I'm hoping someone with more experience than me can provide some insight into what may be wrong with my CFTBL. It's doing some really weird and random things. For instance:

1. The VUKs are weak, but working; however, after playing a few games, the lower right VUK doesn't have enough strength to put the ball back in play (it tries, but doesn't have enough oomph). If I switch the game off and on, it then (usually) has the strength to pop out the stuck ball on boot up.

2. The loud snap sound (indicating a score was matched for a free game) happens randomly during games (not every game).

3. Sometimes, when switching on the game, the left and right sling shots hold their pushed out position for a 15-20 seconds before relaxing (the loud snap sound usually happens during this time too).

4. The first day things went whacky, I received an error message that Switch F6 -- for the non-existent upper right flipper -- was not working, but that seems to have worked itself out (there are no other error messages at start up).

I've checked all the fuses with my multimeter, and they all seem good. The only work I've done on the machine recently was to change the MikeD hologram mod to be powered off the service receptacle (the mod stopped getting enough power to give the LCD TV a signal, but after this change the game was fine for a week). I'm at a loss for what to check next.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

Touching the different TPs to C30, here are the readings I get (and what I *think* the manual says they should be -- the type is so small it's hard for me to read):

TP1: 11.4 (12)
TP2: 2.9 (5)
TP3: 9.8 (12)
TP4: 0.2 (?)
TP5: GND
TP6: 81.0 (50)
TP7: 13.5 (20)
TP8: 16.0 (18)

If I'm reading the manual numbers correctly, does this mean I need a new Power Driver board since most are below (a lot or a little) what they should be?

Thanks for the insight on testing the TPs! Here are my new readings (and what I think the manual says they should be):

TP1: 13.3 (12)
TP2: 4.9 (5)
TP3: 11.96 (12)
TP4: 0.4 (?)
TP5: GND
TP6: 84.0 (50)
TP7: 15.5 (20)
TP8: 18.6 (18)

TP7 started at 15.5, but immediately and continually decreased. Is that normal? And it's the most off from what it should be.

Still get random weird stuff. Lower & Upper right VUK work (lethargically) for a number of games, and then lower right doesn't have the power to push the ball into play. Knocker sounds at odd times. 2nd ball occasionally gets pushed into the shoot when not yet in multi-ball mode.

Thanks for any insights.

Thanks for the suggestions. I checked the VUK wire and ribbon cable, and both looked fine. However, this inspired me to push down on every connector I could find. I don't know exactly what I did, but it seemed to work because the game is back to normal. Can I get an "Amen!".

Thanks again to everyone for their insights and suggestions. Each one gives me a little better understanding of how the game works, and helps me troubleshoot the next time around. Pinsiders are the BEST!

Uh-oh! After several days of two days of normal game play, my Creature is acting strangely (sometimes) again. As some of you have suggested, I've ordered a set of ribbon cables from GPE. We'll see if that fixes it "once and for all".