My F-14 Tomcat won't start a multiball. It's because the upper diverter doesn't activate after the second ball is locked...so the ball keeps going to the right side kickout, spitting out the ball that is already sitting in the kickout. Rinse and repeat... so I can never start the multiball.

If two balls are locked and I activate the switch in the center right kickout (in other words from the wireform that the upper diverter sends the ball to) RELEASE lights up, the 4th ball kicks out and multiball starts as it should.

With regards to the diverter, while it doesn't work to start the multiball, it works fine in the solenoid test, and the first ball launched in gameplay often (but not always) activates that diverter and it sends the ball to the center right kickout... like it's supposed to. I should also note that all of the switches in this pathway are working fine in switch tests-- the shooter lane, the switch in the middle of the wireform, the switches in each of the kickouts.

So... any ideas why it won't activate that diverter when trying to start a multiball?

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/f-14-diverter-and-flipper-issues

Using some different keywords, I found this thread... sounds like the same issue.

Hmmm... reading that other thread more closely, maybe not the same issue.

It registers and kicks the ball out. But I will double check it anyway.

Bump- anyone else have ideas?

Every switch registers correctly in switch tests.

I did a factory reset, just in case I had toggled some setting that would cause the multiball not to start.

It's as though the game doesn't know when to activate the top diverter. Could it be a chip issue? I'm out of ideas.

Yes, with the exception of the switches in the middle of the top wireform (which is not reachable without doing some disassembly). I can only do that one with a finger, but i made sure that it's not completely depressed before it registers.

Here’s the upper diverter working in test mode.

And what happens when you try to lock the third ball to start multiball.

I just swapped out 30. It was registering "too deep" and adjusting the wire on the switch led to the ball occasionally getting hung up-- so I changed it. 31 and 32 register fine- and the switches in the right kickout and left center kickout always know there's a ball locked there (and when I manually activate the right center kickout-- the one that comes from the top diverter-- it behaves as it should).

32... as I noted, it registers fine, but the ball never passes through 32 when trying to start a multiball.

32 is in the wireform that is after the diverter. There are two switches that come before the diverter-- the shooter lane, and the one in the launch wireform (I think that's #21 from the diagram above).

But I think you're on the right track. Somehow the game is losing track of where that third ball should be.

See 22 and 23 above-- they are in the center left and center right kickouts respectively.

No, it's all good-- I appreciate you talking it through with me.

I'll double check on exactly where the ball enters those kickouts when I get home from work.

I couldn’t resist… ran home at lunch to test this out. In this video, I removed the plastic cover from the diverter, and dropped a ball into each wire forms. You can see that it passes through the wire forms switch and the kickout switch for each… so I think the switches are fine.

Thanks ringonu I'll check that when I get back home (just returned to the office). But if it is indeed that, wouldn't the same problem manifest in the solenoid test? See post #12.

Cool. Such an odd solution... but I'll give it a try!

I also just found this service bulletin... https://www.ipdb.org/files/804/Williams_1987_F_14_Tomcat_Service_Bulletin_no_number_undated_to_resolve_binding_diverter_gate_assembly.pdf

Ho-Lee-Poop... the electrical tape on the back of the lower coil stop worked! I wouldn't have found that one on my own in a million years...

THANK YOU!

I just played a half-dozen games and was able to successfully start the multiball in all of them. Got to hear some sounds I've never heard my game make either!