Hi all,

I got an F-14 Tomcat about a week ago. It was working great until yesterday. I couldn't get it to start a game, the launcher just popped. I realized there was a ball in the launcher still right as it comes off the initial ramp. As soon as I got it out and drained it the machine loaded up a game fine.

Now, when you launch the ball as soon as it hits either spot off the initial ramp, the game thinks the ball drained. It stays in there but does all the drain sounds and starts another ball.

I feel like theres an easy fix to this but I have no clue. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

I'll do both of these! Thanks for the suggestions. Hopefully won't take long...

Okay here's the video of what I'm dealing with

Thanks!

Again thanks for everybodys help. If you can't tell I'm a novice.

So I completed the solenoid test. Some of the solenoids made a clicking noise but didn't actually "pop". They were

03A ball popper launch
05A center right eject
07A Right eject
10 Center left eject
12 line of death kickback
13 rescue kickback
14 ac select relay

Would this lead me to believe it's a power issue of some sort? Again, I'm running blind as of right now but I'm learning quick. Thanks again for the help in advance!

Yes only 4 balls. I'm gonna grab a multimeter tonight and test some fuses. Hopefully that's the issue. I'll try the switch test too.

Yeah, that fuse definitely went. The attached picture Is the one I pulled out of it. I put a new fuse in and it worked great for about 2 minutes than blew again. I'm feeling like this may soon be leaving novice territory but I'm willing to tinker still.

I realized the fuses we're all different in the box. It calls for a 2.5amp fuse. I tried 1a and it worked for about a minute and blew, tried 3a and it blew immediately. Im gonna run back to Lowe's and find a 2.5 now that I know what I'm looking for, if that goes I assume one of the coils is bad?

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Ah see these were time delay. I thought this was the same thing. I'll find some and report back.

Finding this exact fuse has been difficult. Ordered some. Should be here Wednesday. If I don't find one tomorrow I'll report back then. Thanks for the help!

Oh man that sounds pretty intensive but I'll definitely try to replace if it comes to it. I finally got the fuses in. Finally got 2.5a aaaaaaand they're too small. I dont understand why they have the same numbers on them. I'll keep trying to find them

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That's what I figured. I ordered some from that site so I'll still look for them in the wild but otherwise I'll have an update when they come in.

So the fuses finally came in. It now pops as soon as I power up the machine. I looked into running the 25v wire to it but that seems to be over my level right now. I wanted to run the coil test again but if it pops as soon as I power it on I cant.

Okay, I hope I did this right. I attached the picture of what I think I was supposed to be testing. If so this is the ohm ratings I came up with.

Bottom left, left to right

1-.7
2-.08
3-.7
4-.7
5-.6
6-Not used
7-.68
8-.08

The one to the right of it had no ratings. Multimeter just had OL the whole time. Open loop?

The vertical one on the right, from top to bottom.

1-OL
2-.09
3- not used
4- .09
5- .09
6- .1
7- .1

I hope this made some sort of sense. Let me know how off I am here. And as always a tremendous thank you for your help.

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That's what I thought initially but I didn't get a reading on any of them. All OL. I didn't think I was doing it right but if I got the readings somewhere then I guess I was. I had the machine off that's correct right?

Hmm, still not getting anything. I included pictures, this is what you're telling me to do right

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Tried that too, still nothing. It's not because I don't have the fuse in right?

Wow that's great I can't wait to dig into that.

I'll try again soon but I can't get a resistance reading on the transisters at all. The MM is pretty much brand new so I'm not sure what the issue is.

The 3 connectors that the other poster had circled? I'll try that when I get home I'll let you know.

Nope, left them disconnected and the fuse did not blow. I left it on for about 5 minutes. Fuse is fine.

So, newest update. I tried the connectors one by one to see which one popped the fuse. Tried all 3 and none popped. Tried them in different combinations, none popped. Tried all 3, and it was fine. Just played two games as if nothing happened. I'm still worried long run but what the heck could have caused it to work all of the sudden??

Well I played a game and got the multiball. Both balls stuck in the right solenoid. I checked though and the fuse didn't pop.

Turned it off and turned it back on, all the coils popped and the balls drained. Thought I was in the clear. Played another game, same deal. Looked at the fuse popped. Back to square one. This pinball stuff can be frustrating!

I attached pictures of both solenoids in question. I tested the coils with The multimeter and they all seem fine. I see the diode on the diverters coils but not the upper solenoids.

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That was mentioned one other time. Ive soldiered in the past but I'm not sure I trust myself enough for this type of thing. If I was positive which wires to use I would probably try it. I've read that the red wire is supposed to come from the pop bumper?

Looks like it is the 50v wire

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So my diverters are actually hooked up with the red wire so those should be good. Once again I put a fresh fuse in and nothing went wrong. I ran the coil test and every coil popped 20 times with no fail. So something has to be shorting under the playfield or like somebody else said a pinched wire.

This is getting insane. I don't know how many games I've played but it's been fine. This is with the playfield down. I finally close the back box and put the glass on and it doesn't go one game without blowing the fuse. Something has to be catching in the backbox. The glass wouldn't change anything would it?