Hello! my name's Xavier and I've created an account here to request some help repairing a Sony Walkman WM-F100II from 1985 I'm new to cassette culture as a whole and I've encountered a problem with this device mostly surrounding abnormal levels of "flutter" during playback. So much so that my lower end WM-2011 from 1990 is more stable. I've learned of a couple things to reduce this such as using windex and IPA on the pinch rollers and IPA on the Capstan which removed the majority of the residue left behind by cassettes over the years. The pinch rollers upon cleaning felt just as rubbery as other pinch rollers in my cassette deck and my lower end Walkman, but not as dark black. However, the flutter levels remained unchanged. So lastly I took a look at the belt, nervous to do so since I had only had experience with A WM-20. The belt looks fine except for a slightly bent part which was most likely from the belt sitting on the motor at such an acute angle for quite a while which also seemed to make the belt wobble quite a bit during playback in both directions. I used some goo gone and IPA to remove the residue of an older belt which must of been in the machine before the belt that's in it currently but this did not improve the issue either. So in conclusion, I'm on the fence. Is the flutter I'm hearing completely the fault of the belt, or could the pinch rollers, which I noticed didn't seem the best condition, also be at blame? I've attached images of the two pinch rollers and the belt below if anyone has any ideas. Thanks (Side question: What substances would work best to remove the scratchiness from the volume knob?)
Usually when a belt gets a kink, it's the kiss of death, it gets enough stretch that it just doesn't work great. The photo is great, I don't see any residue from the old belt which slows everything down but you don't want to use Goo Gone, it has some sort of lubricant in it that may get on the rollers and they might not have enough friction to move the belt. go back in and clean with IPA, hopefully you can get rid of the Goo Gone, you may have to use something more powerful to get the Goo Gone out, be careful around the plastic pulley, some cleaning products may melt it.
Thanks a lot! I cleaned the the flywheels with IPA after using Goo Gone first time I went in, but I'll take another look to assess if there's any residue left over from the Goo gone. I appreciate the advice.
I don't know if it's my s it my eye, or the shadows in the photo, but the belts looks a bit thicker than usual... You mentioned that this not the original belts? You may want to try some other belts perhaps. As for the pinch rollers, they look okay to me, though looks can sometimes be deceptive.
I've ordered replacement belts and pinch rollers just to be safe for my specific model. They're from "Fix Your Audio" and I've heard high praise from these people so hopefully these will deliver the improvements I'm seeking. Thanks for your input!
Welcome aboard Xavier. Your name sounds like catalan... Hope you find the solution. Next time try to post technical questions in the proper subforum ;-)
For volume scratchiness I'd read up on Arkay's Idiot's Guide to DeOxit over at Audio Karma. https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/the-idiots-guide-to-using-deoxit-revisited.207005/ Arkay used to post on this forum quite a bit in the beginning but moved on to bigger equipment and posted more over at AudioKarma. DeOxit helps clean up the metal contacts in vintage electronics, usually you can fix sound issues when properly done. In the USA it's found at most musician stores, they use a ton in guitars, keyboards, etc, any place you don't want amplified scratchiness. There's two main versions, DeOxit and FaderLube, both made by Caig, and they are always on my shelf, read the recommended applications, one is great for metal contacts and one is used for sliding contacts which may have carbon. https://caig.com/
