Congrats! I love mine and play it almost daily. I joined the Flash club late last year. In any event, for the flipper upgrade that Vid covered.. post 140... https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vids-guide-to-upgradingrebuilding-flippers/page/3

I am not sure if it is common, but it is done. I just rebuilt my flippers in the original style and I am super happy with the play... post 294 - REBUILDING 1967-1979 FLIPPERS
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vids-guide-to-upgradingrebuilding-flippers/page/6

Honestly, one of the biggest changes to play was when I changed the inner and outer shooter springs... that turned it into a skill shot as now plunging all the way results in the ball not going through any of the top lane guides to score points and bonus, but rather following through the loop (since there is purposely no gate up there) and right back at you.

As for flipper bands - mine are red and I love them that way. In terms of the post colors, I prefer (and have) the blue (with blue #47 incandescent nearby them) .. this post has an interesting theory...post #35

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/1979-williams-flash-amateur-garage-restoration

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thank you for the info! lots of different ways to set it up, I will have to experiment when I get to that point

(cross-posting this here, from a general topic in the Tech section that doesn't seem to have gotten noticed! hoping you fellow Flash-owners can assist!)

Hey y’all,

Got a Williams Flash with a new Rottendog MPU, and Pinscore installed.

I can’t get to the settings, or start a game. The Auto-Up and advance switches don’t seem to do anything. Turning the game off and on over and over will make the credit # keep going up...and then pressing Start will drop the #, one by one, along with a sound...but that’s it.

Below is a link to a video of what’s going on. Any help greatly appreciated!

Responding to my own topic, ha.

I was able to change things a little—now, I can get the game going, and start a game, but I still can't seem to access the diagnostics?

Anyone have experience with Rottendog MPU327s? It didn't really come with a manual describing if there are unique ways that I'm supposed to interface with it, and following the instructions in the FLASH manual aren't yielding any results. It's like the switches on the inside of the coin door do absolutely nothing.

I'm going to try to trace the wires and make sure everything's connected in the right way, but if anyone has any ideas, they're appreciated!

...after this, there are a LOT of things to get fixed up on this guy, hoooooooboy...but amazingly, most of the GI and switches seem to be working!!!

Well, here is my first pinball I got from a friend for $400. He picked it up to do a resto on it but didnt have the time. It does have issues. Only the lights come on and nothing else. So I will be doing the resto. I love it so I plan on making it bullet proof. My 1st step will be the power supply and go from there I guess

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Nice first game and a good deal.

Have fun..,I love my one!.

Hey guys, sound hum question.

Just got my boards back from Chris hibler and everything works perfectly except I have a loud continuous humm from the speaker. It’s not terribly noticeable during a game due to the other sounds but very noticeable before starting a game.

I saw a couple threads about isolating the sound board with nylon washers so I tried it, using nylon washers and zip ties to hold the board in place with no metal to metal contact but the humm is still there, any ideas?

I have new caps in the board, isolated the board and the noise has barely lowered.
If there is a permanent fix I would like to hear about it too.

If you try it and it works for you please leave a comment on you tube.

Thanks

I believe Flash and Time Warp have the same sounds, so try this: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/time-warp-sound-card-modification
This is on my TW to-do list, I haven't tried it yet.

CNKay - thank you for the video! My problem was similar to yours and by pulling the ground pin out (and using the ground through the board edge screws) my humm went down a lot. It’s still noticeable but I believe I can live with it.

I read somewhere somebody turned the volume on the board up all the way and added a pot to the speaker wire to reduce all sound (including hum). I might give that a try also.

parts question - now that the Flash is working, I am tearing it apart to restore it as well as I can.

I've run into a couple of parts that need to be replaced and I am unsure what they are called.
At the very bottom of the playfield, the coil that kicks out the ball and sends it over to be put into play is pretty crispy. The manual says there is a "ball Release" coil Q15 (SA-23-900-DC) and a "Eject Hole" coil Q23 ("SG-23-900-DC") but I can't find anything that tells me which is which.

Also, in the upper-right kickout hole (not sure of the technical term) the white plastic piece that the ball sits in is cracked, anyone know what that is called so I can order a replacement?

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Eject hole shield 03-7351

Looks like Bay Area Amusements has the white ones

thanks for the info on the hole shield, I have purchased one (several actually - just in case

Got a question for paint touchups to the playfield. I am doing some touchups and the black was relatively easy, my question is around the white/gray/yellowy color. Is that supposed to be a pure white, an offwhite or some kind of light yellow/gray? I've got a lot of different colors under the pop bumpers.

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Originally the areas under the plastics were white. The whites all yellow from age. I leave all mine alone but some people re-paint those areas.

Ok, thanks. I don’t think I have to repaint all my white. Just the one area where the paint has worn away. Think I will just try to match what’s there so it doesn’t look weird.

If anyone is interested in following along, I’ve been documenting my work over at: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/it-was-supposed-to-be-a-simple-flash-restore

I wanted to share an LED replacement for the GE #631 flash lamps used under the 'Flash' insert.

They are a tad pricey at ten bucks each. The best feature of these lamps are their lifespan. The incandescent lifespan is 1,000 hours. The LEDs have a 30,000 hour lifespan.

https://www.pilotlights.net/ge-303-led-replacement-ba15s-base-g8-sc-bayonet-34

I did have to clip the warming resistor lead so the LEDs weren't on all of the time. This is the big 330 Ohm resistor on the nearby resistor board.

I was hoping for light that would cast shadows. These aren't that bright, but they are bright enough, and I will never have to replace them again.

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If you want to order these LEDs, please be aware that there are two versions, 14 Volts and 28 Volts. Be sure to order the 14 Volt version.

I bet those look great. I was thinking of trying something like that. Maybe fabricate a smsll piece of metal and put 6 leds on it for a really bright flash

I have two LED flashers and they are so bright it lights the ceiling above the pin when they come on.
Doubt you need more than two.

I have owned my Flash since October 27, 2018. I installed a remote battery holder on November 7, 2018... last night I turned it on and it went into audit 04 00... so I check the remote batteries and sure enough.. one leaked! Less than 1 year! So if your batteries are still on the board, get them out of there.

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Parting out a flash That someone pumped 10 gallons of clear coat on, checking to see if anyone needs anything. Pm me

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How does that happen?

I have no idea, but it’s especial.

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The flash cabinet sold.

Possible hardtops coming! There is a forum poll so if your play field is all blown out we may have an option!

Just "rescued" this one from 25 years of solitary confinement. Do I need to do something to join this owners' club?

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Congrats! I am up in the Bellingham area, working on mine. Let me know if I can help

Ouch. At this point there's no reason to not go to NVRAM to avoid this issue completely.... it's cheap enough now. Although with most sys4/6 boards you'd need to install a socket for it. I don't like the idea of having to check batteries all the time anymore - I think I'm down to only 4 games that have them still.

"#5293961">Congrats! I am up in the Bellingham area, working on mine. Let me know if I can help<

Thanks, Mark. For one thing, the stickum on the player score displays has failed. If you had that problem, how did you repair it? My displays are all hanging against the back side of the glass.

Greg

3 of my 4 displays are still tight:
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but one is coming loose. When I get to that point, I just assumed I would put some double-sided carpet tape to hold them on. I am not sure of the heat in the area though.IMG_4760 (resized).jpg

All 4 of mine are loose, plus the main display has disintegrating sticky pads behind it from some later repair attempt.

Were you figuring on trying to de-gum the back of yours first, or just insert the carpet tape between the foam and the mounting pad on the circuit board? How delicate are the flexible pins along the bottom of the score units; can you pull the unit out a bit to get at the back side for cleaning?

I've only worked on EMs before, and most of their parts are stout!

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I would definitely be careful about bending the posts, I cannot believe they are designed to bend much. I would slide some double-sided tape down in there and see if you can't just stick it back on without having to do any major surgery. What have the other Flash owners experienced?

...well, to answer my own question, you slice through the foam with something sharp, then use alcohol to soak what remains and carefully scrape it off with a sharp blade. Once the back of the glass is clean and the green board is equally clean and free of residual sticky snot, you can use new double-stick foam tape to re-adhere it. The metal contact fingers allow enough leeway to get your finger or a chopstick in there with a piece of synthetic scrubber soaked in alcohol.

So far, I've done one score unit in about an hour and a half and it looks like it might've when it left the factory.

Awesome

...and further, it seems that heat (as in hairdryer on low) will encourage the double-sided tape to let go and peel off. Mostly that worked on the next 2 score units I cleaned, and reduced the total remaining gunk needing chemicals and scraping to remove. It's really hard to get all of that stuff off so that the new double-stick actually sticks!

I keep having to remind myself that this restoration is...

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...anyone know the correct tension for the shooter spring?

Can you give more detail please? What do you mean "correct tension"?

If you're asking how long the shooter main spring should be, I just refurbished mine and the spring is just slightly longer than the shooter main shaft. I had to compress it to get the "E" retaining ring onto the shaft. So, the shooter spring is compressed some even when it's at rest.

Woo excited to join the club. I picked up a project flash last week. Played it quite a bit at tournaments and just love the sounds and layout.

To the end, I know this comes up quite a bit but it seems I've never played a flash with a repeatable loop shot. Any clues to what is invoked with this or why this may be? Wondering if anyone has any setup clues that may help, as I'd be pretty happy to get this shot going.. Don't expect it to be easy, but I understand it was part of the design.

Thank you.

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Looking for a little help on a diode. There is a diode on the pop bumper switches and one of mine is broken. I can’t find anything in the manual the describes the part. I’ve got some 1N4007 ones, would that work?

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Yes

Awesome, thanks

Hi Flash group, I believe I have an issue with my upper 3-bank drop target.

Basically, when I hit 1+2, it scores the bank and resets without 3.

If I hit 3, it counts and scores.

I think the wiring might be tampered with, so I was wondering if anyone had a photo, or would not mind taking a photo of the bottom of the 3-bank for me?

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The other thing I was wondering is that I know I have played a flash where you had to complete the left drop bank twice before the 1k spinner lights. I see there is a liberal and conservative setting, but this doesn't seem to be included?

Thank you-

Yea, it is really tricky, there is a circuit for each drop target and one that goes through all 3 to know if they are all 3 down. My guess is that 3 is cross wired

Take a look at https://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/images/6/6e/WMS_Horseshoe_Drop_Bank_Marked.JPG

Hi Mark,

Thank you very much for your help. Yes the wire was soldered one terminal over, your photo REALLY helped.

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For anyone who wants to make the 3 drops 'easier', here's how you do it.. lol.

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I am looking for some thoughts on the big flash in the center. After LED'izing my table, I find that even with new bulbs, the center flash is really underwhelming. I would like it to be really bright, something epic to match the crash of thunder sound effect. I was thinking of some kind of custom bank of 7 or so LED's or do the larger bulb sockets under it have matching LED's?

here is a quick 7 second video of my flash - you can see the bulbs light up but they are off again so fast its not very impressive.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1FGmDldZXyOLEBsJOZPW9uYONPz5qF9ZI

I don’t know, do you guys have the same issue, or is my central flash exceptionally weak?

I installed some, cut the resistors and they are much brighter.

I had the same issue with my Flash, the center flash insert really is not much. I originally went to brighter LED replacements, and even added a 3rd one, but still not enough. I then added a strobe light on the top of the machine to fire at the same time: This was something I occasionally saw on location back when Flash first came out, but that was still not enough. I finally after a fair amount of hacking wired in an EnerGI Maestro, and now all the GI flashes.