Hello all and happy holidays! Recently, I got few cool walkman pieces, and among them, one EX618 very nicely used, basically with no physical damage. Standard issues, almost gone belt and battery leakage corrosion. I have ordered a new belt from fixyouraudio and also, cleaned the battery liquid corrosion. The walkman usually play nicely expect that in one direction usually eats the tape (unless, tape is 60 or less minutes). And that actually does not matter with the age, manufacturer or type of the cassette. When I compare it to EX622 I have too, its much weaker when rewinding the tape (tested with the same Maxell tape which I know its pretty heavy, like the lubricant is gone on it so I am using it just to test players). So, what I observed playing the tape that works well in any other walkman is that usually it starts ok, and then after some seconds, take up reel slows down for a second or two, like its weak, and then continues. But for those few seconds when the take up reel slows down, tape gets eaten by the pinch roller. I have tried to hold both reels and I can confirm its not the sharp stop (meaning the gears should be good and not broken). Its rather like its loosing the power because the tape is heavy. I have provided videos how it looks like when I try rewinding that heavy maxell 90min tape. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ali3...7304.mov?rlkey=8saiosv8u2gfx3f3f4nj41auv&dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/1hsh...7305.mov?rlkey=3uevtnisshtabmojr84t7vfdx&dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/3ntx...7306.mov?rlkey=oy4116tcn0gurl2158dn347yb&dl=0 The questions I would like to get the answers from more experienced folks than me here, is this something that is expected in a way and that I should never even try using 90min tape on such player? Another question is related to lubricating the mechanism which I did not do as I had to desolder the motor and few other connections in order to remove the motherboard and reach the mechanism. I have already ordered white grease for some other stuff so I was thinking to remove the mother board and make sure the mechanism is clean and lubricated properly. I would appreciate any advice on this even if that advice is just to give up on the device, which I have to admit, sounds incredibly good for its age.
I am now answering to myself It could be that I fixed it and I know what is wrong with it. For some reason, when the right reel was out of the centre (like it was kicked for a 0.2-0.3mm down right). So I removed the door and took a closer look, it appeared that the right axle fell off the axis. And when the right gear becomes take up reel, its getting harder and harder to spin because it spins a bit towards down. I just applied a bit of a force with a thumb to make it center and checked using a few tapes to make sure its perfectly centered. Now, no flashing battery light when rewinding the tape either side and no more this strange squeaking by the motor when rewinding this Maxell tape. I have checked with several tapes now so since take up works smoothly without slowing down, no more eating tape Congrats to myself
