I got this Walkman for a couple bucks about a week ago at a yard sale.. it was pretty dirty and the last owner had left the batteries in it for too long so there was battery acid all over it. That was a pretty easy fix, just ended up taking it apart (which is a lot easier when it's actually held together with screws instead of the little plastic clips that Sony uses) and cleaning off the corrosion off the springs and wiping off all the gunk from the batteries. It works now, but I've run into an issue where it only plays out of one ear unless I tilt the headphone jack a certain way. Is there any way to fix this? Would I need to get a new headphone jack for it, or maybe it just needs to be cleaned out? Any help would be appreciated, as I'm not super experienced with this kind of thing. (also on a side note, does anyone know how to get the gunk off of the front of the device? I hate paper based stickers with a fiery passion) Thanks!
Try cleaning the socket first. Maybe some switch cleaner on a Q-Tip unless someone has a better idea. As for removing labels my approach would be silicone based furniture polish. The most common make over here is Mr Sheen. Spray it on the label, let it soak for about ten minutes then gently scrape it off with a thumbnail.
Also check for cracked solder connections between the headphone socket & PCB. These sockets are subject to lots of stress, and may sometimes may need resoldering.
Thanks for the advice. I didn't end up having any switch cleaner around, so I used rubbing alcohol. Still doesn't work properly, but a fair amount of dirt came out.
I opened the case back up and I tried taking the main chip part out but one of the screws was stripped, so I'm not able to take it apart all the way. I've never soldered before, so I don't really know what I'm looking for but maybe this helps? I dunno how I'm going to get the screw out but I'll look it up.
If you have never soldered before I would have a practice on something unimportant first. You can get small kits which would be a good thing to practice with. My other sdvice would be to use leaded solder. A stereo of that age would have used it and it is much easier to use than the lead free type which has a higher melting point and doesn't flow nicely.
Goo Gone for getting the residue off the case. This is a great unit to learn on, it looks like the solder cracked at the headphone jack which is very common, years of pulling headphones on and off and hitting objects puts a lot of stress in this area. I'd get a TS100 soldering iron on Amazon and work on your skills. I call it cam'd out when you destroy the top of the screw, with these units they use Japanese Industrial Standard heads and they look like they fit our more common Philips Screwdrivers but they can apply much more torque. Using Philips will cam out once in a while and it's frustrating so I highly recommend getting a set of Vessel JIS on Amazon. Getting it out might be hard, first I'd try with JIS Screwdriver, there still might be enough bite to get it. A very small Vice Grip might also work or lastly a Dremel to cut a slot for a slotted screwdriver. With tiny screws this can be difficult.
Awesome, this really helps. Ordering a JIS screwdriver now. I was also thinking possibly super glue? Like if I were to super glue a Philips head to it and see if that did anything... if it came detatched then I would possibly have like a mold of the screwdriver head on the screw, but this is just thinking out loud.
I'm not sure if there's a good way for really small screws, maybe some epoxy with a rod or upside-down screw that you can get a Vice-Grip on? Usually the torque will snap anything short of metal welding. This happened to me alot until I got the JIS, most units ended up on permanant shelf duty.
If the problem is the cracked joint, there may be no need to unscrew anything. You can just remelt the existing solder using a soldering iron, though it may be better to remove the old solder and add fresh one instead, Not quite clear, it looks like it may be cracked on the leftmost pin of the headphone socket. A cracked joint will look like this http://www.discovercircuits.com/dc-mag/Issue_11/pg-3.htm
okay, I might be able to get my hands on a soldering iron, I know someone who has one. Thanks a lot for the help.
