BeoGram

Re: Beogram 4000

Piaf — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 14:47:55 GMT

Hi Kevin,

I am probably not the one who should be answering your question as there are more qualified people on this site.

However, when I say control panel, I am referring to the machined aluminum plate that engages the Beogram 4000 into operation. Mine is fairly loose so lifting it up is not real accomplishment. It is held in place by clips.

What I found in my case was the contacts were horribly dirty and cleaning them made a huge difference in operation…. everything worked.

The tracking is an adjustment on the arm position sensor, which must be aimed correctly for satisfactory performance. Mine has required several re-adjustments to get it just right. If out just a bit the tonearm will not track properly or will refuse to pickup at the end of play.

Hopefully someone more technically savvy that myself will see your question and answer it with a bit more helpful detail.

Jeff

Re: Beogram 4000

kevinoils — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 18:49:10 GMT

Hi Jeff

I guess that I have a similiar problem with my BG 4000, it was not working well at all a few days ago, but I have taken the diaphragm out cleaned it, adjusted magnetic coil, springs and assembly and put it all back together. I am trying to re-balance the whole system.

Iniitally the tone arm would not lower but now does, but was popping back up instantly. I also have what you call the side tracking problem ,were the tone arm wants to travel to the left quickly. It was travelling right across the system and I think this has alink with my control panel. I read that you had taken this apart and cleaned the contacts within it, now I have looked at the manual but how do you get into this? I am reasonably good at dismateling so can you tell me how this is done? The beogram was just playing an LP for the first time and slowly moving across, then it decides its not its not lowering on the second attempt. If you could let me know how you got into the control panel etc it would be a great help?

Thanks

Kevin

Re: Beogram 4000

Piaf — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 14:12:20 GMT

“Demolition companies,” I like that, accurate too. The ONLY two pieces of stereo equipment that arrived undamaged was the Beomaster 2400 and ironically the Beogram 8000 parts turntable I purchased from California which arrived without a scratch. Go figure!

I used UPS and the USPS to ship all this gear to British Columbia. Of the two, UPS was by far the lesser of the two evils. I don’t know how the Beograms fared via the USPS but Canada Post is TERRIBLE….. absolutely TERRIBLE!

If I knew what I know now I would have INSISTED on double boxing for everything prior to making the purchases, and if the seller was unwilling to go to the extra trouble, I’d definitely take a pass.

Further the platter simply HAS to be removed and boxed separately. The Beogram 4002 suffered mightily because the seller relied on the B&O Styrofoam packing to secure the platter, which it didn’t when the box was turned upside down.

When I picked up the 4002 at the post office I watched in HORROR as the clerk SLAMMED the box down, to NO purpose, and then flipped it over. As I walked with the box back to my car I could hear the platter sliding around on the dust cover.

Beyond double boxing the arms simply have to be secured and the interior of the Beogram under the dust cover filled with protective material, and this includes the hole where the platter had been. Then the dust cover can be closed on the packing material and secured. If you do all this, a Beogram 4002 or 4004 had a reasonable chance of arriving in one piece.

The same can not be said for a Beogram 4000. To ship one of these beautiful instruments in safety you really need to open up the Beogram and carefully place protective packing material inside the turntable. The entire arm assembly is merely resting on its track, unlike the 4002/4004 which is secured to it.

Once the internal parts are secured and the Beogram closed back up you can secure the arms and then add the protective padding as you would for the 4002/4004. I like to remove the stylus, but that is an option.

As Peter rightly noted the control panel can easily come loose and do awful damage. If you have the packing material in place it would be exceedingly unlikely that the control panel would come loose and even if it did, it could move much, if at all.

Unless a miracle happens when I get my Beogram 8000 back and turning the solenoid slightly causes the tone arm to drop I will be forced to ship it to the US for repair. Of all the turntables the 8000 is the easiest to ship with the three transport screws tightened, the platter removed, and the red plastic arm support in place… plus all the packing material, I believe that the 8000 can make the journey back and forth successfully.

Clearly the way you did it, picking up your turntable and transporting it yourself is the best way to go if you can. I live on Vancouver Island and that means taking a ferry to go anywhere. Besides the expense of the round trip ferry ride, even a trip to Vancouver takes up a good part of a day and Washington state would take an entire day with long lines both ways for the ferry and customs.

Jeff

Re: Beogram 4000

soundproof — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 01:09:47 GMT

Piaf - I'm not entirely certain whether you are looking under "Demolition Companies" or "Shipping Companies" when arranging transport.

That was painful reading. I took no chances myself, fortunately I have the kind of job where I can bill clients for the thinking I do behind the wheel of my car, which meant that my drive from Norway through Sweden to Denmark to pick up my Beogram 4000 was actually profitable.

Re: Beogram 4000

Piaf — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 14:59:05 GMT

Peter,

The control plate not only can come loose but did so in my case. Really did a number on the dust cover. Fortunately it did not damage the other aluminum parts or the arms; something of a miracle.

When the Beogram 4000 arrived here in beautiful Victoria, British Columbia from New Jersey, the entire arm assembly was laying on its side with the arms hanging at a very peculiar angle. This assembly in the 4000 merely rests on its track unlike the 4002/4004 that replaced it, and whose assembly is secured.

Also the spindle that drives the arms was missing the wheel at the end along with the belt, both found incredibly under the mother board. Plus the plastic bearing that holds the spindle had broken in half…. and I never did find the missing half, even after a complete disassembly.

At least the search produced the tip end of the red plastic arm position indicator. A little super glue took care of that minor problem.

I had better luck in shipping the Beogram 4004 which was double boxed. UPS had dropped the 4004 with such force that an internal plug came partially loose causing the 4004 to malfunction. That “fix” was almost too easy.

The Beogram 4002 wasn’t quite so lucky. The owner of the 4002 and accompanying Beomaster 2400 assured me that he was a perfectionist and that he KNEW how to ship a turntable. He didn’t. He simply shipped the 4002 in its original box with its Styrofoam packing material and assumed that all would be well. It wasn’t.

Had the 4002 received the slightest care in route it would have been fine, but the box was flipped upside down and the platter fell and landed on the dust cover. Suffice to say, it was not a pretty picture. It took hours and hours of wet sanding with increasingly fine sand paper to restore the cover.

However the shipping disaster was NOTHING compared to the indignities that Customs Canada did to the 4002, which was deemed a suspected “bomb.” (Noted on the box.) Customs X-rayed the box and then tore into it like “Sherman took Atlanta.” (General Sherman burned Atlanta to the ground during the US Civil War.)

It is almost incomprehensible at this point to fathom that this entire odyssey started because my Beogram 8000 was also damaged in shipment (Thank you United Van Lines) and I have yet to be able to have it repaired.

The shop that currently has it recently gave up after literally throwing parts at it trying to get the 8000 operational again. This particular shop is an authorized McIntosh facility and they do very fine work, but the 8000 exceeds their knowledge base. They found all sorts of broken parts, faulty parts, and adjustment issues, but the now much improved Beogram still stubbornly refuses to drop the play arm on to the record.

In fairness, the above mentioned shop buys and sells Bang & Olufsen turntables and did manage to repair my Beocord 8004 which also was damaged in shipment. (smashed would be a more accurate term) In an odd turn of events, even with a replacement glass (shattered in transit) and a new drive mechanism and idler tire acquired from Bill Rapp, the 8004 refused to play cassettes. However, by sheer coincidence a Beomaster 7000 was “given” to this shop in non-working condition, and the tech took the cassette assembly apart and noticed a tiny spring on the 7000 that the 8004 was missing…. with this spring in place like magic, the 8004 sprung to life. I had wondered where the heck that spring went, having found it when I attempted to repair the 8004 myself, unsuccessfully.

In any case, all the above is why I advised David to insist on proper packing. While I rather like and enjoy my newly found collection of Bang & Olufsen equipment, I would have much preferred that the collection was a result of deliberate design rather than a collection of mishaps.

Jeff

Re: Beogram 4000

Peter — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 02:15:53 GMT

Actually the problem with the 4000 is not that it is that fragile, it is more that it is made of very heavy parts! If one of these comes loose, it rattles around and breaks things! One part often forgotten is the control plate which clips in place. This can easily loosen and is a solid plate of aluminium. This can do serious damage. The deck plates also loosen and fly around and will break the arm mechanism. Seriously, if you are in the same country, pick up and deliver beograms yourseld if at all possible - it really is cheaper!

Re: Beogram 4000

Piaf — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 21:37:18 GMT

David,

Take a bit of advice from someone who learned the HARD way, don’t be shy in insisting on proper preparation for shipping a Beogram. The damage that was done to my 4002 was entirely the fault of the shipper. I honestly thought that he knew what he was doing, but that sadly was not the case.

Be polite but firm in your instructions on how to ship your turntable. If you don’t you do so at your own peril!

I have no choice but to ship my Beogram 8000 internationally to have it repaired in the very near future. I am removing the platter and placing it in a seperate padded box, the three transit screws will be tightened to secure the platter suspension, and I have the shipping guard for the two arms, and will stuff the turntable to keep everything secure and stable, with the dust cover closed on this packing material. I will also remove the stylus.

Then with everything secure, I will double box the whole affair. This is the real secret, double-boxing.

I am not familiar with the 3500 so I don’t know how to advise packing it securely. However, Peter gives clear instructions which I would follow to the letter if I were you.

Peter is right it is FAR cheaper to pay for excellent packing rather than try to repair a smashed turntable

I am certainly glad I don’t have to ship the Beogram 4000 across the street…. talk about fragile!

Good luck with your new 3500!

Jeff

Re: Beogram 4000

Dillen — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 11:06:21 GMT

Peters description of packing a Beogram (found here) applies to most Beograms :

http://forum.beoworld.org/forums/thread/34034.aspx

Martin

Re: Beogram 4000

Dave — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 10:13:40 GMT

I will be receiving a 3500 from the Netherlands, is the only thing i can do is politely ask the seller to tighten the transport screws?? I'm very very frightened after reading this post!

Re: Beogram 4000

Peter — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 15:29:19 GMT

In the early days of Beoworld, we were asked to design a Christmas card! This was a fairly poor effort of mine - they are in the shape of a Christmas tree! I think I had 16 Beograms at the time but didn't have a big enough floor area!!

Re: Beogram 4000

Jandyt — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 13:44:16 GMT

Come on Peter!
What's the story behind the tinsel?

Andy T.

Re: Beogram 4000

Peter — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 00:52:23 GMT

Only four? I can't remember how many I got to! You need a 3000 Thorens to round off any collection! Very different sound.

Re: Beogram 4000

soundproof — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 23:50:09 GMT

Andy's sentiments are seconded here! Well done.

You have four Hi-Fi sculptures in your possession, they are truly beautiful. My Beogram 4000 brings a smile on my face whenever I see it.

Re: Beogram 4000

Piaf — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 23:42:21 GMT

Andy,

Thanks for the very kind words. It took several months for me to convince the owner who brought his Beogram 4000 into the states from Germany, to sell it to me. Then the international post simply destroyed this phonograph, shattering internal parts and generally creating a train wreck effect.

It has been a long hard struggle to bring this unit back, but I am essentially there. I had to make from scratch a bearing that was shattered in transit and which I am trying to replace with a proper bearing.

In the process of attempting to replace my damaged (in shipment via United Van Lines) Beogram 8000, I acquired two truly remarkable Beograms, a 4002 and a 4004. Only then did I discover the 4000 on eBay, which is truly a work of art.

Both the 4002 and 4004 are essentially in flawless condition and I will not give up until the 4000 is in the same remarkable shape.

The Beogram 8000 has been in the shop for five months and still refuses to drop its arm to play a record. I have owned this Beogram since new and will find a way to get it working again.

It is a bit over the top to have four turntables, but I am too attached to each of them to sell them. All were damaged in shipment, and I have two working flawlessly (4002 & 4004), one working with hiccups (4000), and one challenge yet to be conquered with the 8000.

I’ll post pictures of the entire family when they are all back in top form.

Thanks you’re your comments and interest.

Jeff

Re: Beogram 4000

Jandyt — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 13:45:32 GMT

Jeff.

Having read this thread, I have to commend you on your work on this classic.
As this was the first Beogram with the tangential tracking arm (I think) and is over thirty years of age I think it's admirable that this one will be saved.
Keep up the good work and send us a photo' when it's completed.

Andy T.