Hey folks Latest 'accidental' ebay walkman purchase a couple of days ago was one of these fine looking beasties, WM-FX70 radio cassette model. The ad stated it worked but was for spares/repairs, then after paying got a message from from the dude saying it doesn't actually work and was a mistake. Typical! Anyway, challenge accepted and I don't have it yet to see if there are basic things maybe wrong with power etc, but anyone familiar with this model and likely failure points beside probably needing a belt at least, and probably contacts cleaning up etc? I'm sure I saw a comment somewhere saying these aren't easy to repair so could be fun I guess, but I didn't really find much reference to this model on here when I searched sadly. Looks in decent cosmetic condition from the pics. Obvs when I receive it I'll start trying to power it up and see if there is any life at all. Cheers!
Hello, probably it doens´t work due to a bad belt. If it doesn´t power up can be some rusty battery contacts as you said. You can find its service manual on the internet and take your own conclusions from there. Those models usually have a bad clutch inside or some warped gears, check out the pinch rollers if they dont have some INdentations on them too, happens when previous owners leave them with PLAY engaged for years and the mechanism lifts up one of the rollers and batteries are removed leaving it there pressing over the capstan shaft. How much was it in euros? I dont waste money on these belt units anymore as i used to, the SONY DD range are so much better... I recently restored a DD33 with new center gear and it has virtually no WOW & FLUTTER i was delighted. On these models the WOW & F. is way to noticeable, can be the motor for being still many years, those warped gears, bad clutch, poor quality belt etc etc, so many variants that can cause problems in these belted units, i just gave up on these. But when you receive it let us know, we can help. Greetings from Portugal! Found this on YouTube :
In regard to the FX70, I assume it does not power up given the description. Start by cleaning the battery contacts and if you have, connect an adjustable power supply (lab one with current limitation is best) and see if it is drawing any current. There are a couple of EX models that have a problem with the clutch gear, I don't know if it is the case with this one. I have a list here (will add it to the list if it proves to have that problematic gear): https://stereo2go.com/forums/threads/wm-ex-series-tac-tac-sound-repair.7108/ As for wow&flutter, most of these EX/FX units have worn out motor bearings, because they come dry or with very little grease from the factory. If they were used like that without being serviced (which will happen in 99% of cases), W&F will not be in spec anymore. Even with motor in perfect condition, I would not expect to get less than 0.2% WRMS (or just a little below in a best case). Depending on type of music one listens to, 0.2% WRMS can be very audible and annoying or it can be ok and not very noticeable. Any music with long constant tones (like classical) will have audible w&f when figure is >0.1% WRMS. On the other hand, genres like pop, rock, electronic are much less susceptible and will sound ok even at 0.25% WRMS or more. Motor lubrication tutorial: https://stereo2go.com/forums/thread...-type-motor-in-sony-walkmans.7943/#post-59754 Note that motor used in this unit is different than the typical EX/FX motor, being similar to the one used in WM-702/WM-701C. DDs have a spec of 0.08% WRMS (most of them) and in 95% of the cases they do obtain it or even exceed it (by exceed I mean they obtain better than spec). That is why DDs will have no perceptible w&f, because that value is practically below the threshold of audibility. Belt driven walkmans however (especially ones with significant wear) will typically obtain between 0.2% WRMS and 0.3% WRMS. Sometimes, due to wear, it cannot be lowered below 0.3 no matter what it's done (unless one replaces motor for example). Good luck with the repair !
Hey, thanks very much for the replies guys, really appreciate all the info, especially Costa the youtube video (I hadn't looked there yet even) and those links Valentin thankyou. I paid £22 so I guess that's around 23 or 24 EUR maybe? Not sure what constitutes a good price really for these but I like the look of it so I figured for that price it's worth a shot. I'm happy enough changing belts even if they need boards desoldering (thanks for having an electric desolder pump!), and yes I have a decentish bench power supply where I can limit current or voltage. I also have a scope but admittedly don't really know what I'm doing with that. I love the style of the DD units but they seem to always be a lot more expensive, but they're really cool styling and I never even thought about W&F in relation to those. Can see why they would be popular due to that! So in relation to the clutch gear or pinch rollers etc, if they turn out to be bad is there any source of good replacements? I assume if they cannot be bought directly it will be difficult because if its super common that they're bad, any good ones remaining in other units for sale for spares will have a high chance of also being bad too. I still have an Aiwa unit I need to replace the caps on as well but limited number of hours in the day! I would really love a 702 but they're not so common and usually quite pricey. Holy grail walkman for me though is an Aiwa HS-PX1000, no chance I don't think sadly!
Gears are available either from a donor unit from that list or if you will scroll down the link you will see a guy selling new ones on ebay. However, I think this unit does not have that type of clutch. 24euros is, in my opinion, a good price for a non-working one, especially given how much speculation is out there now. It seems some people have the impression their walkmans have turned into gold (which is obviously not the case). It's good that you have a bench power supply. Limit the current to 200mA or so and start testing. You can solder wires directly to the PCB if there is a lot of corrosion to test if the microcontroller does anything. As for pinch rollers, I recommend checking Marian's website (forum member): https://www.fixyouraudio.com/ His parts are of very good quality and rubber is new. DDs are indeed a different breed of walkmans, in my opinion not just because of the performance but the concept: they really look very different than any other type of walkman. Then they have metal cases, giving a sense of a premium product. Expensive, yes they are expensive compared to the typical ones, but one can find decently priced ones if patient enough. Have seen that Aiwa HS-PX1000 and I really like the concept of having a spectrum analyzer. It's pretty rare (I found 2 for sale at >1000 euros), but probably achievable if you wait long enough and are willing to spend that money on a walkman.
Ok cool, thanks for the info Valentin. That's great that I should at least be able to get some bits for it if needed. Yes the prices on some walkmans now is crazy! I do really like the DD ones but I am enjoying repairing a few cheaper ones. Mainly what I like is a fairly compact walkman ideally with a radio tuner, but I do get some that are cassette only. Yeah the spectrum analyser of the Aiwa (and titanium shell) is what made me really excited about wanting one when it came out and I was young, but it was a bit too expensive for me then. I wish I knew at the time how much they are worth now! I doubt I will find one that I would be willing to pay for anyway.
Yeah, I have never managed to find any other walkman with a spectrum analyser built in (be interested to know if there were), but I remember seeing that in What Hifi I think and thinking WOW!!! The Sony arrived today anyway, nice and quick. Put a charged up stick battery in it (I don't have an AA caddy for this model), and when I close the battery door instantly notice 3 things: 1) It whirrs with motor noise for about 1-2 seconds then stops (similar to other players I've repaired when the belt is trashed and it detects it and stops again). 2) There is nothing showing on the LCD display at all. 3) After it stops spinning briefly, there is no response to any button presses. The only activity at all is if I open the battery door then close it again it repeats 1) every time. So I figure at the very least the belt is gone. I removed the rear cover and was pleased to see the belt can be swapped without needing to remove the board or unsolder ribbon cables etc. Can see that sure enough as soon as I close the battery door the motor spins but the belt is slipping so that 100% needs changing, no surprise there! At least the belt is in one piece and not liquified into sludge. There is a fair bit of fluff and dust inside so I will carefully give it all a spring clean. One thing I do not know with this then, is whether the LCD display would normally be able to activate and show things even if the tape section 'knows' it's not working due to the belt? Some models will still work fine with the radio and clock etc even if they cannot play cassettes, but I don't know here if I either have a fault stopping the display coming on, or if it only enables the display and other functions once it checks the tape mechanism is ok (i.e. when you close battery door)? Is this possible that when I fit a new belt and the tape section hopefully works that the display will then come on perhaps, or is that purely wishful thinking? With headphones in, when I shut the battery door and the motor briefly spins, there are 4 extremely rapid beeps through the headphones then that is all.
Cosmetically the wear around these controls on the end is the only bad bit. Rest of it is in nice condition!
I just tried another belt I had here but also too loose, so I put the original back on. After doing that it does actually manage to turn everything correctly when I shut the battery door. So that’s a plus for testing purposes. But then I just realised something horrible that makes me want to cry. There is what I thought was a ribbon cable but it is actually 3 sitting of them above each other, and the outer one is detached. It was somehow snug on the others at first so I didn’t see but then popped up away from them. It actually looks like it must be cut because there are no exposed conductors on the end of it. The next ribbon beneath this one has a couple of small kinks in it too, so it looks like someone has been inside this before and damaged it. I have not looked yet online but I’m going to guess that the only way I can replace this ribbon will be by buying another unit when I can find one cheap eventually and hoping it has a good one. I will open it up more to clean, and order a belt and inspect where the ribbon goes into, just in case it has just come undone, but I’ve never see a ribbon cable where the end didn’t have either a tab for the socket or some bare/exposed conductors so I’m not hopeful. Edit - it definitely appears to have had the end cut, because when I push it down flat on the other ribbon cables, I can see it cannot be long enough to reach down far enough to any sort of socket. I am guessing then that this ribbon maybe is for the LCD display and possibly some of the buttons. There may be a way I can test with some tiny wires added to the end of it I guess. I will dismantle further and if there is another bit stuck in the socket (wherever that is hidden) then I will attempt to bare the conductors and see if it is possible then to join with solder. If the ribbon is scrap anyway then I may as well try.
Yeah so maybe there are other problems additional to the belt but this is absolutely a show stopper at this point. I will try to see if I can super delicately solder all 8 conductors back together. I’m used to doing a ton of soldering very often but not normally so delicate. Gotta try though. If that cannot be successful after I try then I will search for a part I guess. I cannot understand how this could happen, it is a very clean cut at exactly 90 degrees to the ribbon but only through one of the three ribbon cables so it is very very strange to me. Edit - ok I found an ebay seller in China where I can get a replacement ribbon cable thankfully but it is $46 including shipping which is pretty expensive. I think I will attempt to rejoin the conductors on this chopped one like I said, then if it works ok if I succeed fully, then I will think about ordering the replacement cable. Can't really afford just now to be spending $46 for a tiny ribbon cable, but it is a very nice compact and well made machine from what it seems and I like the look and feel of it. The alternative is there is a faulty one in japan currently $64 inc shipping, so I would hope the ribbon is ok in it, and if I bought that it would be a little more money but a full spare unit for parts at least.
My opinion is the following: don't even bother trying to fix that ribbon cable as it's broken in a point where it flexes (where the door tilts) so it's not going to stay fixed. Rather, join all the connections with wires (there are only 8 of them) and check if the walkman will actually work to make sure there's nothing else wrong with it. Also check the other ribbon cable for continuity, as the thick GND trace looks broken to me in the picture. If the walkman proves to work without an issue with wires, then you can proceed and order a new ribbon or find a donor. But if the walkman won't work anyway, it's not worth spending a dime on it. Even for testing purposes, it's much simpler to join the connections with wires and test than trying to repair that flex.
Thanks yeah I pretty much agree with all of that although I did still try to rejoin the ribbon anyway just for fun. Was just too tiny and delicate though sadly, so I have soldered 8 pretty small wires onto the board in the door, and fed through to the main board. i was trying to solder them to the back of the cable socket as the 8 conductors are visible but it’s proving difficult to get them all on without bridging pins etc, and I’m super wary about too much heat causing a track to lift somewhere. so I think what I will try tomorrow night instead is on that end of the broken ribbon to try and solder the wires to the ribbon itself. It widens and it’s tracks spread out more when they get close to the socket so should make it a touch easier hopefully. I did notice as well one of the pinch rollers has a dent where it must have been left engaged for a long time, so that will be an issue too. Stay tuned!!
" Told Ya! " Well, ive seen that you had bad luck with it so far... hope you can get it working, not an easy task but its possible. Ive seen myself in the same situation, one of the reasons i gave up on these. Another models i like, even though they are all plastic no less, are the FX 487 / FX483 / FX477 / EX 404/ , the mechanisms are from the 1998 till 00´s, i think, they are very decent with low W&F and they can go for cheap too... Even the WM-FX455 is something nice too to take in consideration. They are cheap and decent. Of course all of them will need new belts despite other known issues but they dont have as many parts to go wrong, are relatively recent in time (so no bad capacitors yet) and dont have the HYPE as other do so no gold diggers here. Let us know the developments in your restoration process, keep it up!
Ha ha, yeah you called it! Are the rollers tricky to replace? Never had to change bits like that before, just electronic parts and belts really. thanks for suggesting those models, I will look them up. Definitely prefer metal ones but will see anyway. Edit - thanks for the suggestions but I really dislike the styling of all those ones sorry. A lot of this in my case for ones I really liked as a youth, so even those are probably great options they don’t tick the “I have one!” Box for me alas. I really like the style 701/702/707 type ones, and mostly want models with a tuner built in too generally, but basically also the slimmer the better. I don’t know if those 70X models have the same sort of mechanical issues as this one I got? I assume it’s a similar but maybe a bit newer platform on them but that’s complete guessing. Anyway, I will try again this evening to see if I can solder temporary wires on in place of that ribbon to see if this otherwise works ok. If it does and I can get a roller then I’ll get the parts to repair it, otherwise will maybe wait for another cheap faulty one to come up. I also recently got a em-fx615, and it works ok after replacing the belt, but is a very bad audio on the tape drive. I don’t mean electronically the audio is bad, I can tell it’s some mechanical issue but it’s a bit wobbly and sort of fades in and out a little too. Hard to describe the latter. the rollers are decent on it, not rock hard and no dents in the rubber, and otherwise good all round condition, so not sure what’s best to look at first for improving the tape audio. I’ll do some looking for a symptoms/diagnosis 101 type topic or guide here and online in general to start looking into the most likely causes of it sounding bad despite a new belt. Seems like motor lubrication as mentioned near start of this thread might be a contender here anyway so will look at the link/tutorial higher up.
I was watching that FX70 too, however I bought an FX71 from the same seller last year and guess what - it had a snapped ribbon cable. I have an FX615, it worked fine after a belt change and general clean up, lubricating the motor could help - if it hasn't been used for a while, just letting it play can get a slight improvement sometimes. Good luck
That thought did occur to me if I'm honest, specially after reading the below about another with a sheared cable. It's odd as I've never seen that happen to that sort of cable before. I guess it's possible but the whole cable is still really flexible so it looks more like it's cut to my eye. Could be wrong though. Only development I'm afraid is that it seems to be a goner sadly. I succeeded in getting the 8 wires I'd soldered in place of the ribbon cable (on the door board) connected correctly to the ribbon cable where it goes into its socket. Didn't make a scrap of difference alas. Even with the 'pseudo' ribbon reconnected (and a fresh coin cell inserted), nothing would appear on the display when powered up with the fully charged gumstick. Literally the only life it seems to still have despite the temporary repair is when I close the battery lid, the motor/belt/pulleys spin for a couple of seconds, and it gives a fast 4 beep through the headphones. No response after it does that to any keypresses, and nothing on the display at all. No idea from here really. It's obviously capable of 'some' audio I guess to be able to do beep status patterns perfectly well via the earbuds, and the drive itself does appear basically functional even with the old belt (it isn't slipping now), but everything else is dead. Does sound a bit sketchy. I noticed they have 3 other ones for sale currently. 2 of them are £99 and 1 is £149, yet the description and photos are pretty much identical, so why would one be £50 more but have the same description? I expected something saying it was cosmetically better than the other 2, or refurbished with new parts hence the higher price. Just seems a bit weird. Not sure I would trust them to buy again from, especially since it did have 'working' in the description of mine then after I paid they messaged to say that was a mistake. Bit shady tbh. Anyway, I guess with this one is a failed mission unless anyone has a real brainwave as to what else might be checked relatively easily that could be making it unresponsive and nothing on the LCD? If not, it goes in a drawer and maybe another cheap one will show up in future, maybe not, win some/lose some! In the meantime, I'll have a look into lubing the motor on the 615 to see if it helps improve the sound.
I bought an FX70 recently and I wondered if the button cell did something aside from keeping the time ? Can it power the screen on without a gumstick inside of it ? Also does anyone know what size the pinchrollers are on this bad boy ? Looking forward to replace the atrociously gone ones that are still on I'll post results of my repair attempts here !
As far as I recall when I inspected mine, it does require the gumstick to power on at all. Even AM radio draws at least 45mA, so the button battery would not last long anyway. See the service manual I attached to the post.
