I have received mine back from @Valentin , in great shape! Very happy with the performance and audio output, comparing it now to my DDII subjectively
My serial is 1073399 and it has its original center larger center gear. Was originally sold in Hong Kong I believe, so I can second that serial number has little or no relation to center gear thickness
So far, this is the info we have regarding serial numbers: 120 895 - thick center gear, no auto-off 241 322 - normal center gear, no auto-off, 2 audio ICs 221 885 - thick center gear 341 214 - normal center gear auto off, 1 audio IC 799 779 - thick center gear, 1 audio IC 310 297 - normal center gear, auto-off, 1 audio IC 1 137 162 - thick center gear, auto off, 1 audio IC 1 073 399 - thick center gear To me, there is only one way that the serial numbers could be correlated with type of gear: that is if the first digit (or first 2 digits in case of 7 digit serial) represents a batch number, a destination market or a generation of the device and it represents a distinct part of the serial itself. In this case: - serial 1 073 399 would be 73 399; - serial 1 137 162 would be either 137 162 or 37 162 (any one of thse should be thick gear); - serial 799 779 would be 99 779; Given the differences in gear type, audio circuit design (1 IC/2 ICs), auto-off feature and PLAY/FWD labeled button, it is clear that this particular model has gone through many changes during its lifetime. This might explain the vast range of serial numbers, some of which don't seem that common (at least to me), especially ones above 500 000. So there is a possibility that ones above 500 000 start back from an initial number (which I believe to have at least 4 digits) and 6,7,8,9,10 are just a designator put in front of the number itself. @Silver965 What type of gear does the WM-2 in your first picture (serial 1 137 162) has ? It only appears assembled in the pictures.
@Valentin, just one thing, my unit has the auto off feature, at the end of the tape it shuts off automatically
@JUAN ANDRES MONTIEL DIEZ I'm reffering to the electronic auto-off, indicated by reflective/dark pattern on the takeup reel gear. The mechanical feature is usually called auto-stop and that also un-latches the mechanism. This is present on all versions (in all SONY walkmans in fact as far as I know). The auto-off only turns off the motor, while the mechanism remains remains latched. This feature is used for stopping the motor in FF/REW if you do not press stop. Your device clearly doesn't have this feature.
@Valentin .. The one closed with serial 1137162 and what you see in the video posted here on Media http://www.stereo2go.com/forums/media/sony-wm2.1510/ ... And with single chip and hitchhiking .. only thing changed by that video the belt ... it must be said that the Wm - 2 have two types of hitchhiking ... one mechanical and one electronic ... the mechanical one is activated when you are in PLAY and at the end of the cassette the mechanism returns the head to the rest position and turns off the walkman. .. as if you pressed the STOP key ..... The electronic one instead comes into operation only when you press RW or FF ... at the end of the cassette the sensor mounted on the circuit no longer detects the movement of the Black / Light colored wheel and turns off the walkman after a couple of seconds ... But mechanically it remains as it is and ... if you have pressed FF the button remains pressed but the walkman is off. .. same for RW ...
Old and new caps. 220 uf newer little bit shorter but significantly thickers, 100uf little bit shorter and similar thicknes. New are Rubycon, no mark printed on the older ones, I thought was Rubycon but not see any evidence of that
@JUAN ANDRES MONTIEL DIEZ Old caps are Nippon Chemicon by the looks of it. Check the picture attached with their logo. On the actual caps, since they're very small you will find just the logo without the writing inside. As in regard to serial numbers, the first thing I see is this: - serials below 240 000 seem to have thick gear; - serials above 500 000 (if we take the first digit out or first 2 on 7 digit serials) also reduce to serials below 240 000 and all of these seem to have a thick gear as well; - serials between 240 000 and 500 000 seem to have a DD-type gear (the one that breaks); NOTE: The 500 000 is a randomly chosen number. It could be more, it could be less. I just don't know until I see one with serial close to this number. Don't know if my statement is correct, but the data we have so far indicates it is. More data is needed to draw conclusions.
@Valentin I will get you the serial number of the unit I am working on. I know it has the thick plastic central gear, no reflective take up gear, and two audio IC's. Steve
Hi I’ve got a few serial numbers - all with the single piece plastic gear Most “version” descriptions just mention the FWD or PLAY buttons. But I have two versions with FWD - some have Walkman on front and later ones have Walkman II. I’d say PLAY button and Walkman II on front is version 3. FWD+Walkman 29242 91271 215047 FWD+Walkman II 305849 all have intact plastic one piece gears
I can see some on eBay with PLAY + Walkman II with serials 328170, 376076, 395912, 434112, 436066, 496938, 599784, 815759 Same in red 918903 Same in black 406031? (Hard to see) Some with FWD+ Walkman with serial 29678, 152992, 267188 I think I’d just avoid those with play buttons. I’d assume they made 270000 of the first version, a few 10s of thousand of the second, then the rest were PLAY ones and may have the two piece gear
I have worked on a few of the WM-2s. My observation has been that the 1981 models have the Walkman logo on the front (not Walkman II), the "play" button is labeled "FWD", the plastic base beneath the capstans are black (instead of the off white), and the mother board wiring is different. The WM-2s with the differences mentioned are the 1982 models. Anyone else see this in their travels?
I found this one useful. Sony WM-2 Potentiometer POT Volume Control. http://reallygoodstuffs.com/Sony Walkman WM-2 Potentiometer.htm
A modelo with play button instead of FWD but with no central gear https://m.facebook.com/story.php?st...CVYwuxxKhQl&id=2179309542391996&sfnsn=scwspwa
I mean the unit have a thick plastic gear different to the typicall and problematic central gear of the DD models, but have labeled play instead of FWD on the play button. So we can't assume models labeled with play button have normal central gear similar to the DD models instead of thick gear.
So to be clear, is there a clear correlation between FWD/PLAY label on the button and normal center gear/thick gear ? FWD labeled units are likely the earliest ones, as a similar pattern exists in the TPS-L2 vs WM-3: the former is labeled FWD while the latter is labeled PLAY. However, it's possible that some of these early units have a thick (full plastic) center gear while others do not. It may also depend on the market they were sold on, as serial number ranges differ for different markets. From the info I have so far, I don't think there is any clear way to tell what type of gear is in a particular device without using it.
Hi, I have here 3 WM-2 with the following characteristics: SN 151425 1 IC, full plastic center gear, FWD SN 175085 1 IC, full plastic center gear, PLAY SN 401762 1 IC, full plastic center gear, PLAY
