Beogram 4002 (5524): A New Arrival from Singapore - First Contact

I recently received a Beogram 4002 (Type 5524, with input voltage switch) from a customer in Singapore. The unit arrived safely packaged in its original box. Per my recommendation the box was double boxed using soft foam to reduce impacts. The original styrofoam based packaging is too hard for shipping in my opinion. These old circuit boards can be a bit brittle these days!...;-).

I extracted the unit from the boxes and put it on my bench:

This unit seems to have already received a new hood from dksoundparts (formerly beoparts-shop). Sadly, these hoods are currently not available anymore due to manufacturing issues. Fingers crossed that this can be resolved.

I removed the hood and put the platter on for an assessment of the cosmetic condition:

The aluminum surfaces are in pretty decent condition. Unfortunately, the START key on the keypad has worn through coating:

Luckily it is only a small spot and the keypad overall does not look all that bad.

The wood plinth is slightly chafed near both corners:

I removed the aluminum panels and platter and had a look below deck:

The unit already received a Beolover SyncDrive DC platter motor replacement. But also came with the original motor in separate packaging::

A visual inspection immediately yielded that the transformer broke out from its mounting tabs:

Sadly, this seems a common problem with these plastic enclosed transformers. I recently had to design a bracket to fix this issue for another Beogram 4002 Type 5524 with this type of transformer.

Before I was able to plug this unit in for a first test of its vitals I had to replace the massive UK-style power plug

with a slender US style replacement:

Of course this will be reversed once this unit is ready to travel back to Singapore.

After switching the unit to 110V I plugged it in. When I pressed start the carriage started moving, but after letting go the START/<< key it stopped moving. It turned out that I was only able to move the carriage by pressing << or >> continuously. < and > worked as well, but no reaction to pressing the up/down button. This likely means there is a dead transistor or two in the 'electronic switch' section of the circuit. We will see once I get to restoring the PCBs.

In summary, this unit is a pretty decent starting point for a restoration. The plinth could be updated with a CNC machined solid wood replacement to improve the looks.

Stay tuned for updates on this project.