My FP did the same after a PF swap, solution was to bend it slightly. Take a look underneath at where the mech is hitting the ball, see if it's on or off center of the ball.
(Topic ID: 256547)
Linked Games
Firepower
Williams, 1980
Topic Gallery
Couple things to address:
The ghosting clear from the flipper mech pressing the pin up might just stay as is. I could just exacto the piece out and drip clear in the void, sand level, polish out and it’ll be fine. It’s just getting motivated to do it.
I’m hoping there’s a cliffy available for the shooter lane to help hide that huge chip coming out of the trough. That whole ordeal sucks. However after twisting the spring a few times to tighten it and also bending the arm of the mech more centered on the ball, the eject is now kicking the ball into play!
Cave Creek, AZ
Quoted from mrm_4:Couple things to address:
The ghosting clear from the flipper mech pressing the pin up might just stay as is. I could just exacto the piece out and drip clear in the void, sand level, polish out and it’ll be fine. It’s just getting motivated to do it.
I’m hoping there’s a cliffy available for the shooter lane to help hide that huge chip coming out of the trough. That whole ordeal sucks. However after twisting the spring a few times to tighten it and also bending the arm of the mech more centered on the ball, the eject is now kicking the ball into play!
glad to hear you are making progress
Now that I’m finished with the cosmetic journey of the restoration I see why so many people love this game!
931F6DF2-1E76-43A0-89A9-F0FD64B0FD09 (resized).jpeg1D4A7143-FD97-4113-9E4A-BE73F8FA8334 (resized).jpeg7A04BCD0-C3CC-433B-B7DF-A557BB8A3C8D (resized).jpeg1951AA86-142B-4A26-BA8A-465254E5D957 (resized).jpeg8D968DD3-634E-455D-B71E-50461C24E1DD (resized).jpegBBA84808-7B0E-4CBB-A152-FA28444F45A8 (resized).jpegC42AF29F-AE42-4279-8A02-DFAA0280C5CE (resized).jpeg56413F6A-5E91-4C08-A6E3-0AC2F38E2472 (resized).jpegFDE67CD8-C79C-430A-A3DD-4CA5A0A58544 (resized).jpeg577E1511-E76A-4771-AC6F-A36F69B5F7FA (resized).jpeg8F4C3A6F-04D9-4E0A-B6B6-CBAC27F425BF (resized).jpeg76C4FD6A-5B68-4240-9587-5DD09E680ECA (resized).jpeg17FFD85B-ECEA-4CF8-8FA6-C0687C774BF4 (resized).jpegC1FEF775-D857-4D0D-B467-4483AFE946BD (resized).jpeg61AE53AE-5A72-44D7-9EB6-17D022B94AA6 (resized).jpegDFA4F59D-0B70-4558-AB6E-3113F9E1D5BE (resized).jpegQuoted from mrm_4:finished
Looking good!
And ... I'm seeing "dark spots." It's not your fault.
Firepower is one of those early Williams games where they did not brighten up all the plastics properly at all...
I added 5 or 6 bulbs to mine. Some sockets were topside, others were bottom side with long comet-flex bulbs.
Look around with the room lights out, and just Firepower on -- and you'll notice about 5 dark plastic spots that don't balance out on either side.
It's a fun and rewarding problem to solve to make it better than factory!
If you'd like I can draw a map for ya of the dark spots, but it's more fun if you discover it yourself!
-mof
WOW! That looks incredible! Congratulations on pulling it all together!
Love the lit scoops with the sticker on the deflector! What a cool touch!
You never talked about re-installing the roll-over switch with the clear in the grooves. Was that a PITA?
Quoted from Schwaggs:WOW! That looks incredible! Congratulations on pulling it all together!
Love the lit scoops with the sticker on the deflector! What a cool touch!
You never talked about re-installing the roll-over switch with the clear in the grooves. Was that a PITA?
Thanks!
With the rollovers I put the old plastic stars in upside down while I would clear coat and then take them out before the clear flashed. I only had to scrape one side of the red teeth on the left rollover because it was slightly rubbing. Made it really easy.
Quoted from Ceckitti:What does the trough eject do without a ball in place? Does it fully pulse the coil and arm? Just wondering if maybe the shaft seized up in the coil?
The coils fully pulsing. I thought I had it dialed in but now it takes like 4 or 5 tries before the momentum of the 2 balls behind it to help push it over the hump.
Also all my displays are dropping like flies so I guess it’s time for a Wolffpac kit.
Might as well do Red Digits.
Stunning result. Truly.
I really need to find one of these...of course, I have no illusions that mine would even approach the level of skill and detail that you have executed here.
Stellar.
(I'd maybe try a color changing bulb under the multi-ball lock holes, or maybe in the pop bumpers...but less is more with that sort of thing and yours is beautiful as is).
Quoted from mof:Looking good!
And ... I'm seeing "dark spots." It's not your fault.
Firepower is one of those early Williams games where they did not brighten up all the plastics properly at all...
I added 5 or 6 bulbs to mine. Some sockets were topside, others were bottom side with long comet-flex bulbs.
Look around with the room lights out, and just Firepower on -- and you'll notice about 5 dark plastic spots that don't balance out on either side.
It's a fun and rewarding problem to solve to make it better than factory!
If you'd like I can draw a map for ya of the dark spots, but it's more fun if you discover it yourself!
-mof
I think I see what you mean but I’d be interested in a drawing for sure! I might add lighting who knows.
Quoted from mrm_4:I’d be interested
Once you start "fixing" dark plastic spots from factory on early 80's games -- it's hard to not see them.
-mof
firepower-dark-spots (resized).jpgQuoted from mrm_4:Also all my displays are dropping like flies so I guess it’s time for a Wolffpac kit.
Might as well do Red Digits.
I added the red Wolffpac displays a month or so ago. Love them. I also added the blue kit to my Alien poker.
CB8B6DF4-9A97-40D3-8842-29BAE0FCDF43 (resized).jpegQuoted from mof:Once you start "fixing" dark plastic spots from factory on early 80's games -- it's hard to not see them.
-mof[quoted image]
Matrix strips from Comet are pretty awesome for fixing areas under plastics.
Quoted from mrm_4:So as I began to screw in the plate it was lift up by maybe 1/16th an inch and as I tightened the screw it pushed the pin in and raised the clear on the other side causing it to ghost. Maybe the plate was never screwed all the way down to begin with. Who knows but now I have this issue that I can’t unsee. And the flipper doesn’t hide it. It’s too large of a ghost...
Did I miss your fix for this very small oops?
Quoted from Atari_Daze:Did I miss your fix for this very small oops?
NO its still there mocking me lol
After I get a cliffy for the ball trough Im going to determine if i need to fix that piece of clear too depending on coverage. If the ball trough looks good with the cliffy then I'll eventually fix the piece by the flippers by cutting out a circle and then dripping clear and leveling, otherwise I'll need to pull the playfield and make a big thing out of it to fix both spots.
In the meantime I need to address the displays. So I'll be building a Wolffpac kit soon.
ALSO, the sound on this game is extremely quiet, I bought a new speaker for it, I'm wondering if its the wrong kind or if I need to replace something on the board, but Id like to get some volume for this game.
Quoted from mrm_4:ALSO, the sound on this game is extremely quiet, I bought a new speaker for it, I'm wondering if its the wrong kind or if I need to replace something on the board, but Id like to get some volume for this game.
Stupid question... but does the volume changes when you adjust the potentiometer inside the cabinet ?
And by the way, Firepower sounds awesome on a psw10 subwoofer 
Quoted from mrm_4:I need to look for a cliffy but I don’t understand what to adjust. There really isn’t anything to move
I make a shooter eject for FP. And for the kickouts.
FP-Eject-01 (resized).JPGFirePower-KO-EJ-set (resized).jpgQuoted from Cliffy:I make a shooter eject for FP. And for the kickouts.
[quoted image][quoted image]
Ha! That was me you invoiced earlier today 
Just paid up!
But I bought a normal and a wide to see what would work better of the 2. Not sure if there’s much of a difference between the Firepower specific shooter lane versus the 3/8”. If you could swap the Firepower specific instead of sending the normal that’d be awesome. I didn’t see the Firepower one on the site.
Quoted from matiou:Stupid question... but does the volume changes when you adjust the potentiometer inside the cabinet ?
And by the way, Firepower sounds awesome on a psw10 subwoofer
Yes but it doesn’t get loud at all. Pretty sure the speaker is too weak. It’s only 5watt. I just bought an 8 ohm 100 watt. That should help me out.
Quoted from mrm_4:Yes but it doesn’t get loud at all. Pretty sure the speaker is too weak. It’s only 5watt. I just bought an 8 ohm 100 watt. That should help me out.
Odd as my Blackout can get really loud and obnoxious.
Quoted from gdonovan:Odd as my Blackout can get really loud and obnoxious.
Yeah every video i watch with Firepower has loud sound, this thing is a little lower than a normal talking voice. The volume pot goes from 0-5k on the DMM when i test it. I replaced all caps on the board. Not sure why its so quiet. Anything else board related to volume I need to consider?
Quoted from mrm_4:Yeah every video i watch with Firepower has loud sound, this thing is a little lower than a normal talking voice. The volume pot goes from 0-5k on the DMM when i test it. I replaced all caps on the board. Not sure why its so quiet. Anything else board related to volume I need to consider?
I'm not familiar enough to offer an opinion on that detail of Williams sound boards unfortunately.
Quoted from mrm_4:Yes but it doesn’t get loud at all. Pretty sure the speaker is too weak. It’s only 5watt. I just bought an 8 ohm 100 watt. That should help me out.
That's not how speakers work. It's the wattage of the amplifier that matters - sometimes putting really high wattage speakers on a lower wattage amp doesn't get the results you want.
Try jumping out the 2 wires on the volume adjustment pot momentarily (this will put the volume at its max, as if you turned the volume all the way up) - if it's now loud (it should be really loud), your pot is bad. If it stays the same, likely you have a sound board issue, possibly the amp. Does it sound scratchy at all? Voltages check out?
Quoted from slochar:That's not how speakers work. It's the wattage of the amplifier that matters - sometimes putting really high wattage speakers on a lower wattage amp doesn't get the results you want.
Putting "high wattage" speakers in creates their own problems. They usually don't work well at low wattage and output sufferers.
I just purchased and sent back speakers for my Laser War that were rated for 200 watts, you had to crank the volume up to get anything out of them and then they were overpowered by the original third speaker in the cabinet bottom.
Quoted from slochar:That's not how speakers work. It's the wattage of the amplifier that matters - sometimes putting really high wattage speakers on a lower wattage amp doesn't get the results you want.
Try jumping out the 2 wires on the volume adjustment pot momentarily (this will put the volume at its max, as if you turned the volume all the way up) - if it's now loud (it should be really loud), your pot is bad. If it stays the same, likely you have a sound board issue, possibly the amp. Does it sound scratchy at all? Voltages check out?
Sound is clear, just low. Pot is all the way up and will lower the volume to mute if i dial it back.
I jumped the pot with no difference in volume.
I checked all the test points several times on the main sound board when i was having issues with the speech module and everything tests out. Maybe its the amp like youre saying. I'm really hoping its this cheap speaker i found for like $6 on ebay. I have nothing to compare it too though because the original speaker's cone was completely torn all the way around.
After digging through tons of threads I bought the speaker referenced here based on another pinsider using them.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/speaker-replacement-for-my-gorgar#post-752645
Quoted from mrm_4:Yeah every video i watch with Firepower has loud sound, this thing is a little lower than a normal talking voice. The volume pot goes from 0-5k on the DMM when i test it. I replaced all caps on the board. Not sure why its so quiet. Anything else board related to volume I need to consider?
Only thing I can think of is re-flow or better yet replace all the header pins on the sound board (cold solder joint causing bad connection to speaker or volume control). Re-seat the ribbon between the sound and voice boards. Rotate the balance pot on the voice card from end to end and back to the middle to clean the wiper.
I can't remember but did you replace the 10uf electrolytic cap on the voice board and all the electrolytic caps on the sound board (even the 1uf caps)?
Quoted from Biffbar:Whichever way you go, in the end you will have a really good game to play.
Dude you weren’t kidding this game is amazing. I’m in love, especially as I get all the switches adjusted and the game starts playing without any misses or run away scoring I’m getting more and more hooked.
Ripping that spinner right into the last ball lock for multi is the best feeling.
Quoted from Schwaggs:Only thing I can think of is re-flow or better yet replace all the header pins on the sound board (cold solder joint causing bad connection to speaker or volume control). Re-seat the ribbon between the sound and voice boards. Rotate the balance pot on the voice card from end to end and back to the middle to clean the wiper.
I can't remember but did you replace the 10uf electrolytic cap on the voice board and all the electrolytic caps on the sound board (even the 1uf caps)?
So a little bit of progress, I pushed the sound test button and rolled the balance pot to all voice and the volume was the same. But when I rolled it all the way to the sounds and no voice the game is loud as hell. So balancing out the sounds and voice is killing the volume. Why would the voice side be so quiet in comparison? 
Quoted from mrm_4:So a little bit of progress, I pushed the sound test button and rolled the balance pot to all voice and the volume was the same. But when I rolled it all the way to the sounds and no voice the game is loud as hell. So balancing out the sounds and voice is killing the volume. Why would the voice side be so quiet in comparison?
Good find!
My guess is a dried up C12 or bad C1 on the voice board or IC3.
C12 is an electrolytic and should always be replaced when bullet proofing a game. C1 should be a tantalum cap that rarely goes bad but can. IC3 is the filter section for the speech. A weak or dead amp in IC3 can cause low or missing voice.
Quoted from mrm_4:But I replaced all 3 of those.
To get the voices working I replaced:
IC3
C1
C4
C12
R12
R13
How likely would it be that the balancing potentiometer is bad?
[quoted image]
Ah yes, I remember now, thanks for the reminder (too many threads).
I see you used a tantalum cap for C12. Do you happen to have a 10uf electrolitic you can try there. The circuit calls for a low leak electrolytic there, not sure it using a tantalum would cause this problem (that is in the audio path from the voice generator to the mixer).
I'd try the cap before suspecting the pot.
Quoted from Schwaggs:Ah yes, I remember now, thanks for the reminder (too many threads).
I see you used a tantalum cap for C12. Do you happen to have a 10uf electrolitic you can try there. The circuit calls for a low leak electrolytic there, not sure it using a tantalum would cause this problem (that is in the audio path from the voice generator to the mixer).
I'd try the cap before suspecting the pot.
Crap!
No nothing on hand. I think the problem I was having initially is I couldn’t find an electrolytic cap that was 10uf and 20 volts when I got the rest from DigiKey. Results kept pulling tantalums. How much does voltage matter here?
Quoted from mrm_4:Crap!
No nothing on hand. I think the problem I was having initially is I couldn’t find an electrolytic cap that was 10uf and 20 volts when I got the rest from DigiKey. Results kept pulling tantalums. How much does voltage matter here?
Not at all as long as it is over 25V. 50V, 63V, 100V all good.
You guys were right. Got the new speaker and it was a dud, didn’t help at all. Trying to find a capacitor for the board on amazon or eBay since I literally need just one. Trying to avoid making it a $15 piece with shipping.
Another clear coat issue...
This damn game is too violent for itself. First the ball trough chipping because the force of the ball slamming into the side and now all the saucers are cracked too.
I put a thin strip of felt where the lip meets the wall to help slide the ball out of the hole. Wish I did this BEFORE the clear started cracking 
By this point I’ll probably get it right on my 20th restoration
CBA4A4C7-6C15-4929-ADE4-B433A030567C (resized).jpeg50108341-8A69-43D9-B53E-F600E69ED771 (resized).jpegQuoted from mrm_4:You guys were right. Got the new speaker and it was a dud, didn’t help at all. Trying to find a capacitor for the board on amazon or eBay since I literally need just one. Trying to avoid making it a $15 piece with shipping.
If you can't find one shoot me a PM with your address I have this one which I believe would work... It is axial right?
15936495890047159883810512893621 (resized).jpgGot the Wolffpac kit this morning. Super easy to put together and good lord does that look better!
59D7C2B4-F841-4BED-9632-E8A3DBC20E98 (resized).jpeg619A1FD8-86DC-44E4-8C66-CFE7CD67D95B (resized).jpegEF54F501-3B95-4A94-A25C-37487A0F903F (resized).jpeg25BDE979-0D05-4751-8269-B7BCBDF6B923 (resized).jpeg399961A1-8FE4-40F1-913E-FA4E7061CC06 (resized).jpegI wish! I was feeling pretty good about myself until I realized the 1-6 targets weren’t adjusted right and I was scoring mega points because of vibration. Now I’m lucky to break 500k
Quoted from mrm_4:Got the Wolffpac kit this morning. Super easy to put together and good lord does that look better!
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
Looks nice, I suck at Soldering.
Quoted from mrm_4:I wish! I was feeling pretty good about myself until I realized the 1-6 targets weren’t adjusted right and I was scoring mega points because of vibration. Now I’m lucky to break 500k
Wish you were closer, I'd have you do the hair trigger target adjustment on all my pins.
Promoted items from Pinside Marketplace and Pinside Shops!
Reply
Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.
Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!
Donate to PinsideGreat to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!
