Hi, I’m jumping on this thread since it seems as good a place as any to ask this question: does anyone know how to remove the circular brass ring that compresses the black spring right under the TPS L2 autostop mechanism on the main reel? I have a cracked main gear under there that I have a replacement for but I can’t seem to disassemble the things above it to get to it. I tried prying it off a few different ways but it didn’t budge. Felt like I was about to break the whole spindle. many advice @Valentin??? much thanks in advance CoreyLee
Hello and welcome to the forum, @CoreyLee ! It would be helpful if you uploaded a picture and mark exactly the part you want to remove, because from your description it's a bit unclear. Use the "Upload a file" button to upload pictures.
Oh man, thanks a lot for the quick communication. I’m guessing I need to remove this brass retainer to get to the bottom gear. Unfortunately I’ve managed to rough it up pretty good in my attempt to remove it. I tried pliers and I’ve tried a flat head screw driver but it won’t budge.
One thing I can tell you for sure: you're unlikely to be able to remove that brass ring without damaging the entire assembly, it's a very tight press fit. The only 2 solutions to remove it are: - heat it up to a point where the brass expands enough that it's not a press fit anymore (the palstic parts will probably melt at that point); - use a special press that is able to keep the retainer still while pushing the shaft through; Even then, I suspect the part of the shaft that's pressed into the brass has a very rough texture in order to grip to the brass. If that's the case, removing the brass will enlarge it, so in such a case it means it's not desiged to be remvoed. I had a TC-D5M for repair a while ago on which the takeup reel was almost completely seized due to old grease on the shaft. Naturally, I wanted to remove the reel shaft somehow to fully clean it and the bushing before re-lubricating. However, removing the brass retainer proved impossible. I even tried to heat it up with a soldering iron and pull with 2 big flat screwdrivers: it wasn't moving at all. In the end, I decided to use cotton immersed in IPA to clean the old grease as much as possible and re-lubricate it without disassembly. On the D5M, there was a metal piece on the reel side as well, so it was practically impossible to remove that shaft without a special press. On the TPS-L2, not sure but it may be possible to remove the reel. Wasn't aware of a gear crack problem on these units, please share a picture with the break for reference. Are these replacement gears available for sale ?
Uug that’s like the worst news possible! When I found a supplier who makes reproductions of that gear I thought I’d won the lottery. And now coming to realize that there’s no practical way to swap them out….I mean that’s just cruel. I’ll attach a video and zoom in so you can see the hairline crack. It’s a little tiny bit of damage but it makes the whole deck unusable.
I suggest trying to remove the reel instead as that might be the way to go, not removing the retainer. Removing the reel will get you access to the other side of the clutch assembly and then you will be able to remove the old gear and press in the new one. There very likely is a practical way to swap that gear, but that way is most likely not by removing the retainer. Interesting that this gear breaks given it's a very thick gear. It's likely a very tight press fit so the gear is under a lot of tension. This combined with heat (heat shrinks POM) is likely what causes it to break.
I did start trying to approach the spindle from the other side but it’s a held in VERY tightly. I was wondering if I have to heat up the brass reel to make it expand to a point where I can use a small nail (scary) and ball peen hammer to knock it out the back side? Thanks for your valuable time. Seriously I’d be lost without your input.
I see, it's exactly the same as the TC-D5M. Wonder why SONY did it like this, really don't like this design at all... At this point yes I think the only way to do it will be to heat the brass until it expands. But even then expect it will take a lot of force to push it because most likely it has that rough texture on the shaft to make it grip. For this manufacturing a small press would be the ideal way to remove it, but that is easier said than done. You have to keep in mind there are 2 nylon washers (one on each side) that may melt at high temperatures, so be careful. You can put some small pieces of paper between the brass part and the washer to protect it. However, overall it does look safer to remove this reel retainer instead of the one on the other side. Putting it back will be easy, the main issue is to remove it. Please take pictures with the process and upload them as I don't think there are any on the web.
Well this approach yielded nothing. Wouldn’t budge at all. I heated up the brass with a soldering iron till it was VERY hot and was hammering almost too hard. Not a millimeter of progress. Yeah, clearly a press is in order here; but where would you even be able to anchor it on the chassis for resistance? There are no points of contact they aren’t “delicate”. I know SOMEONE must have done this successfully or there wouldn’t be people remanufacturing and selling (not cheap) this gear. Unless, I suppose, it’s the same gear used in many different Walkman’s with many different methods of access. Right now I have a very valuable but unusable cosmetically clean piece of history. Isn’t that the worst feeling? I also have an immaculate WM-D6 with the “plas at fast-speed after a few minutes” problem. If one of them would be working I’d be a happy guy.
This is exactly what I experienced with the mentioned TC-D5M, hence why didn't continue further as I was afraid of damaging the assembly. The only 2 options I see are a press or simply cutting that brass piece and manufacturing a new one on a lathe. I attached a picture of how the press I imagined looks like. In the pic it's a much bigger one used for car ball joints, but the principle is important. You need to have some claws to grip behind the retainer and a screw that forces the shaft down. However it's debatable if a screw that small can withstand such a force without the threads breaking. Hence why I'm more inclined to say that retainer (either one of them) should simply be cut and replaced. Don't think there's any other way of doing this job. I suggest asking the one who you bought the gear from how these retainers should be removed. And once you figure out a way to do it, start a new thread and explain with pictures how it should be done as such information would be very valuable. As for the WM-D6, there are threads covering the speed problem here on the forum.
Like you suggested above I believe the only thing left to try is pulling the brass spring retainer off using a small precision gear puller and just prey that it doesn’t snap something else irreplaceable in the process. Here’s a link for such a puller. Sure wish someone besides us has tried, and succeeded, in dealing with this situation.
Looks promising, although it will probably require some small modification as the tip of the screw seems too large for this application and the claws may also be too big. But if I was in your situation, I would buy one and work on modifying it to fit this particular application. And if you do go down this route, please share a link with the product. A quick search on Aliexpress does not render any meaningful results. Most likely someone did this before, I'm especially thinking of those selling the replacement gears, the only way to find out is to ask them directly.
Thanks for adding to the conversation. If it were just a gear I needed pulled a small gear pulled would be fine. However what I need to pull off is the brass friction plate that compresses the clutch spring against the plastic clutch. The main take up reel gear is at the bottom of that whole assembly. I’m just afraid that the amount of pressure that set that brass retainer in place is the kind of pressure that’s meant to be “permanently affixed” as opposed making the unit serviceable. My model L2 is the very very first edition where the spindle is hammered into the reel heads on one side and capped with the brass retainer on the other. Not sure if you’re familiar with that configuration? You may be able to see that I’ve already roughed it up pretty good in attempts to pull it off. It won’t budge even a fraction of a hair
