Fixing a WM-DC2

Received a dc2 today, came along with new gear and tire.

Seems like I wasn't the only one inside, I don't understand the message.


mechanism wasn't working. I am currently stuck on the re-assembly part. Could anyone point me to how to properly re-assemble the mechanism? It would be very appreciated, even worse is that it is missing a few parts.

Also the tape stops to play almost immediately after pressing play, so there is one more significant flaw to this.

 

Have you followed miohkm's step by step guide, the full PDF version?

I've had a few daft faults similar but it is very hard to diagnose just from a video. Sometimes if I get a problem that i cannot see or figure out after several attempts I just do a full mech swap

(the part you holding in your hand)

 

I was trying g to follow the eBay FAQ for replacing the gear. I didn't know that the guide was completed, could you kindly link the guide please?

 

http://www.stereo2go.com/forums/thr...ir-guide-for-beginners.1605/page-2#post-14235

All the best!

I try buy other DD models for donors (but in very poor condition which are cheap) now I have a few spares to save me

 

Wouldn't happen to have a spare mechanism with the dc2?

 

Well, they are all very similar for dd series, sometimes the metal posts for circuit board screws are in different places or missing

I don't have enough spares to sell and help others, very sorry.

I think the first page of service manual tells you what models share the exact same mech, but even so they are all similar

 

Thanks, I'll keep an eye out then.

 

I'm a bit confused, the service manual just says "mf-wmdc2-24" for tape transport mechanism type.
...
I'll try to buy a donor Walkman. Does the WM-DD share the same mechanism of the dc2?

 

i think wm-dd mech will work yeh

 

Alright, ordered a cheap one, hopefully it have a similar mechanism set so i can swap the mechanism.

 

The DC2 has exactly the same mechanics as the rest of the DD series (except for DD9 DD11 and DD22), so don`t worry.

 

I have hit a roadblock.
The play button broke in 2 pieces, I can glue them back but I do not know of the proper orientation of the component that lowers one of the gears.

I tried with a position that I thought made sense, yet it made no contact on the gear.


Could anyone direct me to what an unbroken play button ressembles?

 

Hope this helps...

DSC_0004 by matic777 posted Nov 27, 2017 at 2:33 PM

DSC_0003 by matic777 posted Nov 27, 2017 at 2:33 PM

DSC_0002 by matic777 posted Nov 27, 2017 at 2:33 PM

DSC_0001 by matic777 posted Nov 27, 2017 at 2:33 PM

 

Thanks, I'll see in a couple hours if I got the orientation right

 

Alright, made some major progress.

Mechanism seems noisy, not sure how to handle yet.
To fix the play button, used a Q tip as a crutch since the glue simply wouldn't bond properly on the pieces by themselves.

Also repaired the battery cover which was missing a tab; used a tab from a DD1 with ended up fitting with a bit of sandpaper.



Next step:
need to adjust the gears, but I don't own a soldering station, couls use my university workshop but I would need to bring the dc2 there...

 

Brought the DC2 to my school, Started out well, resoldering in place the cables.
The play and rewind functions were working the fast forward simply wouldn't remain in position after adjusting so I decided to let it be.

Then the original problem of the machine came back. The problem which was that it would turn on, work and shut off randomly.

I had asked @mihokm for advice before, he had said this was fixable by replacing the gear and additionally to replace the tire.

Thinking that it could be a cold solder joint, I redid the negative cable which had disconnected before.


This didn't work out well and had apparently made the battery heat up leading to a melting battery clip:


I don't think I will ever fix this machine.

 

Alright, ROUND 2!
Received my donor Walkman yesterday. Started the swap, I won't feel bad about doing this.

Plastic swap was successful, only issue is that I am missing a screw port used to hold in place the DC2 extension pcb.

I'll saw it out the dc2 chassis and sand down the base from the donor DD.

/EDIT/ Sawing and gluing down the chassis was successful.
As helpful advice to others, to smooth down the plastic use 80 grit sandpaper, and then use water sandpaper at 600 and 800 grit, if possible tape the sandpaper on a flat surface and then sand down the item flat to the surface.

Suggestions , ideas, and mods are welcome.

 

Hope you have had some luck?

 

Yeah, i'm going to have to send it to a technician on this one.

So I cleaned it up, made sure everything fits without any issues, compiled a list of things to do to the Walkman.

What needs to be done:
- battery terminal re-soldered on the pcb
- play head; cable resoldered, azimuth calibration, tape path calibration, demagnetized
- capacitors need to be checked for leaks, maybe also replace caps with higher quality caps
-center gear; already replaced it as well as the tire but the gear must be aligned (for FF and RW to work properly)
- tape auto shutoff problem fixed
- contact cleaner on the scratchy potentiometer
- lubrication of moving parts
- servicing?

After observing the list, I have come to the conclusion that it would take too much time and effort for me restore, repair and service the Walkman.

Now I just need a good technician in Europe that does repairs well, is fast and most importantly affordable.

I̶'̶l̶l̶ ̶u̶p̶l̶o̶a̶d̶ ̶m̶i̶s̶s̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶p̶i̶c̶t̶u̶r̶e̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶m̶o̶r̶r̶o̶w̶.̶

 

Looks like it needs a lot of work. Good luck, hope you can get it working