Why are these videos so addicting?? I need to sleep! It's so satisfying. It's like solving a puzzle. It's also great to see old tech cleaned up and working again.

Excellent work! Using that spectrum analyser software on the phone was a touch of genius! You dialed it in pretty much perfectly by doing that! Great job!!!

From my experience, AVLS is not the best.. its essentially creates an "average" volume level.. but in practice it just makes everything sound quieter... I may have faulty AVLS though on the few I have tried!

Thanks for telling me about the trim pot!!! I just adjusted the trim pot by ear, recorded a 400hz test tone on a tape from youtube, then played the tape back on the walkman while playing the test tone on speakers until they matched. Very easy if your a musician. If not it should still be easy because the sounds will stop oscilatting

All cassette players and recorders have a flywheel. Auto reverse models have two. The Marantz professional models have 2 big brass ones spinning in opposite directions even though they are one direction only. They are what the motor spins and they have a shaft that extends into the cassette compartment. That is called the "capstan" and a roller presses against it making the tape flow at the speed the motor and flywheel is spinning during play. A low-mass plastic drive train with a tight belt are the "anti-rolling" types. Without heavy flywheels there is no mass to jostle while you move. Many cassette motors have a speed adjustment for the motor. Sometimes it is inside the motor itself and usually can be adjusted with a tiny screwdriver through a hole in the back of the motor. In other cases the speed adjust will be on a/the circuit board. A very few use a mechanical governor inside the motor. These are usually not practical to adjust. Common voltages for the motors are around 2 - 2.2 volts for the common 2-battery types and 3-3.5 for 3-battery types. It will vary from motor to motor, hence the adjustment. Motors may slow down as they age due to component deterioration. Usually a capacitor or resistor changes value and needs to be replaced. If it is the ones inside the motor type it will be a lot of tedious fine work on a tiny board inside the rear of the motor. Lack of lubrication can also drag things down. The lubricants used in these will dry out and become sticky. Factory lubes are usually of poorer quality than what can be had to the public. Synthetic oils are best. Items I repaired decades ago are still working well. Lint can also get caught in parts of the mechanism. Once again, compliments on figuring it all out and another successful repair. At this rate you will have one for every day of the week!

Great fix Vince! I've looked into fixing these before so this will give me a head start!

Thank you so much for posting this!! I had this issue with my Walkman and your video was the only one that had the proper instructions. Again, thank you. It was very helpful.

it's funny because I don't need to watch this video however your voice and watching you fix it is very satisfying to watch :D

Thanks a lot, Vince! Had a used Walkman EX-39 model with the same issue. After watching your video on YT I realized that this tiny voltage regulator screw is reachable even without opening the case (through a little hole in the case). Then I put in a tape with one earpiece in one ear and the same song on KZfaq on the other ear. Like this it is extremely easy to tune in to the correct voltage even without voltmeter or any test frequencies, bit simply by turning the regulator screw until the walkman and KZfaq song speeds match up.

I used to love opening these up as a kid, But never got them back together, Great vid 👍🏻

on the slow playing part it soundet like a seriel killer calling the Police

I've repaired a few of these over the years, and bought and sold some on Ebay. The basic procedure I do is pretty similar. I would recommend you clean the audio heads and demagnetise the heads too. My procedure is usually take the thing apart, thoroughly clean the case and plastics, clean the board with a can of compressed air and Isopropol, replace the belts, clean and demagnetise the audio heads, lubricate, calibrate the speed in pretty much the same way you do and finally clean the switches and headphone jack with Deoxit contact cleaner.

Thank you so much for this video. I thought my sony walkman is gone forever in slowmo. Was able to return him to nornal state. Thanks again

Please keep up the amazing video. Enjoy watching all of them when I watch stuff get fixed.

Thank you very much for this video! Just today i found old walkman which i took from my grandparets and i had same problem and it's solved! THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!

I enjoy the videos and I have been a fan of Sony since childhood and it's because of their quality even after all these years still the best

This video helped me figure out what was wrong with mine. The rubber belt was broken and was caught in the motor. Thanks for this video!

By the end of 2019 I'm 100% sure Vince will open up his own repairing shop.

Bonus thumbs up for getting the phrase " greedy guts" in a you tube video.

Vince mate ..having watched the first 2 repairs ..I would recommend you clean any ferrous tape deposits from the pinch rollers and the tape heads with IPA and cotton buds ..trust me it's worth it .repaired hundreds of cassette units in my time.Rgds Evan

Vince it maybe a good idea to clean the play heads after many years of playing they will be dirty, great idea to fix Walkmans

Haha, your cassette sounds like The Archers to me Vince... Looks like this one belonged to a barber, the very hole that allowed for adjustment also allowed his customer's unwanted hair/gunk to get inside and gum up the works. Personally, I'd have washed it off with brake cleaner and then regreased when dry seeing that crap in there. Nice fix all the same, much more enjoyable somehow than the last.

Just a friendly suggestion, when you are explaining the inside of a device can you try to use more light so we can what you are pointing to inside that device. Keep up the good work. 🤗

Enjoying this series - one of the first things I dismantled was my Dad's (mono) cassette player and fixed it with a genuine rubber band. He was none the wiser :) Glad to see that you finally hit upon using a sine wave to test the speed.

Nice one, mate...but please...lights

Great series. I have an Aiwa device (with radio and equalizer) and a Sony Walkman. I really like your videos because you explain your logical process and it makes it more enjoyable.

Love the video. Good covering up about the tape 😉

I've got the WM-EX23 which seems to be the same as the EX21 except that it has a Bass Boost (Wooh!) slider switch on the front of the case. Watching your video inspired me to see if it still worked okay and it does, sort of as it seems to turn the spindles, but it doesn't seem to have enough power to play the tape. I'm guessing that like many of your Walkmans, the drive belt needs replacing, but I don't know if it's even worth fixing.

At last someone giving some love to old Walkman grate video

Went into the same issue two years ago. Calibrations tapes are not cheap. And generate your ones is difficutl if you dont have a top notch deck. What I did myself is, measure 60s of audio phisically, because tape runs at 4.76cm/s. So did the match, extended the tape very gently over the room next to a measuring tape and cut the magnetic tape to fit 60s at this speed. Them spliced the tape with blanks and recorder a piece of audio over this portion of tape (audio plays from the very start to very end). With that and a cronograph adjusted the speed. Ok, this is TEDIOUS ... I adjusted a decent deck with till I was satisfied, and the deck could repeat the measurement no problems. After that recorded a 3150Hz tone using this deck and check for real time variations between +/- 2.5Hz. Its enough for me ... for example SONY service manual for CF550 stand between 1% regulation and cheap decks are around 1% when motor just "DC SERVO". Early 90 motors with electronic speed controller surpassed this figures giving deck beter numbers even on poor mechanisms

Good video. The mechanism on this player is exactly the same as the WM2055 which came out in 1990.

reminds me of re-setting the heads on my Commodore 64 tape loader with an Azimuth adjuster in the 80s!

Hello Vince. I am from Montreal Quebec I enjoyed your videos just want to say thanks.🎉

yes great vid... you did well ... remember, BELTS not BANDS!

Vince.... I decided to take the plunge and fix a Sony 1984 WM-FM15 .. I'm happy to say that I was able to sort of get it to work . The belt in it had turned to a sloppy goo .. I ordered a belt from Russia and now the player works some times. The issue I have now is that sometimes the unit goes from play into a high speed mode... Not sure what the cause of that is yet but i'll keep looking into it .

I think the speed adjustment might not only be to compensate for mechanical issues but also for aging electronic parts like capacitors. Also it's possible it wasn't even meant to be used by the customer but only at the factory to calibrate the speed (since capacitors and resistors can vary quite a lot, especially if they're cheap).

This video helped me a lot. Thanks for the help!

Smart! Helpful. Thanks.

Only really interested in video game ralated fixes but I'm enjoying these. Thumbs up from me, roll on the next fix

Absolutely fantastic vid been a fan for a while

Loving this series. wasnt around when these were big and what i heard from them i only thought there was one type, Im suprised there are so mant different types of them. Have you got any plans to do another series like the UK vs US. Thats probably one of my favourite videos and watched both yours and tronics videos. Maybe it could have a could have a cool twist where every video you challenge each other to an item that maybe you enjoyed or found tricky. Maybe you have a fix off and how many items you can fix in a few days? Something like that would be really fun to watch. Also i would just like to congratulate you on your youtube full time job! Heard that in one of your videos over christmas. Crazy how far you've come over the past year even. These fix it videos are more popular than i thought. I thought i was one of the only one who really enjoys these but from just reading the comment people are really enjoying it. I remember your first fix it video and really enjoyed it and still loving them! I love how your channel isnt like others and you actually respond to your fans and i think that ones of the best thing a youtuber can do. Best of wishes

The tape has the archers on it, my gran loves that radio drama 😂

great video vince, someone clearly messed with that speed controller.

Really glad that you downloaded the Spectrum Analyzer App as I was screaming at you to do that. There are also very good Frequency Generator Apps (at least there are for Android devices so probably for Apple) which would avoid you having to record from KZfaq. Good fix.

Awesome Awesome Awesome! I have a couple fo faulty Walkmans and one of them I think has the same slow issue. I will def be trying what you did and hoping its the same issue and same or similar fix. Thank you. And on a side note, its amazing how much your videos and skills have improved in the last almost 2 years since this WM series.

So glad we have moved to digital sound... I remember them Walkmans. Use to use a pencil to fast forward or fast backwards in order to save my battery... horrible things and sound too but were still feel nostalgic sometimes about them. Also still have few tapes. Good work though...nice vids, very entertaining

Hi Vince, long time watching your trying to fix videos... I wish I lived closer, so I could send you my stuff to fix haha.. greetings from Brazil!

you are very clever ... i was just about to tell you the same method but original test tapes used by services are at 440Hz (less anoying sound) but this will do the same job perfectly ;)

Those voices on the tape slowed down sound like something from my worst nightmare

thanks mate so much for the ps vita my dad gave it to me and then he died so thank you for the fix ps vita video man thank you so much i'll help in every way possible man.

The "thing" at 5:42 it's the Auto Stop function and not anti rolling. As you already guessed, the anti rolling effect is reduced by the second flywheel, like in gyroscopes.

Vince, I love your videos, but PLEASE consider getting some brighter, more uniform lighting when you're filming. A lot of the detail of what you're doing is very dim (especially in the beginning when you're taking the Walkman apart and showing the insides, for example). The content is great, as always. Keep up the good work!

Sounds like you recorded the Archers (why you would do that is beyond me :P) Well done on another success!! Eagerly awaiting part 3!

This series of vids inspired me to finally take a look at 3 old Walkmans I found at my grandparents. 2 seem to work fine after some new batteries (I did take one apart thought just to see the inner workings, broke a few tabs but eh what can ya do, also looked like the belt was maybe a lil loose). Do need to get some tapes to test audio for those ones however. Number 3 was more interesting, I could hear it working but the thing that turns the gear thing in the tape wasn’t turning, so I instantly thought it was the belt that had gone. Took it apart and after funbling with the working so I could get a good look at the motor and belt under board, I was right the belt has gone so I think I’ll grab some tapes to test the other 2 and a pack of belts for the one which has gone!. Anyways, keep up the great vids man, I love em

Hi, i got a similar walkman and i got it playing again. But i had to make i figure 8 loop between the 2 large pulleys, (making them cross at the motor pulley) works just fine:)

Howdy do. This is Peter McCallister, the father. I'd like a hotel room please, with an extra large bed, a TV, and one of those little refrigerators you have to open with a key. Credit card? You got it.

any ETA when the others are coming online? I love your videos, I watch them as soon as they hit youtube, absolute highlight for me! :D

very clever vince..eureka moment

Love your videos as always

Its a POT that changes a motor's frequency!

У меня SONY WALKMAN WM-FX24 RADIO CASSETTE PLAYER /// Благодарю за видео обзор!Настроил,работает !!! Пассик заменил..Привет из России...

At 6:19 that is the auto-stop system. when the cassette reaches the end of tape, the tape will put tension on a leaver. that swinging arm will engage a pin on one of the wheels and act on the STOP button.

Nice fix looking forward to next video,

UXWBill mentioned using the frequency counter on a multimeter to judge proper motor speed... @20:20 - We have that TV Boombox! The North American version... and ours is missing a couple switch covers...

God you saved my life, thanks bro

Love your vids. Only one thing, did you clean the Head and the Pinch Roller with IPA? Thats need clean too. anyway, the white moving part is for the Auto-Stop function. when the wheel stops moving , the moving part goes in one "hole" and cause the stop function. only one type of walkman have a steady speed, the DD series and the Pro Series (not really walkman, but Recording), for his Direct-Drive Motor.

I've got a therory on why the speed was all wrong. Somebody at some point had to or wanted to take it apart (maybe the belt has been changed at some point since it was in such good condition). Not knowing that the thing clips apart they found the "screw hole". That didn't work so they clipped it apart (therefore this one was a bit easier to get loose than the first one. It had been opened before). They changed the faulty belt, put it all together, and found out it was the wrong speed. Finally, giving up on it :)

4000hz is too high to calibrate by ear, try 440hz, it will bee easier. And you'll be able to use any guitar or piano tuner (hardware or app), it will be more precise than this app you're using now.

Literally posted a video of yourself committing 1980's piracy 😂 awesome video as always Vince!

My Walkman starts with good speed and some seconds later speeds down then up again, it's variable speed in all cassettes, but in some of the cassettes (I think in the 90-minute ones) it's getting so slow that almost stops. And it's been doing that since I bought it. It was an expensive Sony model and I honestly thought this video would help me fix it. I'll wait to see id any of the other walkmans have a similar problem to mine.

Great video, thank you. Have some early Walkmans I want to fix, like the TPS L2, D6C, DC2, which I think just need bands and a lite cleaning. Thrift scores, minty too (huge grin). But I wanted to tinker with some cheap model tape players first (ie Koss, RCA) to get familiar with opening and cleaning. Id lose my mind if I broke the Walkmans carelessly lol cheers

Great job love it

Little tip, if you want to fix that speed adjustment from moving, then use a small drop of some paint to prevent it from move.

i want to know what Caroline association is

Loved the video.

I got one if these for 6 pounds and it came with the original Sony headphones and it works perfectly

As ever very interesting

Love your videos, but you could do with some better lighting

1:10 it's called a compressor.

Hi, I have a faulty Walkman like this model and I want to try and fix it - the speed's fine but it keeps going static until I accidentally drop it then it's fine for a while before going static again, it can also be quite sensitive to touch/getting knocked sometimes - any advice on how to fix this will be greatly appreciated ☺ - great video by the way! Thank you so much! 🙃

Grr8 Video, so I dropped it a like

Keep making these!!

That trick with the spectrum analyzer was pretty clever. If I had been in your shoes, I'd have probably installed a keyboard app on my phone and recorded a few minutes as I held middle C. Then install a tuner app (for musical instruments) on your phone, and when you play back middle C on the cassette player... you just have to adjust the speed dial until the tuner says you're dialed in. :D Same principle, different approach. :D The reason my thoughts went down the musical path is... if you know middle C is dialed in, then all your music play back should sound great. :D Now I'm wondering if that previous cassette player has a speed adjustment too? :)

I love ur vids keeping it going helping me out alot

You should start downloading sevice manuals for the things you repair (if available of course), because than you could look up, if the belt is in it's correct place or not

Well, the greasing might explain the slow playing speed, since without proper greasing the gears will just rub and the motor has to put out more force to turn those gears.

Vince you frustrate the life out of me man, I love ya Vids though You need a calibration tape and an oscilloscope. But in the day the service items with the Walkman were lube mechanism clean heads clean mechanism replace belt no matter how old (Cost was deemed not a problem) but always start with fresh battery's or connect using a workshop power supply hope this helps. Sean

Just a thought Vince: check the voltage on the first one you fixed and adjust the speed to perfectly match the voltage on the second one

Great vid and content keep it up 👍

Jsst to say dude, that those HI Tech Tapes always gave a lot of Wow and Flutter on the recordings. The sort of people that had these tapes would have most probably been recording on the Likes of an Alba or Bush Crappy MIDI System. This might make testing a little more Difficult. I remember buying them in a ten pack for about a quid back in the early 90's ;-)

Ok, sorry, I was not there with the video yet... I see you went for the test tone... Well done :) Still, get yourself a cheap digital oscilloscope, that's invaluable help in many situations :D (I can recommend you a very cheap but actually pretty neat one if you need)

damit i hoped that anti rolling mechanism will automatically skip Limp Bizkit's early milenium song about rolling. dissapointed in you sony .)

The tape sounded like the "Archers" a BBC radio soap from the 1950's that's still going lol.

Hi Vince, I'm loving the start of this series so far, if you fix one of the more advanced ones with the digital displays and DPSS I might make you an offer :) Just me being annoying (I'm sorry) but you probably already know, don't use any grease that rots rubber (I use 2HT Silicone Grease, it's as plain as plain can be, almost transparent) or ANY spray lubricants as they degrade any kind of rubber, like O-rings, drive-belts, things like that, just anything rubber, it just dries it up and perishes it, that's why I use White Lithium Grease with Teflon on 3D Printed parts, and Silicone Grease on O-rings (which is safe with rubber). Sorry for pointing out something you probably already know, but keep up the great series, I'm rather enjoying it, fancy coming and fixing my SNES? (kidding!) Thanks for the video. Take it easy!

The mainboard of EX21 resembles some later models like the WM-EX150. And this video can also serve as tutorial for repairing many cheap Sony Walkmans because they share similar mechanisms.

Thank you 🎵

The tapes a C90. 45mins each side. Could just let it play a full side and time it to check if the speeds about right.

Yes her bottom looks good in cords lol.

Anti rolling is so the tape don't unwind and get loose in machine causing the tape to be sucked into machine. Because they are bouncing around they are subject to the tape getting unwound.

When you said there are a couple of hairs in here, that’s from you from when you’re trying to Priddle, something round play, La boom boom, twang, twang, or for the Walkmen was going to do a boom Tastic, the worlds loudest and shocked bottom banger