Need Help Servicing WM-5

I've managed to find a WM-5 on ebay - sold as parts, but I still decided to bid because I read it was one of the more high end models while still being pocket-sized. It wasn't in bad condition either, not exactly pristine by any means but only has somewhat of wear on the outside. It cost me 30 bucks in total, so it was fair. Though, there's three glaring issues I need to take care of.

#1.
The fast foward button does not press down at all.

#2.
The rewind button, nor the play button engages. I believe that a spring that had fallen out while I was attempting to service it would be at fault for the play button, though I'm unsure as of where it goes.

#3. No power is going to the device either, but it's just due to contact rust. I can handle that much.

The button mechanisms are something I've spent most of my day trying to get down just to no success. I'm nearly tearing my hair out, it's frustrating sinking so much time into something just to hardly make progress. If anyone can help me out, please do.

Sorry if this is written poorly. It's 11:30 and I've been working on this thing since 4.

 

Welcome to the club! hopefully someone will post photos of WM-5 innards

I wouldn't worry too much at this point, personally I start stressing only when days turn into weeks and my project still plays dead. Service Manual and another unit of the same model sometimes helps

 

try to clean the mechanical part that hold the button down. This issue happens when unit is not clean (mechanically).

same answer. I worked on D5 and dealt with this issue.

Don't give up. Take a break and work on the unit another day. button mechanism will work once the unit get a good cleaning and little lubrication.
If you can send some videos or picture of unit other members can join the conversation and help. D5 is a good walkman, what I like about D5 is its central gear never cracks ( well you can make a crack by physical force )

 

Thanks for the advice. As of now I'm attempting to remove most of everything just to get to the button mechanisms to try to fix them. Though, I've came across a little hurdle. The gear arm just wont come off, and I'm unsure why. Every other video I've seen featuring similar models (WM-2, WM-DD Series) shows them removing the washer, and the arm coming up with no problem. Yet mine seems to not even budge. Am I doing something wrong?

 

to me it sounds like the unit passed an unqualified service before - all those issues you discribe point for me to an attempt of getting out the centre wheel by a person not knowing what she/he‘s doing. also the „not powering up“ sounds common to me, i guess the microswitch-lashes for the motor have been bend terribly (?).
funny enough on a WM-5 you hardly have centre wheel problems, those only started with the DD series, the WM-5 shares movement with the WM-2 (…where in all those years i never heard of one with a fooked centre wheel…).

the WM-5 is a beautyfull unit (i have a champaign and a black one) and especially in Europe they‘re pretty rare - my advice:
get a working WM-2 and change the movement in your WM-5

 

@Valentin listed some common issues with these if I recall correctly.

 

Update. Now a new problem has arisen. After desoldering the wires on the audio board to get to the mechanisms, upon resoldering them to test the mechanisms with power, I've been unable to get any power. Does anyone have a WM-5 I can reference the wire positions and such on?

 

My opinion about these walkmans (being them DDs, WM-2, WM-5) is one really needs to fully disassemble the mechanism, clean it, re-lubricate and replace the necessary parts (center gear, belt/capstan ring).

1. The buttons not lathching issue is a common problem on all DDs (and WM-2/WM-5) and cause is dried grease on the auto-stop mechanism. You can find a link to the corresponding thread in my signature.
2. Buttons stuck has been responded already. Again, probably if a full disassembly and cleaning would have been done, this problem would not happen.

So in regard to the mechanism, I won't even try to fix individual problems, rather repair all the common issues in one go after disassemblying it. Links are in my signature, the DD threads apply to the WM-5 as well.


In regard to the electronics, among others check the capacitors: if they're CE brand they are probably leaky. You board seems clean though, so I presume they're a different brand.
If caps are not CE brand you can leave them alone. Will check to see if I have a picture with where the wires go.
Do pay close attention to the polarity, as you're likely to burn the motor servo if you solder the wires in the reverse polarity.

 

nobody mentioned a TC-D5 before here, besides the pic in @Valentin‘s ava

 

@Valentin restored both the WM-2 and WM-5 for me last year. When you look at the DD genealogy, you notice that the WM-5 is one of the essential predecessors of the WM-DD.
There are 2 versions of the 2 and 5 that have been discussed (maybe more) that can be identified by the center gear.

 

Here is the WM-5 next to the DD, brothers from the same mother. The dimensions are slightly different though, WM-5 a bit smaller overall.
Button layout is clearly the same.
Unfortunately Sony removed the lens for the volume reading while introducing the DD.

 

Wm-5 and 2 are NOT direct drive, they feature belt-drive…

b.t.w. my champaign-coloured 5 is still from good old John Edwards

 

No worries @Mister X. I thought by showing the devices side-by-side, the design similarities would be more apparent.

Indeed, belt driven but with a center gear that can cause trouble. Great to read you have a device of the late Walkman guru!
@Valentin and others also listed serial numbers, but the cut-off range seems unclear.

 

I dont know how I mentioned D5, What I meant was WM5, But it has a central gear like DD series without a metal disk encircled with plastic. That's why it never breaks. But Both WM-5 and its parent WM2 considered belt driven walkman.

 

Once you remove the clear plastic washer, it should come out. There is coil/ sprint under the central gear axle. If you push it down you can see that it is easily going up and down. There shouldn't be any resistance removing it.
I recommend you to read this post, even though its for DD series but you will find a lot of useful information.

regarding the lose wires, Place some pictures of lose wires and members can tell you where they belong to.

 

Can I vote for emoticon reactions to posts ?

 

I skimmed through your post and the replies. I have worked on a lot of WM-2s and received a dumpster fire WM-5 to check out. I have also worked on a few of the hidden disk drive WM-F5s. There are a ton of similarities between the WM-5 and the WM-2. Not sure if it has been mentioned, but the service manuals for the WM-5 and WM-2 have been excellent resources for me personally. I would highly recommend Googling those because the downloads are free and invaluable. I'm sure that's not exactly what you want to hear, but once you get the basic concept of how they work, taking them apart and putting them back together is a lot easier. I'm a visual learner so people could explain things to me until they are blue in the face, but seeing it for myself and having the hands on experience makes a huge difference. If things don't go well, take it from me, you will NEED the spare parts for future work on these things. I ruined a few of the WM-2s (broke my heart), but I've used parts from them to work on the WM-5 and WM-F5s. You got this! Have patience in yourself. You can always find more of these on eBay fairly easy. Good luck!!