I recently got my hands on a WM-DD33. It is in good cosmetic condition, but it makes a clicking sound during playback and sometimes slips when fast forwarding and rewinding. This makes me think that the center gear might be cracked. Could any other damage cause similar symptoms? I have also noticed that when rewinding, it sometimes doesn’t engage the second capstan. When it does engage, the first capstan moves briefly when starting and stopping the rewind. After doing some research, I believe this could be caused by a cracked center gear, but I would appreciate confirmation before opening it. Would you recommend attempting this repair myself, or should I contact a professional? Do you recommend any reliable places to get a replacement gear (I live in Europe)? Are there any other tools or materials I should prepare for the repair (I already have a suitable screwdriver)?
Typically, you'll need to replace the central gear. By now, there won't be any left without a cracked gear. In my opinion, it's one of the easiest good-quality Walkmans to repair yourself, especially if it's still clean inside. There are good instructions for replacing the gear. You do need to be careful, especially with the DD33, when removing the control buttons. If you do it too forcefully, they'll break. In my experience, the green plastic under the Play button can break easily if you try to remove it too forcefully. Especially the green flap that locks the lift mechanism. I'm a fan of the Fixyouraudio gear. You do have to de-solder three wires to access the mechanism. A small soldering iron is essential. Just be careful, and you should be fine.
Like Michiel said Fix Your Audio is a good place to get parts, on the home page of Stereo2go in the bottom right hand corner is a link to Fix Your Audio. If you don’t like soldering you can easily get to and change the broken gear without doing any de-soldering, that is how I do DD33’s and DC2’s. By the way stop using the unit, until you have changed the broken gear. If you keep using it, you will create more damage to adjacent gears.
I too Agree with Michiel and Toocool , I have done the repair like toocool !! As Michiel Stated this is a great machine and just take your time take lots photos just incase you get stuck or wire comes loose . Sincerely Rixhard
As others have said. You will need to replace the cracked center gear with the kit from fix your audio. I'm not sure but you may also need the small reel gear from them as well. Often on other DD's these develop a hairline fracture which can be hard to see but under load the take up spool may slip on the shaft and of course that despools tape inside the Walkman and ruins your cassette.
My first DD repair was on a 33 as well - it's very doable for beginners thanks to Marian's guide (https://fixyouraudio.com/sony-dd-series-step-by-step-repair-guide-for-dummies/). Just take your time and follow the steps methodically. Some things I would definitely recommend: - you'll need to unsolder then resolder the head wires. A basic soldering kit should suffice. - there are some very small parts and springs, so a magnifying glass of some sort, especially on a stand, is very helpful. - once you replace the center gear and begin reassembly, alignment of the gear stack might be off a bit, so you'll need to check to make sure the FF and REW gears engage properly. It often requires some fiddling to get this right. - I definitely recommend replacing the idler tire rubber while you're in there, and also the small REW gear that others have mentioned. Marian also now stocks a replacement FF gear (https://fixyouraudio.com/product/sony-wm-dd-hex-take-up-gear/), which I think is also worth replacing preemptively. - watch a few videos to see how others have made this repair, and take lots of photos as you go Have fun and good luck!
Thank you all for the advice. Before ordering the replacement parts (I will also look into replacing the FF and REW gears), I’ll start with the disassembly to see if I’m comfortable with this kind of repair. I can also check if there are any other parts that need replacement. I do have some soldering experience, so that part shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll stop using the unit for now to avoid causing further damage. I only used it briefly to test whether it was able to play a tape. I’ll post an update once I’ve made some progress.
I have managed to remove the rear cover, but I am having trouble with the screws holding the PCB in place. The one closest to the FF button won’t come loose no matter what I try. Did anyone encounter the same issue? How would you recommend removing it without causing damage?
Hello Jiogose, Depends on the what screw is going into but there times I find a little head from a solddering iron to heat the screw up helps to unloosen it and other times I use something like Pb blaster and tooth pick to put little oil where needed also if you are working on any japenese sets like these get yourself some Phillips screw drivers japanese sets use diffrents size so using a american screw drive will strip the head. Sincerely Richard
