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ARCHIVED FORUM -- April 2007 to March 2012
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This is the first Archived Forum which was active between 17th April 2007 and 1st March February 2012

 

Latest post 05-28-2007 3:39 PM by waterlander2004. 5 replies.
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  • 05-28-2007 7:52 AM

    Beomaster 8000 display issue

    One of the common issues with the Beomaster 8000 seems to be the fact that some of the LED display segments fail. I am currently working on one unit which is operating again (thanks to Martin's re-cap set, and many hours of cleaning, re-soldering, adjusting, etcetera), and sounds really great. Transparent, balanced and noticably effortless sound, making it a timeless classic and a joy to listen to.

    Unfortunately the impact of beautiful design of the unit is still somewhat handicapped by a few missing LED display segments. I had hoped that re-soldering the print connectors might resolve it, because if I carefully press or push the led units the missing segments sometimes re-appear, while some others intermittantly fail. I would love to get this last problem solved and I am sure others still using the BM8000 would.

    Searching the web yielded a link to a Dutch Beofreaks site where one user appears to have found a solution: (see http://www.beofreaks.nl/forum/viewtopic.php?t=98&highlight=beomaster+display ). The description is extremely short however.  I wonder if others have found a solution and would be willing to share them in a bit more detail, so more owners can try their luck also, and more of these beautiful units can be restored to their original glory.

    Unrelated, while re-assembling the unit, I found that the glass covering the display area is now touching the aluminium controls cover on the left of it. I don't think that was the case originally and am afraid to damage the glass, but I don't see a way to move the two panels slightly apart. The glass cover is as far to the right as is possible, and the aluminium cover doesn't seem to be adjustable. Am I missing something obvious?

    Thanks for sharing your experience or other suggestions, Eric

    September 2009 1st prize winner.... 

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  • 05-28-2007 8:39 AM In reply to

    • Pons
    • Not Ranked
    • Joined on 04-29-2007
    • Posts 11
    • Bronze Member

    Re: Beomaster 8000 display issue

    Hello, I'm french, sorry for my English.

    See here: http://dropmix.xs4all.nl/rick/Beomaster8000/

    And after, touch the differents pins....

    Goog luck

    Best regards

  • 05-28-2007 10:06 AM In reply to

    Re: Beomaster 8000 display issue

    Thanks Pons,

    This is an interesting link, although I still can't work out how to adjust the positioning of the aluminium cover and the glass plate relative to each other. The article describes the BM8000 partial disassembly but not so much what comes after it...

     By the way, well done on your own restauration project. Unfortunately I do not master French but it looks like you got a very nice set...

     Best regards, Eric

    Yes

    September 2009 1st prize winner.... 

  • 05-28-2007 12:47 PM In reply to

    Re: Beomaster 8000 display issue

    Just a quick update and follow-up...

    In further re-assembling the unit, I found that when I put back the large black heatsink it actually also helped 'centre' the middle part of the chassis that holds the right-hand hinge of the aluminium cover plate. Sorry if this sounds complicated but I'm glad it did the trick.

    Only remaining problem (apart from the missing display segments) is that the tone controls don't seem to work. 'Filters' works, but 'bass', 'treble' and 'loudness' don't appear to do anything. This is not an urgent issue as I like the sound neutral, as it is, but one day I'd like to get that fixed also.

    Anyway, quite happy how things worked out: bought this set last year for 450 Euro, consisting of a Beomaster 8000, Beogram 8000, Beocord 8002, a set of M150's, a Beogram CD4500 (the only functioning piece of equipment), and the B&O furniture designed for it. The speakers are now re-coned, the Beocord given a new belt, the Beogram re-capped and with a new tachodisc, the Beomaster recapped and in working condition. It's costing time but I've learned a lot (and am still learning) in the process, and it keeps me out of the pub! Wink

    Best regards, Eric

    September 2009 1st prize winner.... 

  • 05-28-2007 2:42 PM In reply to

    • Dillen
    • Top 10 Contributor
    • Joined on 02-14-2007
    • Copenhagen / Denmark
    • Posts 5,008
    • Founder

    Re: Beomaster 8000 display issue

    Eric,

    You've come a long way already and you now know your B&O things much better than most other owners do theirs.

    Laughing

    Good job with the heatsink cover !

    Bass, treble etc.. only works when "Filters" are on.
    When Filters are off, all tone controls are bypassed.

    Missing LED segments has been a common problem for the Beomaster 6000/8000, the Beocenter 5000,7000,7002,7007,7700 and the Beocord's of the same ranges but I've recently found a way to rebuild the displays.

    Still on the experimental stage I feel, though several has been made and are out there working fine.
    Problem is that the new LED's are considerably brighter than the original junctions (because that's all they are, they are die'ed onto the PCB and not "real" LED's).
    Anyway, the whole display needs to be rebuilt to have equal light output from all segments and because more segments will be damaged simply from the vibrations introduced when de/soldering and handling the display.
    After that, a desicion will have to be made whether to do all displays
    in the Beomaster (plus eventual Beocord(s)) or just change a good handful of components on the Beomaster display board to make it all even.

    Obviously, I would need to have the display(s) and most likely the whole PCB board sent in to perform the operation.

    So it's not impossible but not especially cheap. It's hours of manual work involving microscope, hot-air soldering etc. etc. plus final (in-circuit) testing but it does look good.
    An alternative would be to find display(s) from a donor but as this is
    a very common problem and the displays themselves don't like to
    be handled very much (vibrations), this solution requires a gentle hand and/or a fair amount of luck (plus a suitable donor).

    Martin

  • 05-28-2007 3:39 PM In reply to

    Re: Beomaster 8000 display issue

    Hi Martin,

    Thanks ever so much for your active help and encouragement without which I certainly wouldn't have come this far. I hope one day I can make some small contributions to the Beo community myself, but for now I am in 'learning mode'!

    Your tip with respect to the tone controls is spot on, they work fine now! I'd just misunderstood how they operate.
    I will keep your offer with respect to the displays in mind but will probably try the route of a 'donor' machine first. Fingers crossed that I may be lucky and find a good usable replacement display board, but as you say - this seems to be a common problem so I'll need a lot of luck. Will let you know how things go!

    Kind regards, Eric

    September 2009 1st prize winner.... 

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