This Firepower restoration project is near to completion.
Boards have been upgraded, and all the parts you see used, are always stocked here.
With these older Williams, which have the one piece flipper assembly base, be aware, it’s a easy change over to the new style base with the removable coil stop. So, if your doing a rebuild it the perfect time to make that change, as the mounting holes are a direct match.
It’s a good idea to add the 2.2uf suppression capacitor to the flipper switch too.
Over time, most flipper mounts will loosen a bit, just due to the sheer torque, and with the tolerance between the flipper mount leg, and the ball through switch holder being no more than the thickness of a business card, switch matrix issues will arise.
Once those touch due to movement, then the collapsing field voltage from you flipper coil travels into your switch matrix, destroying driver transistor(s), and/or worse.
I discovered this issue by accident on a Road Kings. I had repaired driver transistors on the switch matrix so many times, the solder pads were in jeopardy.
I was puzzling on it again, early one morning in a darkened warehouse, the playfield was up, and I saw it….. a little blue jump of current from the flipper base leg to the ball through plate…..it was a EUREKA moment for sure.
So, if you ever see this (see photo galley) flipper mount leg sitting this close to your ball through plate, for god sake take the time to make this cut.
Later plates from the factory had the cut out factored into the stamping process, so, they did a some point understand the issue, but never did I see a “service bulletin” issued.
Then, years later this issue resurfaced, in early Data East, and Williams product; (1986-87) almost as if a order was placed, but the stamper used the old file.
Well enough of that topic. I’m going to continue on here, as if I’m in my right mind!
I gotta shock…….did you get a shock?
