I’ve been having some issues with the audio in my Becker BE1480. I am considering sending it to Becker in NJ for them to repair, but I’ll try to see if this is something I may be able to fix myself.
There are 2 issues depending on whether the unit plays a cassette tape or radio.
1) When playing a tape, there is only audio in the right channel. What’s more, it plays correct when set to play side 2 of the tape, but plays backwards when playing side 1 of the tape. I’ve had this issue for ~6 months. I had the unit out to visually inspect the mechanism, but nothing struck me as apparently causing the issue. I have also cleaned the tape head with rubbing alcohol.
2) The audio from the radio will play in left or right speakers and/or front and rear speakers intermittently. Only sometimes do all four speakers work at the same time. I’ve had the issue for ~2 years and I have yet to find a consistent pattern of when speakers work or don’t work. I can often increase the volume and at some point the speaker(s) will start working. I tried replacing the front speakers, but the issue persisted. That tells me that this is an issue with the head unit, not the speakers themselves. I also replaced the fader switch last year so that should not be an issue.
I would greatly appreciate any suggestions.
There are 2 issues depending on whether the unit plays a cassette tape or radio.
1) When playing a tape, there is only audio in the right channel. What’s more, it plays correct when set to play side 2 of the tape, but plays backwards when playing side 1 of the tape. I’ve had this issue for ~6 months. I had the unit out to visually inspect the mechanism, but nothing struck me as apparently causing the issue. I have also cleaned the tape head with rubbing alcohol.
2) The audio from the radio will play in left or right speakers and/or front and rear speakers intermittently. Only sometimes do all four speakers work at the same time. I’ve had the issue for ~2 years and I have yet to find a consistent pattern of when speakers work or don’t work. I can often increase the volume and at some point the speaker(s) will start working. I tried replacing the front speakers, but the issue persisted. That tells me that this is an issue with the head unit, not the speakers themselves. I also replaced the fader switch last year so that should not be an issue.
I would greatly appreciate any suggestions.
Did you find a service manual for it?
Is this even close?
https://www.scribd.com/document/447132226/BECKER-1460-1463-1470-1560-Service-Manual-Pages-28-pdf
Is this even close?
https://www.scribd.com/document/447132226/BECKER-1460-1463-1470-1560-Service-Manual-Pages-28-pdf
I don’t have a manual for it. The link is for the receiver/amp for another model. The 1480 model is a single unit with built-in amp.
It looks like the manual is only of the receiver/amp of the Becker 1460 not the head unit which is separate. So there’s no diagram of the cassette mechanism in the manual.
The Becker 1480 that I have is a single unit with built-in amp.
The Becker 1480 that I have is a single unit with built-in amp.
Thanks, appreciate it.
I actually see a manual for the BE1480 available on eBay (https://www.ebay.com/itm/3351229157...4pIel3zSpa&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY).
I may just get this, but I’ll see if I can find it online first.
I actually see a manual for the BE1480 available on eBay (https://www.ebay.com/itm/3351229157...4pIel3zSpa&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY).
I may just get this, but I’ll see if I can find it online first.
I made a scan of the service manual . If you can make suggestions based on this I'd be happy to hear any.
The tape head has a ground and 4 signal wires. With the meter on ohms, confirm that you read the same resistance from the head ground to all 4 signal lines.
I can't read the part number on the IC on the tape switching board. What is it?
I can't read the part number on the IC on the tape switching board. What is it?
Under IC351 on the diagram, doesn't it have a TA... number?
Is the scanner yours (any time access) or did you have to have it scanned by someone else?
Is the scanner yours (any time access) or did you have to have it scanned by someone else?
I see, it’s TA 7705 F.
I scanned myself. Turned out to be a bit of a hassle with all the fold out pages. And I can see that it doesn’t have the best resolution for reading all the small lettering and details.
I scanned myself. Turned out to be a bit of a hassle with all the fold out pages. And I can see that it doesn’t have the best resolution for reading all the small lettering and details.
Thanks. Hope I can get to pull out the head unit and test this next week. A bit hard to find the time at the moment to work on this.
Here’s a better scan of the page of the manual.
Here’s a better scan of the page of the manual.
Circling back here now that I (hopefully) have a little more time to look at this.
@Perry Babin when performing this tests ("DCV black on pin 8, red on pin 1?; DCV on pin 3 when switching F/R, black on pin 8?") what am I testing for? More to the point - what type of remedy could I reasonably expect in a scenario like this? My concern is that even though I may be able to diagnose the issue that I would be faced with something I wouldn't feel confident that I could do without damaging the board.
PS: regarding the 2nd issue in my original post, I replaced all speakers (https://www.ebay.com/itm/264709522422) and now they all play very well (also cleaned the connecting wires in the plug for the fader switch that had gunked up a bit over the years). So when playing the radio, all four speakers play great! But when using the tape deck, there is still only sound from the front and rear right speakers.
@Perry Babin when performing this tests ("DCV black on pin 8, red on pin 1?; DCV on pin 3 when switching F/R, black on pin 8?") what am I testing for? More to the point - what type of remedy could I reasonably expect in a scenario like this? My concern is that even though I may be able to diagnose the issue that I would be faced with something I wouldn't feel confident that I could do without damaging the board.
PS: regarding the 2nd issue in my original post, I replaced all speakers (https://www.ebay.com/itm/264709522422) and now they all play very well (also cleaned the connecting wires in the plug for the fader switch that had gunked up a bit over the years). So when playing the radio, all four speakers play great! But when using the tape deck, there is still only sound from the front and rear right speakers.
