Hi all I found a WM-F5 i poor condition. Well I say poor these are the issues: Theres a bad battery corrosion to the point where one of the battery contacts has perished Corrosion on one of the corner sides of the cassette holder Unit powers on but can't play a tape, probably a gear issue In radio mode I can't tune in a channel. Basically this thing is in a mess, poor thing. Wondered if theres anyone out there who might be interested in helping fix this up or have instructions on how to open this thing up. Theres photos below and you can see the corrosion damage but luckily it looks fixable with some scrapping and a touch up with some paint. The inner workingss really need the work to get this functioning properly and also the battery contact needs to be replaced. This is everything I can see or have noticed. In good news the case looks fine, the buttons all work the rubber seal around the edge of the lid is fine also. Also the rest of the areas see clean minus some dirt. I was hoping I'd be able to clean up the corrosion and then have someone see if they can get it working by fixing a new battery contact and seeing how to get the other parts working. Maybe a lost cause but as it turns on and I can hear noise I thought it must be worth seeing. Heres a link to a folder of some photos. Any help much appreciated
It doesnt look bad. This model is not difficult to repair. Try to remove the ornamental covering on top of screws and open the unit. make sure to remove the volume knob as well. There is a screw holding the knob in place. Remove the yellow sticker to get access to to the screw. 2 screws from the top and 2 from the bottom needs to be removed (also 2 long screws holding the walkman door) Use a needle shape tool to remove this ornamental stickers. once you remove the screws it will look like a regular DD walkman. unsolder the 3 wires from head and get access to the movement part. Clean it well hopefully and it will work fine. I have about 10 of them, all of them work fine. One of them was completely a mess due to corrosion and the battery contacts were completely gone and I used a regular coil from a battery holder to make a new contact. So by looking at your walkman I can tell that you will be able to fix it.
Boodokhan thanks so much for your help After following your steps closely I have managed to get the door off and access the unit. Its a real mess in here but I found a much bigger problem. I do not think I caused this by opening it but the corner of the circuit has been snapped, see the photos below. It seems to cross 7 or 8 circuit lines. Is there anyway to fix this or is this game over here? https://drive.google.com/file/d/1H70AE4dNJJv784T9h6ealphXlR4FAurz/view?usp=sharing
Ok you will see here once I'm in the guts fully theres some serious capacitor issues https://drive.google.com/file/d/10N-kHUEQCJ8RUHboKybZ-IpbHhN9llRa/view?usp=sharing
I am not sure where the broken part is. Is it the edge of board? regarding the battery leak just clean the board, at least one capacitor needs to be changed. cleaning this walkman is a very challenging task. The metal piece which covers the capstan is completely corroded, which requires thorough cleaning. Don't give up, once you bring this unit to life you will get a lot of joy using it.
Ok i wont give up. I'll get a better closeup of the board for you soon as I can. Any tips for cleaning the capstan cover? Just chisel away carefully and then clean with alcohol or even maybe a little bit of vinegar carefully?
for capstan cover I think you will need some type of sanding. First try Vinegar but I doubt that type of corrosion on the unit can go away simply by vinegar. also check this link about cleaning the board. Machaneus did amazing job on restoring his F5 walkman http://www.stereo2go.com/forums/threads/sony-wm-f5-mission-impossible-repair.5566/#post-43342
