Beomaster 8000: Wrapping Up Loose Ends & Buttoning Back Up

Over the weekend I finished up a few loose ends on the Beomaster 8000 project and finished the reassembly of this fine receiver.

Because earlier in the project I had found a fault in the rotary encoder sensor assembly for the volume dial I didn't feel comfortable leaving the rotary encoder sensor assembly for the tuner dial in its original state. If the sensor went out in the volume control then the same parts in tuner dial might be due. It is an easy replacement so it is better to do that than risk the sensor failing later.

Loose wiring and bad connectors are one of the biggest problems on the Beomaster 8000. Another common issue is the two ribbon cables that connect to the control keypad board start to come loose over time. That can result in strange behavior. These cables are still working good so I will just add some black hot glue where they are coming loose.

But first the tuner dial rotary encoder sensor update.

I replaced both sensors and the emitter then put the sensor assembly back in place with the re-glued ribbon cables. I also added a dab of hot glue where the small volume and tuner sensor boards attach to the dial. That insures they won't work out of position during shipping.

Earlier in this Beomaster restoration I had to make a mechanical fix of the tone control & filter panel because it had a crack in it. During this reassembly I discovered that one of the mounting screw tabs of that panel was also cracked. Another fix requiring some epoxy.

I had to let the epoxy cure for a few hours but eventually I was able to return to the Beomaster reassembly tasks.

The reattachment of the tone control & filter panel door takes some careful maneuvering to get back in place.

The hard part is done. Next is to add the display cover and heat sink cover.

Then a couple more trim pieces and this Beomaster is finally all back together. It is now ready for some final play testing.

What a nice receiver. I couldn't wait to try it out with its Beogram 8000 I restored earlier so I cleared some space on my largest workbench. A little messy but I was also able to fit in a Beocord 9000 and connect the Beomaster to a pair of S70 speakers. I also have a remote control for the system and it works beautifully.

I will continue this integration test for a couple of days and start preparing the shipping boxes for this Beogram and Beomaster to return to their owner.

Beogram 4004 Type 5526: Final Test Run

This Beogram 4004 (Type 5526) project has been through a lot. The initial restoration in getting the turntable functioning again was very straight forward and progressed quickly. After that several delays popped up. There were issues with a wobbly sub-platter, restoration of the keypad, polishing the dust cover and repairing the dust cover hinge attachments.

This past week everything finally came together and the Beogram entered its final play testing phase.

I repaired the dust cover hinge mounts using Beolover's reinforcement patches. Here is a sequence of pictures that show the dust cover hing mount repair.

As with most things where old glue needs to be cleaned off I use some GooGone to clean off the Beogram dust cover trim surface before re-attachment.

Like Beolover's repair I used very thin double-sided tape to re-attach the trim.

On both the dust cover and the keypad surface I experimented with new coatings to the surfaces. Spray coating the dust cover is more expensive than the usual polishing method but the resulting dust cover surface is much more durable. It resists scratches and makes cleaning a lot easier. The finish looks good but the clarity of the cover isn't quite as good as the original, non-coated material. So there is a trade off to consider with this option.  I haven't decided which method I prefer so I will need to create some more samples to compare. If the owner of this Beogram 4004 decides he doesn't like the coated finish then no worries, I have a plain polished dust cover I will trade out. Luckily the dust cover on these Beogram 400x turntables is very easy to remove.

Here is the re-assembled Beogram ready for test play.

Since this Beogram will soon be returning to Florida and I am still bummed out about Tom Petty I am playing all the Tom Petty records I can find in my collection.

Beogram 8000: Finishing Up The Project

This nice Beogram 8000 turntable has been playing records in my office for a week now without any problems.

Now it is time to finish the reassembly and do the final check out.

Just like the aluminum deck trim, there were a couple of other pieces that required cleaning off old, original, double-sided tape and reattaching pieces with new, 3M double-sided tape.

One of those assemblies was the tonearm compartment floor cover. I use Goo Gone to soften up the old tape residue then clean it off with paper towels and elbow grease (fingers actually).

I also prepared the tonearm compartment lid hinge lever so I could reattach the dust cover assembly.
This Beogram had no damping grease in the hinge lever compartment at all so I had to add some. As always I use Nygel 767A damping grease. It has the necessary properties to handle the job.

Another important piece to reattaching the dust cover is checking the mounting bracket for the dust cover hinge lever. The bracket is on a hinge but it isn't intended to move from the dust cover lid. The hinge was originally attached with the same type of double-sided tape that deteriorates over time. Regardless if the bracket is loose or not I always remove the original tape and reattach this hinge bracket with epoxy glue.

Once the hinge lever components for the dust cover and tonearm compartment lid are prepared I attached the cover assembly.

For the tonearm compartment lid attachment I used the same 3M double-sided tape that I used on the aluminum deck. I also attached new rubber stops to the corners of the dust cover that contact the aluminum deck. There is also a new rubber stop for the tonearm compartment lid.

Now it is back to the listening room for one more round of record test play. This time the Beogram 8000 will share the turntable counter with one of my Beogram 8002 turntables. I was in the mood for some 70's jazz fusion so some Billy Cobham and Al Di Meola.