Beocord 4500 stopped playing music tapes.

Hi Beoworld members out there. I just checked and listened to some "new" bought music tapes (yes, I mean music tapes). After winding a tape fast forward it came to its end, the BC stopped, but suddenly a high squeaking sound occured. I stopped the BG completely and then retried to play it, which was not possible. The BC is reacting to the commands but refuses to start playing or even winding the tape.

Any idea what could be the cause and how to deal with it will be much appreciated.

Kind regards,

Rolf

Hi Rolf, I still enjoy using my Beocords too, though it has been a while since I've bought any "new" tapes! :) I'm not sure what is wrong, but my first guess would be the belts. If your BC 4500 has never had new belts put on, it's getting old enough now to probably need new ones. You can contact member Dillen (Martin Olson) to get new belts, if you want to do this yourself. Good luck with it, hope you can get it fixed soon! -Tommy

Edit: Oops... Martin's name is Olsen, not "Olson". Sorry Martin, for the typo.

The answer to pretty much any question about a system of that era is 'the rubber belts'  A lot of them need the belts to be tight to engage a clutch (used to tell the system that it's still turning and it's not the end of a side) so they can be quite sensitive

You might be lucky though, I had a (non B&O) system where the belts had just gotten very smooth - they were tight still but they were slipping a lot so I put a bit of vaseline on a cotton bud and applied it round the mechanism to 'sticky' it up and it's worked fine since.

BeoTom:

Hi Rolf, I still enjoy using my Beocords too, though it has been a while since I've bought any "new" tapes! :) I'm not sure what is wrong, but my first guess would be the belts. If your BC 4500 has never had new belts put on, it's getting old enough now to probably need new ones. You can contact member Dillen (Martin Olson) to get new belts, if you want to do this yourself. Good luck with it, hope you can get it fixed soon! -Tommy

Edit: Oops... Martin's name is Olsen, not "Olson". Sorry Martin, for the typo.

Hi Tommy,

thanks a lot for your help. I will check, if I´m able to do it myself, if this is the fault. Maybe Martin has a guide how to do it, or do you maybe know where I can find such a support? I have looked into the service manual at the product page, but it is of no help.

Kind regards and enjoy listening to your tapes (and probably vinyl as well ),

Rolf

Calvin:

The answer to pretty much any question about a system of that era is 'the rubber belts'  A lot of them need the belts to be tight to engage a clutch (used to tell the system that it's still turning and it's not the end of a side) so they can be quite sensitive

You might be lucky though, I had a (non B&O) system where the belts had just gotten very smooth - they were tight still but they were slipping a lot so I put a bit of vaseline on a cotton bud and applied it round the mechanism to 'sticky' it up and it's worked fine since.

Hello Calvin,

it´s good to have a first step and "test" method before diving deep into a big repair, thanks a lot. Could you please help me what you mean with mechanisms? Do you mean the "rolls", I would call them, which you can see and reach from outside?

Kind regards,

Rolf

Sorry about the delay, maybe you've fixed it already by now.

If you take the top of the system off (not a huge job) you'll find that the rollers are driven by a series of hidden pulleys and bands. If you try to play a tape when it's in this state (be very very very careful what you touch, there's a lot of electricity!) you should be able to see whether a band is loose or whether it's slipping.  If it's loose, you need to buy a new one, if it's slipping, apply a very small amount of vaseline to the pulley (the wheel) to make it sticky again.

Thanks, Calvin. It's real busy for me at the moment. I had no time to spend for my tape deck. I'll see if I manage to check it this weekend.

Kind regards,

Rolf

I checked today. Trying to play with and without tape, it refuses to turn and play. It shows play and then returns into stand by. Using FastForward or Review or any other appropriate button ends with the same result.

I disassembled the glass plate, unscrewed the 3 screws at the back as is described on the back side of the chassis. So far so good. I tried lifting the cover. I couldn´t get it open as it is not lifting where the angles of the lid are mounted. Fearing to destroy something, I stopped. What should I have been doing but did not?

Kind regards,

Rolf