Hey folks,
I have the same problem as Andy with my Beogram 8000. It cued OK before I replaced the belt. Now with the new belt it still cues up in the proper place but it just won't move down onto the record. Perhaps I jarred something during the process. I found that by bending the backstop switch I was able to directly affect where the stylus stopped while cuing. As an aside, I tried simply rotating the switch assembly by loosening the large philips screw which fastened it to the chassis. The switch got quite loose but it still wouldn't rotate. It seems to be held in place by a pin or something in the chassis. But no matter, bending allowed me to precisely adjust the starting location.
Anyway, I've found two work-arounds but they're both inconvenient so I'd like to fix the root of the problem. First work-around: I hit play, it cues and stops. I then hit the "<< <" button for a fraction of a second, (the tone arm doesn't actually move since it's just a momentary pressing). I then press Play again and the stulus properly moves down and plays normally. Second work-around: I press play, it cues and stops. I then manually rotate the worm-gear approximately 360-degrees (never very much more or less). At this point, the servo takes over and it drops down and plays normally.
Edit: I'll mention again that it doesn't seem dependent on how far the tone arm moves (ie, adjustment of the switch). For example, I put a pen cap on the switch to cause it to cue several millimeters further, way past the lead-in groove. But the stylus still wouldn't move down.
I've inspected the mechanism closely. The belt doesn't seem to be slipping nor is it too tight. I see evidence that the motor possibly may be trying to make tiny, slow movements to move the stulus slightly further in. This is hard to see but every once in awhile I see it move slightly. I totally cleaned the worm gear with solvents and a plastic brush, then lubricated with fine machine oil. It seems to move fairly smoothly and the motor doesn't seem to be straining. Another observation, while playing as the arm is slowly moving across the record, the motor and gear (belt) do move in a slightly jerky fashion (short starts and stops) the whole time. Is this normal? Any ideas?
- Chris