50 Year Old BANG & OLUFSEN Beocord 1600 Very Expensive REEL to REEL Player - Can I FIX IT???
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- čas přidán 27. 08. 2024
- Here we have a high quality Reel to Reel player from 1969 made by BANG & OLUFSEN. It was previously sold as working on eBay, but sent back as faulty. It was relisted, and I purchased it. Will it be an easy fix if it was previously working? Let's find out.
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Remember that this is just for entertainment and I am not an expert in these repairs. The processes in the video may not be the best way, the correct way or the safest way to fix these things. I do love fault finding and trying to fix broken things, so I hope that comes across in this 'Trying to FIX' series. Many thanks, Vince.
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Riddle - Can you name 3 consecutive days without using the words Wednesday, Friday or Sunday?????
Yesterday. Today. Tomorrow.
Monday tuesday wensday😉😂
christmas eve, christmas day and boxing day. What do i win?
Great! (sorry). I mean that I also was thinking in caps making that noise at the end.
Yesterday, today and tomorrow
What a beautiful machine! Looking forward to part 2, you've invested plenty in to this one so far! 👍
I have Steve, it's annoying that I have to do a part 2, especially if it is capacitor related and I don't even know what these weird caps are!!! Hopefully will be worth it though in the end 👍
@@Mymatevince B&O used Wicon capacitors a lot. They were manufactured in Denmark as well. From my experience with a B&O TV and radio from 1959 the metal can Wicons are almost always good and reforms well, but anything else - including their film capacitors - are bad. Each and every one of them. The blue capacitors are early Philips types and should be decent still along with the rest of the film capacitors.
Thanks for a very interesting video - great work so far!
@@Mymatevince Connect the recorder to an external amp (take the amp out of the equation). Try to actuate the rec switch, try to record and play on the philips you already have. Check the heads for continuity. Dont give up, this most sound gorgeous, looks very nice.
Don't worry so much about the shapes. Any good quality capacitor of equal or slightly higher voltage rating will be fine to use as a replacement as long as the capacitance value is fairly close. Electrolytic capacitors tolerance back then were +;-20% and nowadays are more accurate and smaller in size and of much better quality. They are likely axial type bullet shaped but you can use the radial style which are easier to get these days. Just make sure to get the polarity correct. While having a capacitor explode might make for sensational video, it will also ensure failure. Good luck
There are 3 larger capacitors to replace, use the same voltage and physical size, let the capacitance be as high as it then gets.
My dad used to work for Jacob Jensen (the designer for Bang & Olufsen) as a carpenter. My dad was once given an old Beocord by Jacob as he had no more use for it. (maybe he did a few small jobs for Jacob as payment. I'm not sure) It turns out the unit he was given was one of the first prototypes for this model which was in some way modified by the B&O company with an extra tape head.
It stayed in my childhood home until recently. All early audio recordings of us 3 chrildren from 67, 72 and 79 were made with that.
Damn, that is cool.
To quote Indiana Jones "That belongs in a museum!"
Hygge, fra en anden DKer. :)
so where is it now? what was the use of the second head?
@@koushiroizumi0 I dont know for sure what the purpose of the extra tape head was, but I was later told that this extra tape head was something that was later implemented as standard. Not the first models though. Perhaps something with playing either A side or B side of the tape without flipping the tape reel over? Dont know though. I'm not that technical. The unit was donated to the Bang & Olufsen museum which is located inside the B&O factory.
@@Krumme1979 As someone who was an audio-obsessed teenager when this machine was sold, I would presume that the "extra head" would be relate to this machine's ability to 'do' sound-on-sound, which requires three tape heads and not two (for reasons too long and dull to explain here!).
(Sond-on-sound means record something live, mixed with what's already recorded on one track, recording the result on to the other track; als known as 'bouncing.' A process pioneered by Les Paul, but commonly found on domestic tape recorders from the 1960s and 1970s; and that's what the *SnS* button on the BEOCORD 1600 does.)
Cad Delworth ah! That Sounds quite plausible. Thanks for the explanation
I was yelling at the screen "There's a spring missing from the takeup drive idler and there's the missing circlip from actuator lever" . Also that plastic washer that fell out is a shim from the takeup hub. The felt washer forms the takeup clutch which governs the takeup tension. Unfortunately all the rubber drives will have gone hard and un uniform so wow and flutter is likely to be dreadfull. My father had a Beocord 2000 from the mid 60's which was the Rolls Royce of domestic Hi Fi gear at the time and was quite similar to yours only larger and heavier. Beautifully made.
At 29:45 this is a brake. The arm with the felt pad is designed to swing out when the platter is going one way and in when it goes the other way. It is a way to make sure that the reel that winds the tape off is always braking more than the one that winds it on. The two "fingers" - the ones you didn't believe was "factory" is there to set the maximum and minimum braking force by stopping the arm from swinging further out or in. The record/play head has definitely been replaced - but unfortunately with the wrong type. It might work but the original head had much more metal on the front. The black type that you have is from the earlier B&O tape recorders from the 1960s. The problem with the heads that B&O used was that they had a tendency to go open circuit after some years.
Thanks for all the info Organ Fairy👍👍👍👍
For that little plastic piece, use some baking soda on the glue instead of the soldering iron approach. It will be a super solid, structural hold. Really upped my repair game when I started doing that.
You always impress me with your mechanical abilities.
Yeah and it'll also get the superglue to set much faster too
Your B&O videos are some of my favourite they are so well built, I'm looking forward to this!
This is very likely related something between the read head and the amplifier, just as you have guessed and not a filtering issue. I would check the connectivity between the head and the amplifier first especially the ground wire.
Agreed 100% - that would be the first thing I'd be looking at for sure
£150 in 1969 seems an awful lot more than £2500 in todays money. Great job by the way
A brave man, I have fixed a couple of similar age reel to reel machines. It takes patience, time, research and multiple skills to be able to get these old beasts working well again. Bravo!
I used to sell these recorders in the early 70s at Heals. Fiendishly expensive but such great sounding kit. Had one of these 1600s playing Pink Floyd’s “Money” constantly. Personally I had my eyes focused on the new B&O cassette decks, which I couldn’t afford either
These B&O videos are always some of your best. Lovely equipment and given the age, they always seem to come to with some interesting fixes.
I agree. Except in the US B.O. stands for Body Oder. So there's that to get past. But Dot-Arss in spot on and is clearly wise beyond their years 👨🎓
Very nice machine. Back in the 80’s I found a Beocord 2000 DeLuxe (the slightly older larger version of this machine) that was left out for trash. I brought it home and fixed it up, used it for quite a while. Most of the audio problems with mine were caused by the record function switches (oxidized contacts) and the plug-in circuit board connectors. It was a wonderful machine and I used it not only as a tape deck but as a stereo center since it had a built in phono preamp for magnetic cartridge as well as aux inputs. They were extremely expensive and very rare here in the US.
Beocord 1600, Beocord 2000 and Beocord 2400 were very solid tape recorders, used in teaching in many Danish schools in the late 60s and in the 70s, my school also had them.
Wonderful job and the video too. Seems to me very often sellers are lying, it can't be by chance they the phrasing keeps repeating: just a small fix needed by a handy craftsman... Turns out nothing is working and pieces are falling out of the box. I didn't believe that sellers description for a second. It's nice of you to always trying to give them benefit of the doubt! Anyhow, great value for us to watch the repair then :-). Cheers
Those B&O machines were/are notirously tricky to repair. Being at the high end of the domestic market they naturally more complicated than other domestic decks. Mechanically they're also more complicated than professional decks which are usually designed with maintainance in mind and use a separate motor for the capstan and each hub, hence simplifying the drive system.
Not to mention that even their higher end equipment usually had somewhat lackluster performance compared to similar stuff on the market. It was mostly the design you paid for.
Buddy your on form this week with video I am impressed keep them coming 😊
You need a C-Clip on that middle part of the pivot or a locking star washer 26:02 Left of you head that spring clip i think thats what should have been around that pivot.
yeah thats what i was thinking too
Gotta love the way the old B&Os were put together. Beautifully built and with maintenance/repair in mind.
My life is complete an hour episode😍
I still have one of these as well as an earlier BeoCord 2000 Deluxe K from 1969, when I was just seven years old. The build quality is fantastic and all that I have ever had to do was replace belts and replace capacitors, along with cleaning of capstans and pinch rollers and cleaning the rubbers on the idler drive wheels. The Beocord 2000 Deluxe has the rosewood cabinet and cost £160 back in 1969 (equating to over £2,800 in 2022).
They are both something of an anomaly, as they were designed to complete with professional tape decks on sound quality, but not being so easy to repair and strip down for maintenance. All B&O equipment of that era, into the late 1970s had a circuit diagram contained within the cabinet, even the Beolit radios: nice touch, though some numpties did not return them to the envelope after use.
Like you, my love of R2R machines goes back to when I was 9 or 10. Yes, mine is the rosewood finish version too. Great machine!
This kind of old time machines is the content I love
Where’s part 2 I would have loved to see it working especially after the hard work you put into it
great to see you used the idea of chopping the head off the screw to make it into a grub screw, and yes, it does make it look a lot better with that idea Vince. great video fix. not sure if you want to get the same type of capacitors apart from authenticity, as capacitors do leak, so might end up being a modern day replacement rather than old.
Aside from the awesome content Vince i love watching your vids for one very simple reason! You always manage to come up with ingenious solutions to problems!
When you suggested cutting a screw down and popping a notch in it to create a grub screw I literally said out loud "oh my god, why didn't I think of that!" This just solved a huge problem I've been having for ages 🤦😂
Thanks Vince, keep up the good work 😊👍
😂👌👍Thanks ToneIsland
You have the option of lifting the audio signal directly from the tape heads. You will need a preamplifier with IEC equalization curves, but a standard RIAA phono preamplifier will get you pretty close.
It wouldn’t surprise me if the original buyer did a switcheroo and bought a fully working one from the seller, but sent back their own broken one - thus getting a working one for free.
My thoughts exactly!
Yeah, a scam definitely happened.
I know it looks a lot of work. But what a quality item. You’ve really got me hooked on these vidoes. Dumpster diving now for old stuff. Set the garage up to do this instead of bothering re qualifying for Electrician lol.
You don't need a spring Vince, you need a summer.....! 🤣
Great job on the stuff you did Vince =D It's a shame its not 100% working atm! As soon as I heard the hum I said to myself mains hum, caps! That work with the dremel was fantastic =D And the springs too!
Those "U" chaped rings are there to hold (the one you've found on the table is from the middle pin of the 3 pins you've placed the plastic zippers, and the other at 37:48). You have to force them open so it releases the pressure and let you take them out. When you place them on the spot they are designed to go, you have to open them to insert, then release. I don't know the actual name of them, but they are very common on eletric drill and machines like that. :) (sorry for the bad english!) Keep up with the excelent entertainment of videos that you produce. Have a nice christmas
E or C clips probably.
Hi Vince. I worked on B&O gear in the back of a "HiFi" shop in the late 60s/early 70s. I didn't see any reel to reel but just about everything else.
We had a rash of power supply problems and that hum sounds familiar.
They used a linear regulator to smooth and control the output from the "normal" rectified and smoothed supply. No switched mode or chips in those days.
Anyway a power transistor would fail short circuit and allow rough 36 volts or so through to the amplifiers which were expecting a silky smooth 24 volts.
Horrendous noise.
You really need the diagram that was in the brown envelope.
We had until the late eighties a very early Beovision, great big black and white thing it was with a glass case instead of a traditional wood cabinet and it became superfluous being outed by more colour tellies but when it was new, we were considered "posh" as it was super large, had a remote, buttonless front and decent sound able to be hooked up to a stereo (also B&O) and was valveless being fully "solid state" which was space age back then as valves still reigned king for most electrical goods.
Well done fixing that without changing many bands.
the needles are called a VU meter to show the loudness of a recorded signal
I love the sound of you inhaling, it's calming like yoga
I love how your brain works.. always asking "how's that work?" or "what if""
'
Great work !! I have a Beocord 2000 deluxe which works 90% with just a couple of things to fix.I bought it as it has echo and monitoring capabilities and you can bounce tracks !! Mine also has 4 heads so it can play both 2 and 4 track recordings. I really love what you worked out to repair the lever and working out the belt configs on these machines can be a real PITA sometimes. I do hope you get the sound working because the Beocord machines sound soooo good. :) Looking 4ward to part II .
I se there are many helpful comments but I wanted to add that there are different kinds of tape for different tape heads. You hve to make sure your using the correct tape for the player. Mono, stereo etc. there are also tracks on the tape which are different for various proprietary players.
Epic already, looking forward to part 2
You need good quality low ESR capacitors. Also, that spring that you put in might get stretched over time and it might be too weak or too strong, so I would recommend getting a dedicated spring that matches the original. That's one thing that sucks about these old players... dried up rollers that are most of the time almost impossible to replace these days (unless you can find a fan forum for it somewhere with spare parts sources). Also, I hope you reoiled all the moving parts. 50-year old dried up oil will hinder smooth playback and put more load on the motor. In a perfect world this thing should be taken all apart, but that's for motivated someone who is planning on using this player in his lineup.
You won't need low esr caps for this type of gear - they're only really required for switched mode PSUs where they're being pumped with high ripple levels at high frequency - for this kind of gear operating at 50Hz mains any half-decent caps will be just fine. Same with those in the audio chain (although I'd be very surprised if any of those are bad)
Oh, wow, I used a lot of different reel-to-reel units when I made experimental loop music in the 80s, so this really got my attention! VERY nice one there!
Nice one, At least the service manual is available , looking forward to part 2 , The caps would be easy to find 👍👍👍👍
If you're tackling this without any knowledge of electronics, let alone experience with recording equipment, then good luck!
.
I've repaired and renovated quite a few open-reel recorders over the decades. I once owned one of these Beocords - 2400 half-track and it was a superb machine (and very cheap when I acquired it....). I used it as a 'master recorder' for a while, it recorded live instruments as well as vinyl or cd albums beautifully and had 'sound-on-sound' cross mixing and excellent recording controls. I still have a recording of Joni Mitchell and Pat Metheny recorded from LP in glorious half-track stereo, that was itself recorded in the mid 80's.
.
These Beocords are old school circuitry, using copper-etched boards with discrete components, transistors, caps, 1/2 & 1/4 watt resistors etc... The heads were superb, if kept degaused. Most B&O equipment of this era were shipped with a full circuit diagram folded-up in an envelope and stuck to the rear panel of the equipment, which made fault-finding a breeze, as was the modular layout. Ferrograph did likewise. I've had them as well. Now I've got a Sony 1/4 track awaiting service and 'upgrade'. I've also still got my Beogram 1500 deck and Beomaster 2000 receiver. I'd wished I'd kept the Beocord 2400 though.
Hi Vince, greetings from Australia! I just stumbled across this video and I like it very much (I watched many of your videos already). I repair electronics, mostly circuit boards on a component level. Sometimes whole devices and then often I have to modify them to accept some different repair solutions for use of available things. My "trade secret" for cleaning and conditioning of all rubber parts, as well as silicon and plastics (e.g. front face and external body of the device - even metal) is using "Tyre Shine" (at least its called so in Australia). The same stuff that car dealers put on the tires for the "wet" look. It rejuvenates plastic so beautifully that sometimes clients ask me if I used a brand new enclosure... :-} You just have to wipe it off with a clean cloth at the end, as it leaves some very minor "oily" residue. Just a tip... Regards, Jerry.
Thoroughly enjoyed that, hopefully there is a (even partially) successful conclusion.
You are so going to survive just about anything with the way you figured this out! I am not mechanically inclined so much appreciation. I have an old Tech reel to reel and a box of tapes I've been hauling around for almost 30 years. I could never do what you do but I had to take a look. I bet you find out what is wrong. You seem to have a great understanding of what you are looking at. Warm wishes from Los Angeles!
I was thinking zip ties also glad you thought about it also!
That was an absolutely brutal repair
No failure, just the beginning of the journey
Hi Vinc, I love yours clips. I think that you should make a bulb discharger for circuits. You take a 230V bulb, wire, and spare multimeter probes. When you would like to discharge the circuit, you use this bulb discharger. Ofcourse always be careful with high amp and voltage circuits. I wish You Mary X-mas and Happy New Year. Sory for my english it is my second language.
I think I found my new favorite channel 😜👍
I have a similar one. The B2000 portable version with an integral Amplifier & speakers. Not used in decades.
Yes, lovely machine well worth saving, it’s a stunner. I was shouting ‘spring’ when you were checking out that right reel mechanism after I spotted that little hole for it. 😂 looking forward to part 2.
nice job on the crub screew, lock tight it in place.
Love these sorts of videos! Can't wait for part II!
I'm just finishing off a Beocord 2000 deluxe. Needed a replacement transformer, the tension arms needed servicing and I now just need to sort out a problem with the autostop. Lovely machines with a great sound and some really cool features! :)
Very nice touch with the hand fashioned grub screw! Nice fault finding processes. The capacitors should be easily sourceable. (but don't get cheap ones, lower ESR the better). Looking 4ward to part 2. x
3 things for repair arsenal: superglue accelerator spray, superglue, and sodium bicarb for reinforcement and plastic filling internally and UV epoxy
Vince, you need a small 3D printer. Little plastic pieces, nylon gears, etc. are all easily replaced with a bit of time in CAD and the 20 minutes it takes to print. An open-source kit like the Voron 0 will definitely also tickle your mechanical fancy.
Or just buy an Ender 3 for about 1/4 the price......
Can't wait for the revisit!
This was a good one! Can't wait for part 2. 👍
I'm hardly the expert on this, but here are somethings that you could check out. Replace the main rectification capacitors, clean the switched and contacts with contact cleaner. Dissemble the intermediatory rubber wheels, removing all the old grease and replacing that with a hard working modern equivalent. Buy a spring kit and fit the missing spring with a close replacement. Ensure that the plastic washers are replaced under the tape up reel. Don't replace or move the tape head. It will be almost impossible to realign. Disassemble the entire main motor, cleaning out old grease and using a decent oil on the bearings and moving parts. Replace the rubber belts (i'm sure you would have a local place that can do that for you. I'm not sure if the motor has a run cap. Leave the set on in play for a while and carefully touch the cap's body to see if there is any increase in temp. If there is, you might need to replace that as well.
in addition to the large capacitor, all the small white Philips must also be replaced. they are chronic dehydration and short circuit. you can see small cracks in the top of them
Cheers Vince! Good to see the Dremel get some use. Happy Holidays!
Check the record/playback linkages to the switch are working correctly, give the switch a good squirt of cleaner and work it a few times. The terminals in the switch become tarnished over time and create a high resistance.
What a treat cant wait for part 2!!! 😀😀😀😃😄😃😄
Still waiting for Part 2 in 2023 XD
Sorry, but at 31:50 I was laughing my head off when you were wondering why it was making a horrible noise. The flywheel was scraping against the main chassis because you removed the bearing from underneath the capstan when you took the take-up belt off. LOL
That hum sounds like a problem with the pre-amp, maybe just a re-cap on that too.
Brilliant video Vince as usual…. Very relaxing and calming after a hard day… keep them coming. Perhaps a flat disc type shield that slides but holds down the rod that operates the fast forward play stop and reverse, that way it it hides the mechanism and acts as a stop for the rod…. Like a gear shift which hides is mechanism. Almost like an automatic gear shift gaiter in operation hiding the workings but looking uniform in flatness colour ( Matt black ) seamless operation.
I was waiting for you to see the missing spring! Great find!
Nice Video Vince I See That Jeff Lynne Of Elo in His Home Studio Used a Beocord 2000 Deluxe Reel To Reel Machine
Yet another great vid Vince, looking forward to part 2. Hopefully you can get the caps replaced and get rid of that hum.
i always melt a staple with the soldering iron into any plastic im sticking together..
Starlock washers for retaining the control arm.
The reason (sometimes) that the record level meters get buried into the red, is the playback/record switch.
You haven't mentioned record function but did describe it as a player !
So why the sliders and the meters ?
I could be 100% wrong but great video anyway !
A re-cap is in order, as well as lubing all moving parts ( she's sounding rough), You also need to test every transistor, after 50 years, they tend to become noisy or fail all together.
Yep!
“This is going to be quite a long video.”
*checks time*
Excellent.
I visited Denmark and the Danes are really proud of the B&O equipment, but the technician I was visiting preferred Paradigm speakers which I also prefer.
Vince ,I'm only just watching this video today , never seen. Ye think,of the slide switches you saw !!! Possibly had same design , on let's say ,gear stick. A strong thin plastic protector. Then a large metal washer. With diameter of gear stick
Yet with a dense foam material ,as a protector. ?? Possible ,some sort of spring also.
These machines are fascinating
Love your B&O repairs.
Really looking forward to part 2
16:34 nice and big and strong, well said vince, well said
We had an B&O big hifi system vhen i lived in Denmark and what a quality it is yet
It could be the tape head that is causing the hum. Either it could be wired wrong or it is not compatible.
If you got an esr meter, you could test the caps to see if there electrolyte has dried up any.
@2:25 ‘I am hopeful’
@2:26 I check the duration of this video to see that it is 59minutes 🤣
1969 that was when my dad was born!
Hi Vince, those little nylon washers are the takeup reel grease washers. They fell off when you took off the takeup reel. Great video. Kind regards. Paul
31:54 the noise here was the belt coming off and on the thing that takes the tape up when it spins. And it was scratching on something underneath it when it was testing
a large flat plastic washer that fits tight on the shaft on top under the top cover and will keep debris out of the works.
They used to use felt washers for that, and these days you can't easily get those but cutting a small piece of craft felt and punching a hole in it will work just as well, but try not to get the really hairy variety as these can shed fibres which over time can mix with the grease and gum up the mechanisms, though in my own experiemce this is rarely an issue in most cases (works really well for slider pots too, as these can fill up with debris real fast)
The thing is you learn so much from these old electro-mechanical devices that you can't do so much from modern kit as it's all done with non-repairable/replaceable moulded and press-fitted components and micro-controllers. I can't see a part two so I guess you didn't get round to it. If you do get round to it you could trace the fault with an oscilloscope, after eliminating the filter capacitors, if the fault is still present, try tracing the audio path starting at the head preamp and working your way through to the output stage. Good luck!
great video
What a coincidence, late last year, I got one of these. Now fixing it up. Plays fine, but snags when rewinding.
I'll need to find a way to get the right turntable out so I can lubricate the shaft.
Regarding your notes at the beginning, yes, there used to be feet at the back (it's designed to work standing) and the screw on the main control lever cap is not original (that would be a hex-inside-thread type job
28:30 flippin 'eck, Allen key! Here I am googling and thinking what to do and all this time, there's an Allen key not 5 feet away... Ultimately it's a tiny bit too large, but I'm just gonna go take a quick trip to the local hardware store in the morning and oh my.
hi vince that is what is known in the trade as a high hours machen .I am not sure the fault is the smoothing caps ,i would have a look at the record playback switch (when you press the record button it should move a long switch)
There's a LOT of switch contacts in the signal path on this machine, and any one of them could be the culprit - cleaning all the switches with deoxit or some other switch cleaner would go a long way towards bringing this thing back to life
never down trod yourself vince, i served my apprentiship at a B&O dealer, those v1600s take time no matter how good you are, *and that was way back when i had full schematics on micro fieche and maxi bins full of spares right beside me lol) labour costs were huge but even now are worth it only through initial investment cost, as an apprentice in the 80s you only worked on 70s stuff and older as they need atleast 10yrs under their belt before they need any work ( i did B&O amoungst others too obv as a panaservice dealer etc too in the days before all these dedicated B&O shops they have the last decade or so now), i started in the 80s and stayed through to the late 90s, i like to call those years the vox to lab transition times, i still remember seeing my first pair of lab pentas around 86 and thinking f&(k me now we have arrived at a stunning era :) it was actually more stunning at that time than say the lab 90s were a few years back tbh as the lab 90s were a 35 year slow evolution, whereas the beolab pentas were just an overnight thing and changed the whole game over all the vox range and it just went on and on :D
There is a chance the original buyer had a the same machine, but broken, bought a working one and shipped the faulty one back.. possibly moving over the insides to hide the crime....
looking forward to part 2!!
hi Vince nice mechanical repair the hum could be filter caps and other caps on the pre and output side of the output amp
i also watch a lot of mister Carlson's channel and amp hum is almost always filter caps. but this is early solid state stuff so be careful. but the fact showed that all the caps were discharged so bad caps is the fault
spring post for the sloppy arm, missing a spring, to pull the arm over so the rubber bit get grip.