Hi,

Greetings. I hope some of the gurus here can help.

My WM-D6C is not shutting off at end of tape. Is this a simple belt swap? I see that this machine is disc drive.

All else is working great and I would like to get this fixed if possible.

Greetings to you, genejazz.

You're right, most likely its due to the belt that drives the tension / auto stop mechanism. It runs on a pulley around the capstan shaft between the disc drive tyre and flywheel.

You could check it out first by removing the bottom cover, and then removing the mainboard (careful not to break wires, just flip the board over to the side facing the controls.) Plug in a 6V adapter (center negative) and play a tape. When the tape reaches the end, the belt should slip for it requires some force to trigger the auto-stop.

To replace this belt, some disassembly effort is required. Minimally, you would have to remove the additional pause control lever (by removing retaining ring) and the flywheel thrust plate (by removing its two screws.)

Good luck. I used a 12cm(Diameter)/0.01cm(Width) belt if I remember correctly.

Thank you for your response. I will give it a go. I have decent tech skills as I restore/mod/repair old vintage tube musical instrument amps.

But nothing I've worked on comes to something this small and compact. Just the screws to take the back off is miniscule. If anything, I am afraind of losing some of these screws/washers, etc.

I'll order some belts and give it a go!

I got the belts. What is the best way to remove the tiny retaining ring? Is there a special tool for this?

Regards.

Gene

Hi

There is a proper tool for this: I believe they call them lock-ring / snap ring pliers. They are pliers that work by stretching ring open. For these types of rings, you'd try to find the one which fit "E rings".

Myself, I don't usually work with such rings, so I use my needle nose pliers from SMD soldering to gently pull on the ring end (on one of the "E" gaps) and a small flathead screwdriver to loosen ring at the same time. Granted this is not the best way, for if you let go of the pliers the ring will go flying, but it sure does the job.

EDIT: Quick Google search for an example:
http://www.garrettwade.com/pro....10&bhcd2=1258966446

Hi,

I was able to get the e ring off with a needle nose plier right after my post. Was very worried it would fly away but I managed to do it.

The show stopper has been the black screw on the fly wheel thrust retainer. With the play buttons facing away from you, the screw is the one on the right of the the thrust retainer.

It was screwed in so tight that when I tried to unscrew it, the screw head stripped and now, I am wondering what I should do.

I ordered screw extraction drivers and will see but this is concerning...

Any idea how I can get this screw out? It is so small.

when i first tried to rebelt the infamous tps-l2 i stripped the lower screw that holds down the bridge over the motor that has to come off to do the job. there seemed to me only one solution. i found the smallest, sharpest drill i owned. i centered it in what was left of the screw head and set it to drill counter-clockwise if i remember right. after a short time the screw even loosened and i stopped with part of the head still on. i took a small pin and gradually turned it out. i still don't believe it worked but it did. your screw may be smaller but if it isn't this will work. so much from experience from working on junk cars when i was much younger.

quote:

Originally posted by rerooted:
when i first tried to rebelt the infamous tps-l2 i stripped the lower screw that holds down the bridge over the motor that has to come off to do the job. there seemed to me only one solution. i found the smallest, sharpest drill i owned. i centered it in what was left of the screw head and set it to drill counter-clockwise if i remember right. after a short time the screw even loosened and i stopped with part of the head still on. i took a small pin and gradually turned it out. i still don't believe it worked but it did. your screw may be smaller but if it isn't this will work. so much from experience from working on junk cars when i was much younger.

Hi,

Thankyou for your response.

The screw head is about 1.4mm in diameter.

I am afraid to drill it out and it would ruin the screw as I would need it to screw the thrust retainer after belt replacement...

If the screw extractor driver I ordered fails, then I am considering getting the tiniest hack saw available and try to cut a slot in the head...

Any advice welcome as I really can use advice from walkman tech gurus.

quote:

Originally posted by kkzeder:
Hi

There is a proper tool for this: I believe they call them lock-ring / snap ring pliers. They are pliers that work by stretching ring open. For these types of rings, you'd try to find the one which fit "E rings".

Myself, I don't usually work with such rings, so I use my needle nose pliers from SMD soldering to gently pull on the ring end (on one of the "E" gaps) and a small flathead screwdriver to loosen ring at the same time. Granted this is not the best way, for if you let go of the pliers the ring will go flying, but it sure does the job.

EDIT: Quick Google search for an example:
http://www.garrettwade.com/pro....10&bhcd2=1258966446

Thanks for the helpful link. The e ring in this walkman is 2mm! I can not find any e ring pliers for something this small...

Any ideas?

when i did that screw drilling i had already a good supply of misc. screws to draw from. i still save all the misc. screws from junk players and they do come in handy. even now if i see a junker for a few dollars i will buy it to back up a player i have collected. i do like your idea of cutting a notch if you have the room to use it. save those old screws before you pitch it out.

quote:

Originally posted by rerooted:
when i did that screw drilling i had already a good supply of misc. screws to draw from. i still save all the misc. screws from junk players and they do come in handy. even now if i see a junker for a few dollars i will buy it to back up a player i have collected. i do like your idea of cutting a notch if you have the room to use it. save those old screws before you pitch it out.

I can't believe this screw is in there so tight!

I've ordered a bunch of tools for tiny micro work.

I'll try the screw extractor driver first. If that don't work, I'll use my dremel with the super thin cut off wheel and try to slot this screw head. If that fails, I ordered some super small drill bits and a pin vise. I'll have to drill it out, maybe...

I have a dead Sony WM-D3 I can cannibalize for screws.

Sheesh... All I wanted to do was change the belt so the auto stop will work.

I'll post my progress as the tools arrive.

quote:

Originally posted by genejazz:

quote:

Originally posted by kkzeder:
Hi

There is a proper tool for this: I believe they call them lock-ring / snap ring pliers. They are pliers that work by stretching ring open. For these types of rings, you'd try to find the one which fit "E rings".

Myself, I don't usually work with such rings, so I use my needle nose pliers from SMD soldering to gently pull on the ring end (on one of the "E" gaps) and a small flathead screwdriver to loosen ring at the same time. Granted this is not the best way, for if you let go of the pliers the ring will go flying, but it sure does the job.

EDIT: Quick Google search for an example:
http://www.garrettwade.com/pro....10&bhcd2=1258966446

Thanks for the helpful link. The e ring in this walkman is 2mm! I can not find any e ring pliers for something this small...

Any ideas?

I found a 2mm e ring tool! At a model shop. Tamiya makes them. Glad I checked because in my youth, I was an avid modeler winning contests and such. I thought Tamiya might have them since some of the R/C tank models used this tiny e rings.

Hallelujah!

I was able to get the belt swapped. The auto stop is now working properly.

I still am amazed how Sony was able to cram so much in such a small space and still retain great performance.

The speed is dead on after a tweak and it plays and records superb for a walkman.

My magnifying light really came into good use to see all these micro parts.

Glad for your success.

Tamiya models unfortunately were mostly out of my budget in the past. Japanese products, seriously built to last.

quote:

Originally posted by kkzeder:
Glad for your success.

Tamiya models unfortunately were mostly out of my budget in the past. Japanese products, seriously built to last.

Tamiya models are amazing. Jaw-dropping details. I used to spend hours with them when I was a kid! Lots of fun. And it really helped with my hand tool skills with tiny tiny parts. This sure came in handy with my WM-D6C.