While getting the place ready for the holidays, I came across an old box that had a few of my old walkmans from back in the day. They all powered up expect for one (the wm-ex622, no battery to test it), but even the ones that did play tapes sounded as if the belts were on their way out. I guess I'll have to open all of them up to replace them. I decided to try and fix the 622 first, because it's FF button didn't want to work (no clicky sound when pushed like the other buttons). Hmm that's not good. So I pulled out my variable temp soldering station and mat, my precision screwdrivers, various picks, as well as my magnifying led headband (imo the best money I've spent), and then got to work. The hardest part of the repair was pulling that switch from the board. A dental pick/scrapper (I only use it for electrical work lol) made it much easier to pull up/grab it while I heated the 4 contacts one at a time. It didn't take long before the little guy popped free. The tiny contacts seemed to be ok on the switch as well as the board. Phew. The belt you see in one of the pics below was from one of my other walkmans and used just as a test. It seemed to fit ok. I'll eventually get some new belts from Marian to replace all the old ones. Btw, cleaning all the goo off those pulleys took f o r - e - v e r ! What a pain in the azz. That crap was stuck to everything. The dental pick made it sooo much easier to get rid of every little spec of gooey rubber residue that refused to be removed with iso and swabs. The point on the pic was able to get into the smaller/tighter areas that the swab couldn't reach (ie, deep in the grooves of the pulleys). I first tried to use a wooden toothpick, but it din't work that well. I then tried using some un-waxed dental floss to help clean up the grooves a bit more. It took me almost an hour, but those pulleys are now completely spotless where the belt will sit. As for the FF switch, after giving it a bit of a flex with my fingers, it popped back into it's original shape. I tested over and over again during the next hour or so while it sat on my test bench to make sure it wouldn't get stuck inward again. It didn't. I then put the little guy back on the board. I'm a stickler when it comes to getting things lined up straight. It took me a bit to get the micro switch back in the same exact spot as before, and to make sure it sat flush with the board. I didn't want to take a chance of a misaligned switch when pushing the FF button on the cover. While I was in there I took my time to clean up the battery contacts (they were not that bad), removed the battery cover door to properly clean the metal hinge and it's contact points, gently flexed/bent the battery door pivot point to give the door a better "locked" feel to it, and did some general cleaning up for the rest of the 622's insides. The only thing I couldn't do was check/set the playback speed, because I couldn't find the original gumstick battery or my speed test tape (I guess I'll have to make a new one). It also seems that I misplaced the original gumstick charger and the screw on AA holder. It's been a long time since I last saw that stuff and I have no idea where they went. Anyway, I put the case back together again making sure the various length screws where placed into the correct holes, cleaned the outside of the case a bit, and placed the 622 next to my computer to sit and wait for new batteries to arrive so I can test my repair job.I ordered a couple of gumsticks from eBay the minute I knew the original one was gone, but they want ridiculous $'s for the charger and AA holder (I really want to get the AA holder at least). I can easily charge and condition the gumsticks when they arrive with some wired alligator clips and my La Croose charger, so a dedicated gumstick charger can wait for now.
Excellent post, PULOVR! You did a great job fixing these tiny switches - you certainly have very good soldering skills. I recently got a gumstick battery charger from ebay (link below). I do not recommend it though, it's cheap and it shows. From the 2 gumstick battery holders, only one works and it doesn't indicate when the battery is charged (led is always on) http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Gumstick-Bat...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
Would you believe that's the same one I was thinking of getting? lol I did see some cheaper single battery versions on Ali Express. Quality wise, not sure. Either way, I have a charger I can use for now, but if I come across a good deal on a Sony charger I'll grab it. Another thought would be to get a 18650 battery charger and se if I can adjust the charging current/voltage. The 18650 is 18mm x 65 mm. Gumstick is 17mm x 66mm. As for your charger, have you tried opening it to see if the issue is due to a loose/broken wire or connection point? Btw, does anyone know what the two unused pads are for on the board? They are located between the FF/RW and the Play/Stop buttons. I figure it's for a model above the 622 that has extra features.
Yeah, that dental tool came in handy, especially when I was putting on the old belt after I had cleaned it. It helped keep any finger oils off the belt. It also allowed me to easily re-seat the belt in the pulley's groove so that there was no 1/4 or 1/2 twists in it as it traveled from pulley to pulley (I'm a stickler for details.... ocd?). lol Anyway, I was able to barrow a gumstick battery from a friend so I could test out the Walkman. Everything seems to work fine, including the FF button. The volume control sounded clean with no crackling to it. The tape's sound quality is actually quite good with my Sony 7506's. I'm happy about that. The tape playback speed also sounded ok'ish. It sounded a tiny bit slow to my ears, but nothing that bad that would ruin my enjoyment. Until I make a new speed tape, I found some YouTube videos that I could use to compare with the same songs that was on the pre-recorded tape I had (I know that's not an ideal way to do it, but that's all I had available), and the speed was pretty close for both directions, but I might as well pop it open again and fine tune the adjustment a tiny bit to get it closer. I'll have to record a reference tone with my home deck, but that will be after I get a new belt for it. After the 622 is finally done it will be time to open up one of the others to see what fixing they'll need. I'll make a new thread for that when the time comes.
