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
Since the successful P45 project, the virus has hit me again. I bought a cheap, nonworking Beogram RX 2 and brought it back to life in an evening. Total cost: $25 plus shipping and parts already on hand. (Plus I had an extra MMC4 on hand.)
Today at work I received another $25, nonworking piece: Beogram CD 50. The seller described the unit as being able to load a disc, but it wouldn't play. With the FS's blessing, I bought it hoping the seller just didn't know (and wasn't bothered to find out) the disc had to be loaded label down.
No such luck. The unit does not appear to be reading the disc. I read Soren's CD 50 thread from last year again, so I have some idea where to start. But I do have one question for all you owners of this piece: shouldn't the tray be coming out another 3 cm or so?
If I remember right, it does come out whole CD length. Check timing and belt of tray.
blah-blah and photographs as needed
Also, look here. I'm afraid you will have to do the motor as well.
And no the tray doesn't come out all the way! But it does a bit more than that, say 2cm more - just checked that.
Jacques
Ah Jaques have live example
You can help it with hand to see, it is robust. (if not pulled with both hands and feets)
I have sorted through a few in years past. Typically the problem are drawr mechanics, the belt or dirty optics. . There are also a pair of contact switches that are activated by the drawers that fault.
If the Cd motor is acting up usually it will still read but skip and stick or punt the CD back out ( act Weird)..
It all start with a thorough clean up and visual exam, Take plenty of pix. We are here to help.
She's not fully sorted out, but I did get her to read a CD.
I took the top off, plugged the unit in, and loaded a CD. The mechanism which pushes up on the CD to clamp with the transport motor was not being activated. I unplugged the unit and took the laser off. I then manually moved the tray gears and noticed the gears still needed to rotate another tenth of a revolution or so to get to the end where the clamping mechanism would move up.
The photograph shows this position.
This photograph shows the position of the tray and gears after I manually turned them completely in the other direction. There's a mechanical stop preventing the tray from going any further. Seems like it should go further out, but maybe not.
Also, you can see where someone has been in here before - the gears are marked.
This photograph shows how far the gears turn when the unit is plugged in and the tray is ejected and then retracted.
And this is how far it needs to go so that the transport gets engaged and a loaded CD gets read by the laser.
So if I manually turn the gears to the end, put a CD in, and reinstall the laser, the unit will read a CD. But as soon as I use the "open" button, I won't get the transport mechanism to engage again.
There is a belt at the bottom of the gears. Would replacing the belt get me the last bit of rotation I need?
Is there something in this set of gears that needs lubricating?
Do I just need to disassemble and clean?
Do I need to do all three?
Anything else to try?
Under the largerst flywheel (gear) is a small cam that grabs and engeages the upper and starts the rotation process. sometimes it will pop loose.
I recommend all three but a take down and cleaning and relubbing is a good start. the belt may still be okay.
The alignment marks are probably factory set and memory seems to recall that your alignment looks to be OK.
I am not looking forward to pulling those gears apart. Tell me it's easier than it first looks.
Rich: I am not looking forward to pulling those gears apart. Tell me it's easier than it first looks.
I dont remember it being too terribly difficult just be sure to realign to the maks when you put it all back together.
Take a good clear high quality photo before you take it apart for reference... but you already know to do that.
The big "automaton" gear screw looks odd. I think it was modified. There should be a big brass bolt whose height is adjustable and this height is critical for correct operation.
Here's Søren's picture:
chartz: The big "automaton" gear screw looks odd. I think it was modified. There should be a big brass bolt whose height is adjustable and this height is critical for correct operation.
That is definitely not what mine looks like. It's just a screw and a series of 3 thin washers holding the gear in place. There is no height adjustment.
Well, I got sidetracked in working on the Beogram CD 50: the right channel of my Beomaster 4000 blew up in spectacular fashion and I've just not been in the mood.
This afternoon I pulled the CD 50 down off the shelf and had a go at giving the moving parts a bit of a clean and a bit of a lube job where it seemed appropriate. The thing was NASTY inside. Sticky brown goo on the bottom that came up black on Q-tips and paper towels dipped in rubbing alcohol.
Nicotine perhaps? Thank you for smoking.
Anyway, it doesn't work flawlessly, but it does work. Most of the time. It has the same issues as Soren and Jacques have documented elsewhere. Listened to some Eric Clapton Crossroads earlier. Tried a CD-R of Saturday Night Fever, but that didn't work. Now I'm listening to Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon SACD/CD hybrid. Skipped the first 6 seconds, but is now playing well.
Sounds good.
Here's a shot of it in the bedroom/desktop system.
Beogram CD 50 -> Sony STR-DE895 -> Beovox S45-2
Beogram RX 2 ->
Beocord 4500 ->
Homebrew Win8 PC ->
Rich: chartz: The big "automaton" gear screw looks odd. I think it was modified. There should be a big brass bolt whose height is adjustable and this height is critical for correct operation. That is definitely not what mine looks like. It's just a screw and a series of 3 thin washers holding the gear in place. There is no height adjustment.
And that's definitely not original, Rich. It should look like on Søren's Picture.
Rich: Skipped the first 6 seconds, but is now playing well.
When I made mine, I had to take apart the motor, and clean and lube it, that fixed the delay on the first track, it also fixed skipping or stopped playing after several CDs played.
Collecting Vintage B&O is not a hobby, its a lifestyle.
It was not as difficult as I thought it would be, but you have to be very careful nonetheless!
What we did is explained, but of course any question is welcome. I pressed the motor shaft out, and didn't have to use too much force. Just keep in mind that the platter height is important. I had mine too high and it was slightly rubbing on the surface of some CDs.
chartz: I had mine too high and it was slightly rubbing on the surface of some CDs.
I had mine too high and it was slightly rubbing on the surface of some CDs.
You know what? I think I was hearing some of that last night: slightly rubbing on the surface of some CDs.
There is obvious evidence someone was in here on this deck (bent pins for one thing). Who knows what happened to it in the past. Maybe the best thing for this deck is to be parted out. I haven't even mentioned about how bad the top was scratched up.