Last night, I completed work on the floating chassis parts.

I reassembled the cleaned tangential drive parts, including the spindle, spindle nut, rails, and new bracket, and installed them on the floating chassis.

Following the service manual’s instructions, I lubricated the spindle. The lubricants are very similar to those used in the Beogram 400x, which is logical given that both turntable series have comparable tangential drive systems. The Beogram 8000 lubrication chart had one intriguing item that I hadn’t previously considered: an entry for lid damping grease. It suggests a product called Kilopoise, manufactured by Rocol (Rocol Kilopoise 0868). I found one eBay seller selling small samples, while most sell it in bulk at a high cost. I’ve been using Nyogel 767A on these 1980s Bang & Olufsen components with damping controls. It isn’t inexpensive either. As a result, comparing the Nyogel to the Kilopoise will be intriguing.

The lubrication chart from the service manual is shown below, along with some notes I’ve added.

I have Molykote DX, white paste, and a very similar Rocol grease for the spindle components (MTS 2000 instead of MTS 1000). I also have the Esso NUTO H32. Another difference between this chart and the Beogram 400x chart is that this one makes no mention of applying a thin layer of Molykote to the rails. I’ve discovered that this is still required on the Beogram 800x units I’ve refurbished.

As I reassembled it, here’s the tangential arm carriage. The spindle is coated with a thin layer of MTS 2000 and NUTO H32. The spindle bearing and rails are lubricated with Molykote DX grease.

I should also point out that there are other modern lubricants that are appropriate for this, and I have previously utilized different types. My motivation for locating and utilizing the original specified lubricant products is purely out of curiosity.

The floating chassis is now operational.

I chose to complete a couple of minor tasks before moving on to the main board and microcomputer board restoration.

The first step is to replace the platter drive capacitor C1, which is located in the transformer box.

Beolover creates an excellent replacement that fits better than the original capacitor.

Here’s the original.

Here’s the substitute. If only all of the restoration work was this simple.

The next step is to inspect the Beogram 8000 control panel. It usually needs some cleaning, and I like to add a permanently wired test connector for adjusting the forward/reverse scanning LDRs.

When I looked at the back of the control panel to open it, it didn’t appear to be too bad… however, once I removed the button board, I discovered a lot of dirt. Dust frequently accumulates on the back of the button board, but this is a little excessive for a Beogram 800x.

The top plate and plastic buttons were cleaned with warm, soapy water. The remainder had to be cleaned with a mild cleaner and some Kimtech wipes.

After cleaning the button board, I connected the LDR test connector. The reason I’ve been installing these is that I’ve had several instances where the LDR adjustments needed to be redone after the Beogram 800x turntables were reassembled. When only the control panel is lifted, it is extremely difficult to connect measurement probes and make the adjustment. There isn’t much room to do what has to be done. The test connector allows me to effortlessly connect a multimeter while still having access to the LDR adjustment screws.

The colors of the wires I use correspond to the colors of the corresponding signals in the ribbon cable that connects the button board to the main board. That applies to Beogram 800x units with a color-coded ribbon cable. Some units, like this one, have a completely gray cable. Nonetheless, I use the same test connector on every Beogram. The adjustment procedure necessitates taking measurements between each LDR signal and the ground wire.

The redesigned control panel is now ready for use.

The main board and microcomputer board restoration work will be next.