Hello There, i recently purchased a working WM-GX322 in a very good condition. The Walkman was owned by an old Lady which was used barely and was stored for the last 15 years or so. I tested it out and found some weird issue when a tape is played from the beginning of any Side. For the first 2-3 minutes of playtime, you can hear a loud humming noise, which causes the Player to vibrate slightly. After 2-3 minutes of playtime, the humming disappears and the tape is played without any problems till the end until auto-reverse kicks in, where the same thing happens for the beginning of the other Side. The noise doesn't affect the Sound Output, which is a very clear. Speed appears also unaffected. I took the Walkman apart and did basic maintenance, changing the Belt and lubricate the gears and let the Device play for a couple of hours. Nothing made any difference. I took a picture of the mechanism in case you guys notice something I've missed: WM-GX322 by mclovingr posted Sep 24, 2021 at 7:00 PM
Hi @mclovingr . I just recently noticed that some tapes require more power than others, mechanically. It looks like they are all wound fine, even spooling completely back and forth a few times on my Technics deck. However, sometimes the Walkmans without a new belt struggle to play the That’s VXs, while the newer RTM tapes all work fine. Did you try various tapes and tape lengths? And, did you try the same tape in other Walkmans? Another thought: in the beginning of a tape the mechanism - including the tape in it - seems out of balance. One reel empty and one full. Looking at the mechanism there is no heavy (brass or any other metal) flywheel it to steady it, correct? So the unit does not rattle when you start the tape dead center, when the reel capacity difference is not that big? Is this then not a bug but expected behavior?
UPDATE: After playing some tapes, for the past weeks, the humming noise suddenly disappeared! Most likely, the mechanism needed some play time after the long hiatus it was put to.
@mclovingr There can be a number of reasons causing a loud humming sound and vibration, but the first that comes to mind is the motor itself, as that's the part rotating the fastest. Don't know if this particular motor can be easily lubricated, but if I were to repair this walkman I'd lubricate the motor and capstan bearings. The fact that the problem suddenly disappeared indicates some dried lubricant which became fluid again after some time of running. @Emiel Indeed cassettes vary a lot as force required to spool the tape. That's why wow&flutter can vary significantly depending on cassette shell quality. Not to mention these small walkmans do not have a lot of torque in comparison to bigger portables or full size decks.
