Sony WM-2 Audio issues - stumped.

Hello! I'm working on repairing a wm-2, my first repair for an older walkman and I'm a bit stumped.

The volume wheel crackles, the volume is super low, audio only comes out of one channel unless you sit the headphone jack halfway, and it emits a screech every so often.

I have changed the belt, desoldered and cleaned the volume wheel and the headhone jack.

I've desoldered and checked all the ceramic caps too and the capacitance is correct on all of them. One of them seems to have leaked a very tiny amount so I will replace it. It was right behind the headphone jack and smelled very bad when I desoldered.

In the meantime is there anything else I can check? There are so many of the smaller capacitors and they aren't marked in the service manual so I don't have anything to measure them against.

 

If only it were such simple things. Not the headphones nor the cassette and the issue is still there when I test it while it's open. I appreciate the help nonetheless

 

The volume potentiometer of the WM-2 frequently have issues with the wipers inside becoming loose. It's fixable, but you'll need to dismantle the pot itself or get a replacement.

 

I did dismantle it completely and clean it. Are replacement ones readily available?

 

I thought I'd dismantle and share a photo of the volume pot. One of the little metal bits doesn't stay on. Could that be the issue? The one that has several prongs. Are these the wipers @stuck-in-time ?

Also I just ripped a pad on the bottom please tell me I didnt just ruin things further and that was just a support

 

Yes, that's the wiper. I think that's why there's only audio on one side.

It's rather difficult to find a new replacement pot with the same dimensions.

The bottom pad is just for structural support.

 

@stuck-in-time hmm do you think gluing the wiper in place would work?

 

They'll usually need more support than glue, since they're under constant pressure

 

@stuck-in-time sooo there's no way to fix it?

 

It's fixable, but requires some extra work to reinforce the structure.

Here's a tutorial by someone else who uses some epoxy and string

https://www.instagram.com/p/CG3U-XpJaZV/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CHELgnfJ3h5/

Personally used a similar technique with some other materials.

 

Thank you!

 

@stuck-in-time alright so I got both those pieces set in. I reassembled the walkman and it's so odd, if I adjust the volume pot directly with tweezers it's good on both channels. Some crackling but only while turning. But once I install the volume wheel and screw, the issue with the sound dropping comes back. Any ideas

 

Fixed - ish! The volume pot wasn't installed correctly into the case. It had a bit of space. Once it was clicked in, it works much better. There is still crackling when turning the wheel but the channel isn't dropping nor does the crackling persist once the volume is set to the desired level.

Furthermore, adjusting the azimuth got rid of the muffled sound.

Hope this helps it anyone has a similar issue. Also check for cold joints on the audio channel that is dropping. I resoldered the R & L wires and that helped immensely.

 

Sorry for the late reply. Glad that it's now working ok! The crackling may disappear by spraying some deoxit.

 

@stuck-in-time - I'll keep trying deoxit but in the meantime I am convinced this walkman hates me. Everything was working and today I went to close it up for good when it suddenly stopped! It's back to no left channel. I checked all the solder points and this is the only clue I have. When I jump the point next to the brown wire, I believe there's a capacitor, I get audio again in the left channel. But depending on the volume, the audio will switch from left to right. What is going on now

 

I somehow got the audio going through both channels again but suddenly the walkman won't stop running when I hit stop. In addition to being super quiet. Is it a bad cap? I feel like a capacitor wouldn't fail so suddenly!

 

Maybe there's some mechanical issues as well. If some parts get stuck, it may not properly disengage to full stop position.

 

@stuck-in-time here are some pictures in case I'm missing something. Some of the wires aren't soldered currently, ignore those

 

I believe these are mechanical switches that turn it on and off so you will need to take apart and clean everything if possible. I also had issues with intermittent breaks in the flex wire leads to the head. Check those.