[Umbers]

I bought a Beosystem 8000 new in the 1980s and used it happily until about ten years ago when it was put into storage – still in good working order. I’ve just assembled it and both the record deck and cassette player are faulty. The Beograd 8000 played an LP but got ‘stuck’ as it neared the end of the first side. The ‘forward and reverse’ buttons also didn’t work and I was unable to return the stylus arm. The Beocord 8000 powers up but won’t play and won’t forward or reverse. I’d like to get them working and use them again but wonder how practical (and costly!) this is. I’m near Glasgow, Scotland. Any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks …

[spassmaker]

Hi

Looks like the Beogram and the Beocord need some restoring.

Beogram: All capacitators, resoldering of contacts and adjusting the << >> buttons, new tangential drive belt.

Beocord: Most all capacitators and cleaning the cassette drive mechanism, new belts.

Ask for someone near you who has some experience with B&O gear.

Regards

Christian

[Umbers]

Many thanks Christian. I’ve emailed a dealer – who used to specialise in B&O – in Glasgow. It is frustrating because they were in perfectly good working order before I packed them away!

Thanks again,

William

[Glitch]

Umbers wrote:

I’d like to get them working and use them again but wonder how practical (and costly!) this is.

Start by replacing JUST the belts, especially if you are concerned about the costs of repairs or how involved the project could be. That might be all that you need. It won’t be very expensive and only requires basic skills with a screwdriver.

It is always possible that there is something more seriously wrong. However, you really can’t start to debug any of that until the belts are working properly.

Glitch

[Umbers]

Thanks Glitch. This is very helpful. As I say, they were working perfectly when I put them into storage so I’m hoping it might be something straightforward. Are the belts easy to obtain?

Best

William

[Glitch]

Being in storage doesn’t stop the ravages of time. The belts will simply degrade. The Beogram belt has likely dried-up and/or stretched. The Beocord belts likely turned to “goo”.

The belts are easy enough to find from you favorite auction site or, if you are concerned about getting a good quality part, at beoparts-shop.com.

Instructions for opening the cases can be found in the service manuals or somebody here can walk you through. Taking pictures as you go can sometimes be invaluable to getting everything back together.

Be prepared for a sticky mess if/when you work on the Beocord. Cleaning up the belt goo residue is the hardest part of the job.

The belt replacement may not totally fix your problem. Some of the electrolytic capacitors may have gone bad with time. The good thing about doing the initial belt change yourself is that you can avoid the “belt goo surcharge” if you have someone else work on the machine ;-).

Glitch

 

[chartz]

Hi,

What you describe seems normal to me, as said above, nothing special. All critical parts are readily available.
Every item will need standard maintenance, all worth it if they still look nice!

Good luck finding someone who can do it though. B&O won’t be able to help here I’m afraid.

[Author]

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