hello, excited to be here. I'm looking for someone who can help me get my Walkman F10 playing tapes again. I have a sony F10 that is in decent shape. The radio works fine, and cassette wheels appear to turn, but no sounds from tapes.
Hello and welcome to the forum ! You need to give us more information about the unit: - is there any noise present when it plays a cassete ? - if the noise is present, does it vary with volume ? - do the Dolby NR/EQ swiches change the noise floor ? The first suspect would be the radio/tape switch.
hi Valentin and all, Apologies for delay. So did some more testing, and it actually works!! (Just not very well). radio: works as it should, no problems at all. Cassette play: when I hit play, the red light seems to sputter/flash and I have to press on the cassette door to “find the right spot” for it to stay on consistently. The tape will play and I can hear it in my headphones, it’s muddled and a bit slow but music is clearly heard. However, The mechanism is very Loud. Here is a video i made showing the above and also so you can hear the racket that it makes when it’s playing: https://share.icloud.com/photos/06dT0EotoudMu8yIs93DZpuhQ. Would a tune up make this more functional/actually usable?? is there anyone here who can do this kind of work? there are also some loose/missing tiny screws from the back side.
In regard to LED not staying on, I would clean the leaf switches as it's a common problem on these units. Sometimes it might need sanding (use 1000 grit). As for the video, I can't access your iCloud link, so please use another means to upload. Pictures can be uploaded directly on the forum (Upload a File button) as well as audio mp3 files. The racket sound you describe may be coming from the motor. Unfortunately disassemblying it and re-lubricating the bearing (it uses a ball bearing) is not an easy task as you essentially need to fully tear down the entire unit. So only thing I can recommend if that's the case is to just use the walkman so the old grease get softened and motor becomes quieter. The muffled sound (if that's what you're reffering to, as you wrote "muddled") can be cause by an azimuth misalignment or by a capstan/pinch roller misalignment. As for making the unit more functional, to me it seems like a full restoration is what this unit needs to really become fully working again. There are a few people who do restorations (including myself), but I don't know anyone in US.
Try this link to see video. https://www.icloud.com/attachment/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fcvws.icloud-content.com%2FB%2FAT4pJAOtnYF6xrm3eYjgmUVI8DWEAUstbEycXaeNb2W8NG-knaf0doqI%2F%24%7Bf%7D%3Fo%3DAuh5BqEanZXy747WgJEwCo30R30Z2qzSXvxRPfrhlTsd%26v%3D1%26x%3D3%26a%3DCAogdY1AHjM5-Oe1BgLFortpKDJtK6Ut0y1RzVYi8rhSJ5gSeBDe5Mrs3DEY3vTFwOYxIgEAKgkC6AMA_x81e6lSBEjwNYRaBPR2iohqJm0eTSt6-HP8DkNRJA-oUOnZucBS_wRssDxz86EQrkJlsvahVQaBciaI5eEoMhV6qaG_LZ0dyQTt9fyn2Bm_lijCxWh7YnNO2045ux5Urw%26e%3D1711142959%26fl%3D%26r%3D8CC3A63F-1D24-463B-9FBC-D01C7E56010D-1%26k%3D%24%7Buk%7D%26ckc%3Dcom.apple.largeattachment%26ckz%3DCAFD0F54-E6BD-4D61-BD6D-00D58F04997F%26p%3D155%26s%3Dps6N81PSTpSxRfW4NlDDglp-XBc&uk=5ZojXP_rhLMpAXOc3pmlzg&f=IMG_9056.mov&sz=41981717
Watched the video, so let's take the problems one by one: - the door problem: would check the AA battery contacts and if battery is properly seated. Battery is probably not making a good connection and when you press on the door that presses on the battery cover and seats it better. - the mechanical noise device is making seems like it might be coming from the idler pulley sitting at an angle and touching the back case. It's a typical problem on this mechanism, on most units you can leave it alone but on some it needs to be adjusted. Not an easy job, requires full disassembly of the mechanism. Recommend checking the belt is the right one and it's not too tight. Take the back cover off and see if the noise disappears. A simple solution (assuming this is really the issue) would be to slightly bend the back cover outwards, so pulley has more clearance.
