Careless mistake with Beomaster 4400

I just made a stupid, careless, and totally unnecessary goof with my Beomaster 4400.

 

I noticed at low volume that the overload lamp was coming on and determined it was most likely a short in the left Fisher speaker. (I was right about that.)

 

Everything looked good until I got out a really good flashlight and I could see that two tiny wires, one from each wire were touching the other post.

 

No problem, very easy to correct.

 

Unfortunately I am a perfectionist (wherever possible) and wanted the connection to be perfect. More unfortunately I got sloppy and thought I had the Fisher speakers in the off position, but they were on.

 

In getting everything just so, the screwdriver head touched both posts and the Beomaster 4400 responded by going silent.

 

I immediately turned the 4400 off…… pretty much like locking the barn door AFTER the horses got out.

 

Once the connection was safe I turned on the 4400 but no sound. I tried the FM section and nothing, BUT the lights were all on. I figured I must have blown a fuse, but if I had the lights wouldn’t be working.

 

So I turned the 4400 off again and this time it made a muffled BANG. Not all that loud, but it didn’t sound “good.”

 

I then tried turning the 4400 back on and everything was fine. With the short corrected all four speakers worked, the sound quality was A-OK, and the FM worked as usual.

 

Aside from I should have known better, what happened here? If it was a fuse, the 4400 wouldn’t be working. Does the overload protection circuit protect against a hard short?

 

So is it safe to assume that my carless mistake did not actually do any damage to the 4400?

 

Jeff

Hi Jeff,

Do not worry!

The Bang you heard is Mr Olufsen's friend, and he would certainly not damage one of his own creations, would he?

But seriously, it was the noise of the protection relay cutting off the power amps'  power rails, and this can be heard through speakers in the most dramatic way. There is some DC going there for a tenth of a second, nothing of  consequence.

I'm sure the overload beacon was glowing too, but perhaps you were so nervous that you didn't see it.

Hi Jacques,

 

You’re right; I didn’t see the overload beacon illuminated as I was concentrating on the two-post screw connections. These Fishers use the crummiest connectors I have ever seen, Avery Fisher should have been ashamed of himself for allowing a product, so poorly designed to go out with his name on it.

 

In addition the speaker wire is the worst I have found in my “you never know when you’ll need it” bin.

 

In a perfect world I should have cut the frayed wire ends off and wound the clean cut ends tightly. This I didn’t do out of sheer laziness and frankly, an utter lack of interest.

 

These Fishers were not great when new, were assaulted by my teenage years and suffered mightily. However they still have a bass boost that they offer in conjunction with the MC120.2 speakers.

 

A close inspection wearing my prescription glasses revealed nothing, just very neatly wrapped wire terminals.

 

It was only when I got out my super-duper flashlight that I could is one tiny copper strand from each terminal connecting to the other terminal and producing a short.

 

How this occurred, I have no idea. I mean these speakers have been stationary for four months and worked fine. Why two copper wire strands spontaneously sprung the way they did is an uninteresting mystery.

 

The rest of the story is, as I have said, I got impatient and sloppy. I had turned the amp off while addressing these two wayward wires and turned it back on to test it and all was well. But then I spotted one stray stand still not where I wanted it, and while massaging the wire with a flathead screwdriver made a full connection.

 

I didn’t think my misdeed had done any damage, but I figured how could it hurt to ask? Had the sound come back on the first try, I wouldn’t have felt the need for this post. \

 

In any case thank you for the response. Have a grand day!

 

Jeff   

The failure circuit has saved my but many times. Our laziness make us do stupid things. A couple of days ago I found my wife in the kitchen cleaning the top closets, standing on a swivel chair, outside the kitchen door is placed a step ladder for the same, I told her accordingly. Mistakes happens Jeff, with age it seams to be more, but to do the simplest things, today, we will have to look for the reading glasses, get a torch or rig a working light, tell the wife to standby with the first aid kit, and be ready to throw the main switch. Glad that your  4400 is still going strong, and you came out undamaged.

Hi Søren,

 

It is all so true, the aging process. What a pain in the butt and I am told it only gets worse. Still better than the alternative.

 

My sight situation is impossible to comprehend, unless someone finds themselves in my shoes. I have complained about these glasses before….. progressive tri-focals with both horizontal and vertical prisms AND different in each lens, one lens pushes the eye up the other pushes the other eye down….. and both push out. There is also a correction for stigmatism….. plus don’t forget the tiny holes they recently drilled in the eye balls for glaucoma which allow drifting pinpoints of light to roam around my field of vision.

 

With the above I can well be forgiven for not seeing those tiny wires touching the wrong posts.

 

Adjusting the wires with the amp on is another story, but you can be damn sure I won’t do THAT again! Embarrassed, but an inexpensive lesson as no damage was done.

 

Thanks for the words of encouragement on my Beomaster 4400. Yep, the thing is holding together well; the misguided restoration notwithstanding.

 

The NOS parts, cleaning rather than replacement, and other horrors put me though a LOT more than any customer can reasonably be expected to endure. No one should have to go through what I did: the initial and growing disappointment, the endless burning that went on for over a month, the horrific mood changes, and the fear (real or imagined) of potential fire. Nope, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.

 

The experience caused me to actually hate this 4400, which was unfortunate. But that protracted bad experience and the hatred are long past now. The 4400 is in the bedroom and the fire extinguisher in the kitchen, so the fear of Beomaster flambé is now history.

 

Søren, I really loved what you said, “today, we will have to look for the reading glasses, get a torch or rig a working light, tell the wife to standby with the first aid kit, and be ready to throw the main switch,” as it is all so familiar and TRUE!

 

Yet Søren, inconveniences of aging aside, we still have passion and I believe that is a testament to one’s character.

 

Jeff

Piaf:

Hi S ø ren,

It is all so true, the aging process. What a pain in the butt and I am told it only gets worse. Still better than the alternative.

S ø ren, I really loved what you said, “ today, we will have to look for the reading glasses, get a torch or rig a working light, tell the wife to standby with the first aid kit, and be ready to throw the main switch,” as it is all so familiar and TRUE!

Jeff,

There are a number of Beoworlders who seem to be suffering the same fate. The hearing is going, the sight is getting to the point where I will need a magnifying light to see to do any work on my kit -when I have leant to solder properly - which is becoming increasingly unlikely as the arthritis in the fingers gets worse.

Perhaps we should start a separate section in Beoworld for Vintage people!

It could be set up with a bigger font, have tips on how to cope with memory loss and a thread running permanently called 'grumpy old Beoworlders'

Seriously, though, I am really sorry to read of your problems with your sight. Whilst mine is getting worse, I can't begin to imagine how difficult it must be for you.

Cleve

Cleviebaby:

Piaf:

 

Hi S ø ren,

 

 

It is all so true, the aging process. What a pain in the butt and I am told it only gets worse. Still better than the alternative.

 

 

S ø ren, I really loved what you said, “ today, we will have to look for the reading glasses, get a torch or rig a working light, tell the wife to standby with the first aid kit, and be ready to throw the main switch,” as it is all so familiar and TRUE!

 

 

 

 

Jeff,

 

 

There are a number of Beoworlders who seem to be suffering the same fate. The hearing is going, the sight is getting to the point where I will need a magnifying light to see to do any work on my kit -when I have leant to solder properly - which is becoming increasingly unlikely as the arthritis in the fingers gets worse.

 

 Perhaps we should start a separate section in Beoworld for Vintage people!

It could be set up with a bigger font, have tips on how to cope with memory loss and a thread running permanently called 'grumpy old Beoworlders'

Seriously, though, I am really sorry to read of your problems with your sight. Whilst mine is getting worse, I can't begin to imagine how difficult it must be for you.

Cleve

Hi Cleve,

 

Yesterday was one of “those” days for me, where everything seemed to go wrong and all at once.

 

I planned to entertain the family with some light hearted remote control car racing in the front driveway. My eighties vintage Ferraris looked fantastic and ready to go, but one wouldn’t respond to the controller and the other started out well enough, but the 30 year old tires broke to pieces in the first 2 minutes, as such my much hyped “vintage races” were nothing but a dud.

 

OK, on to the serious work. I needed to adjust the tonearm tension springs on my much beloved and talked about Seeberg M100B jukebox. Making really good progress until the turntable stopped playing mid-play. (I wasn’t expecting that!)

 

I am used to “charming” my 63 year old juke box into performing, and once again it worked until there was a GREAT hissing coming from the amplifier section (in the bottom) and a GIANT cloud of really nasty BLACK smoke coming from the back of the mechanism.

 

The amp was OK, but the controller box (an 18” square monster), which sits adjacent to the amp  looked quite fried.

 

The manual is geared to problems that might occur when the jukebox was new, so without a miracle, that’s all she wrote for my “friend” of 30 years.

 

Then the news that Robin Williams had died, one of my favourite actors of all time.

 

I was at that point when I was certain that NOTHING would ever make me laugh again. (We all have these moments….)

 

But then I read your posting and found myself howling! I loved the clever suggestion of a new section for Vintage People with a bigger font (Not a bad idea) I went to bed chuckling and had a good night’s sleep and give you 100% of the credit for same. Thank you Cleve! (I am not kidding, I mean this.)

 

I appreciate the kind words about the “vision thing,” but it is what it is.

 

I complained bitterly about how long it takes me to connect DIN connectors on my Beomaster 2400 (All BM’s for that matter) and BeoFolk undoubtedly had NO idea why I was so inept at such a simple task.

 

However with the small lens that are popular today, the field of vision is extremely tight and with both vertical and horizontal prisms pushing in opposite directions no less, I HAVE to look at something straight on, no angle, or the depth perception is lost and the general vision is one big blur.

 

The stigmatism correction and the flashes of white lights from the two holes lasered into my eyes just adds misery and frustration to the whole process.  

 

However, the point I never forget is that I CAN see….. and looking straight-on with decent lighting, I can see clearly. Beomasters were just not designed with my vision-limitations in mind.

 

Now that my hearing tests within the “normal” range….. well after my misguided youth followed by the disco period, this is nothing short of a miracle. A real miracle!

 

I appreciate your comments letting me know that I am not alone. Yep, I have the magnifying glass, the flashlight, everything that you were talking about.

 

Comedy is all about relating….. similar experiences shared by an audience. Thanks Cleve I am sure we are not the only ones, so it is a safe bet that a bunch of us Vintage People got a good laugh from your comments!

 

Thanks,

 

Jeff

 

Cleviebaby:

It could be set up with a bigger font, have tips on how to cope with memory loss and a thread running permanently called 'grumpy old Beoworlders'

In my Mexican family I am known as the Grumpy old Man, and my sight and hearing loses I use as it sues me, when I dont want to hear, i dont. When I remark on a haircut, like: "What a nice haircut, did you do it yourself". They answer normally something contrary, and I tell them I will go look for my glasses. Being "Grumpy"  has advantageges. And yes, I would welcome the "Grumpy old Men" forum, we vintage lowers are getting older and fewer, but I will hang on here as long as I can, and I know you Jeff and you Clevie will do the same. No I dont remember as good as for 10 years ago, but i take a lot of more notes, and then I dont find them. (the notes).

Well guys, count me in on the Grumpy Old Man forum. Oh yea!

 

And Søren, although you are FAR more technically oriented than I am, all in all, we have a lot in common….. and you are right, I will keep my vinyl records, cassette tapes, reel-to-reel tapes, and even my small (thankfully) collection of 8-Tracks forever. (That means until I croak.)

 

This could be a lot of fun!

 

My tech knows about half of what I have in antique electronics and recently asked me, “Why do you keep all this old stuff, it isn’t going to last forever?” I told him, nothing lasts forever and the new stuff is mostly junk.” He replied, it is ALL junk.” And his point was?

 

Søren rebuilt his Beomaster 4000 several years ago and recently it required more service. So? At least it CAN be serviced.

 

We are fortunate to have incredibly high quality audio equipment and we are preserving it, which is a good part of the enjoyment.

 

Jeff

Ya know Søren, I am still chuckling over your comment about the haircut, “Did you do it yourself?” Nice touch, a good slice without being brutal. I like that.

 

I do the same thing, just a bit more crafty, less direct.

 

When an employee had his hair cut to “make a statement” he wanted me to react in shock. Not gonna happen. Instead I gave him a serious look and said, “You look exactly like Moe Howard.” My thirty-something employee had no idea who Moe Howard was so he didn’t realize he had been insulted, which was fine with me as I felt the better for it.

 

In another place in time I had an office manager with a pathological need to fire suburbanites, rule by terror or some such thing and to put it mildly, I didn’t appreciate this characteristic.

 

So one morning I walked in, ever so quietly and said to the accounting staff, “Good morning ladies [long pause] and Jessica.”

 

It was a full two hours before she came in my office and asked if I had insulted her. Even then I didn’t give her an answer, saying, “What do you think?”

 

Grumpy Old Men……. exactly.

 

Jeff