Since finding a Sony D-9 discman I've got the bug and bought another D-9 and a D-99. My question is which of the 2 discmans is easier to tackle a repair on? All power up, but don't read the disc so I'm presuming the plastic wheel of doom. I've watched a few videos on replacing it so I'm ok with that, it's the capacitor replacement I'm asking for really on which is the easiest for a novice to discman repair. Do I just replace the smd's or go 'all in' on replacing the capacitors? Done a bit of soldering before and just got myself a soldering station. Here's my 3 finds, paid £40 for 1 d-9, £15 for the other and £45 for the d-99.
Back during the pandemic, a couple of us really got into refurbing these models... it was a hot market then so nabbing them cheap was difficult... and fun. I did quite a few of 'em back in 2020. My thread: https://stereo2go.com/forums/threads/i-refurbished-a-discman.5431/ Very nostalgic thread for me... one of my first. @Jorge is super and was really kind to me as well getting me started. He is very knowledgable. What I can say is that the D-90 and D-99 are the same... except for some of the audio circuitry. I actually think the 1-BIT dac isn't as good as the old linear PCM D-90. Cleaning off old grease, and replacing the crumbling center Gear is gonna be the same on both of these. With these models, ANY of the electrolytic caps can leak. The SMD caps are a no-brainer for replacement... as all will be bad. There are some audio caps, and large 220uf caps around the DC socket that like to leak some too. You also need to flood the mega bass switch with alcohol and work it back and forth vigorously. Finally, the spindle motors like to go... leading to skipping and noisy playback. The linked thread covers all of this. I'd start with the D-90s. They are not worth as much as the '1-bit' D-99... so if something goes awry you won't be too sorry. Again, the expensive nature of the D-99 is just hype... it is not a better unit per se than the D-90
Jorge was really into the D9'ers for a while it seems. A low cost good sounding model with a lot of potential that had to be studied and checked out thoroughly I suspect. I don't know much about them apart from the D-99 being the first 1 bit DAC, then followed by the D-303 too. This is off topic I know, but, some readers may get something out of it: Later model 1990+ D-9, D-90, D-99 are good donors for the laser KSS-220, because, they have similar / almost same ribbon cable on the laser that fits D-555 nicely (just a slight twist needed). Assuming one finds a pristine clean example donor with very low hours. Like with organ transplant donors eh? I found a super nice example just for the laser. (Worked fine... but I didn't even do careful listening tests to check audio quality! ) Inside I note a huge number of capacitors. Crazy. Different Sony design teams worked on various models I think. Such differences between models. (D-555 has 6 caps total, three are SMD and 3 hole through (though 2 are tacked onto the pads not hole through) just the 150uf power supply one is actually hole through.) Kaosun sells on e-bay such lasers. Condition used. All OEM spares appear to have been used up, all gone, no longer available, or being hoarded by aficionados in Asia. See his ad for more info SONY KSS-220 KSS-220A KSS-165A KSS-167A Laser for D555/DENON DCP150 Yeah you really can swap them in without analog oscilloscope calibration. I mean, if you have a bad laser, weak, with chronic skipping, hardly working, then you put in a "fresh" old one, as I have done a few times, problem is cured without calibration. Solid performance, I was surprised it worked without proper adjustment. (Other people were right after all.) I still want to pick up the last HP analog oscilloscope made (as Jorge suggested), they are cheap on e-bay, just for laser adjusting. But, again, I find it hard to justify. Maybe one day.
Well I made a start yesterday and this is what I found. The pad that the 1000uf capacitor is sat on looks to have turned 'guey'. I'm going to remove it and try and change all the capacitors as per the threads I've read, thank you.
Use lots of cotton buds, Q-tips, with isopropyl alcohol, 90% is fine, to clean up that leaking capacitor mess. Use lots of cotton buds. Dip into alcohol, wipe away leaking goo, throw away. Repeat again and again. Don't be afraid to use 10+ cotton buds. Don't just thin out and smear the leaking muck around the board like I see some people do in youtube videos. Don't touch the leaking slime. Always assume it is toxic. That big 1000uf capacitor sat on a raised pedestal pad in the middle of the board haha. It stood out like a sore thumb when I looked inside the D-9 I got for parts. I am surprised it leaked being a good Nichicon. Watch some youtube videos on correct soldering technique. Get a tuna can and cut a square of green scour pad to fit in the bottom. Add a few spoons of water so the pad is half covered. Use this to wipe the soldering iron tip between every solder melt / flow. That's what I found worked best. Not these dry copper scour things or the yellow sponges. They are not rough enough to grab the debris / burnt waste and remove it. Keep tip nice shiny silver clean constantly. Clean old solder joints on board with alcohol cotton bud and before melting etc., and clean after too. You can get a nice perfect solder pad that looks almost like the factory. Then clean it up with a cotton bud and alcohol. Do a lot of practising on a junk DVD player board or something. Good luck. It is a lot of fun to bring a device back to life. A real soaring sense of accomplishment. (Though I sometimes wonder if it is worth it half the time )
91% alcohol is great for the inside board, but do not use it on the outside case... it will take the "MEGABASS" lettering right off.
Guess you found that out the hard way (Wait: Removing the silly yellow MEGABASS lettering would probably be an improvement though. Removing the MEGABASS feature itself would be even better! Yeah...I personally hate the MEGABASS... it only "helps" when using certain flat zero bass old headphones. And adds muddy distortion with 95% of headphones generally.)
Yes, I did indeed find out the hard way. It doesn't even usually remove the whole lettering, just smudges it around the place and then leaves a tiny shadow of where it once was. LOL that's funny. I hate MegaBass too, it's way too harsh, and is usually hard to turn off on older units with failed selector switches. I use AirPods Max with all of my devices... and megabass adds so. much. distortion. Moral of the story, if you want to remove the megabass lettering use 91% ... LMAO
Thank you for all the info so far, I’ve cleaned the board although not thoroughly yet because I’m going to remove the capacitors as per Jorge on square-2.com, then a proper clean. I understand the 2 100uf 6.3v are before the headphone out and I’ll get some nichicon ukw for those but, would you just buy standard Panasonic capacitors for the rest of replacements or buy nichicon ufw ? More info, I will very rarely/if ever use headphones but will be using line out to my amplifier. This is my last day at work for 10 days, so I will have time to move forward with the refurb.
It really depends how easy those Nichicon UKW are to obtain. This catalog (https://www.nichicon.co.jp/english/series_items/catalog_pdf/e-ukw.pdf) doesn't show them in the small footprint required for this application. If they need to be purchased as New Old Stock, I wouldn't bother and just put the best ones that can be found at components distributors like Farnell, DigiKey, etc. As for the output coupling caps, I would swap those for 220uF or 330uF for lower impedance at low frequencies. But then if you're not using the headphone output it doesn't really matter.
Thanks @Valentin I almost ordered them without thinking about the height. It's not as easy once you start factoring height in, the choice narrows down. I looked at this picture and thought, 'I'll match that'. I'll search Farnell & RS and see what I can find.
The height (and also diameter) is usually the important factor in these portables, that's the first criteria I go by because in many walkmans for example taller ones just won't fit inside the case. It's best to check if there is room for taller ones before ordering. I have a D90 myself, but the new caps I installed were same dimensions as original, so can't say if there's room for taller.
