I just purchased a WM D6C through eBay and I'm having troubles with it. It seems to play fine, the Line In, Line Out, Mic, and Headphone jack all work perfectly it fast forwards, rewinds... But once it starts recording, no matter what the volume or recording level is set to, the audio on the tape ends up extremely distorted. Other than that, the only issue that's been occurring is that the rotating head that winds the tape during play will occasionally stutter, if that's relevant.
Hi and welcome to Stereo2go. If the D6C plays fine but all recordings sound distorted, one possibility is a very low, or non existant, bias signal. Firstly, have you got the tape type selector set correctly for the type of tape you are using. For example, a type IV or metal tape requires a higher bias signal than a type II (CrO2) or type I (Fe) tape. If you try and record on a metal tape with the selector not set for metal then you will get a thin and slightly distorted recorded sound. Also, try recording on type I or type II tapes and see if you are still getting the same problem. Have you tried recording over an old recording on the tape? Does the D6C erase the old recording? The bias and erase functions use the same oscillator so if it is not working then any old recordings on the tape will not be erased. If the erase is working, the bias may not have been set up properly. There are other possible causes of distortion but I would need to check the D6C on the bench to diagnose the problem. By "rotating head" I assume you mean the take up spool. If it is stuttering, that could be a sign that the larger of the two belts has stretched due to age. This belt drives the take up spool and if it is slipping, the take up spool will intermittently stop. If the D6C was sold as a working unit, you should be able to return it to the seller for a full refund as it is not as described. Alternatively, you may be able to negotiate a partial refund from the seller to cover the cost of repair, if you wish to keep the D6C. Don't open it up or attempt any repair until you have contacted the seller and decided what you are going to do.
Yeah, I set the D6C to Type 2, and I'm using Maxell XLII tapes. I'll try erasing one of the distorted recordings later tonight and I'll update you with the results. I've messaged the seller, as they advertised it as tested and working, with the rubber and belts replaced. I'll also be taking it to a repair shop this coming Saturday to see if there's anything that can be done, though considering the options in my area, I'm not expecting much. And I failed to mention, the audio does come out quite distorted, and also has occasional skips in it as well, which I think might be caused by the spool's stuttering?
Yeah, I set the D6C to Type 2, and I'm using Maxell XLII tapes. I'll try erasing one of the distorted recordings later tonight and I'll update you with the results. I've messaged the seller, as they advertised it as tested and working, with the rubber and belts replaced. I'll also be taking it to a repair shop this coming Saturday to see if there's anything that can be done, though considering the options in my area, I'm not expecting much. And I failed to mention, the audio does come out quite distorted, and also has occasional skips in it as well, which I think might be caused by the spool's stuttering? Alright, I've tried to erase a tape and listen over it. At max volume, I can occasionally, very faintly here a thud here and there that might've been from the previous recording, and I can hear a hissing sound, like static. When fast forwarding, certain parts sound like sped up talking in a cartoon, despite it just being the static when playing normally.
If the audio is distorting in play, then it sounds as if the muting module is starting to fail. The potted muting and EQ modules normally start to fail after about 30 years. It sounds as if the bias / erase oscillator is working correctly. I'm not quite sure what you mean by "When fast forwarding, certain parts sound like sped up talking in a cartoon, despite it just being the static when playing normally." If you are pressing the play button down while rewinding or fast forwarding to cue the tape, I don't recommend doing this. Over time it will cause extra wear on the head. Replacement heads are no longer made. Also, it probably doesn't do the tape much good either.
The audio seems to play consistently, distortion the same way, in the same spots and all. It's like the distortion is being recorded onto the tape, but I don't have a second player to confirm this.
Opened it up, got the spool spinning perfectly now. That was the belt. But these fell clean out without touching them. And now the player's stop button can't eject tapes. The button part that retracts? It doesn't anymore. Not all the way. So tapes get stuck on it.
And fixed. Though, I still don't know where the plastic piece came from, I found and returned the spring. The eject mechanism works properly now.
I'm gonna stop messing with it. All I'm finding is more troubles inside than I was expecting, because now the spool has stopped spinning entirely. Is there anyone who would be able to repair this, do you know?
The loose plastic piece is part of the auto-stop mechanism, which releases the play mechanism when the end of the tape is reached in Play and Record modes. I have marked it up on the attached photo. If it was loose inside the walkman then somebody has previously taken it apart and not re-assembled it correctly.
Oh, I see! Yeah, the previous seller noted that they had personally replaced the belts and rubbers before shipping it. And when I removed the back, it simply fell out. Now I'm having more trouble with the play function, though, as the small, black wheel on the inside isn't consistently touching the large wheel when Play is pressed, if at al, even though FF and RW are working flawlessly. And I need more small screws... A number of these ones are missing.
