Walkman Sony WM-2 Repair 

As always thank you Gregory and a very special thank you for becoming a latest patron! 🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗

Is there any sort of lubricant to be used on the gears of a walkman? Thanks.

@@dgillies5420 Nope, that's the beauty of the "pom" material, it's self lubricating. If it's oiled, it will just act as a grinding paste and wear out the gear train. Ast...

@@AstonsVintageTechnologyWorkshp Can I ask you something? Why in the world did Sony use a thermoplast over metal on the WM-DD range of center gears? Any engineer from my point of view should know that is a failure waiting to happen, because the softening additives to make the plastic into a thermoplast will dry out over time causing shrinkage and hardening of the plastic. Thus resulting in the famous cracked plastic center gear many Walkman enthusiasts got to know over time. It is almost as if they made the direct drive Walkman models like tanks that never would wear and some boss came in and said "we need a failure point or else we'll never sell them a new one again". So yeah, what is the real reason for the poor design of that WM-DD range center gears? Also what was the true intention of in fact choosing to use plastic wrapped over metal?

@@LogiForce86 It's a good question indeed, I think because of the design required the clutch to be made of metal there had to be a compromise somewhere, but I fully agree moulding thermoplastic over the metal was a very stupid idea. They could've gone in any one of multiple designs that would've worked fine but as you say they probably thought more about sales than longevity. I personally would've liked to have seen miniature toothed belts which seem to have a lifespan of about 30 years or more if cared for. All the Best from Aston.

Trusts a fantastic price! I've not been to a car boot at all this year, but I am questioning my life choices 😂

That's great news! It's nice to keep these alive. Thanks for taking the time to let me know 🙂

Belts? I've only found one so far. Are there more?

@@1969longshanks no. only one belt. it was a typo

These are a nightmare to work on, I'm not sure I could do too many of these as a hobby 😂 I have a boom box to sort soon

Good luck with it!

Sounds like you are almost there. Sometimes working is as good as perfect 😂

Not OP, but I've worked on these machines before. I hate to tell you this but somewhere along the way someone probably lost the tiny spring that's supposed to go in the door switch. You might be able to find replacement parts on ebay!

Different yet similar in so many ways. I don't think we could afford to make things this mechanical anymore or even have the skills.

How so? 😊

@@backofficeshow maybe my life wasnt saved but a cool old walkman was! thanks

It's nice when you find something that works! I have a coffee machine that's missing an o ring. Three years and I'm still looking for a replacement 😭

@@backofficeshow I thought I was going nuts but your video confirms it: There are two versions of the volume board, yours matches the one in the service manual. Mine appears to be earlier, just the pot (which seems to have gone bad) and two resistors. Otherwise I got mine back to working with the new belt, I just can't change the volume from max. Time to start watching eBay...

Hello there! How is your startup Aviato doing? 😁

They can be rather tricky can't they! I think the worst in my memory was a Toshiba (or was it a Hitachi 🤔) I did a video on a while back. It was super fiddly.

Honestly, I'm struggling to even remember doing this rebuild

A good quality pair of tweezers and decent micro screw driver set would probably be all you need to start

I would advise you look for a selection pack of assorted belts

@@backofficeshow yes I found those packs but it comes witj different selections of width like 3mm or 4mm it has 50 different sizes of length but width is same for all of them

Bob I don't recall find anything other than using it, perhaps day forward and rewind an entire tape a few times to get it broken in

Hello @Bob Atkins I had the same problem with my wm-2 last year. After I tried for ages to get rid of the warbling it would not go away no matter what belt I used. So i decided to order a belt that was specifically made for this walkman from DeckTech and after I installed it the warbling was gone and I had perfect playback sound. Hopefully you can do the same with yours!

You can also try hooking it to the wall or use fresh batteries and just play for 10h sometimes this causes the machine to settle-in and start behaving better ...

I really wish I still had the books to go with them. It's ashame that kids these days don't have any discrete forms of media cassette or cartridge to use. And as a result these things don't really exist for them.

I wish you the best of luck on your rebelt mission!

@@backofficeshow Only because of your informative video will I even attempt it. Knowing about the Mexican Jumping Bean spring in the door latch is a godsend. I'm usually the one who witnesses small items like that leaving the Earth's orbit. You need to keep saving the world by making more great video's. Again, thanks!

Thank you so much, I'll keep trying 😂

I wish I paid more attention to see if these really are logic controls or if they're just a very fine mechanical controls 🤔

No logic, just good old fashioned mechanical ones

I think I got a big bag of random belts from Amazon or eBay

@@backofficeshow awesome! Thanks

To lubricate? Food grade silicone lubricant spray

@@backofficeshow how about AUTO silicone lubricant spray?

Are the battery contacts corroded?

backofficeshow no, it’s nice and clean

Maybe some leaking capacitors

backofficeshow is it possible to get fix??

Open it and look inside

Thanks Craig, it's nice to get it kinda working, but I need to get my boom box tape players working so I can record myself solve test tracks 😁

@@backofficeshow I'll have to get my Pioneer 3 head deck out and send you a mix tape made on it :D

Not sure exactly, but it's definitely Clayton Thomas. Look up some 'Blood Sweat and Tears' on Spotify

@@backofficeshow thank you

No problem

Wanna sell?

Sounds a bit expensive to me. Why not get the most affordable for now?

@@backofficeshow ebay?

I just looked, in the UK there are brand new models for under £30

The WM-F41 / WM-F31 (both are identical) is a great model to consider. Also in the family, WM-F43 / WM-F33 (w/graphic eq), and all WM-41/WM-31 models without the "F" (tape only; no AM/FM). The 1st truly mass-produced model. They completely simplified the internals and it snaps together, only 3 screws on the outside, that's everything! Only a single circuit board, much simpler! Sold for $40 in 1987 which was 33% lower than any previous walkman. They sold several millions (I bought two, maybe three). Has retro-cool looks, was the #1 performer in USA's consumer Reports magazine testing among ~25 models, its sound beat out all the $100 models, even the ones from Sony! Can get a broken one for $20-$40 on ebay. Since it's so simple on the inside, it should not be difficult to replace the belts.

I don't recall, it may have even been free

@@backofficeshow that’s super lucky if it was free! The ones on eBay always go for really high prices like £60-£70 non working. If you’re lucky though I guess you could get one cheap :)

I'm going to be extra vigilant now! Never know what you will find in a boot sale

@@backofficeshow I know, it’s been so long since I’ve been to one though😅