Hi to all walkman connoisseurs , I am new on the forum and its my 1st walkman repair attempt so , please bear with me recently bought non working Sony WM-EX50 walkman . Upon fist opening and a fist look , I've discovered that the old stretched out belt was twisted around the motor - photos below. Now I am puzzled if Ive disassembled the walkman correctly? as the motor just hangs on its wires ribbon because I've removed two tiny screws that attach it to the middle board. How to open this walkman and replace a new belt correctly , do I need to desolder the motor connecting ribbon wires from the PCB or how would you approach this guys without involving soldering ? any advice or ideas are apreciated peace Vintagefreak
The Sony WM-EX50 or WM-FX50 Service manual doesn't say anything about how to access the motor (desoldering or not) and/or about the belt exact positioning order during replacement. anyone has been trough this walkman restoration?
well, I am replying and bumping my own post.. I know its kinda desperate, But, I am a total walkman repair new ... so please bare with me. is there anyone that could reply ? anyone?
Hi, I would have desoldered the motor and screwed that in place for easier installation of the new belt. How the belt should be, I don’t know, maybe look how it was previously and guess the missing paths. Don’t forget to clean the belt path with IPA before installing the new belt.
Thank you for your reply Rune , I really appreciate that. havent ordered the new belt yet and still gathering info on how to desolder and desolder the motor the "safe" way ... as I am not very skilled in fine soldering. Another question : the motor should be spinning without the belt ? But if I connect the battery and press any button .. the motor is not spinning... could it mean that the motor is dead?
Many walkmans have a detection for tape, did you have a tape in the player when you tried? My EX670 does nothing unless there is a tape inside. Is there no sign of life at all, LEDs etc? Check the contacts for battery if the are dirty/corroded.
When I changed the belt on mine I couldn’t figure out the path, but this video on YouTube has a nice still of it, different model but same mechanism No need to remove the motor, that can be re-screwed, the screws are the two in the cassette bay. Be careful when reassembling to line up the Dolby and cassette type tiny switches in the board with the external switches, it’s easy to misalign and snap one off! Looks like a bit to clean up from the old belt.
Thanks for reply Rune, WM-EX50 doesnt seem to have tape detection I guess ..couldnt find any signs of it .. But, I've managed to get motor turning on with a battery ...it only starts spinning if I press the logicboard on top of the motor firmly ..otherwise it doesnt. Seems there is a some loise contact OR it only works if fully assembled ..donno. but motor works - that's already a good sign ! Now need to find the best way to desolder the motor without ruining the ribbin. Kinda scary operation for a newbe
Thanks for reply and the video of stills .. I can clearly see the step where the motor ribbon has to be disordered.... the service manual doesnt mention it and nothing about the belt change ( strange) . How difficult was it for you to resolder the motor? best regards Vintagefreak
