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 All,
I hope someone on the forum can help. I have a Beogram 4002, type 5523 that I am restoring. I have it mostly operable thanks to some major assistance from member Sonavor here on the forum. I still have two problems to sort out however, I need the most help with the first and biggest issue. When I press start, the tonearm stops where it should, you hear the solenoid click and you can see the arm of the solenoid engage, but it does not stay engaged, the tonearm pops right back up without reaching the record. The result is the tonearm drops about a 1/4 of an inch and then right back up in place. I tried a search on Beoworld but did not find anything that seemed relevant. Martin mentioned in one post I found, that some carriage boards have a small board on the left side with switch contacts to the solenoid that might be damaged and cause solenoid problems, but my turnatable does not have that board. I have a picture of what mine looks like below.
None of the obvious things I can think of; the cartridge is attached, and the tracking is set high enough to drop the arm. I can pull the arm lifting lever at the back of the tonearm assembly and the arm will drop all the way down. Record detection is working; without a record in place and you push the start button the tonearm travels to the entire distance of the platter and senses there is no record in place goes all the way inward switching from 33 1/3 to 45 rpm and returns to stop.
I have completely cleaned, lubricated and adjusted the solenoid armature and damper and have taken the tonearm apart and lubricated that area as well. I don’t imagine that my adjustments contributed to this but I am stuck. Any thoughts would be appreciated?
John
I had a problem like this a few weeks ago, tried all the things you describe above.....turned out the sislicone grease i had used to lubricate the mechanism was too viscous......it doesn't take much to slow the action down to a point where it fails......
Craig
Beogram 4002 repair and restore - (beoworld.org)
Hello Craig,
Thank you for the reply, sometimes it is the simple things that throw you. But the solenoid armature and damper seem to be moving freely, so lubrication of too much or not enough doesn't seem to be the problem. I remain hopeful that someone may know what the issue is, thanks again for trying to be of help!
My problem wasn't with the solenoid armature or the damper moving freely.....like you I disassembled both of those linkages and ensured they where free, the problem persisted....I found the problem was with the lowering linkages on the arm itself...may not be your problem, but it seemed unlikely to me at the time...
Thanks so much for the follow up. I do have an issue with the tone arm, that I don’t think is related to the solenoid but I could be wrong. The problem with the tone arm is getting the arm to “float” at 0 grams. The weight will not move far enough forward when adjusted to the limit. I did disassemble the tone arm and clean and lubricate it. And I can pull the arm lifting lever at the back of the tonearm assembly and the arm will drop all the way down freely when tracking force is adjusted to 1,5 grams, even if not an accurate reading. But I don’t see this as connected to the solenoid problem but it may be I am not understanding something correctly.
Can you tell me if I understand correctly how the turntables should work? You push start, the tone arm finds the set down position for the record, you hear the click of the solenoid and it’s armature moves forward releasing the lever of the tone arm. The solenoid armature stays in the forward position as the arm drops to the record. The solenoid armature stays in place until end of record play and then it releases and springs back raising the tone arm.
My solenoid clicks and it’s armature moves forward to release the tone arm lever but immediately springs back preventing the arm from dropping.
If you could let me know if my understanding is correct that would be helpful. Thanks again for the reply.
If your happy with the tone arm operation take a look at the circuit responsible for the solenoid operation, again it was somthing I looked at in my thread...Beogram 4002 repair and restore - (beoworld.org)
Thank you, again, that thread was very helpful. Now I just need to take a look at testing those transistors. I am starting to get a bit shy that I am out of my depth here. I am not at your skill level which is evident to me when I hear you talking abut using an oscilloscope in testing and measuring the coil in circuit. I can take out a transistor and test it, but I honestly don't know where to even connect the leads for a digital meter to test the coil.
With this 4002 I have spent literally years off and on and hours of time so would love to get it working. thanks to many people on this forum like Sonavor and you. Also I have had the motor restored, and replaced other parts thanks to Beolover's more contemporary replacements. Also I went through the same process you did with the plastic hood, my wife was becoming concerned about my mental health with the number of hours she saw me sitting and polishing it. I lost track of the hours to be honest.And I have gotten the new trim that Barrie on the forum supplies.
Once again Craig, I do appreciate you responding and will test the parts in the circuit you reference.
I found out that the problem was a faulty solenoid. I did check the parts Craig suggested but found that was not the issue. Sonavor suggested I check and see if that might be the issue and I have a spare parts table and was able to swap out the faulty solenoid. Thanks to all who posted suggestions.
Great news John..........