Beogram 4004 (5526): A New Arrival from El Paso - First Look

A Beogram 4004 (5526) arrived from El Paso in Texas for some TLC. It arrived in a custom Beolover made shipping box that had been dispatched to the customer prior to shipping, simplifying the packaging process. The unit arrived in good condition. HD foam and double boxing has never failed the Beolover so far. Check out our 4002/4 page for a video how to package a Beogram properly.

I took the Beogram out of the box and had a first look: The aluminum panels are in pretty good condition (an important starting point for a successful restoration)

Unfortunately the platter has a scratch in the center:

but otherwise it is in good condition.

The hood has the usual scratches from careless storage:

Luckily there is not much damage on the inside, i.e. this hood can be polished back to a nice look.

I took the aluminum panels out and had a look below deck:

The unit seems mostly original except a very unprofessionally installed new reservoir capacitor:

Whoever did this did not even bother to tape it in place, almost ensuring a short circuit down the road  if the unit had been moved while plugged in. Not very Beolovely!

After making sure the capacitor leads would not touch anything, I plugged the Beogram in and pressed start. The carriage started moving, but did not stop at the LP setdown point, indicating an issue with the position sensor. At the same time the platter motor came alive with a shriek, suggesting dry bearings. Most Beograms with DC motor have this issue at this point in time.

In summary, this unit is a good starting point for a restoration, and I am looking forward to playing some nice vinyls on it when it is back in prime condition!