F-14 Tomcat
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I recently purchased my first pin... F-14 Tomcat. I pumped countless quarters into the one at my local bowling alley growing up, and am excited to have one at home! The playfield is in surprisingly good shape, with one wear spot, the inserts' colors having faded and a few are raised.
I've just found this thread, and am looking forward to going back through it and checking out your experiences, mods and advice!
Hi All,
When the third ball is locked, the top lights on my machine come on, but the spinners only work intermittently. Has anyone else experienced this? Any suggestions of what the cause might be?
Thanks in advance!
Quoted from damageinc55:Likely mechanical, and not electrical in my experience. The belts and pullys need to be able to be rotated very easily. If there is a friction point, the beacons will not rotate. I would double check them by hand and see if they're biding up somehow. Also, start the mode, and then help them with a little turn manually by hand. If they fire up, you know that there needs to be adjustments somewhere.
Quoted from koen12344:On mine the gear on the drive shaft was worn (or the gear was slipping on the shaft, I don't remember). I don't remember exactly how I did it, but I believe I fixed it by taking the gear of the shaft with a small socket and a hammer, and putting it on the shaft upside down.
You'll see what i mean if you open up the gearbox on the motor
Thank you both!
My issue (beacons only rotating intermittently) turned out to be a loose connection to the motor.
The beacons rotated all the time with the backglass open, and then stopped when I closed it up again. That struck me as odd until I noticed the motor power leads sticking out past where the backglass would normally sit. Jiggling the wires confirmed the cause, and now my beacons rotate consistently.
Thanks again for the advice!
Quoted from RonSS:Just sayin hello. Picked up a working F14 today.
After a thorough cleaning and some new rubber I'll be in business I hope.
Prepare yourselves for multiple questions!
Welcome to the nuthouse!
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Seattle, WA