I have a BeoCord 5000, which I purchased as faulty. As expected, the belts had melted, so I've replaced them (thank you, Dillen). Everything now seems to work, except that the tape plays at too high a speed, and with a fair bit of audible flutter. The tape drive has a 12V motor, which is currently supplied with 13.8 V, but that seems to accord with the schematic. The speed aduster in the motor works, but will not adjust down far enough. Any ideas?

Thank you,

Mark

I don't know loads about tape machines, but it could be that the rubber rollers are not pressing the tape against the capstans hard enough so the tape is being pulled through by the take up spool, which would be slightly faster than the speed the capstans would feed the tape through. Perhaps the mechanism is sticky or there is something out of place?

Good idea! I'll take a look this evening and report back. Thank you, Mark

Nope, that wasn't the problem. The tape is running at capstan speed.

Actually, if I hold the roller off the capstan, the tape moves slowly, as "take up" torque is low. Release roller to normal position, I get pinky and perky voices. Pressing the roller harder onto the capstan makes no difference.

This suggests to me that the problem must be one of:

1. bad motor speed control (internal to motor)

2. bad power supply to motor

3. incorrectly fitted belts.

As regards 3, I fitted the flat belt to around the largest part of the flywheel, and around the widest part of the "barrel" on the motor pulley. I think this is right, but the manual doesn't show the fitting.

The PSU at the motor terminals is at 13.8V, with a maximum fluctuation of +/- 0.15V.

I suspect 1 is the most likely cause.

What do you think?

Mark

Solved!

The problem was the motor. I installed one from a new "piano key" mechanism that I've had taking up cupboard space since the 1970s, adjusted the speed, and the deck now works beautifully.

Shame it's not auto-reverse!

Mark

No it isn't!! It is far better than the auto-reverse decks!!

How is it better?

Mark

I agree. Much better build, very solid and generally much easier to achieve good results when recording/playing back. Autoreverse decks are practical and all that but by nature not quite as stabile as conventional decks.

Besides, the Beocord 5000 just sounds good.

Martin

The 5000 is probably just about the best deck made by B&O. Good heads, HX-Pro and Dolby C. With the right tape it is very difficult to beat.

I had a conversation with Tim Jarman recently about this, and he felt that the Beocord 5000 was right up there with the 8004 (but surprisingly not the 9000) as the best B&O tape deck. He also felt I was crazy for wanting to replace my Beosystem 5000 with a Beomaster 6000 Quad!

OK, guys, thank you. I've been trying the deck out with some of my pre-recorded tapes from the 1970s and 1980s, and they certainly do sound much better than I remember them. Even with the deterioration which must have occurred over that time, the sound quality and depth is impressive.

That's with a Sony amp and Linn speakers. Must get a BeoMaster 5500 for next upgrade...
 

Mark