F-14 Tomcat
Williams, 1987I purchased a project F14 and have most everything working. I need to replace the flasher bulbs along the top of the playfield. Is there a trick to doing this? When I left the board it pivots into the cabinet and the top of the playfield becomes inaccessible. I cannot get my hand in there to remove and replace bulbs.
Thanks
Lift p/f and set on prop rod, then cram your hand back behind the back board. Feel for the wing nuts that hold the flasher board in place and remove them. Then slide the board off the protruding bolts and lift it up over the top of the back board. You will be able to change the bulbs now. It's a pain in more ways then one. 
Quoted from StratDoc:a pain in the ass.
The real pain will come when you try to reinstall the wing nuts! 
Did you install LED flashers? If so check the lamp socket. I put LED flashers in mine and one on the red,white and blue flasher bank on the right side of the playfield didn't work. Pulled the board and saw the lamp socket was installed backwards so the voltage was reversed. Would always work fun with standard bulbs but not led. Easy fix.
Quoted from bflagg:Did you install LED flashers? If so check the lamp socket. I put LED flashers in mine and one on the red,white and blue flasher bank on the right side of the playfield didn't work. Pulled the board and saw the lamp socket was installed backwards so the voltage was reversed. Would always work fun with standard bulbs but not led. Easy fix.
Yep, if a standard bulb works, but LED does not, then socket is wired backwards.
Does the other flasher on the p/f work? If no then check the flasher resistor board for a bad 5 ohm resistor.
All the resistors are there and still soldered. I have not yet checked the resistance to see if one has failed, but I do have correct voltage at the socket. The other number 4 flasher on the playfield is also not working.
Very cool to restore to the original design. I definitely need to do that. Is there also a mod for additional lights at the top of playfield?
Thanks,
Quoted from StratDoc:All the resistors are there and still soldered
There are many resistor boards under the p/f and in the backbox. You say its #4 flasher, so look at the solenoid page in the manual to find which board it is. Its a board on the right side of the p/f with the white/yellow on the lamp terminal. Check the large resistor for 5 ohms.
Put game in solenoid test and lock it on flasher #4 and then take a jumper wire connected to the ground braid and briefly touch the metal tab of Q-24 on the CPU board, does it light when you ground Q-24?
Then you have a board problem for #4 flasher. Now find the #2 flasher board with the white/red wire and test the resistor for ohms.
Quoted from GRUMPY:Put game in solenoid test and lock it on flasher #2 and then take a jumper wire connected to the ground braid and briefly touch the metal tab of Q-25 on the CPU board, does it light when you ground Q-25?
Quoted from StratDoc:I think flasher 2 is bad bulb
Bulb or socket.
Quoted from GRUMPY:Then you have a board problem for #4 flasher
Do you have a logic probe?
Hook up your probe on the CPU board place game in solenoid test and lock on 4c flasher. Probe SR6 pin 5 (pin 1 has a white dot on the board) and you should have a low with high pulses. Then probe SR7 pin 4 and should be low with high pulses. Tell me what you get.
Quoted from StratDoc:SR6 pulses. SR7 stays constant low.
Then Q-20 is bad and needs to be replaced.
Quoted from StratDoc:Flash 2 was not a bulb. It is not flashing.
You need to check continuity on the white/red from the socket to the resistor board. You need to check for voltage at the socket too.
Quoted from StratDoc:The q20 transistor was actually missing
This explains why it didn't work... 
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Chattanooga, TN
Sana'a
