Evening All, So let's start by saying I'm very very new when it comes to Walkmans and repairs. So sorry in advance if these questions are stupid or have been asked and answered a million times. So I very recently purchased my first Walkman in over 25 years, A WM-22. . I plan to take it apart, replace the belts and give it a gentle clean. A few questions - - what is the best cleaning solution to use on all the components? - is there something I should pay a particular importance to? The last thing, when I press play with no tape in I get a lot of noise/interference. And it seems to vary when I play with the headphones jack and volume control is this just normal interference due to modern houses or when I have to Walkman apart should I look for something specific? Hopefully this video works - Again, thank you all for your patience and I really appreciate any advice. Sam.
Isopropyl or denatured alcohol works well for cleaning the head, pinch rollers, capstains, drive belts and pulleys. If you need to remove old grease from gear mechanisms, alcohol is not a good choice. Try some automotive/industrial degreaser. Don't let them leak into other parts. It's best to remove the gears and levers and wash the outside in a bucket.
For shaft centers use watch oil. For gears or linkages, use white lithium or silicone general purpose grease.
If your not familar with DeOxit, here's a great thread from one of the greatest boombox collectors that used to be on this forum. https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/the-idiots-guide-to-using-deoxit-revisited.207005/ I use DeOxit and Faderlube (for sliding switches) all the time but there may be different/better products over there. Typically it helps the metal make better contact and gets rid of scratchyness and other random issues. The headphone jack takes a ton of abuse over time, when the unit is open look over the wire connectors inside and see if the metal has any corrosion or rust, this has to be cleaned or sanded off. Take photos so you know how it goes back together.
Thank for the info. I'll have at the thread, hopefully get some time over the weekend, I'll post images when I have them.
I also have a blue WM-22 bought after it appeared in the film "Blinded By The Light" and featured a few classic Springsteen cassettes. I haven't used it much but it did not have any static issues that come to mind. It was a UK budget model released by Sony to head off competition but had good sound. Let me know if you'd like me to check functions on mine for comparison. All I needed to do was replace the belt from memory to get it working.
