Beogram 4002 Type 5513: Some additions for a previous Beogram project from Houston

 A Beogram 4002 Type 5513 turntable that I restored back in 2018 was delivered back to me to have the light for the Fixed Arm record detector sensor replaced.

I had actually had another visit from this turntable in 2020 as it had suffered a broken tonearm phono cartridge mount at the time.  

On both of those visits the owner wanted to keep a few of the original components in the Beogram 4002 as they were still functioning.  Those were the Fixed Arm record detector sensor lamp, the tracking sensor lamp and the output phono muting switch.

The record detector sensor lamp finally burned out so this time we are installing the latest Beolover LED lamp assembly for the record sensor.

I really like the way Beolover redesigned the installation of this new, rigid board version of the LED lamp assembly.  

You can see a video about the replacement LED lamp and the installation here.
It begins with removing the old lamp and installing a plastic guide for the new LED board.

Here is one of the two leads ready to be soldered in place.

Here is the new lamp assembly installed.

As you can see, this keypad button surface still has wear that has been like this since I first looked at this Beogram back in 2018.

The owner chose to not repair this cosmetic issue on previous visits but this time around the plan is to install the Beolover Commander Remote Control for the Beogram 4002.

Since this Beogram will be starting fresh with remote control capability we decided to also replace the keypad button surface with a restored/refinished button surface.

Here is the old and the new side by side.

Quite an improvement.

I moved the keypad button PCB, hidden underneath the button pad, from the old button frame to the new one.

For now I left the button assembly outside the Beogram 4002 as I moved to the installation of the Commander Remote Control.

This video link has an excellent description and instructions on how to install the Commander Remote Control.

As an owner of a Beogram 4004 with the Commander Remote Control I can testify that the added feature is one of the best additions you can make to these turntables.  Once you start using it you will prefer operating the Beogram 4002/4004 with it.

A beautiful thing about this design is that it does not require any sort of permanent modification to the Beogram 4002/4004 turntable.  The Commander Remote Control components are strictly plug and play.
They use existing connectors and mounting facilities of the original Beogram.  It doesn't get any better than that.

Here is the Beogram 4002 under the control of the Commander Remote Control.

I will install an MMC phono cartridge and do some listening tests with the Beogram before handing the turntable back to its owner.

Beogram 4002 Type 5513: Return to the workbench for a new phono cartridge mount - Conclusion

The new Beolover replacement phono cartridge mount is installed now in this Beogram 4002 Type 5513 turntable.

This type of restoration is always fun. My very first collaboration with Beolover was on one of my Beogram 4000 turntables where we decided there needed to be a replacement phono connector so the repair didn't have to use a donor Beogram. Since Beolover created this phono connector part it has saved many a Beogram turntable I am sure.

Certainly this Beogram 4002 Type 5513.

Here are the components again -

I like to replace the phono wires on this type of repair. I use color coded 36 awg wires.

Preparation for the repair means tinning the leads of the new wires and the connector assembly contacts.

I start with the two inside wires and finish with the outside wires.

Note that the bottom part of the Beogram phono connector assembly reuses the original connector part.

Before I join the two halves of the phono connector I use a some Aleene's Tacky glue to hold the wires in place and act as kind of a strain relief while I work on the repair.

This is why you keep old MMC phono cartridges...even if the the cantilever and stylus are gone.
They are perfect for this repair in making sure the phono cartridge assembly is put together correctly and inserted just right into the tone arm. Aleene's Tacky glue is used again on the joining of the two phono connector halves.

I also use a little more of the Aleene's Tacky glue inside the tonearm when I reinsert the phono connector assembly.  That insures the phono connector is secure but it could still be taken out again in the future. You don't want to use something permanent like epoxy here.

Now I just had to connect the phono wires to the signal transfer board and this repair will be done.

That concludes the Beogram 4002 Type 5513 phono cartridge connector repair.

Because this repair required so much handling of the tonearm I will have to go through all of the service manual tonearm adjustments again to make sure this Beogram is ready for use again.

Hopefully most of the components will still be adjusted correctly but they still have to be checked.

Beogram 4002 Type 5513: Return to the workbench for a new phono cartridge mount

With the third Beogram 4002 Type 5513 delivered to Houston the number two Beogram came back to my workshop. It is suffering from a broken phono cartridge connector on the tonearm.

This type of problem is common on the Beogram 4000 turntables (as they are the oldest in the series) but is not unheard of in the Beogram 4002 Type 5513.  I ran into a faulty phono cartridge connector on a Beogram 4002 Type 5513 back in 2017.

This problem would be a huge problem for an owner and require stealing a good connector off another Beogram turntable if it weren't for Beolover having a replacement part for it.

I will use the Beolover replacement part to repair this Beogram 4002 turntable.

First off I need to prepare the Beogram for the new phono connector.

That means removing the tonearm by unscrewing the two mounting screws that attach it to the tonearm base assembly.

The aluminum tonearm tube pulls out to expose the phono wires and a small transfer board. The transfer board is where the color coded wires from the phono connector connect to the very thin wires that take the signal through the tonearm base.

I am using a small mirror in the two photos below to show the top and bottom sides of the wiring transfer board.

After desoldering the phono wires from the board the tonearm assembly can be removed.

I performed the usual boiling water to ice water trick to loosen the glue that holds the tonearm cartridge connector inside the aluminum tube.  That let me push the connector out of the tube so it can be repaired.

Unfortunately I don't have the Beolover replacement phono connector in my stock of Beogram parts so I quickly ordered one.

In the meantime....continuing the repair preparation, I turned the tangential arm assembly over so I can easily get to the wiring board.  When the replacement phono cartridge connector arrives I will install new phono wires from the new connector to the transfer board.

It shouldn't take long to reattach the wires and this Beogram will be ready to go again.

Beogram 4002 (5513): First Record Play Testing

Finally....time to see how this restored Beogram 4002 (5513) turntable does playing a record for listening pleasure.

First though, a couple of pictures showing some tidying up of some loose ends. In the last post I neglected to post the pictures of installing new cabinet guides and the rework of the phono cable.
So before showing the first record play photos here are a couple of pictures showing the Beolover Beogram 4002 3D cabinet guide parts.

There are five total cabinet guides. The last photo shows the lone black one that is used for the front center of the cabinet so it isn't noticeable. Note that these are not washers. The cabinet guides hold the plinth in place but allow it to slide forward and backwards for opening up the Beogram cabinet. The early Beogram 400x turntable guides were made out of a brittle plastic that almost always broke. In the later model Beogram 400x turntables B&O switched to a metal guide to fix the problem. The Type 5513 Beogram 4002 was before the metal guide came out. Even though they are just a small part they make a big difference. A lot of people will just substitute flat washers but they don't provide the function needed.

Now the phono cable. The original DIN plug cable had already been replaced and while the replacement was a nice cable I didn't like the way the wires terminated in the P9 plug to the Beogram phono output board.

I removed each P9 pin and reworked the wire connections. The wires connected to pins 2 and 4 are not used so I removed them.

Here is the reworked cable plugged into the Beogram phono output board. I reused the blue wire and its P9 connector for the left and right channel shield wires. The small switch we install allows the option to short the shield wires to the chassis ground wire or leave it open.

That is a lot cleaner looking. I can live with that.

Time for some lively Jazz from Buddy Rich.

I have used those for Beogram play tests before and keep using them for some reason :-).

Next the Beogram will go through a day of testing like this while I make sure the set down positions are good, the phono muting delay is satisfactory and there are no tracking problems. Once those things are satisfied I will install the remaining cabinet pieces and go through a week of listening tests before this Beogram's owner picks it up.

Thanks to Beolover by the way for another excellent job on parts and the platter motor restoration.

Beogram 4002 (5513): Service Manual Adjustments & Preparing for Use

I left off in the last post with the keypad cleaning, deoxidizing and the RPM panel. The keypad response is immediate but the cueing up and down button is too sensitive now. I will have to revisit that switch. There was a delay in the RPM panel re-installation because the molded, acrylic mounting fixtures were cracked. That is very common with these Beogram 4002 turntables. Often they are completely broken. Luckily the mounting fixtures on this Beogram just had one crack in each one and were still intact. I pressed the mount fixture together as I applied acrylic repair fluid in the crack. It dries very quick. That repair by itself is not strong enough if the RPM panel is removed and reinstalled very many times. To supplement the acrylic glue I cut two strips of Dura-Lar and put one strip on either side of the mounting block. I use Araldite AB rapid epoxy. It is clear.

The patched mounting blocks attach to the aluminum frame by set screws underneath.

One thing to note is the mounting screw for the keypad and RPM indicator panel is right underneath the RPM panel so whenever there is a need to get to the keypad buttons or the phono output board, the RPM panel has to be removed. That is why reinforcing the mounting blocks is important.

Here is the panel back in place.

Next I want to make sure the voltages and signals of the Beogram detectors are good.
First up is the 4D1 LED and its 4IC1 optical sensor that detect where the tangential arm is. Markings in the acrylic slide alter the LED light to the 4IC1 sensor and Beogram circuitry reacts to those changes in the signal.

The service manual check for this sensor is to measure the collector of the 4IC1 sensor when a transparent section of the slide is between the LED and the sensor. The voltage level at the 4IC1 collector should be around 5V.  If it is not, the 1R88 trimmer (on the main board) is adjusted to set the voltage needed.

These pictures show the adjustment.

This is an important adjustment because the run-out groove detection at the end of playing a record is dependent on this voltage level being set correctly.

Next though is the fixed arm sensor that detects if a record is present (and if it is okay to lower the tonearm). The fixed arm has a light source that shines down on the platter. The reflected light is read by an optical sensor. If there is a record on the platter the reflected light will be at a low level and won't vary. That steady, weak signal is interpreted by the Beogram arm lowering logic as okay to set down the stylus. If there is no record the black ribs on the platter will affect the reflected light so that it returns as pulses to the sensor. The pulses cause the arm lowering logic to not allow the stylus to be lowered.

Obviously it is important for this signal to be working and is at a proper level.

This sensor is providing pulses that are above the required 6 volt level. No danger of accidently lowering on an empty platter.

I need to check the end groove, run-out stop circuit but first I will perform some more mechanical checks and adjustments to get the Beogram ready for record play.

I caught a break on the platter to tonearm height adjustment. The distance was already at the required 23mm.

The arm lowering limit needs to be set so the tip of the stylus is about 1mm from the top of the first platter rib. This is a safety feature that prevents the cartridge from damage should the record detection circuit fail.

Another remaining mechanical adjustment is to check the tonearm for length and parallelism.
I run a string tangential to the Beogram arm assembly then check that the stylus travel path follows the string.

The check that the tonearm is 7.7mm distance from the fixed arm and that they are parallel were checks I made earlier in the restoration when I took apart the tonearm assembly (for the oil cleanup).

We are getting close to record play now. At this point the tracking sensor sensitivity needs to be fine tuned, the run-off stop needs checking and the platter speeds need to be dialed in.

The tracking sensor adjustment went fairly smooth. It still took quite a few iterations to get the sensitivity set where the tangential arm motor moves after each revolution (2±1 revolutions initially, 1 revolution after that).

The run-off stop check measured good on the oscilloscope.

I was able to easily adjust 1R14 and 1R15 trimmers (on the main board) to set the 33⅓ RPM and 45 RPM speeds using the Beolover RPM tool.

Whew! A lot of adjustments and checks on these Beograms. I still love them though. What a great turntable design.

Now for a break for some food and fireworks (not with the Beogram :-).  Then I will do a quick adjustment on the keypad cueing button. After that I should be lying down and listening to some records.