BeoGram

Re: Beogram 8000 issues

AdamAnt316 — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:30:44 GMT

PapaBear:
Hi,

I just took my beloved Beogram 8000 out of storage and cannot get it work. All the lights come on, the speed indicators seem to want to work, the play, stop, and tonearm postioning controls also work. But the turntable platter will not rotate. Everything was in perfect working order when I packed it up 6 years ago. Is ths something the "cap kit" you metioned can address. By the way, what is a "cap kit"?

Thanks,

Michael

Hello Michael. The first thing I would do is examine all of the solder joints on the circuit board inside the unit using a strong magnifying lens. The solder joints on these models seem to have a tendency to crack over the years, and go intermittent. A cap kit (which is a set of replacement capacitors for the turntable) won't address this sort of problem, though it might pre-emptively solve other issues that could pop up down the road.

-Adam

Re: Beogram 8000 issues

chartz — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:06:26 GMT

Hello,

I had a similar problem with my platter stopping in the middle of a record. It was just a bad solder at a connector's base.

Re: Beogram 8000 issues

PapaBear — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 13:19:54 GMT

Hi,

I just took my beloved Beogram 8000 out of storage and cannot get it work. All the lights come on, the speed indicators seem to want to work, the play, stop, and tonearm postioning controls also work. But the turntable platter will not rotate. Everything was in perfect working order when I packed it up 6 years ago. Is ths something the "cap kit" you metioned can address. By the way, what is a "cap kit"?

Thanks,

Michael

Re: Beogram 8000 issues

AdamAnt316 — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:49:38 GMT

Another question: would it be OK to operate the unit in the service position? I'd like to be able to probe around the board with a plastic tool while it's operating, to see if the area of the intermittent connection can be located while it runs. Again, thanks!

-Adam

Re: Beogram 8000 issues

AdamAnt316 — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 23:35:05 GMT

An update: After crudely putting the 8000 in the service position (note to those who may be doing this: do NOT use the Play button to move the arms out of the way to access the under-tonearm door while two of the bottom plate hooks are pulled out of the suspension springs; the drive coils didn't seem to like that...), I took a look at the underside of the board. Using a magnifying glass, I was unable to spot any solder joints which looked cracked. Some looked a bit blobby, but nothing overtly faulty in appearance. Exactly what should I be looking for, and where? I assume whatever's come loose has something to do with the motor control, but I'm not sure which area of the board, if any, covers that. I'd rather not have to reflow every single connection on the board(s), if I can help it. Any sort of photos of known bad solder areas on 8000 boards would help. Also, would still like some info on how to properly put the 8000 into the service position, without propping the tonearm cover door on something or causing the bottom hinge to crack. This is the first time I've worked on a Beogram at the component level, so I need all the help I can get. Once again, thanks!

-Adam

Re: Beogram 8000 issues

AdamAnt316 — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 09:55:25 GMT

Dillen:

Look at the solder side of the board, that's possible with the Beogram in
service position.
Redo any peculiar looking solder joints, there will be many.
A magnifier will help you and in rare cases a microscope is needed.
Remove the old solder and add fresh. I like to use solder with a hint of silver in
it to help prevent future cracking but less will do.

And do be careful when you work on the board. The large caps will hold voltage for a long time
after powering down and there's always a risk that shortening something to that power will ruin something.
I often discharge the caps through a resistor before servicing as a matter of cause.

Martin

Good to know. Is there a good way to hold the unit in the service position, besides propping it up against something? I've heard that letting the top part tip too far over will cause the hinge to snap. I've also heard that some B&Os with this sort of hinge had prop rods to hold it in position, but I didn't see any sort of one in this 8000 when I had it open the first time. Will standard 60/40 rosin core solder be OK?

Good tip on the discharging. Will any resistor do? I assume I connect one side of the resistor to ground, and touch the other side to the positive terminal of the caps. I haven't had to do this too often with the stuff I've serviced, but when it comes to something this complicated and valuable, better safe than sorry.

-Adam

Re: Beogram 8000 issues

Dillen — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 08:44:10 GMT

Look at the solder side of the board, that's possible with the Beogram in
service position.
Redo any peculiar looking solder joints, there will be many.
A magnifier will help you and in rare cases a microscope is needed.
Remove the old solder and add fresh. I like to use solder with a hint of silver in
it to help prevent future cracking but less will do.

And do be careful when you work on the board. The large caps will hold voltage for a long time
after powering down and there's always a risk that shortening something to that power will ruin something.
I often discharge the caps through a resistor before servicing as a matter of cause.

Martin

Re: Beogram 8000 issues

AdamAnt316 — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:38:22 GMT

Another update: during further testing, it once again began to lose speed. While it was slowing down, I tapped the front panel, and it zoomed back up to speed. Does that mean a cracked solder joint is to blame? And if so, what would be the best tool to use to try and find it? Also, are there any tricks to removing the circuit board? Once again, thanks!

-Adam

Re: Beogram 8000 issues

Dillen — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 01:52:48 GMT

Well, first find out what causes the problem.
If it's a capacitor, it will have to be replaced.
If it's a cracked solder joint, it will have to be redone.

The last many Beogram's I've seen of this type had lots of both and the
symptoms can vary a lot. As a matter of cause, I like to replace all electrolytic
caps from 1uF and up and also check for cracked solder joints in every Beogram I see.
You can't judge anything or even try to locate an eventual other fault before this is done.

Martin

Re: Beogram 8000 issues

AdamAnt316 — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 01:43:05 GMT

Dillen:

As Peter also suggests, it sounds like a cracked solder joint or a capacitor fault.

Martin

Good to know. Just wanted to make sure it wasn't something impossible to replace overheating and/or burning out. I'll have to try and do some troubleshooting. Where should I start, and what should I do? As usual, thanks!

-Adam

Re: Beogram 8000 issues

Dillen — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 01:05:21 GMT

As Peter also suggests, it sounds like a cracked solder joint or a capacitor fault.

Martin

Re: Beogram 8000 issues

AdamAnt316 — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:54:31 GMT

Peter :

I used white transfers and printed black onto it - the white shows through. The cartridge is actually an MMC20S which has had a new stylus with a Shibata profile diamond put on by Axel. I wonder if the fault is a cracked solder joint. It does not sound as if you are in the UK!

Looks like it came out did very well.

I'm hoping this latest problem with the 8000 is something like that, and not a burnt-out component (I didn't smell anything after it happened, which is probably a good sign). The fact that it worked just fine after cycling power makes me wonder what it could be. Hopefully, Martin has seen something like this before, and can advise me on what the culprit could be.

And yes, I'm not in the UK, though you wouldn't have known that a couple of months ago! June and most of July had us drenched with rain just about every day. I went to see a concert where the Strawbs were performing, and the lead singer remarked to the effect of, "We came here expecting some nice summer weather. If we wanted rain, we could've stayed home!"

-Adam

Re: Beogram 8000 issues

Peter — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 17:15:57 GMT

AdamAnt316:

The Black Tulip! I'm not sure I have much luck of finding a 4000/4002/4004, never mind one of those beauties. Interesting that you found white easier to print than black; usually, it's the other way around (I had to buy a special printer in order to be able to print white-on-clear decals for aircraft models). All you'd need to do is glue a piece of clear plastic over the stylus guard, and that MMC5000 would be all set.

-Adam

I used white transfers and printed black onto it - the white shows through. The cartridge is actually an MMC20S which has had a new stylus with a Shibata profile diamond put on by Axel. I wonder if the fault is a cracked solder joint. It does not sound as if you are in the UK!

Re: Beogram 8000 issues

AdamAnt316 — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 16:23:44 GMT

Houston, we have a problem...

Shortly after I re-secured the tonearm cover panel to it's hinge, I decided to take the 8000 for yet another spin. Most of the way through Simon and Garfunkel "Bridge Over Troubled Water", the unit lost speed, and the platter came to a stop. The speed display showed only "33", no decimal numerals, no flashing. I pressed Stop to get the needle off of the record, and then cut power. For the hell of it, I powered it up again, and cycled the arm over the (now empty) platter. It spun up as normal, and scanned across as normal, with no obvious problems. What could the fault be? I'm hoping it's not something major...

Edited to add: Could the room temperature have had something to do with it? The temperature around the unit is somewhere near 95ºF (35ºC), so could overheating be a factor?

-Adam

Re: Beogram 8000 issues

AdamAnt316 — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 23:13:19 GMT

The Black Tulip! I'm not sure I have much luck of finding a 4000/4002/4004, never mind one of those beauties. Interesting that you found white easier to print than black; usually, it's the other way around (I had to buy a special printer in order to be able to print white-on-clear decals for aircraft models). All you'd need to do is glue a piece of clear plastic over the stylus guard, and that MMC5000 would be all set.

-Adam