Beogram 4004 Type 5526: Second Beogram 4004 from Texas - Shipping to new owner

After this second, original owner, Beogram 4004 turntable restoration the owner decided to put it up for sale here on the Beolover Blog.

I am pleased to say that this beautiful Beogram 4004 now has a new owner.  This post shows how to prepare and pack the Beogram 4004 for shipping.

We have had quite a lot of experience now in packing and shipping various Bang & Olufsen components. Our methods have tweaked here and there. Turntables are the most critical to pack safely. Mechanical parts must be secured and of course the turntable itself must be protected.

As tempting as it is to secure the turntable for shipping without removing the phono cartridge it is still best to remove it.

The removal and installation of a Beogram MMC phono cartridge is not too difficult.  I always make sure the stylus guard is in place when handling the cartridge.

In this first picture of the cartridge removal process I show how I secure the tonearm with my fingers so it won't move when pulling the cartridge off.

With the other hand I grasp the phono cartridge and stylus guard to pull the cartridge from the tonearm connector. It will resist coming off as the fit should be tight. Do not wiggle the cartridge horizontally. It comes off straight and slightly down. Don't force it.

Here you can see the connection points of the MMC cartridge and tonearm connector.

The Beogram 400x turntables have a floating chassis for the platter and tonearm assembly.  There is a chassis lockdown procedure to secure the floating chassis for shipping (or even transporting to a friend's house :-) ).  In the case of the Beogram 4004 turntable there are three floating chassing lockdown screws. They are accessible from inside the cabinet and from outside the cabinet. The normal case for an owner is to use the outside lockdown screws.

The screws are on the underside of the Beogram 4004 cabinet and you DO NOT want to turn the turntable upside down to get to them.

I hang the edge I am tightening or loosening over the edge of a table and operate the screw from underneath.

This photo shows the three Beogarm 4004 lockdown screws as seen from underneath (hanging over my workbench table). The lockdown screws do not need but a couple of turns to loosen them. Gently turn the screw driver until it won't turn but do not apply a lot of torque. Don't over tighten the screws.

Now that the phono cartridge is safely removed and the chassis is locked down for transport the packing can begin.

My first step on this turntable packing was to put a protective plastic film (like you find on new products) over the outside of the Beogram dust cover. I didn't photograph that process but the film just lays over the dust cover.

After that I remove the Beogram top platter. It is another one of those things that is tempting to leave in place but it is better to removed it and pack it separately.  Why take any chances?

I cut and place a foam insert where the top platter was and a couple of strips of foam padding over the keypad and speed display.

Then I cut to fit, a piece of polyethylene foam to secure the remaining space between the dust cover and inside of the Beomaster.  I wrapped the polyethylene foam with the same plastic film I put on the outer surface of the dust cover.  Although the foam is pretty soft I worry that movement during shipping could result in swirl scratches on the underside of the dust cover. The film should prevent that.

Now I can close the dust cover and secure the main parts of the Beomaster.

I don't like to use any tape with adhesive if possible so I wrap the Beomaster dust cover down on the cabinet with packing wrap.  After that I like placing the audio component in a plastic bag to protect against any moisture. I also hate the way the electrical cord and phono cable can dangle and the plugs potentially scratch something.  So I wrap them in foam.

The next step is wrapping the Beogram lengthwise and crosswise with egg crate type soft foam. The foam is secured with plastic wrap.

This Beogram 4004 is now ready to go into the shipping box.

Over the last few years I have found that it is better to use as small a shipping box as possible. Too large of a box becomes difficult for shipping carriers to handle and increases the chance of a drop.

With the Beogram securely tightened down and padded the job of the box is for rigid support and protection from handling mishaps (bumps and small drops).

I use double-walled cardboard shipping boxes and glue the bottom flaps together.  After that I glue polyethylene foam sheets to the bottom and the four walls.

The wrapped Beogram 4004 fits right into the foam lined area.

This is where the Beogram 4004 top platter gets packed. I like to use a vinyl record shipping box to hold the platter.  I also add some small polyethylene pieces on the side of the Beogram and slide the box with the phono cartridge in there.

The final steps are to add the last polyethylene foam sheet for the lid and then secure the shipping box.

This turntable is now on its way to a new home.

Announcing Bang & Olufsen Audio Components For Sale On The Beolover Blog

Occasionally the situation comes up where we can sell one of our vintage Bang & Olufsen restorations. For some time we have wanted to do this and there is no time like the present.

Recently we restored two beautiful Beogram 4004 turntables belonging to the original owner who purchased them new in the late 70's.  The first turntable has rosewood trim and the second turntable has teak trim.

The owner has decided to keep the rosewood trimmed turntable and sell the teak trimmed one.

We are presenting that teak trimmed Beogram 4004 as our first audio component for sale here on the Beolover Blog and you can view it on our AUDIO FOR SALE page.  There is also a link to the for sale page on the right hand menu of the blog.

Beogram 4004 Type 5526: Second Beogram 4004 from Texas service manual checks to playing records

I reached the home stretch of this Beogram 4004 turntable. It was almost as pristine as the first one but did require a few adjustments per the service manual.

Running through the service manual checks I started with checking the sensor signals from the carriage position sensor and from the fixed arm. Because the LED lamp was changed for the carriage position sensor I needed to make sure the voltage on the sensor, 4IC1, is 5V when the sensor is on a clear part of the moving position scale.

That sensor and new LED lamp are now adjusted where they should be.

For the new Beolover lamp assembly in the fixed arm for the record detection the voltage on the collector side of 1TR3 should be a steady 4V when a record is present or the platter is off.

That measurement was initially low so I had to raise the collector voltage using the new 2MΩ multi-turn trimmer I installed in place of the original, fixed 1MΩ resistor 1R26.  The reason for that is described in this Beolover post.

Now that the voltage level at the collector of 1TR3 is set I checked what the actual pulse signal looked like when the platter is installed and turning.

A nice healthy detector arm signal from an empty platter. I think it is safe to press the fixed arm's sensor assembly back into the arm.

On to the platter to tonearm mechanical height adjustment. The platter was a little low on this Beogram. It should be 23mm from the deck of the platter to the top of the fixed arm.

The platter height (and levelling) is done with the platter main bearing assembly. The large nut is loosened so the threaded bearing can be rotated up or down as needed for the adjustment.

In this case I needed the platter to be lowered a little bit.

I check the height at the edge of the platter and at the center.

That is right on the money.

During the platter height check I determined that the platter needed a little levelling so I adjusted those screws as well.

The next mechanical type check is for the arm lowering limit. For this check the stylus should be about 0.5mm above the low rib of the platter. That provides a little bit of cushion should the arm try to drive towards the center of the platter without a record. The stylus hitting the high rib of a rotating platter could easily shear off the stylus.

The stylus/tonearm distance check is done with a string from the center spindle of the platter to the edge of the turntable. I can use the string to make sure the travel of the stylus remains on the center line.

The cartridge tracking force check showed it needed some recalibration so I adjusted the tracking force gear position to bring it into line. I calibrate it for 1 gram.

This Beogram 4004 restoration installed a new tangential tracking sensor lamp assembly (a Beolover custom part) so I figured I would have to go through that whole adjustment procedure and I did.

The platter belt is removed and the adjustment calls for manually rotating a test record with the platter engaged and observing when the tangential drive motor advances the arm assembly. On initial lowering of the tonearm on a record the platter should go through two rotations before the arm assembly is advanced. After that it should advance on every rotation.

The following pictures show the adjustment screws.

It always takes a few iterations but eventually it was set per the service manual.

I attached the platter belt again and performed the platter motor speed adjustments.

It is very nice to have the Beolover RPM measurement tool and both speeds adjusted easily with the new multi-turn trimmers I installed on the controller board.

The final adjustment steps were strictly cosmetic, mechanical adjustments. I made sure the cabinet deck and platter were level and the floating suspension worked.

The Beogram 4004 turntables still look amazing!

The first real record play was next and I fully expected it to play great as all of the tests passed. No problems. I moved the Beogram to my office and put on an MMC-20CL cartridge followed by some seventies big band music.

The dust cover on this Beogram 4004 could use a little polishing so I will have to do that as the last step...but first I am going to reward myself with a nice, long listening break.

Beogram 4004 Type 5526: Second Beogram 4004 from Texas almost ready for record play

In this update I have the second Beogram 4004 from Texas reassembled and nearing the point of playing records again.

I completed the last few component restoration tasks.

First there was the RPM indicator panel update to the Beolover RPM indicator modules. Those are custom plug 'n play LED lamps for the RPM panel. Platter motor stability tests with the LED RPM lamps show improved motor speed stability so when we restore a Beogram 400x with a rebuilt platter motor we always replace the RPM indicator lamps and the RPM relay on the controller board.

Here are the Beolover RPM indicator modules installed.

The keypad button contacts usually have oxidation that needs cleaning up.

The contacts on this one aren't too bad but while I have the keypad opened up I cleaned it with a fiberglass brush and Deoxit.

Now the components can be reassembled in the Beogram cabinet.

For the floating chassis I installed the Beolover 3D printed transport lock bushings.

With the bushings in place I prepared the transport lockdown screw assemblies. I will just show one as the other two are the same.

The upper and lower locking nuts were installed at the very ends of the threads to give maximum distance between them when the floating chassis is unlocked.

Next was the installation of the new reservoir capacitor. The new capacitor uses a Beolover 3D printed housing so it fits perfect in the cabinet.

Looks great.

Now for the reinstallation of the DC platter motor that Beolover restored for me at the beginning of December.

Now for the installation of the controller board, output board, keypad and RPM indicator panel.

This Beogram is ready to try a power on test.

Lights are on, the motors turn...those are good signs.

The next step is to measure the voltages and key sensor signals before starting the service manual checks.