Repair a Sony Walkman Cassette Player WM-FX251

Repairing this particular model of cassette Walkman is easy. I'll show you how. In this case, it's the cassette player that isn't working.
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[@jimmymyers]

Cool thanks for the video, bought one of these on eBay and it didn't work and I thought I was screwed, but watching this I was able to get it to work, the belt was goo and made my hands black, hardest part was cleaning the old belt goo.

[@databits]

Yes, that goo is awful. Gets everywhere.

[@briangoldberg4439]

best way to measure the belt length is to put a piece of string around the pulleys and find out the inside diameter of the belt path; then subtract about 10 percent of that length to get something tight enough. in many cases you won't find something exact, but close to 10 percent less than the ID of the belt path is usually good enough.

[@spankysmp]

I'm in the UK and had the same model. Bloody loved it.

[@scottnicol8930]

I still have this from my childhood. Belt is shot and this video will be very helpful for replacing!

[@joshpayne4015]

I think I had this exact same model of Walkman back in the day... Love!

[@67xerxes]

Thanks so much for this video. It was really helpful. I have this exact model, but it seems I've got another issue. Still, I learned lots.

[@miguelque9102]

Sometimes it takes more than just replacing the belt. Pinch roller (might have degraded like the belt) and motor speed adjustment are two other factors that I found important while maintaining cassette players.

[@fubaz]

Thanks! When this video posted, I had my dad’s old Walkman open on the bench for belt replacement and I was sure the belt I had sourced was too slack. After seeing the one you used, I went ahead and put it back together (I had to re-solder because the ribbon cable did not have a plug in mine) and it worked just fine. I proceeded to listen to a whole tape in 2023. Nice! Thanks again!

[@chezsnailez]

Found a similar one-a those yeeted to the kerb on the mean streets of Snaileyville several years ago. Works OK, but you lose your presets for even the short moment power is interrupted when you plug in a DC power source. (tried doing that to change batteries in order to save settings)

[@ralphreinhardt6020]

A job well done sir. 😎👍

[@yewb2398]

Thanks for the save man! Got this thing at a goodwill for 2 bucks and use a hairtie as a belt till i can get the right one 👍👍👍

[@emmettturner9452]

I got this exact model at Walmart in 1997 for $30.

[@emmettturner9452]

I recall that the packaging advertised 30 hours of playback on one set of AA batteries, which seemed crazy to me.

[@scothohl4586]

LOL Not only do you have the same batteries I have but the little LED lamp as well! Great minds think alike apparently!

[@DoodiePunk]

Sounds high quality without audible wow and flutter.

[@beakman1966]

I've just bought one of these in a thrift store here in Brazil. Unfortunately nothing works, it's completely dead. I'll try to fix it! Thanks for the video! August/27/2023

[@channelwoodgrange]

"Put the pick in there, Pete.... and turn it 'round..... real neat....."

[@databits]

Is that a song? 😀

[@channelwoodgrange]

@@databits A line of dialog from David Lynch's Dune, the theatrical cut.

[@databits]

@@channelwoodgrange i’ll have to give that a watch again. 😃

[@channelwoodgrange]

@@databits It's the scene on Giedi Prime where Baron Harkonnen is talking with Feyd, Rabban, and Piter De Vries about taking back Arrakis. The Doctor is suctioning the Baron's pustules with his assistant, Pete.

[@AEIOUY234689]

I have a WM-EX36 model with the same problem. Time to buy a new belt! BTW, if you own this model, you don't unscrew or unplug anything, you just take the hood off to see two plastic wheels in the mechanism, not one.

[@markmarkofkane8167]

That looks nice. I never had one of those. I had a Panasonic "walkman". Not as nice as that.

[@SinaFarhat]

Nice!

[@Bobby_Snoof]

Nice work, these are and will always be useful videos for everyone!! However, I always thought that the length of the belt had to be extremely precise, otherwise the speed of the cassette could change....was I wrong???

[@databits]

You are not wrong for the reasons I mention in this video. If the belt is too tight, it will slow down the machine. If it’s too loose, it will slip and sound terrible.

[@Bobby_Snoof]

@@databits Thank you for your answer. Yes of course, we can see that the first belt you tried was too big :) I hesitated for a long time between using a belt that roughly matches from a set of several belts .... or buying one that is specifically designed for the device I'm repairing...So in the end, there must not be a big difference 😅

[@mvevitsis]

Use a plastic spudger or you will leave marks everywhere. The screw is JIS not phillips.

[@Retroaria]

Exactly, plastic vs plastic have the same hardness

[@enricoself2256]

That is as cheap as Sony Walkman can get, no screws only hooks and catches (to save on assembly time), all plastic, very basic tape transport with no autoreverse. That is the sliding slope Sony took in the 90's and it keeps sliding since then ...

[@kumquatqueen5975]

Yup. Had one when it was new and it didn't last long at all. The door broke pretty quickly, and one really good drop severed that lace cable effectively making the thing a paperweight.

[@databits]

What’s really sad is I found a GPX brand Walkman recently and it worked perfectly right out of the box. Not that the sound quality was great, but it worked.

[@johnlomasney]

Happy ending

[@christo930]

With this deck it probably doesn't matter, but these low cost generic belts sold on ebay will introduce a bunch of wow and flutter.

[@Raptor50aus]

Fix your audio have the best walkman belts

[@databits]

Do they have a website? Put it in without the .com