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,
I have an easy question. I have a Beogram 1100 which is not working at all. I bought it off eBay very cheaply and do not know the history. The first issue is that I don't know how to operate the machine. I've tried a number of intuiative actions like plugging in the turntable, selecting the speed, pressing turn and then moving the arm over the record, but nothing happens. The plate doesn't turn. I've investigated this by removing the plate to see what happens when I move the arm and can confirm that nothing happens. The questions is: where do I start? What should I look for and in what order? Any advice that you can give would be greatly appreciated. I'm happy to try anything at this stage.
ThanksDan
Check if the motor has seized in dried lubricants.
Martin
Ok, that sounds like a great place to start. I will look into that tonight. Assuming that the motor is seized due to grease, is it just a matter of cleaning off the old dried/gummy grease and then regreasing? Or are more serious repairs required? (i.e., replacing the motor).
One thing I noticed was that, when plugged in, I don't actually even hear any motor noise when the stylus is moved toward the platter. Even if seized, should the motor emit some sort of sound when plugged in?
Thanks
You don't start the Beogram by moving the tonearm,You start by clicking the corner of the square knob according to the playback speed of the record.A little "controlled finger-force" is needed to make it click and activate. The deck itself, tonearm swing, lift and lower are all automatic.
The motor will normally run very smooth and not make a lot of noise but lift off the platter and you should be able to tell if it runs or not.That will also allow you to rotate the motor spindle by hand to check for seizure.If seized or tough running, cleaning and lubrication is the only way. With sintered bronze bearings in a one-phase AC motor like this, it is notquite as easy a task as it sounds.
Hi Martin,
Thanks for your help so far. So I've had a quick look at the player and I can hear a small audible buzz when plugged in so it is actually getting some power.
I've removed the platter and the motor is not spinning. I've also lifted out the entire tray and looked at the motor from underneath and can see very clearly that it is not spinning.
If I wanted to try to regrease the motor bearings, what should I do next? I can see how to remove the motor from the chassis. Do I need to remove this and disassemble it? Or at least open it up to clean and apply new grease?
I have the service manual (well, I have the service manual for the 3400-1900 (Type 5703-5701) which appears to be the same family) and can see how the motor fits together with the other components, but there's no good diagram of the motor itself. Anyhelp or pointers to another discussion thread would be most appreciated.
Check the motor by rotating it with your fingers. It needs to rotate very smooth and have a good and long run-out.If it has seized or has any friction you can feel, it will need attention in the form of cleaning/lubricating or new bearings (not available).
Relubricating sintered bearings is not easy and you will find detailed explanations if you google around on the net a bit butbasically, you need to strip the motor completely so you sit with the discrete bearings.Warm them up in SAE30 oil to about 60-70 deg C or so and add vacuum to suck out the remains of the old grease.Let go of the vaccum to allow fresh oil to flow in.Repeat a couple of times.In severe cases, the bearings will need an IPA & vacuum (no heat) treatment first to shift stubborn grease and gunk.
Clean the hard-chrome surfaces of the spindle byrubbing hard with IPA and a cloth and don't touch them again with your fingers, even the tiniest amount of fingersmudge willadd friction and initial (start-up) torque is something that motors like this just don't have. It all needs to run smooth and clean.Clean the reservoir felt washers in IPA, let dry and add a couple of drops of oil to prevent the felt from draining the oil from the bearings once refitted.
Put the motor together, align the bearings (a set of special tools were once available but less will do) so that thespindle and bearings are perfectly in line, running as smooth as possible and put everything back together.
You can sometimes make the motor work briefly by just adding a few drops of fresh oil to the bearings but typically it won't lastlong. A day or two and the problem is back.If the bearings have run metal against metal with the spindle (without the thin oil film between), the fine surface of the poreusbearing material will have been destroyed and the bearings will be worthless. You can sometimes tell from the color of the old driedgrease. If it has a green-ish color (from oxidized bronze/copper), the bearings are most likely gone.Best thing is to relube before a problem arises.
I'm guessing by IPA you mean isopropyl alcohol and not India Pale Ale :-) Is that right?
This looks like bear of a job but I'll have a go.
Isopropyl alcohol will work best, I'm sure.
I have been informed that you may know where I might purchase a belt for a Beogram 1100.
It's a lovely thing but my main man has told me that I need a belt to see what else is going to come up.
Thanks Mate,
Colin.