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Walkman WM-30

stev067Advanced
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Hello! This is my first post, as I am a brand new member. I am a 24 year old engineering student at Purdue. I just purchased this WM-30 from eBay (Auction number: 160501556832 ... Seller:mediterrano71.) When I came to this board, I did a search on the WM-30 on your forums, and I read that you folks don't think very highly of this seller. I must admit he tried to screw me over.
The unit worked upon arrival. I was listening to a tape for about an hour. When I went to rewind it, it got to the end of the tape or something and the drive belt snapped. Is this characteristic of a larger problem like malfunctioning auto-stop or something? I complained to the seller, and he was first going to give me a total of $5 for the replacement belt and my time in replacing it. I talked him up to $20. You can see in the auction listing pictures, the lettering on Battery, volume, tape, and dolby settings look pretty bad. I know this may be sacreligeous to you walkman gurus, but I just scratched the rest of it off. You can see in my photos below, it looks stellar now. I am waiting on a replacement belt from Sony (awesome that they still have them in stock). And the unit should be working like new. I do have one technical problem that I will address when I get the belt back in place. Here are some pictures of the unit.




You'll notice the 2 toggle switches aren't in right now. They're soaking in bleach.
My question for you guys is, did I overpay for this (about $180USD)? It was kind of an impulse buy. I'm not talking about functionality, just purely from a collector's point of view. I will definitely get looks, using this on campus! Sure my iphone can hold the same amount of songs as a truck-full of tapes, but retro is cool!
-Steve
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    • Original Post
    AO
    AOPro
    quote:
    Is this characteristic of a larger problem like malfunctioning auto-stop or something?


    No, but it is characteristic of this seller. He's basically a conman with no skills who fixes walkman's just enough to support the claim that they 'work', or rather, work in the sense that the capsatins sort of go round. Sadly you are just the poor fool he's looking for.

    I urge you to leave poor feedback to help other poor souls and pref include a link to the complaints section of this site.

    I have spare belts if Sony don't come through.

    To add to your misery I'm afraid you paid well over the odds.
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    AO
    AOPro
    Sorry, and another thing. You must open a PayPal dispute against this seller, the item is clearly defective in that it is not as described. The sellers offer to send you money is a clear admission of guilt, you WILL get your money back if you go down this route. Don't forget that a seller cannot leave a buyer neg feedback so you have NOTHING to lose.
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    mrp32Dave
    mrp32DavePro
    I have to agree here, red WM30's are nice, but for the money you paid it should be perfect and this appears far from it.At least these are quite easy to get working again, but for the cosmetic issues not alot can be done, aithough this one doesn't look too bad until you think about how much it cost.
    Oh and welcome to the site, sorry your first post has been a bit of an an eye opener to the pitfalls of Ebay and a certain seller, hope this experience won't put you off collecting if that's what you plan to do.
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    stev067Advanced
    Thanks for the warm welcome! I did beat myself up a bit when I found the auction in which he purchased the unit for $30 something, and I could more clearly see the damaged lettering, and the unit was described as not working. I assumed, at that point, that there may be problems with it.
    That being said, fixing electronics is a hobby of mine, and I have learned a lot about the mechanical operation of this walkman. The magnetic induction motor assembly is genius! With the lettering completely cleaned off, I'd say this is in beautiful condition. I won't be doing business with this crook again. But I too have played the inflation game...buy something that needs fixing up, and sell it for more. I usually do that with analog audio equipment for guitars. The only difference is, he doesn't seem to actually fix anything. I went over and actually did fix the problems mentioned in the original listing. IE the stop button being loose, the magnet head was not aligned, and I wouldn't be surprised if he just took the old snapped belt and tied a knot at the end. I'll be keeping this because I think it looks really neat, and it's older than I am. It may be the first of a collection, who knows! I've seen some beautiful sets that some of you own.

    -Steve
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    AO
    AOPro
    Steve,

    A red WM-30 is a nice piece of kit, please don't let us put you off. I used to have one but I suspect I traded it with our resident WM-10 expert, member docp. Have a look for his posts, the stuff he's done with these models is frightening.

    This was my collection of WM-30's a few years back.

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    stev067Advanced
    I just ended up selling this Walkman to help cover holiday expenses. After it sold, I knew I had to finally get around to fixing the problems it was still plagued with. I figured I would just post this info for troubleshooting reference for others who may experience similar problems.

    Occasionally, the play speed would be too fast. I knew this was because of the "leaf contacts" that the various buttons push together or apart. There are 2 pairs of leaf contacts: when one pair is connected, the motor moves at speed 1 (play speed). When both pairs are connected, the motor moves at speed 2 (FF/RW). I had to bend one leaf slightly so that it would not be in contact while the play button was depressed. That solved that problem.

    The other problem was the speed. This player was too slow ever since I received it. One of you had previously mentioned that there was a tuning pot inside. Now I don't have the unit anymore so I can't provide pictures, but I did find a slot-headed screw that effectively tweaked the speed of the motor. If you are going to tune this, I suggest you play a tape with a song you are very familiar with, and know the right speed. Be sure to use a fresh battery. Just tune this screw while the song is playing until it sounds right.

    I don't know how much time you guys spend troubleshooting these things, and this may very well be common knowledge. I assume the majority of these units are in far better condition than the ones Mediterrano sells. I was able to get most of my money back, and overall, I am satisfied with the experience I gained. But I will reiterate that you should NOT do business with this seller.
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    -David-
    -David-Pro
    Welcome Steve. It's nice to see someone else my age interested in walkmans. I'm 22, almost 23 so welcome to the club. I think sometimes I was born about 20 years too late, LOL. I love these walkmans, moving parts, and the quality that went into making these machines back then that is absent today with electronics. I'm not just talking about walkmans, 70's HiFi decks too. I have a 70's Pioneer setup that just sounds great.

    That's too bad about your WM-30. It's a very nice walkman. That guy is such a crook it makes me sick. I have 2 WM-10II's black and silver. Same walkman but the WM-30 is from Japan and has a larger color selection as seen in Agent's Picture.

    BTW, my compliments Agent, that green one is Awesome (or is it blue?)
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    stev067Advanced
    Thanks for the warm welcomes again. I miss it already. I wish I had gotten it fully functional earlier than the day I sold it, but I've got my priorities. I might try my hand at buying up broken tape-decks and repairing them. I've had a lot of luck doing this with Rockman gear. I assume there are a few guitar players on the boards, and if you don't know about the sweet all-analog sound of Rockman, you should look into it. It's something any vintage audio enthusiast can appreciate.
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    rerootedPro
    you hit the wrong seller right away and that is a shame. the worst problem for me has been with ones that have been dropped. that can be a real pain as it will sometimes knock the battery connects out of place. on the good side though,the original owner gives up after it quit running and you can pick one up like new for 20-30 dollars. put a new belt on it and try to get the battery connection corrected and your back in business. i have 2 or 3 that look and play like new. they are both blue and play and look like new. the off colors usually bring more as does a red one. i paid 30 for one and 65.00 for the other. with 2 new belts they were good to go. you will hit the good luck quickly as i am confidenent you will get a few stares around campus.
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    vinMember

    Evening.

     

    I have just joined this forum to ask if anyone knows where I can get hold of spare drive belts for the WM-30. I have two of these devices (purchased about 25 years ago) - one of which has been damaged by a battery leak but the other is fine apart from needing a replacement belt. (In fact, the damaged one is only missing one of the battery connectors - and a drive belt).

     

    I did find a replacement belt on ebay but this (and the second one that was sent to me) was not the correct belt. The length appeared ok but it was far too fat and wouldn't work.

     

    The seller has refunded me (and does not want the belts returning) but I am still after a "proper" replacement. stev067 mentioned (above) Sony holding spares but I cannot find anything on their site and, as this post was a few years ago, I'm guessing that they no longer stock them.

     

    agentorange also mentioned having some spares. Fancy doing a trade? One slightly damaged unit???

     

    Does anyone else have any suggestions?

     

    Thanks in advance for any help.

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    AO
    AOPro

    Hi vin, please copy your post and create a new one.  What you've effectively done here is hijacked the original post.  It's not a big problem but if you want more folks to see it then start a new thread in the tech section.

     

    Also, we do have a resident belt expert who has a sticky thread in the same tech section.

     

    have fun now

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