Here is a very nice family turntable that the owner wants made like new again. It is a Beogram 4004 Type 5526 and has been worked on before. However, the last person to work on it left the turntable in an unusable state. Time to take a look.
The turntable arrived well packed but for me it contained the dreaded foam peanuts. They work okay but I don't like handling them. They end up everywhere and are difficult to work with. When I return this turntable I think I will build a better box. Unfortunately, as with most audio equipment, the original factory shipping box is long gone.
The owner did a good job of securing the inside where the turntable parts are. The pictures below show there is an obvious problem with the tonearm. I was not shocked by this as the owner had told me the Beogram had this issue. He secured it well enough for the shipping and the tonearm will be the first thing I look at. The cartridge attached is a broken one and not the main cartridge for this turntable fortunately.
There is a surprising thing about this Beogram tonearm problem and that is that someone previously worked on this turntable and apparently lost two of the tonearm mounting screws. I'm not sure why but it is extremely lucky that the crucial, delicate phono cable wires remain intact. If those had broken it would mean a big repair.
I have replacement screws for the tonearm so I quickly got them installed so I don't have to worry about anything happening to the phono cable.
It is a good picture to show how the two mounting screws attach the tonearm to a pivot mount. That allows the tonearm to be adjusted so the cartridge stylus is perfectly horizontal with respect to the platter (a later service manual check).
Looking at the rest of the Beogram I can see the usual problem with disintegrated transport bushings.
No problem there as I will install Beolover's 3D printed replacement bushings.
This Beogram 4004 has the metal cabinet guide washers instead of plastic ones that the earlier model Beogram 4002 units had. That is great as it means those won't need replacing.
The control panel buttons on this Beogram are in very nice shape. Very little visible wear. That is unusual but welcome.
The wood trim also looks quite nice.
With the tonearm back in place I gave the Beogram a quick run (without a record of course) to see if the electronic parts work. Everything did function and I was able to adjust the speed for the platter.
The tasks on this restoration should be straight forward. The inside will be fully cleaned and the mechanical moving parts lubricated as needed. I will make sure the tonearm transport is in alignment and fully functional. That includes the raising and lowering solenoid. The transport drive pulley will be replaced with one of Nick's metal pulleys. For the electronics I will replace the old electrolytic capacitors and install new sealed relays for the RPM selection and phono muting. The speed indicator dials will be changed to use Beolover's LED replacement boards. The record tracking sensor and the fixed arm sensor will also get Beolover replacement parts. The nice thing about the Beolover replacement parts is they are all designed to fit in the same mounting that the original parts did. That means owners can go back to the original configuration if they want. Non-destructive modifications. I like it.
The platter motor needed the bearings re-infused with oil so I already had pulled and sent the motor to Beolover when I sent the platter motor for the Beogram 4002 Type 5513 project. So this motor is ready to go.
A final restoration task will be to remove scratches from the dust cover and give it a good polish.
Hi I need help putting on the belt that spins the record. I don't know technical terms. Pls email me @ Timothy dot Mcnulty391 at Gmail dot com .Need help pls have same model as this. The 4004 5526
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