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This is the second Archived Forum which was active between 1st March 2012 and 23rd February 2022
Hello all, my first post in this forum, but today I came home with a beautiful condition Beogram 4004. However, I noticed after hooking it up that the tone arm moves at a snails paces when starting and stoping. It also seems to shudder halfway through its journey when its returning after it reached the end of a record. Im not sure if this is normal but it sounds like it could be an issue. I contacted the seller and he told me to put some oil on the large brass screw that drives the tracking arm, it seemed to help a little at first but it doesn't seem like it made a big difference. Help? Keep in mind I just graduated from a Technics SL-1200 today, so explain it to me like I am five years old (small words and pictures!) Thank you all for your help!
-Ky
Hi there! And welcome!
You really want to clean everything up, including arm bearings - and get new belts.
The old lubricants are dry and just oiling is not enough. Just jam on toast.
Jacques
Thank you! Yeah, after I posted this last night, I realized that the new belt between the tone arm motor and the wheel the guy put on the table while I was picking it up was way too tight, so I put on a looser one (he gave me a big bag of belts and springs) and removed the oil he put on the wheel and motor too, and put more grease on the long screw, and it is working just fine! Although the fine cueing movement adjustments don't seem work towards the beginning of the record, but I think I just need to clean it up better and put some higher quality lubricant on it. Do you think sewing machine oil would be good?
Well done!
Sewing machine oil is fine. But if arm movement is irregular, I'd still clean the carriage screw more thoroughly, and re-adjust it as per the service manual (it must be perfectly perpendicular to the arms) to have it functioning as it should.
I realized that the belts for the tone arm the previous owner gave me were all a little too lose, so I went to a local record store and talked to the owner about where to find some, he pulled out an old reference book and found a universal replacement belt code for the table that he happened to have in stock for cassette deck repairs. I replaced the belt and oiled the mechanisms with 3 in 1 oil, it seemed to work well for a day, then jammed up again. When I opened the table up again I noticed that the pulley wheel the belt was on had a large crack through it. A little super glue and my problems have disappeared for several weeks now! It looks like everything is working perfect (knock on wood).
Although..... I am having an issue about ever 50 or so times the tone arm mechanism finishes playing a record and starts moving back to the right, the tone arm its self will take a second or two before it raises up, causing it to drag the needle across the record. Any advice?
Hi, try this link
http://www.taxafinn.dk/beogramrepair.htm
The problem you have is caused by the solenoids sticking.
Regards
Chris
The 3 in 1 oil, you used, has some acid in it, this may have caused the crack in the pulley, use sewing machine oil, or Liquid Bearings, only. Its essential that all old grease is cleaned off, and that all mechanical parts are cleaned, and then lubricated. After that you can do all the mechanical and other adjustments described in the manual available onsite for silver and gold members.
Collecting Vintage B&O is not a hobby, its a lifestyle.
Søren Mexico: The 3 in 1 oil, you used, has some acid in it, this may have caused the crack in the pulley, use sewing machine oil, or Liquid Bearings, only. Its essential that all old grease is cleaned off, and that all mechanical parts are cleaned, and then lubricated. After that you can do all the mechanical and other adjustments described in the manual available onsite for silver and gold members.
I agree. A Beogram's worst enemies are 3-in-1 and WD40 (and no lubricant at all ).
Use proper oil and grease only. Get rid of that horrid 3-in-1, only just good for door hinges and old rusty bicycles really.