watch out for polarity, the print on the board for C3523 is wrong !!! )

1x 4,7uf 35V Miniature

2x 10uf 16V Miniature

6x 47uf 16V

2x 100uf 16V

(2x 47uf 16V bipolar... usually intact )

The broken sound and speed:

to be continued....

Broken time and adjustments:

A defect lithium cell is sometimes very difficult to see. Sometimes the VX works quite normal, the picture is good, but if you disconnect mains, then the logon (tv set and VX are talking when connected by scart, the tv makes a download of channel data to the VX) is very slow.

Sometimes the VX disappears from the AV-menu. Also the operation is very slow, commands of the Beolink are not executed, the keyboard does not work.... a lot of very strange errors.

Usually its lifespan is around 15-20 years in a VX, pretty long... but not long enough. This VX here has a defect lithium cell.

The lithium cell is located here:

 http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/870/p1080007lu9.jpg

The lithium cell has 3.6Volt. If it is less than 3.3V it should be replaced. I dont know what this part cost in a B&O shop... and i dont want to know. Probably around 30-40 Euro...

This battery can be bought in any good shop, costs around 3-10 Euro.

Here it is:

 http://img211.imageshack.us/img211/2447/p1080006hl0.jpg

 Cut the foil, and replace it carefully. Take care not to shortcut anything, this battery has a lot of power and can explode.

DO NOT SOLDER DIRECT ON THE BATTERY! THEY DONT LIKE HEAT!

The defect tension arm:

Sometimes a small spring gets lost, it's the one on the right side. Without this spring the "tension arm" will be in the wrong position, the tape is kept loaded on the tension arm and will be destroyed when ejected... or some other parts.

I have simulated this defect here, you see the two guides for the tape around the cylinder are still retracted, but the tension arm is in the forward position.

Check the spring. The tension arm is controlled by the small gear motor on the right. Check the joints and move them, they should also move the tension arm. 

 http://img137.imageshack.us/img137/1614/p1070014gn2.jpg

The broken sound and wrong speed:

Sometimes a small part in the deck gets lost, it is a very small steel bolt. The white plastic part and the bolt are one part, it is still available at B&O, the part number is 3016023 Guide pol control, costs around 5 Euro.

The plastic part breaks around the bolt, there is almost every time a split in the material... and the steel bolt gets lost... hopefully not in the electric parts.

Without this part there is no sound and the tapespeed is out of control, the tape is usually to fast. The tape has no contact to the audio head (used for standard stereo...)

http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/8298/p1070011wj0.jpg

Bad capacitors:

The VX has lots of capacitors inside, really a lot, i think around 200-250. Lots of them are in bad shape after 20 years, heat and chemical problems have destroyed them inside.

If the capstan is running just in one direction, then the chip is bad. Is the chip hot? More than 35-40 degrees celsius are not ok.

The motor reverses if PG005_Pin_3 is high. Check, wether this pin goes high or low, the signal comes from the lower mainboard. If the signal is ok but the motor does not reverse, then a transistor QR01 DTC144 is defect or the chip itself has a problem. Check Pin 14 of the chip, there must be the by QR01 inverted Reverse_Signal of the pin_3.

If the Chip is defect, there is no way to replace the chip and you need a new or repaired capstan.

 The brown stuff around the two big caps in the power supply is glue against vibrations. But the two 220uf caps right next to them are usually completely dead...

Die_Bogener:

If the capstan is running just in one direction, then the chip is bad. Is the chip hot? More than 35-40 degrees celsius are not ok.

The motor reverses if PG005_Pin_3 is high. Check, wether this pin goes high or low, the signal comes from the lower mainboard. If the signal is ok but the motor does not reverse, then a transistor QR01 DTC144 is defect or the chip itself has a problem. Check Pin 14 of the chip, there must be the by QR01 inverted Reverse_Signal of the pin_3.

If the Chip is defect, there is no way to replace the chip and you need a new or repaired capstan.

I haven't have the deck powered on more than just few minutes at the time and the chip doesn't feel even warm. Should I take longer test? Is the transistor QR01 the one with a short wiring from the capstan board? If it is defect - is that a rare or expensive part?

 I'll try to have time to check the signal levels tomorrow. 

In case the chip is defect and I should replace the whole board I have the other VX available so I could try swapping the capstan board from it. 

Die_Bogener:

 

 The brown stuff around the two big caps in the power supply is glue against vibrations. But the two 220uf caps right next to them are usually completely dead...

Ok.

Would the two 220 uF caps affect the case above?

hi,

I am the proud owner of a VX5500 White edition. The player is not working but I would like to give him a second <new life>!

The symptoms I have are: the sound is OK, before I press play I have some text (Something like VCR TAPE....).

Now, the moment I press PLAY, there is no image- it seems that the head(??????) is not working!!!

Any ideea what could it be?

Any help will be highly appreciated!

many thanks,

constantine 

Update: Black Picture or very noisy picture.

The VX5000/5500 has very serious problems with the caps. More or less ALL of them must be replaced, sorry, that's a lot of work.

 This here is the real amount of bad caps of ONE VX5000. They are all bad after 20 years.

 Especially the 3.3uf caps are the worst s..t ever used in a B&O.

And one of them is your problem...

 OK, first try... on the upper mainboard is the video switch section, grid B2 B3, there are a lot of 3.3uF caps, 2x100uf and 1x470uf next to the foil cable. Replace all these caps first, use 105 degree types and miniature types. They have one big advantage: they are easier to replace and then there is more cooling air around these parts... it does not become so hot any more. Usually this is the section if you have a black picture.

 But... be sure it wont last very long, then the next cap fails. I have tried several times, just to repair the real defect parts of them, but it's impossible. Even after some minutes or hours testing the next one fails. I recommend to replace ALL caps. Replacing only some of them will fail sooner or later.

 Begin with the power supply and the 12V regulator unit, capstan, upper mainboard, lower mainboard.

The video heads are very good and reliable. Up to now i have found only a handfull defect videoheads on a VX5000/5500, but a lot defect ones in the VX7000. OK, somebody broke some during cleaning, some were worn, but even the worn head still shows a nice picture.

If the picture shows something like a worn or dirty videohead, it is 99.9% never the videohead, it's 90% a defect capstan motor, followed by a defect 12V regulator unit and defect caps on the upper mainboard.

 Martin

Updated :)

Power supply...

hi, I'm trying to repair the tuner, a bought the parts you specified, however I found 47uF instead of the 100uF in my tuner, ref to as the big ones...

Thanks for the art.

/T

The caps are specified with 47uf, that's right, but they are used for the power supply and 105 degree 100uF types are much easier to get than 47uF.

Sometimes is bigger better and cheaper ;)

the 10u and the 6.8u are to high I looked a bit closer the your pictute and saw that you put 6.8u on side, I did not soo now I have problem to close the box, in fact all my new caps even the 100uf sticks above the box, how important is it to close the box properly?

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

/T

The box must be closed because of high frequency, there can be distortions.

Pictures on ImageShack get lost after some time... 

My tuner work again, thanks!!!!

I manage to bend the box top to get it closed, not completely closed but I guess the shield works...

I only get a shadow of the screen menu, the problem could be that I desperate adjusted the potentiometers on the HF(12V) regulator board (before I found your artikel) to get the tuner running, the 7812 had lost contact so I resoldered it, when I messure the voltage from it's 9,6 V on the board betveen the outer pins....

Hi again,

I fixed repaired the 12v regulator board, however I can only se picture through scart (nothing trough rf modulator, but the test lines when switched on) 

The picture is good, the sound level is very low but when I select tunermode only it's become a bit higher, the video menu isn't visible however the pip(a bit bad with coulour distortion) and multipip works fine.

Do you have any suggestion on where the problem could be?

/T

since my LX is temporarly brooken I use my MX3500 instead(the menu problem,) afterI repaired the tuner do I need to adjust it ?

No, there is no need to adjust the tuner. Just replace the caps inside, that's enough.