ARCHIVED FORUM -- March 2012 to February 2022READ ONLY FORUM
This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
Hello everyone, I've finally made an account now that I've got a problem that needs solving! I have an early-80s Beogram 3000 (type 5903) that, after sitting dormant for a few years, no longer plays. The unit powers up, the platter spins, and then it shuts off. A light does shine across the record from the rear left corner, however the tonearm does not move to the record. I don't recall whether there is a light in the arm next to the tonearm (is that the detector arm?) that shines on the record as well. I think there is, but it isn't working. It is behaving like it doesn't sense a record on the platter. I have tried this with a record, with and without the din cable plugged into the Beomaster, via the remote control, and via the buttons on the Beogram. Prior internet research often points to the cueing solenoid being seized. I pulled the platter and verified that the solenoid moves freely. Does anyone have experience with sorting out this problem? Is there a qualified Beogram mechanic in the Pacific Northwest? The newly-reopened B&O store in Seattle says they don't deal with turntables. Thank you very much. I'd love to get this turntable working again. It's in great shape and all of my favorite musicians seem to be releasing more and more on vinyl! Nick Kirkland, WA
And you are pressing PLAY?I ask this because normally the record area illumination only comes on when using the < and > buttons, and they won't make the Beogram start playing a record.
Martin
Hi Martin, thank you for the question.
Yes, I'm pressing PLAY. I was mistaken about when the light comes on. You are correct that it only illuminates the record when I press the arrows.
If it helps, I've included a video of the behavior. It does the same thing with both 33 and 45 records.
Nick
https
Oops. I don't think the video upload worked. Perhaps try this link instead:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CV0p9kQfPoXsWuCf6JHLPvdGUmwZ52Um/view?usp=sharing
Can you tell if a motor (not the platter motor) runs fast inside?
I opened the lid to watch what happens. The motor attached to the cable pulling the tangential tracking car does turn, as well as the platter motor.
The problem appears to be a green arm with gear teeth under the platter that only occasionally engages the teeth on the gear at the base of the platter. It's as if the solenoid does not push it far enough. If I manually prod the solenoid far over and hit the play button, the green arm engages, the tone arm moves over, and it behaves like it wants to play a record. This happens when I manually hold down the record plunger, and today it started to play a record. However, when you push "stop", instead of re-engaging the green arm to complete the circle of the gear that moves the tracking car back to the start position, nothing seems to happen.
I could misunderstand how this is supposed to work. I took a photo of the green arm in question, but BeoWorld isn't letting me upload at the moment!
Has the solenoid been pushed downwards, so it has slipped out of its seating in the circuitboard?
The solenoid is solidly in place. It doesn't appear to have moved. There are two other interesting events. I played the side of a record. The tone arm moved to the record, played a full side. Using the buttons I can lift the tone arm and move it left to right with the arrow buttons. However, the stop button doesn't work, and at the end of a side, the needle lifts and moves back to either the middle of the record or the starting groove, but not the fully retracted home position to the far right. Also the platter won't stop spinning unless I unplug the unit.
It was fun to have it play a record again though! I'm not sure if it will do it consistently. I'll try it again tonight.