Seems like I have another one to repair somewhat. This was sold for a pretty penny but it got lost in the post for 3.5 weeks so I ended up getting it for free, as I got my money back from Paypal and the seller got to keep my money. So a win-win. The downside? It's not in great working condition that was described. Speed is 1% too fast and W&F is as bad as 0.45% in some cases, making it worse than all my other belt driven models. So this tops even my HS-PC202 Mk3 with bad motor hum in W&F. The seller said that he put a brand new "Decktech" belt on it and that it "looks and sounds perfect". He also said he calibrated it with a multi-meter. Unfortunately not... The left channel is also quieter than the right on Volume below 7. So 1-7 it's quieter, after which it gets louder. So I suppose increased resistance somewhere. Right seems fine but the left is not. Unless I turn the volume up to 7 or higher. Here's a 30 second, 3000Hz audio sample (turn down your headphones): https://vocaroo.com/15R7IrXSN5sa You can clearly hear that the left channel "lags" behind the right when turning up the volume. It also tends to clip at max volume. Though this might just be audacity. This model has the Twin Rotor Motor which is supposed to be super quiet and it is. The motor sounds fine and I can't hear any motor hum in the recordings. Dolby NR is off because the test tape wasn't recorded with it. All other mic enhancements are off. So it looks like a full teardown job I guess? Plus another model to source new capacitors for. I've got 2 "donors/spares" of this model, but they are in pretty bad condition. I really wanted a perfectly working unit of this model. It's a really special model for me and has a lot of the features I really want in a cassette Walkman. Though I was really hoping the seller had calibrated it well. Does anyone else maybe know a service that knows how to fix this particular device? I'm much more familiar with Sonys and some Aiwas. Maybe it would be a good idea to spend some of the money I saved on having a pro fix this. Especially as the latch and everything else is in such perfect condition I'd hate to put it back together and screw something up.
Some quick photos of the device condition. Maybe only the right pinch roller looked a little 'dirty' but it otherwise looks immaculate.
Great unit! I think I used a photo of my own unit for Walkman.land for the thumbnail, since it is not such a common model. Mine was badly damaged due to battery juice, but is in working condition. W&F not super, but enough and the components won’t degrade the unit further.
Thanks for sharing. Do you know anything about this model? I am looking at sourcing someone locally who can fix it. Might have found someone so I'd like as much info as possible about it. Still can't find a service manual sadly.
W&F is not good, and isn’t this unit part of the Panasonic range with uneven pressure on the rollers and bent brackets? I need to check if the remote of the S70 is compatible, don’t believe it is.
No idea about the pressure on the rollers or brackets. I managed to find a guy who has been repairing these for years who is confident in his work. I'll get him to do a full report and take some photos of the interior. It seems you have the "Z2" version. Specifically the "RQ-S90F Z2" this model was specific to Japan. You can distinguish it from mine on the front via the fact that it has both a dark green square on the right side of the LED display and the words "AREA BANK TUNER" on the front and not "RECORDING" like it does on mine. Otherwise the units as I understand are identical.
I had no idea that there was a JDM version, thanks for sharing. The S70 remote does not work by the way. Good to hear you found a technician.
I'm not familiar with this particular walkman, but mechanism is AR90 used in all Panasonic RQ-S, some RQ-SX and even DCC portables. Generally speaking a good mechanism. However motor, capstan bearings and the main pulley is recommended to be cleaned and re-lubricated as a basic service. The main pulley which drives the geartrain can be a problem on some units, being hard to turn due to old grease. To be noted the retainers on the capstans are not split washers on this models, so more care is needed to remove them. However the washers can be reused without a problem. This model is the newer generation without pad lifter, so the bent pinch roller holding pin isn't a problem here. Pinch rollers also look good, I would just clean and leave the original ones in place. W&F is indeed very high for this mechanism which can typically achieve very low w&f. In regard to the imbalance, a cleaning of the volume potentiometer is the first thing to do. Looking at this video (www.youtube.com/watch?v=syz1tttWNls), I only see 1 x 150μF electrolytic capacitor. Please update the thread with the solution for reference once you get it serviced.
Handed it over to the local repair store today. Don't have the time to work on it myself and I am not familiar enough with Panasonic models. Store was really confident they could restore it to perfect sounding condition given what they already observed. I'll get it back in a few weeks with a report of what was fixed.
