Hi All First post here! I have 3 WM-D6Cs in various states of repair. 1) In generally good nick but seems a little muffled and I'm not sure the Dolby is working properly. This probably points to it needing a service and config I imagine? 2) This is one I have had since the early 90s. I changed all the rubbers and it is potentially in good nick apart from an awful loud buzz in the left headphone channel when the motor is running 3) Picked this up very cheap as a non runner and managed to get it going again by giving it the clean of all cleans externally and internally and fixing various mechanical issues where switches had been forced to go where they shouldn't. Actually managed to get it working again which was a surprise as it wouldn't even power on when I got it. But of course when it did start working it was at double speed. I'd like to replace the speed controller IC myself but I'm a bit worried that my soldering skills are not up to scratch. So really my questions are. Does anybody know what the loud buzz might be? Sounds like an earthing problem to me but why just in one channel. (line out seems fine btw) Any tips on adjusting and setting up? Do I need specialist equipment? Any tips on soldering the speed controller chip? And finally and probably most pertinently.. Who should I actually send these to to get repaired when I realise I'm not up to the job of getting them working as well as they could? I'm in the UK btw. Thank you!
Hello and welcome to Stereo2go. While I can give you some pointers on here as to the problems with your WM-D6Cs, I strongly advise against trying to repair them yourself if you are not confident in your soldering or repairing abilities. Unless you have the right equipment for soldering surface mount components, and the knowledge to use it correctly, you can do a great deal of damage to the printed circuit board and to the new component you are fitting. One of the worst cases I have seen of a repair attempt was a D6C where somebody had tried to replace the CX20084 motor drive IC and had used large amounts of the wrong type of solder and flux. As well as dreadful soldering and damaged pad, the flux had soaked into the PCB substrate rendering it conductive and unrepairable. Also, if you decide to send them to a repair technician after trying unsucessfully to repair them yourself, then anything you have done will make the repair more challenging and therefore more expensive. You do need specialist equipment to set one of these units up properly including an alignment cassette, dual beam oscilloscope, audio frequency oscillator and voltmeter with dBm measurement. As for possible causes of the problems with your 3 D6Cs: 1) Dirt on the head or the head azimuth out of alignment. If you can hear a change as you switch the dolby on an off then it is working. There is no Dolby adjustment on the D6C. If you cannot hear any difference when switching the Dolby the you might have a switch or wireing problem. 2) If the sound from the Line Out is OK then the problem could be with one of the headphone amps or the connections to or from them, the volume slider and connections to it or the headphone socket and its connections. This is where an oscilloscope is useful. 3) This sounds as if it has had a reverse polaritiy DC supply plugged into it at some time (as well as suffering other abuse). You will probably find some swollen electrolytic capacitors which need replacing too. If you are getting sound out then the DC -DC converter is still working. These often get damaged by reverse polarity DC supplies as well as the motor control chip.
Hi Debbie, I have two D6Cs that need help. One needs a rubber refresh, belts mostly, the second one is running way way too fast. My hands are a bit shaky these days, so difficult to dig into those machines. I am good with the bigger decks. I need someone to do that work. Good that I have five of them ... Thanks! Eric
