Hi all, after my first repair attempt I solved the center gear issue, but broke the tiny tips of the plastic slider controlling the tape head arm. One on the way out and one on the way in - see picture enclosed. Uh uh. Anyone has one on offer?? And any hints on bringing them in without breaking them highly welcome... I don't want to waste gear :-( Best, Klaus
Hey buddy, I'm right up there with you in looking for a slider too. Just got onto these forums a couple of days ago to sift if anyone had one they were willing to pry out of a scrapper. In the minuscule way I can help out, I've found the formal name for the piece is the "Forward Lever Assembly" or "LEVER ASSY, FWD". They come under varying designations depending on the Walkmans depending on the model, "X-3305-419-0" and "X-3578-121-0" are the names for the WM-R2 and WM-2 respectively, different in name but exact same components. https://www.stereo2go.com/forums/attachments/img_1178-jpg.31673/ (Pic of the pieces, kinda big pic so linked instead of embed because I'm lazy) I've gone through some warehouse sites for these two designations, but have yet to find any in stock, so fingers crossed someone here just has a stack of them on their workbench.
@Lordusher , @Mr.Swift : how did you proceed in removing that slider ? I ask because have seen this problem happening many times in the past year (posted on the forum). I always removed it by compressing from the top with a pair of bigger tweezers and did not have problems. Did you try to compress it from below ? It seems that those plastic hooks are the part that always breaks. Think will take some photos and post a dedicated thread in how to remove it.
@Valentin: I broke one tip on the way out. I tried indeed to push from below. I followed the fixyouraudio instructions (recommending to work from the tape compartment side). But with hindsight I think I know what my mistake was - probably that of others, too. The important thing is to open the tape compartment. As can be seen on the fixyouraudio page. Yet I did not notice at the time and tried to pinch the tips with the tape compartment closed. And if you try with the tape compartment closed, then there is a tiny plastic bar that sits between the two arms of the "Forward Lever Assembly" (thanks Mr. Swift!!). Effectively keeping them seperate though you try to pinch them together with the tweezers. Stupid me did the same thing on the way in and proke the second tip, too. Did not realize that I could remove the seperating plastic bar simply by opening the tape compartment. See pictures below: So after all I guess it is not so much a matter of if you pinch the arms together from the mech side or from the tape side - as long as you open the tape compartment to move the small plastic separation bar/slider out of the way!
I noticed on shapeways.com there are already some Walkman-parts available as 3D printing shapes (e.g. https://www.shapeways.com/product/G...s-sony-wm-1?optionId=154266807&li=marketplace). I have no idea if there is a way to get to the 3D data of the LEVER ASSY, FWD "X-3305-419-0" and "X-3578-121-0" parts. But if so reproduction would become an option!
Very relevant details and pictures ! Keeping the door opened is indeed important, but to me it seems even more important to have a feel for it and not apply too much force. I have removed it many times with the door closed and have never broken a slider. It usually needs to be tilted to one side and one hook removed at a time. But for people who have never done this before, keeping the door open and not applying to much force should do the job without any complications. Another important aspect is to bend that spring down, as most of the sliders I have seen have the problem mentioned in the tutorial, where the plastic holding pin is bent significantly. Curiously, some of the sliders I have seen already had the spring hook in the bottom, although the respective walkmans seemed like never opened before. It is possible that SONY realised the issue at some point and made the spring a little bit different. However, it's something that should be checked. In regard to 3D printing, I think for this particular part it's not an option as it needs to be very strong yet thin. 3D printed parts are pretty brittle in comparison to injection molded ones and likely the parts that are the most exposed to stress (hooks, spring retaining pin) will break after a few cycles of operation. Of course, this is assuming the plastic itself does not break from bending it for installation. Unfortunately, there's not a significant market for these walkmans (contrary to the belief of those people paying on overpriced units), otherwise more custom parts would be available.
The spring and the lever seem to be ok with my Lever Assy. But when I disassembled my device I first noticed the brass pin, then the spring flying around losely in the device. At the time I did not know what it was and put both aside. Only when reaching the intructions on the Lever Assy removal I recognized these as missing there and put them back as per the photos. Here's the result, looks ok to me. The spring is attached pretty much on the bottom of the retaining pin, so not much stress for the pin. But now I have to assume my DDII was working even with the spint/black lever flying losely around in the mechanics. Do you know what the purpose of the black lever is [FGTH "What is it good for??? ...absolutely nothing] Or is this maybe the reason why my device stopped working in the first place? It operated ok and then suddenly, after fast forwarding, it would no longer play. When pressing play the device stopped about a second later with a short and nasty sound fragment in the earphones. I thought maybe the center gear gave up for good but it must have been a different reason - maybe it was that tiny black lever that got lose?
@Valentin I actually got the hooks out fairly smoothly the two times I had removed. Compressing from the underside I think is what does the trick. @Lordusher The strut that retains the spring coming off the black arm is what broke in mine. I believe that particular component is an important part of the play buttons reset position after using the rewind button or something. (Already forgot, probably not helpful) I know technically you can fix that strut alone with a ridiculously small drill head and a piece of copper, but not only do i not want to do that, I don't think I got the option with exactly how the thing broke off Also, I tried to fish around for a possible 3D print of the thing. I got in contact with a guy who tried, but said he wasn't happy with the strength results. Fairly certain he has STL files of the piece, so if you can get the files from him, in a last ditch effort one might be able to send them off to Shapeways to see if anything flows back. It would be professionally extruded from probably something more durable like a metal, but it would likely still be expensive, if even possible.
@Lordusher What you say about fast forwarding and then it would no longer play is caused by sticky auto-stop levers. Refer to my thread "DD PLAY/FF/REW buttons not latching" which I linked in the other thread about your problem. That's the solution for that particular problem. In regard to the black lever, that's very important. That's what slides the slider into position. I'll link a picture below from a service manual explaining the operation. Picture is from the WM-2 service manual, but operation principle is identical in all center gear type mechanisms. When you press PLAY the slider is moved to the left, the black lever catches on one of the 3 shoulders of the center gear, which move the slider upwards. It is spring loaded to accomodate for some imperfections in those shoulders and gear wobble and also for a hard pressing of the play button which will move the slider more to the left (without the spring action the lever would break).
Sorry for late reply. Managed to brake my clavicula on Wednesday and I am handicapped now... @Valentin But so many thanks for you post and service manual info! Will digest and post back as soon as I am on it again . @Mr.Swift I will try drilling one of these days. Yet if you would have a contact of the guy with the STL files I'd be happy to get in touch with him for inquieries.
@Valentin Couldn't help and check - with the help of the mech description I can point out the step where the error occurs. All seem to look ok until Step 8b. Exactly as you describe it, the black lever catches on one of the 3 shoulders of the (in my case already Mihoc-modified) center gear, and the slider is moved. And then stops. What seems to be missing is Step 8c. If I understand it right then in Step 8c the lever should be transported even further and then reach a lock position, dis-enganging with the center gear again when doing so. If I add a slight "encouragement" with the pincers I can simulate that. The pinch and roller bar is engaged, center gear runs freely, the fwd tape spindle is moving. Yet this is very fragile - if I turn the device upside down during operation the movement stops at some point. As if by gravity alone some force would cause a blocking event. So when I find time I will disasemble again and go through the "DD PLAY/FF/REW buttons not latching" motions to make sure all is working nicely. Very helpful instructions indeed!
Done Over the weekend I have fixed the broken tips of the (in)famous LEVER ASSY, FWD - see pictures enclosed. I drilled a tiny 0.5mm hole and used some cable-binding-wire I had flying around as a tip-replacement. Not as nice as the original tips but good enough to make it work again (and will probably last an eternity or two now). Then went into the mechanics again. And after disassembling and re-assembling everthing with care it would still not work. Same behaviour as before, the lever would just not position according to Step 8c. I thought long and hard why, everthing seemed to be in order but it still wouldn't do the trick. But then I got a mental link between this problem and why, after manually positioning the lever, it would still stop by simply turning the running device. Reason was.... not enough pressure between capstan and motor-rotor. After having replaced the capstan tire I re-adjusted the pressure of the motor-rotor against the capstan ring. And apparently the setting was too loose. So I adjusted the pressure and tahh-tahh: it worked. Suddenly the lever would be kicked into Step 8c position all right!! So now, though I went out as lever-tip-killer from my 1st repair event, I gotmy DDII up and running again. New Center Gear, tips repaired and now it's back to live. @Valentin Thanks for your kind support, will probably need it again at some point...
Little update @Valentin, (and @Lordusher if it serves to help ya later down the road) I actually managed to fix the lever assembly with an old technique I learned while fixing a split flap clock. Good 'ol Sodacrete Just slowly formed the strut and carved it into shape with a razor. Works like a champ now. Well, the lever anyway, unfortunately it seems I have two issues now, one likely being an off center center gear, and the second.. well, it kinda escapes me. It's not that it's failing to latch, it just fails. And putton pressed engages for a few seconds, and then stops electronically, without unlatching. You've emparted plenty wisdom Valintino, so I'm far from demanding, but if this sounds familier, I'd greatfully take any leads. Oh, and as a final note, the STL files I mentioned from some time ago, incidentally the man in question that had them was infact Mihoc. Tried to get ahold of him about them again shortly after the previous post, but I've yet to get a response even up to now.
What do you mean by off-center center gear ? Let me clarify things by stating the possibilities that I see: 1. The shaft on which the center gear rotates may be bent. It's something that is adressed in the original tutorial regarding center gear replacement. This is unlikely to be a problem on most DD walkmans. 2. Lateral wobble in the gear itself, meaning a small part of the gear has its teeth recessed compared to the rest of the gear. This is normal and not a problem. All gears are like this, probably due to uneven cooling of the gear when manufactured. It's even present in many original gears found in Sony walkmans. If the gear is installed correctly and every other potential problem is adressed, this lateral wobble will not cause a problem, nor will it cause gear noise. 3. Up and down gear wobble. This is a problem and it needs to be adressed by sanding the metal retaining ring of the gear, to eliminate burrs from drilling and tapping. https://stereo2go.com/forums/thread...-wobble-problem-and-solution.7387/#post-53936 As for the other problem you're mentioning, there are 2 things that need to be checked: - the leaf switch: you need to clean it with cotton swab and cotact cleaner; do not use stuff like WD-40, brake cleaner or other generic stuff. I recommend Kontakt 60/Deoxit for cleaning contact, it will work for potentiometers as well. You also need to make sure the switch is firmly pressed when the unit is in play. Bending the leafs may be necessary to achieve this. - potential missing FG signal. Check resistance at PCB, you should have about 700 ohms. A missing FG signal will trigger the auto-off circuit, which will turn off the motor.
@Mr.Swift thanks for making us aware of the baking-soda-super-glue repair method. I really think this might work on the broken tips, with some careful filing applied. I will try these days! Back to your problem with the lever: it reminds me of the problem I had. Pressing Play moves the lever, but it will just stop and not go into continuous play. As described above following the mechanism description posted by Valentin I could see that step 8c was missing. And then I found out that it was because the rotor of the motor was not pressed hard enough against the rubber capstan ring. So I adjusted the capstan wheel top screw as per fixyouraudio instructions (as per picture enclosed, courtesy of Marian Mihok from his page). Then it worked allright!! Not sure if this is your problem with the lever, but have a try maybe. Best, Klaus
