I see an old forum post about belt sizes and there was an xls that was being updated. https://www.stereo2go.com/topic/walkman-belt-reference.htm Did it continue on the this new forum at all (I can’t find it) or a new link to the xls file? seems to be very little info on belt sizes, just sellers saying hers a belt for xyz model but no actual size given.
Keep searching the old threads, there's a few with belt sizes but it's tough to get some of the more obscure models. It's one of the reasons I dislike cracking open older players, sometimes there's no easy way to figure out the belt sizes. We could try to put something together but the old guys that used to know how to do common databases don't seem to chime in as much these days.
I guess it's an almost never ending list but there was an xls sheet at one stage. And I understand why belt sellers (decktech , fixyouraudio) don't list sizes, they want to sell the belt. Where as me the consumer wants to know to maybe shop around .. a single belt cost me around $20, more than half is postage.
I'm sure shops have a love hate relationship with belts, they take up manpower to pick and ship but if they get the price up to $20, they start making decent money. I've used these guys in the past with great luck, maybe you can get a better price. https://www.turntableneedles.com/ I think PBR/Russell Industries is still around, here's their catalog. Sony Tape Belts start on page 82. I think DocP was the one who had a long list? Maybe search his old threads....
Thanks mate. Another question to save making a new post. Is there somewhere that sell a mixed bag of screws , Walkman sized? ( I should add, that’s not FixYourAudio etc as they are $33 delivered for 96 screws to Australia). I guess a mix set of jewellers/watch screws may work..
I'd probably go to Amazon and search under electronic screw assortment. We also have McMaster Carr, Digikey and Mouser that might have those in stock over here, I think they ship internationally.
A plus for FixYourAudio: the 96 screws are all diameters and lengths that are actually used on walkmans: when I buy Amazon assortments I end up with a plastic box for 8.99 with 1000 screws that I can the only use one size... just a consideration... plus if you need any 2.5mm dia ball bearings, I have ~1000-3 left over too... You can order the "Walkman Washers" from FyA to share the shipping; these are useful, hard to find, and the closest plastic washers I've found to original... I've tried ebay belts and they have been too big, but I've had consistent luck with FyA belts and rubber(and screws), but always order multiple items to keep shipping reasonable... It's possible there's another assortment I havent run across yet though...
I started a spreadsheet with belt dimensions myself, but it's extremely small at this time. For the most part, I don't feel the need of having all the belts' dimensions as long as that belt can be found from 2 or 3 different sellers. The vast majority of walkman belts I need can be found from FixYourAudio, DeckTech (ebay) or mindset4lot (ebay). For decks, webspareparts.com has a pretty good assortment as well. For pinch rollers, rubber tires, gears, FixYourAudio has a lot of the needed ones. I do list belt and pinch roller dimensions on this thread which is updated regularly: https://stereo2go.com/forums/threads/list-of-walkman-portable-recorders-common-problems.7535/ However compared to how many walkmans are out there the list is, of course, extremely small. I focus on the dimensions of those belts and rollers which can't be found by device's model name as there are plenty of situations like this. Those listed there are tested with DeckTech belts (the ones they sell by dimension). The 96 screws assortment kit is a must have for people repairing walkmans, however it is to be noted one will need other dimensions as well. Good news is most can be found on ebay. This is one perspective (which is perfectly valid), but there's another one: many buyers (including myself) want to buy the belt for a specific device without messing around and trying 2-3 belt sizes until they find the perfect one. I also want to get consistent quality of a specific belt, so when I service walkmans for others (and even for myself) I know what I'm buying and I can have predictable results in terms of wow&flutter. Some devices are very sensitive to the belt used and I may have a specific preffered belt that I want to use for that device when I'm servicing it. For example, one of the sellers I'm usually buying from did not had the belt I want listed, so went by dimension (as I knew the dimensions). Guess what ? Wow&flutter was all over the place. Contacted that seller and found out there was an issue and the item did not appear on search as expected. After buying the "correct" belt wow&flutter was fine. Because there are many variables to a belt: some are more elastic than others for example, even for the same dimensions. Some mechanisms work better with more elastic belts, some work better with more rigid betls. Similarly, some mechanisms may work better with 0.8mm thickness belts, not 1mm or 0.6mm. And 0.8mm thickness ones are very hard to find, so having the diameter won't help too much. As for the price, I pay about 9GBP for a belt from DeckTech including shipping and VAT, which I don't find bad at all given I have predictable quality. Prices on FYA is very similar (a bit cheaper when buying directly from the website) and indeed shipping costs about half of that.
I've had good success with FixYourAudio, mindset4lot, webspareparts.com, plus VintageElectronics.com, I haven't tried DeckTech but will remember that! I appreciate the experience and ideas ... shipping always seems disproportionately pricey, but normally these vendors send their items in small envelopes, so I think they try to keep costs reasonable... I don't see how amazon does it, things I ship are always very expensive to ship...
FixYourAudio offers untracked shipping at a much lower cost (around 1euro comapred to 4euros tracked), but there's always the risk of the envelope being lost if it's not tracked. The vast majority of them will arrive fine, but around 5% is to be expected will get lost. This is generic, not reffering just to FYA, it happened to me on ebay or Aliexpress items as well. DeckTech is a good supplier of belts and has many obscure ones which are not to be found at other sellers. Also they have 1mm, 1.2mm square cut and 4mm flat belts by size. FYA has by size as well, but only thin ones, mostly 0.6mm. About Amazon: all big retailers (and even smaller ones) have contracts with shipping companies and have very different prices compared to the regular guy. Not to mention Amazon sells at times with no profit in order to convince you to pay for something else like subscriptions, books etc.. The Kindle for example is sold with no profit based on the premise that they will make a lot more money by selling you digital books.
Great reply. Thanks. I’ve only bought DeckTeck and FixYourAudio belts. Just the problem being in Australia the postage price is a lot. That’s fine if I need a batch of belts but just one belt and it’s more than $20. Then again, that’s prob better than buying a cheap belt then thinking my Walkman is still faulty. screws, I bought a selection of 1.4 and 2.o sizes for $5 delivered so will see how those go.
