I have two WM-F28 Walkmen as they sound so good (BETTER than my DC2, with correct azimuth, the DC2 simply sounds dull) but both of these WM-F28 developed their own problems. On one Walkman, the FF wouldn't work due to some friction somewhere in the mechanism. The motor was nearly stalled already without a cassette in it. This turned out to be hardened grease in the bearing of one of the gears. I removed it, cleaned it and voila, works. Now that it was open I removed the flywheels, cleaned capstans and bearings, put a LITTLE(!) oil on the capstans and reinstalled them. The other one developed a nasty habit of giving a very harsh and loud sound if pressed at a certain place at the back. Indeed, a small crack in the PCB. Installed a small bypass-wire and voila, it works fine. Remarkably, these 1986 Walkmen did never require a new belt or new electrolytic caps. They still sound wonderful after all these years. I bought a lot of other, more modern and small Walkmen later, but they all didn't satisfy like this large brick the WM-F28 in fact is. Especially all those 1.2V powered ones just don't have the power to drive a decent pair of headphones. The WM-F28 drives them with ease.
Very cool! The all plastic models from the 80s may have not been as premium as the sleek metal ones, but they usually hold up way better (less complicated, more room for a simple & roomy mecha). I also agree about the volume. Rarely do I find a slim walkman that has the output I want. The metal body models have that shivery cold touch when left alone for awhile tho...
I had a similar experience with the F28. The only one I ever had was working perfectly with zero servicing...and it sounded better than almost any other model I had used. I sold it but wouldn't mind owning another if anyone has an extra It would be really cool if someone with W/F test equipment did a test on this player because I think the large flywheels really help this model.
