Hi all, it’s been 3+ years since I last posted hoping to find a miracle cue for my malfunctioning DD9 that apparently has a cracked gear along with a sticking battery compartment and wobbly door mechanism! Still looking for someone I could trust to perform a miracle and get my Walkman I’ve had since the 90s.
Good luck with your repairs, there's only a handful of people left that know these units well, luckily they are very collectable.
Remember your post from 2021. The unfortunate part is that cracked camgear, not aware of anyone having it made in the meantime. Big issue is despite this is a known weakness of the DD9, it's not really that common of a problem. Hence why not a lot of motivation to manufacture it. The only 2 options for this gear (given the low demand) are 3D printing and CNC. @bub may be able to 3D print camgear(s), he's done this before: https://www.tapeheads.net/threads/panasonic-rq-p580-ja160-mechanism-woes.108860/post-775777155 Door hinges are available made of steel: https://www.ebay.com/itm/256560025941 But this situation brings back another point: these walkmans are not indestructable as many think. After so many years, they need to be serviced and re-lubricating those camgears, capstan bearings are important items, but all the rotating parts should be re-lubricated. Then the head sits on a spring foil, which by factory is adjusted pretty tight. This adds stress on the camgear and should also be adjusted when unit is serviced.
Can you take photos of your broken cam gear? I only have one (museum condition) DD9 so I am not willing to take mine apart unless it needs service. Depending on how much stress and tension this cam has, it is most likely impractical to print one with any type of photopolymer resin (which are all essentially modified acrylics).
There are some pictures with the camgears here: https://stereo2go.com/forums/threads/sony-dd9-cracked-gear-help.7231/#post-55496 Also attached a couple more. There is quite a bit of stress as cams move metal levers. Hence why my remark about adjusting the head spring foil and tightening it in the engaged position.
