Hey everyone! I'm somewhat new to pinball in general, and this is my first machine. I have a background in programming, and took a few classes in college years and years ago on PCB Boards. I figured I'd pick up a pin if I could find one for cheap to try to restore. I grabbed this for $350, which I was pretty happy with. It has good bones from as far as I can see, and I figure if I completely fail at soldering I don't have to feel too bad about it.

I'll be using this place to document my steps throughout attempting to get the machine up and running. Currently, here are the known issues:

1) Backboard does not light up, including the score/game cards.
2) Flippers do not flip on button press. On holding the button down, the flipper will flip intermittently and drop (almost machine gunning, but not quickly). This seems to be associated with a "pulse" of power moving through the machine in which the lights will brighten and dim accordingly.
3) Coin box has what looks like alkaline damage. I have no idea what this could have come from.
4) Unit does not produce sound.
5) Driver board seems to have some browning (scorching?).
6) Playfield has some wear. It appears that the previous owner put down some plastic to attempt to preserve the playfield in some way. May have difficulty getting that off without damaging the underlying art.

This is all I can think of after a short inspection. This weekend will be reading through the schematics for the machine, and focusing on testing all of the components on the power board.

Please feel free to yell at me if I'm missing something. I will not be plugging this machine in before consulting a local who has a lot of experience working on these machines. Additionally, I am aware of the dangers of soldering, and will not be doing so until I have my soldering hood set up and ready.

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slochar Your post is insanely helpful! I did manage to figure out that the high voltage fuse had gone, and it looks like a resistor issue. I've been following a guy on Youtube called Joe's Classic Video Games. He does a lot of work on System 6 machines and makes it feel pretty easy if you're willing to be careful and actually read the schematics.

I appreciate all of the information you've provided and will definitely put it to good use!

Hey! Yeah, I unplugged it when I took the topper off to bring it home and never plugged it back in. The batteries that are in it now are new. It didn't have batteries when I picked it up, but I'm planning on swapping out the old battery pack either way.

Took out the Power Supply Board to check and see what needed replacing etc. noticed a new 20000uf capacitor had been installed. It was too big so the previous owner seems to have drilled a small hole in the board and ran a wire to meet the connector, then used some kind of caulk to secure the capacitor to the board. Outside of that some light browning on the back of the board where the power inputs fit in. Consulting with a local repair guy on Tuesday to get his assessment.

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"New" as in "not original," hah.

Okay, updates. I took the CPU and driver board out of the machine to examine them and start removing and replacing components. I got a temperature-controlled soldering iron, 60/40 rosin core solder, a soldering fan and filter, and a bunch of components. This is what the boards looked like after removal. It looks like the previous owner tried a number of patches after some bad solders, so I’ll have to look more into cleaning those up. Lots of random cracked solder on the back of the board that will need to be redone, but otherwise the backs look pretty clean.

I’ll post some pictures of my replacement of the cpu to driver board connector tomorrow. For now, here are the boards:

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Okay, before I post pictures of my soldering job on the CPU/Driver board connectors, I figured I should post a list of parts I purchased for expected repairs. I tried to grab a handful of everything I could reasonably see failing outside of chips.

From ArcadePartsandRepair:
1N4730 (2 Piece Package) (D1029) 4
6A4 (2 Piece Package) (D1006) 4
TIP102 2
2N6123 2
2N5062 4
Williams System 3 - 6 Power Supply 105C Cap Kit 1
1.2K OHM 1/2 WATT RESISTOR (5 PIECES) (R1021) 2

From MarcoSpecialties:
Lamp #89 Miniature - 10-pack 1 $4.99 $4.99
Lamp #1847 Miniature - 10-pack 1 $4.49 $4.49
Fuse Clip PCB mount 1/4 inch AGC MDL 20 $0.29 $5.80
Transistor NPN 160V 0.6A 3-Pin TO-92 XO-313 10 $0.39 $3.90
Transistor PNP 150v 600ma MPSD52 MPSA92 XO-1142 10 $0.39 $3.90
Transistor PNP MJE15031 5194-12155-00 5 $1.79 $8.95
Transistor NPN 120V 8A TO-220 5164-12154-00 XO-1143 5 $1.79 $8.95
Transistor PNP 40V 6A TIP42A TO-220 10 $0.99 $9.90
Transistor NPN 40v TO-92 5160-08938-00 10 $0.20 $2.00
Diode - Zener 91v 1 watt 10 $0.19 $1.90
Diode - 100 volt 0.15a XO-261 10 $0.25 $2.50
Diode - 400 volts 1 amp XO-254 10 $0.16 $1.60
Resistor kit Williams System 3-7 1 $9.99 $9.99
Resistor Kit assortment 340 pieces 1 $15.99 $15.99

I got extras of the stuff that I thought would likely pop up in other repairs if I continue to pick up busted machines. If there is anything that I'm missing that would be a good idea to have, feel free to yell at me.

Edit: I realized that I should probably include where I got the suggestions for what parts to pick up. Link is here: http://www.pinrepair.com/sys37/index1.htm#parts

Yep! That's the one that's been recommended to me a few times now. Vid is great. He really knows what he's talking about and makes it digestible for new people.

Alright, first soldering updates. I think I’m okay at soldering. It came pretty easily and I don’t think I cold soldered any joints. I replaced the CPU to Driver board connector both male and female. Currently, they don’t join with each other for a reason I can’t figure out. I also removed the resistors on the Driver board that tend to burn out, and I have replacements now from Marco. You can see how dirty the board is underneath, so I think I’m going to clean both boards with 99.9% isopropyl alcohol. Any tips would be appreciated, and comments/criticism/advice on either my soldering or cleaning is appreciated!

Pictures of the solders:

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I'm still new to this, but I think you can clean the lock bar with an abrasive brush. As far as the playfield, it looks like the paint is starting to chip, but assuming that the wood below it is good and it's just the paint, you can definitely restore that! Definitely get a second opinion, but assuming you fix some of that up, post pictures so I can see the before/after!

So, new updates. I removed, cleaned and replaced all of the sound resistors that tend to burn up with a kit I got from Arcade Pinball. From here, I didn't really know where to go, so I popped the boards back in, started it up and...nothing. Top LED flashes once and goes out. After using the mem-test buttons, I found that the top light would go solid on pressing the top mem-test. After some research, I found that this could mean that the ROM chips are bad, so I replaced them with new chips. And...nothing again. Same issue it seems. On doing a quick restart, sometimes the solinoid in the drain pops, but outside of that, that's it. I'm really stumped from here. My next steps would probably be changes the fuses out? Any suggestions are appreciated.

Attached are some pictures of the replacement ROMs and soldering job on the resistors. I cleaned the chip beds before seating new ROMs in!

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I think this is the issue. I've done some additional testing, I think the sockets are bad and need to be replaced. Will any 24 pin .6″ socket work?

So far, what's been replaced are the old caps, sound matrix resistors, and the CPU/Driver connectors, which I think were all appropriate replacements. The new chips were a mistake without replacing the sockets first, but having backup chips isn't bad since I plan on repairing a lot more System 3-6 boards in the future. Outside of the sockets, is there anything else you think should be replaced? I was considering swapping out all of the Molex connectors, since not only do mine look bad, but it seems to be a small amount of work to eliminate a common failure point on the boards.

For some reason, I hadn't even considered looking for a Blackout club! Thanks for the reference!

That's completely fair. For what it's worth, I did test the sockets, and one of them (the 5101?) had a short. However, even if it didn't, I would still replace them, because ultimately my goal is to replace all of the parts that often fail, hence why I swapped the sound matrix resistors, the caps, the CPU/Driver connectors, etc even though some of them tested fine. It's the same reason I'll end up swapping out the battery pack for NVRAM when I get there -- yeah, the current battery pack works fine, but it's good practice to replace it anyway.

(Also, the power coming into the Power Supply Board tests fine, but I'll likely replace the sockets for the power input for the same reasons I listed above.)

I'm completely new to this, so please forgive my complete fumbling through it. I did some light soldering in college, and have no real PCB experience. The whole project exists because I got this machine for cheap enough that if I completely destroy all of the boards in it, or the playfield while attempting to restore that, I don't have to feel too bad about it. It's a beater car and I'm a 16 year old who's just getting into engine rebuilds, hah.