Just won my first DD Walkman! Happy as Larry to say the least! Seller says it has no sound though, anyone have any knowledge of common faults with these? Pictures to follow when I receive it. Thanks in advance
Sorry too new for me, not on purpose I just haven't stumbled upon any of these early 90's units. Here's the service manual if you don't have it. https://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/sony/wm-dd11.shtml
Thanks for the reply though! I downloaded the manual earlier from there, good source of stuff like that.
To be honest with you I don't know the answer but for sure there is no simple answer to your question. If the motor is not moving the spindle/ capstan this is a good sign which means hopefully fix is simple (like fixing the gear. If the motor works and moves the spindle/capstan it might be a bad news. which makes the repair more complex. So once you receive this walkman try to check it yourself and clean the contacts, headphone jack. gently move the volume control to see whether or not you can hear the sound. I had this issue with A WALKMAN DD and a WM-F5 and in both situation I was able to hear the sound by moving the volume control up and down. So once you receive it do some exploration and update us and I am sure somebody can help you good luck and congratulation on you first DD walkman
Just sorted a dd11 - this one was mechanically functioning, but almost completely silent. Recapped it and it’s playing pretty nicely now and sounding good - got all the capacitors from Farnell in the UK Did the other stuff from the service manual and throroughly cleaned it before reassembling Let me know if you need any more help - I’m not one of S2G’s super technicians but I’ll try my best!
Hello everyone, all the Sony walkmans of the economic DD series (DD1, DD10, DD11 and DD22) have the same problem of many Aiwa walkmans: defective capacitors. But, luckily, unlike the Aiwa walkmans capacitors, the defective capacitors on Sony walkmans have been less aggressive on the circuits, so just give the circuit a simple clean and assemble new capacitors ( i prefer tantalum ) to get a walkman every time fully functional.
Absolutely. The DD's listed are the ones with liquid based/electrolytic capacitors. These eventually fail and in some cases the fluid leaks out and can destroy the circuit board. Friends tell me this is more if an issue with Aiwa players. Some things that are rare are more of a joy. Today we stripped down a DDII expecting to find the usual cracked center gear. But no. The gear intact after 34 years. Amazing!
Sounds like a re-cap in on the horizon! This will be the first thing I've ever attempted anything like this though, but I may practise on an old non-working unit first. I'm pretty sure these don't use the centre gear and actually have a drive belt. From the eBay description, apparently everything works except for there's no sound so hopefully I'll get away with a good clean!
you're right - no central gear on the WM-DD11 as you'll see in the service manual I would recommend watching some youtube guides on soldering, specifically SMD caps as it's quite a step up from 'through the hole' components in my view Check what equipment they are using and in fact how little soldering is actually done!
Right, little update. It does work though could obviously do with a new belt, so I'll change that. There is sound at low volumes but its very muffled, as you turn the volume up, the song gets replaced with a beeping noise that speeds up as you raise the volume, so I can only assume that it does need recapping. I'll take your advice and research what I have to do before taking the plunge and potentially damaging the unit, which would be a shame as its in amazing condition cosmetically. I managed to find a list of the caps that this unit uses online so next to source a few of those as well. Thanks for the replies!
My friends repair some cassette players. I will try to ask them, may be they know how to solve the issue.
