New WM-DD center gear prototype is here (EDIT - final version is here)

Thanks Renzgi. The cable i worked out when i looked at some of the images Marian has put in the guide.

 

So i have put the new gear in. It runs soooooo smoothly. Amazing. However i have a problem. Play and FF work perfectly but when RW is pressed it seems to slightly catch the FF gear so both tape spools turn (in opposite directions of course.)
I dont know whether i have installed the center gear on the arm wrong or is that the arm is not straight?/wrong angle so that it just catches the small FF gear ?
I really dont want to take it all apart again Can anyone give some advice please?

 

Yes, gear must be adjusted in height.
You will find an exact instruction in the service manual of WM-DC2.

 

Thanks a lot Renzgi! Have you ever made this adjustment on any walkmans yourself? Does the drive lever bend easily?

 

i bent the drive lever a little bit. Now RW works but Play doesnt; the top gear on the center isnt meshing with the white fwd gear.

 

The lever is easy to bend. You probably bent the lever when the gear collar was installed. Normally this should work properly with Marians Gear.
IMPORTANT:
You do not press on the gear with the screwdriver. Press only on lever and only EASILY!

 

i have another gear arm. i will install it and see if its better.

 

Perhaps the support from the FWD/FF spindle on the metal base is broken. Does this wobble?

 

the black hex shaped one? That is ok. not broken

 

No the white what is solid on the metal plate. (Can not so be seen.) When tape spindle wobbles, it is broken there

 

no it all seems ok. Thank you.
I installed the other arm but it is also pushing down "too far" when Play or RW is engaged. When Play is pushed the centre gear goes below the white fwd spindle so the spindle isnt driven at all (no play movement and head puller donesnt get touched). When RW is pushed the centre gear goes to low so that both RW and FF smaller white gears are both engaged. How can i make the centre gear run higher so that it connects with the white play gear? Feels like the only thing i can do it bend the arm slightly so that it is higher in position??

 

in this picture you can see the problem. The play button is pushed down and the centre gear is rotating below the white fwd gear. I wonder is one of the metal shafts that the centre gear slides up and down on could be bent?? Thanks for any further advice.

 

Stupid question:
Have you installed the spring in the middle of the center gears?

 

Good question. Which spring? I only have one installed on shaft that centre gear arm slides up and down on at the play button end. Is there another spring?

 

I also notice that when i press PLAY then STOP the centre gear does not return to the top position of the arm shaft. See the gap between the gear and little clear plastic washer in the photos

 

I've noticed. Therefore The question of the spring. Have you cleaned both the shafts of the Gears?
And look if is the gears' metal disk still correctly mounted on the lever? Brass ring must be pressed in.

 

Thanks. Yes and the inside of the arm all with alcohol

 

Just a little patience.
DD repair guide is finished and it's time to send it for review, plus it needs to be published.
It has over 50 pages and all maintenance tasks are included, with detailed description and lots of images. Problem with adjusting center gear arm is also included there.

 

Guys, after a few hours, a couple of chocolate bars (it does help!), and a little bit of advice from Marian (along with his excellent instructions), I have my gear installed on my WMD3. The machine will play, and REW, but will not FF. Looks like I will need to adjust the lever mentioned in this post. The problem is, my D3 has a lot more mechanism pieces in the way, and I can't quite see where the lever is.