Replacing the Caps in My Sony Walkman

Рет қаралды 47,406

3 жыл бұрын

I had previously tried to fix a cassette Walkman I had picked up from eBay pretty inexpensively. But after addressing its obvious faults, there was an audio problem that I couldn't quite sort out. There was an overwhelming number of comments in that video that said I should replace the capacitors...but would that make a difference?
Previous Walkman repair video: • Trying to Fix a Sony C...
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please consider supporting my work on Patreon: / thisdoesnotcompute
Follow me on Twitter and Instagram! @thisdoesnotcomp
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Music by
Epidemic Sound (www.epidemicsound.com).

Пікірлер: 157

@ChairmanMeow1 3 ай бұрын

The very first Walkmans were like a hand-crafted watch more than a media player. A ton of it was hand made. So many little mechanical parts like gears and things. Work of art!!

@Florian00 Ай бұрын

Yup, I have the same one as he showed briefly (WM-R202) and you can clearly see some of the solderjoints are hand soldered

@sirlemonhead7715 3 жыл бұрын

The Sega Game gear uses those weird caps too :)

@PotatoFi 3 жыл бұрын

Yeah... I've been putting off recapping my Game Gear (which basically doesn't work anymore) because of that.

@crunchyfrog555 3 жыл бұрын

Plenty of electronics from this era do. They were designed for constructions where there was limited space between boards and other components.

@briansegarra9312 3 жыл бұрын

@@PotatoFi it's very easy to replace on the game gear if it dosent have a lot of rust or gone pads, just cut the caps with snip cutter or a nail clippers like I did clean the board put new solder in the pads make trace repairs or jumpers if the board is damaged (hopefully mine did not as trace repairs is hard ) and it worked

@PotatoFi 3 жыл бұрын

@@briansegarra9312 Cool, yeah it doesn't look like too bad of a job. Ordering caps is usually the most annoying part. :)

@mikel6989 3 жыл бұрын

@@PotatoFi console5 is the best place to get them!

@Tarkov. 3 жыл бұрын

Have you actually cleaned the contacts in the headphone jack? That might be a part that needs replacing too.

@adventureoflinkmk2 3 жыл бұрын

Could be an internal problem physically inside the headphone jack too

@paulb4uk 3 жыл бұрын

Also worth checking it for dry joints

@joeldowell5059 3 жыл бұрын

I thought that my headphones were going bad when you demonstrated how they sounded.

@TravellingTARDIS 3 жыл бұрын

repost if gonb

@niino4329 3 жыл бұрын

You should clean the leftover of the leaked electrolyte on the PCB, which might still be conductive between the terminals of the new caps. There was clearly some residue visible, especially on the horizontal SMD cap (that's how they are called - they were pretty common in the 90s, e.g. in the Sega Game Gear and many laptops, but aren't manufactured anymore). When the flux turns really dark like that, it's a clear sign. But you should really clean both of them. Always do this when replacing leaking caps. This might even fix your remaining issues.

@sndestroy 3 жыл бұрын

Came to say this too. The electrolytic residue loves to eat it's way into PCB traces/vias and ruin them, and many times it's not visible to the naked eye. In fact I bet that's the cause of the missing audio channel.

@mjc0961 3 жыл бұрын

Yep, whenever you replace caps, you need to clean. Even if you can't see the fluid, it might be there.

@Retroaria 3 жыл бұрын

Came to say this too.... wash the entire PCB with Isopropyl alcohol and a tooth brush...gently.

@niino4329 3 жыл бұрын

@@Retroaria This isn't even necessary here; the leakage wasn't THAT bad. When washing the entire PCB and not doing it thoroughly, you risk spreading the electrolyte rather than cleaning it. This is especially an issue when large caps (e.g. inside a power supply) have leaked.

@SilverX95 3 жыл бұрын

@@niino4329 you should still clean it regardless even if it's a small amount of electric Left behind it can still eat away at the board. Better safe than sorry as the saying goes

@Retroaria 3 жыл бұрын

Finally someone do this and show to us. Thanks so much. Greetings from Seoul, have a blessed Christmas.

@kieranwalker6072 3 жыл бұрын

Man, so impressive seeing you replacing surface mount components! I wish I had a steady enough hand for things this small. I replaced all the belts in my WM-3 and it runs nice, but I'm terrified of anything else ever going wrong with it!!

@Silent.Stacker 3 жыл бұрын

Repair videos - always my favorite.

@blunderingfool 3 жыл бұрын

This will have been quiet the adventure by the time that little demon is refurbed.

@PotatoFi 3 жыл бұрын

I kinda like these multi-part videos.

@mjc0961 3 жыл бұрын

I hope not. The idea is to get it playing music again, not to have it be quiet. 😋

@fhobbs4 2 жыл бұрын

Really would love to see you revisit this one! These machines are so cool!

@JamieBainbridge 3 жыл бұрын

Even if it didn't work, it was nice to share the excitement of first listen together. Good idea!

@beitie 3 жыл бұрын

Glad to see progress with it! It would have been a shame to get so far and not be able to use it.

@D4VIDF 3 жыл бұрын

Always good to see a success story!

@matheustran8009 3 жыл бұрын

watching this with earphones makes me feel like I'm you

@PreparationH67 3 жыл бұрын

From what I've been able to tell from my own research into repairing a couple of Walkman is that the few electrolytic caps they do have in the smaller units are usually in a very important place in the circuit. Too bad that it didnt clear up the channel issue although it seemed unlikely this would be the fix for that. In addition to the cleaning comments for the volume wheel, its is also possible the wheel has just gone bad from use or damage and needs to be replaced. I've had at least one unit that still had issues after a cap replacement and it came down to the volume knob just being too internally messed up.

@fm00078 3 жыл бұрын

When it comes to BITS & BYTES you're so contrite, but DIPS & CAPS you're one heck of a CHAP. Love your repairs. .

@yanks1fan09 3 жыл бұрын

Nice work! Your videos are great!

@TaberBucknell 3 жыл бұрын

For the corroded battery terminals... Before going to sandpaper, try full strength white vinegar on a cotton swab. I find that at least loosens the corrosion for more effective sanding and in many cases removes the corrosion completely. The acid base reaction occasionally foams satisfyingly. 🙂 Follow up with distilled water on a cotton swab to clean off any leftover vinegar and dry the terminals thoroughly.

@tyberzann9713 3 жыл бұрын

or diluted nickelacetat. just for the nickel plated contacts.

@jj987987987 6 ай бұрын

Lemon juice works well, and it’s 100% natural

@Raptor50aus 3 жыл бұрын

I replaced the caps in my Sony DDII which was new old stock. I have also restored some Sony video walkmans like the GV-9 which have over 30 caps to replace eek! But it works excellent. After buying a like new AIWA PX10 from japan I sent it to Sergui in Romania (Magnetic Blood) who fully restored it including recappingand he cleans the board of any leaking cap fluid which corrodes the board. After 4 months post it arrived last week and sounds amazing, The PX10 was the Sony DD-9 and DD100 killer.

@99897767 2 жыл бұрын

The PX10 surely have worse wow/flutter then any of the DD models, but from what I read it's feature packed and definitely a good contender, keep in mind that the DD9 have a amorphous head which would almost certainly have better frequency response

@Raptor50aus 2 жыл бұрын

@@99897767 DD does not mean better sound quality. it is more than just the head.

@99897767 2 жыл бұрын

@@Raptor50aus it depends on what you counts towards sound quality, wow and flutter is definitely a big thing if you asked me, Amorphous head matters because it have a wider frequency response ranges, where a normal ferrite head can't do. At the end of the day they have their own strength and falls

@Raptor50aus 2 жыл бұрын

@@99897767 Yes. I have an AIWA JX707 and AIWA PX101 and Sony D3 Pro and DD9 and they all sound great because they were all restored correctly.

@99897767 2 жыл бұрын

@@Raptor50aus I bet they sounded better then it was first produced, back then it's less of a treasure than it was now, and people spent a lot more effort restoring them than who assembled them originally.

@crunchyfrog555 3 жыл бұрын

I've bought used walkmans - CD and cassette and this is INCREDIBLY common. It's just old caps. I have a CD walkman I'm currently using and it suffers from this problem. I'm going to get to it in the new year, but I have to wait for warmer weather as my hands don't work properly at the moment. I think it's fair to say that THE most important thing to do to ANY electronic equipment over 20 years old, you should check the caps out especially electrolytics just as a par for the course.

@shockwaveart3224 3 жыл бұрын

never gets boring!!!

@filipevasconcelos1980 3 жыл бұрын

Love those videos!

@briangoldberg4439 3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, those era surface mount caps on portable sony devices are like almost always bad. I did a mid 90's sony LCD walkman last year and every single one of them needed to be replaced. It was 40 caps. What a PITA. Also, keep in mind that tantalum caps definitely can go bad. It's not as often as aluminum electrolytic, but they do go bad. Worst of all, they often short when they go bad and blow up other stuff.

@gianlusc 3 жыл бұрын

Oh, very interesting. That gives me hope 🙂

@TheDigitalAura 3 жыл бұрын

I spend my life buying and fixing these thanks to your initial R202 video. Get an Aiwa HS-G08 if you want a real challenge.

@alan_browne_ 3 жыл бұрын

loving these retro repair videos man. keep em coming

@48pluto 3 жыл бұрын

Perhaps the tape HEAD is not correctly aligned so that it plays only one channel. Just my thought. Note i'm not a expert on these things :)

@Kalvinjj 3 жыл бұрын

That would be quite a massive alignment issue, but possible indeed. You would be listening to only one channel, on the wrong one at that. In other hand, when you hit reverse, you should then be listening to both the wrong channel again (as in right tape channel only, on right side headphones only), but in that case also the other side in reverse on the right channel. If that does happen then that's the problem indeed. I don't know if left is on the outer track or inner one on a cassette tho...

@compzac 3 жыл бұрын

It could be but i noticed something that makes me think its a connection or contact issue, the machine beeps whenever you press a button, the beep is only coming from the left hand side. Granted that could be just how the machine functions normally, but i doubt it, something else is that he had to turn the volume pretty far up for the machine to get going at all, so im thinking its got weak connections going on somewhere else, or could still be some sort of chip failure, though I also doubt that a bit cause the left side only, dirty sound and low output all sound like bad connections more than a chip failing.

@hbarcellos76 3 жыл бұрын

Nice! Never thought those would become collectible items.

@crunchyfrog555 3 жыл бұрын

Give anything time and it will be. The key thing is to pick a time when you can start colelcting, and it doesn't matter what the tiem is, the sweet spot to start buying them is when everyone else has forgotten or chucked them out. I started picking up Minidisc recorders of all stripes a few years ago for this very reason. I do it with games and records too.

@ThriftyAV 3 жыл бұрын

I'm having screeching noise issues with a two of my old tape recorders. I think the cap job on my shoebox type tape recorders should be easier than working with the tiny board and tight spacing of electrical and mechanical components on your walkman.

@peanutismint 3 жыл бұрын

Hey Colin, enjoyed this video. Would you mind sharing a bit about your process, for example, where might someone located in the USA find A) service manuals for old tech like that and B) components for replacements? Do you have a favourite website that ships capacitors etc to the USA?

@sancheezzy8962 3 жыл бұрын

Where did you find that replacement Dolby switch? I also have a ex 606 that I'm repairing and your videos (however brief) have been huge in helping!

@stpworld 3 жыл бұрын

I got alot of my walkmans fixed and my game gears are all repaired to. Most of my vcrs as well they just needed belts with most of them.

@pwissink1 3 жыл бұрын

Told you. Had the same problem on my walkman. Same noise. That solution with repositioning the cap, is really good. Good video again Collin.

@RSDDL 3 жыл бұрын

Scientists have now confirmed that the smallest possible unit of time is the amount of time between when Colin says “Hey everyone hows it going?” and when he moves onto the next sentence without waiting for a reply.

@penuji7981 3 жыл бұрын

Somehow thought this was about the buttons for some reason

@danielshin1984 3 жыл бұрын

Wow,... I remember that I bought that model in 1993 when I first got a paycheck from temporary job for $200 more or less.

@Chas75 3 жыл бұрын

To use a Nichicon cap for that kind of repair is the most classy thing I´ve watched in a wile

@ThisDoesNotCompute 3 жыл бұрын

I don’t buy cheap caps - only Panasonic or Nichicon.

@Chas75 3 жыл бұрын

@@ThisDoesNotCompute cheers for that!

@SudosFTW 3 жыл бұрын

while you're in there, don't forget to adjust the tape azimuth once you get audio out both ears. It could also be a dodgy solder joint on the headphone jack too.

@paulb4uk 3 жыл бұрын

I watched someone do an early discman and it would not read cd,s only when every single cap was replaced it worked again some of the surface mount caps that whee used in some years had a design fault and that was why they were prone to leaking i read somewhere .

@Mr.Unacceptable 3 жыл бұрын

I'm trying to repair ipods. Mainly for practice. I can't find the LCD flex connector anywhere. Any ideas besides bodge wires?

@iCach0 3 жыл бұрын

Nice work! I broke off the power switch from my Game Boy Color. It looks pretty similar to the one you used on the dolby switch. Any idea where I can find a replacement switch for that?

3 жыл бұрын

As many others commented already, the Sega Game Gear uses the exact same rectangular, side-mounted electrolitic caps. And they are extremely prone to failure. So yeah, most likely that cap is absolutely dead.

@LucaBlightOfHighland 3 жыл бұрын

That capacitor in the square case looks worryingly similar to the ones that SEGA used in the game gear, famous for their poor reliability.

@stevenclark2188 3 жыл бұрын

Large value caps are a common piece of audio filters. As far as I can tell the larger the caps in your filter the smaller the resistors you need for your filter and the less amplification you need overall.

@ryry998 3 жыл бұрын

Check the solider on the headphone jack... Had to fix that on my sony wm-45.

@medes5597 3 жыл бұрын

Also a common issue with seventh generation ipods. The headphone jack is always badly soldered compared to everyother connection and I've never worked out why

@DJCowcat 11 ай бұрын

22uf 4v can be obviously replaced with 22uf 10v even 16v tolerance ceramic ones in either 0805 or 1206 sizes

@steenbraad5875 3 жыл бұрын

can you post a link to the little swicth I have also cracked mine.

@cURLybOi 3 жыл бұрын

"wasn't an electrical problem but rather a mechanical one" - anyone remembers the alyx-judith exchange in black mesa east chapter in half-life 2?

@ShotecMusic 3 жыл бұрын

Someone misjudged the capacity of Combine thyristor.

@pgtmr2713 3 жыл бұрын

Pretty sure this is the algorithmic connection that brought me to this video. I've been playing Half-Life on the Pi4 next to this one.

@MidnightVisions 3 жыл бұрын

I spent years tracing electrical problems in my walkmans. Surface mount components are not reliable reliable over the long term and they have no tolerance to dropping. They crack or de-laminate and are extremely hard to diagnose those faults. a thermal camera and an oscilloscope are a necessity to track down noise from damaged or failing parts.

@bntrs 3 жыл бұрын

Now you've gotta finish it! It's got two videos already

@C0mfortCruise 3 жыл бұрын

I've drooled over these last-gen decks for a while now, but the more I really look into them the more I've decided to stick to older models. It seems like over-complicated boards and mechs plus the bad capacitor quality from the time creates a nightmare to diagnose and repair that isn't worth the price of admission and unguaranteed end-goal.

@kevinb158 3 жыл бұрын

You almost have a winner Colin. Just a few more bugs

@Raptor50aus 3 жыл бұрын

At 4:17 I did the same thing when reassembling, the FWD REV switch is not in the metal lever :) Lots of swearing fixing these things.

@Raphaelwelingston 3 жыл бұрын

Can i ask you where you find the switch ? 'cause i have the same exact problem with one of my walkman !

@Kalvinjj 3 жыл бұрын

Last time I broke a button repairing my Bluetooth headphones I found the exact one to replace on Aliexpress. It would be great if you knew the exact standard code, but that's pretty damn hard usually.

@AdamBluntTech 3 жыл бұрын

Sounds like the beeps and stuff are also only in the left channel so the tape head cant be the fault of the left only sound. might be a failed tantalum they like to go short circuit which could mess it up I would for sure go through all the caps and check for shorts The crusty sound could be a dirty head too or again more bad caps no expert on walkman repair though my only walkman repair was on a MD machine

@THEtechknight 3 жыл бұрын

Well I didnt see you clean the board, gotta get all that electrolyte off of there. And, I also saw where it had eaten a couple vias. So that could be your issue in the audio path as well. And, it sounds like the tape is running a bit slow. So you need a test tone tape, and adjust it since you changed the belt, it likely changed the torque against the motor.

@tenchuu007 3 жыл бұрын

Where did you get your charger for your gumsticks? I've picked up a couple original chargers but they're for NiCad and don't charge the NiMH sticks.

@ThisDoesNotCompute 3 жыл бұрын

I’m probably going to put together a quick video about that soon!

@user-em3ho5ul8t 3 жыл бұрын

After old caps removed, board must be cleaned - do not underestimate effects of spilled out electrolite. Also spotted one coroded via, thats the most probable reason for missing 1 channel.

@ArchLinuxTux 3 жыл бұрын

Even though caps is a catch all it should just be SOP to check 'em and anything else that can degrade with time .

@JapanPop 3 жыл бұрын

Are those hear.in 2 headphones?

@SilverX95 3 жыл бұрын

You probably want to make sure there's no crack solder joints and also make sure the circuit board is clean especially after leaky capacitors

@ChrisKoehn 3 жыл бұрын

I didn't know those slots on top of the cassette were for metal/chrome tape detection. I thought they were overwrite protection tabs?

@ThisDoesNotCompute 3 жыл бұрын

The ones farthest to the outside are the write protect tabs, but chrome tapes have an additional notch next to them, and metal tapes have another one in the middle. For playback, chrome and metal tapes are treated the same so there’s no need for the player to check for a middle notch.

@ChrisKoehn 3 жыл бұрын

@@ThisDoesNotCompute sweet, I've always wondered why the slots were so large and only half covered. Thanks!

@Raptor50aus 3 жыл бұрын

Yes and clean the board with Isopropanol and a toothbrush or get fancy and use an ultrasonic bath.

@FlatBroke612 9 ай бұрын

Bro is Jason JJ Cruz’n here.

@JacGoudsmit 3 жыл бұрын

I bet the "special" capacitor shape is for one reason only: because it had to be placed on the board by component placement machine with a vacuum nozzle.

@Kabelkerl 3 жыл бұрын

Nice Video , whats the Song you´ve played ?

@idontknowusers6166 3 жыл бұрын

It's called Talk to me kzfaq.info/get/bejne/oN18lM2VtavTn4U.html

@Kabelkerl 3 жыл бұрын

@@idontknowusers6166 Thanks !! and the Song is so muffled by istelf :) i thord i came from the Tape :)

@jerryking7502 3 жыл бұрын

The Maxells like yours are chrome bias, but actually they are cobalt tapes. Ferri-cobalt I believe.

@rwdplz1 Жыл бұрын

2:02 I've seen those before in Sega Game Gears, they ALL leak.

@msd5808 3 жыл бұрын

I think the channel problem is the plug of the headphones. Try a different one? Some don't fit in right to get stereo (second ring).

@liliwinnt6 3 жыл бұрын

0:45 rinse the volume regulator with at least 95% alcohol adjust the regulator while it's still wet with the alcohol

@muhammetfatihyaprak3929 3 жыл бұрын

Hi i wanted to ask you about a problem that i cant find solition. There is a computer Os: XP service pack 1. We are using that an laser machine that must work 24 hour. Problem is i can't find any original windows key to it. This computer locking itself because of the license. I can only find license for service pack 3 . But i couldn't boot it. Every 30 days i use an image and turn it back.But when it stops lazer machine stops too and lose a lot of money. Do you have any ideas for the problem. Thank you sorry for my language I tried network boot,usb boot,cd boot

@sorendont 3 жыл бұрын

what was the song playing on the cassette? it sounds funky and familiar but I can't remember what it is

@ThisDoesNotCompute 3 жыл бұрын

It’s “Talk to Me” by 3D Blast.

@sorendont 3 жыл бұрын

@@ThisDoesNotCompute thank you so much!! :)

@diogonoronha100 3 жыл бұрын

Props to the comment boys

@user-vm4uw6vc6h 2 жыл бұрын

0:49 that’s just the Japanese noise-rock

@MartinPittBradley 3 жыл бұрын

Love those flush cut trimmers, someone has a 3D printer...

@mjc0961 3 жыл бұрын

Nice job, everyone who noticed that.

@dmc716 3 жыл бұрын

Just somehting i noticed at the end whn you played sound, it sounds much slower than it should ... I guess speed of the tape should be sped up..

@MrTimotei 3 жыл бұрын

What was the song that played on the tape you tested? Edit: Oop. Never mind. I see you answered someone else who also asked. For those wondering, it's “Talk to Me” by 3D Blast.

@TehnoDisco Жыл бұрын

Thanks.

@ps3customgamer 3 жыл бұрын

Gameboy color is a good example of ceramic caps failing as they lose capacity and eventually have low resistance to ground.

@quintonquill 3 жыл бұрын

deoxit and a head clean and you'll be sounding better.

@adiposerex5150 3 жыл бұрын

Sounds like a hum. I have a Rhino 3 clone phone that puts out a siren.

@kunalblack Жыл бұрын

Can't find gumstick battery

@xcnewb7313 3 жыл бұрын

The board looked kinda dirty too, maybe some leaked fluid got on it and some traces got eaten away?

@autobotjazz1972 2 жыл бұрын

clearance is always an issue with your dealing with things designed to be in the smallest form factor one can get way with. I suspect Sony had those odd caps specifically made for them to solve the issue you ran into.

@deathdeathrevolution3499 3 жыл бұрын

the problem is NOT the tape head because the beep is also in the left channel only

@Walczyk 3 жыл бұрын

2:48 why's it look so rusty and gross under the sm cap?

@ZonaALG 3 жыл бұрын

mostly burnt flux or some leaking from previous cap that he was too lazy to clean

@DJCowcat 11 ай бұрын

hey it’s 2023 why didn’t you just use tantalum or ceramic capacitors for the same capacity?

@greasysteve5671 3 жыл бұрын

Not related to the video but I know you like weird, old laptops. I got a Toshiba Satellite 1555CDS that needs some new parts but I cant find squat on this specific machine, so any info would be great if you know anything.

@AllieStrange 3 жыл бұрын

Hey for once it was the caps lol

@MarcoBelcastro 3 ай бұрын

Probably too late now. The cap leaking causes a via sitting just in front of the pins to corrode. I had the exact same issue. If you solder a wire from the right channel of the 3.5mm jack to the first resistor that the right channel trace connects starting from the amp IC, you will solve the problem.

@D50_Dude 3 жыл бұрын

All SMD caps 1988-1993/94 need replacement these days.

@nickwallette6201 3 жыл бұрын

Yep. I don’t even bother to troubleshoot power supplies or CRT monitors anymore. Just recap them, _then_ see if they work. With Walkmans and Discmans, old computers and game consoles - it’s the caps. It’s always the caps. If it’s not, it was the caps AND something else.

@hubzcaps 3 жыл бұрын

Mmmm mint chewing gum battery. Tasty

@sugargliderdude 3 жыл бұрын

dont miss tape at all

@neoasura 3 жыл бұрын

Me either, I get the nostalgic revisit, but tapes were meant as a "cheap" alternative to vinyl and CDs. And you can hear it. I don't miss it.

@miken8150 3 жыл бұрын

I’m a bit surprised you wouldn’t proactively clean the headphone jack and tape head, as well as lubricate moving parts. You’ve seen the same things on other repairs so why not just do it?

@KK4CNM 3 жыл бұрын

Tantalum caps can and do go bad.

@terastarship2 3 жыл бұрын

3.5mm phone jack rocks, right? heh

@airborne2876 3 жыл бұрын

Bro, capacitors are sooo hard to replace in walkmen. You can never find replacement caps that are as small as the originals, so your stuck jamming them in at weird angles.