Man, that actually sounds insane. When I think of all the GI flashing, I think of blackout, but with the extra flashing, and frequency, I'll bet this is quite a bit cooler.

Any videos of this to share? I'd be curious how you hooked up the strobe as well.

--------------

On another note:
Very happy to have my flash working again, it was working fine, and I was cleaning it up a bit, when it decided to no longer start properly. I guess at some point the ram just decided to die... just so confusing when you are working on the machine, to have something just go like that. sigh_.

Anyway, very glad for the excuse to finally get the NVRam in anyway

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i just bought a flash a month ago!

Congrats! Its a lot of fun to play

I found these:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/flash-owners-clubofficial/page/6#post-5249809

I wish they were even brighter, but I am happy with them. They aren’t cheap at $10 each, but if you want the best...

Brilliant solution (lol) I will definitely get me some of those.

For anyone who has been bothered by a humm from the loudspeakers, I have a quick and easy hack. ALthough the FLash isn't as bad as some games because of the constant sound, since mine is in the house I keep the volume down and the humm is very noticable. The right answer is to get rid of it and I've heard people use oscilliscopes to track the waveform through the power system, or use a computer power supply as an alternative. For a quick and easy fix I went with a potentiometer.

I snipped one of the wires going to the speaker and put in the pot, it is essentially a variable resistor so I can use it to turn down the volume. Since it is right before the speaker, the volume it turns down includes the humm, then I turn the volume on the sound board up and voila! the humm is gone. You can't max the sound as high but I am not in a noisy arcade and don't run it at full volume anyway.

Here is the link to the pot if anyone is interested. I have a rescue 911 with a loud humm and I think I will try this technique on it as well.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B889HIY

Here is a picture, I've just got jumper wires for now

DSC00422 (resized).JPG

Has anyone here had a chance to install the replacement drop target contact circuit board kits for early Williams System 3 through System 6 solid state pinball machine drop target assemblies from Marco Specialties? If so, how did it go for you? How are they working now?

I have had my FLASH sitting idle for a bit and forgot I bought these a bit back so I figured its time to get this all sorted out. Thanks!

Hello, I've been reading about a circuit to add a strobe light as a topper. I was wondering if anyone could share the method / way that they wired this up?

Thank you-

I have not done one but conceptually the first thing is to decide when it goes off. Is it all the time, just when the “flash” happens or what?

Once you have that, try running a wire from the 2 sides of the lamp that comes on at the right time to your light. The circuit that lights that lamp sends electricity at the right time. You just have to be careful not to put too much of a load, a few lights should be no big deal but a lot of load might burn out something that is sized for a small bulb

I know back in the day when they first came out I occasionally saw a strobe on top; I think one of the amusement bussiness related magazines had a circuit described, not sure if it was ever officially supported by Williams, nor was I ever able to find out the details, but I did come up with something that works.

Originally I though of putting one together from individual parts, or modifying an of-the-shell unit to trigger it internally, but I was not comfortable dealing with the high voltages present and potentially exposing the rest of the electronics to damage. I suppose if you went with an LED strobe, rather than xenon, the risk would be much lower and easier to connect.

I eventually kind of cheated, but it works quite well: I got one of the old classic style box strobe units, and directly switched 120v line voltage to it on and off using an SSR (Solid State Relay), the top device in the photo (the lower regular relay is for the GI flashing). I hooked the bulbs under the flash insert to trigger the SSR, and ran 120v through the switched side to an outlet that the strobe lamp plugs into. Even though the 120v pulse is very short, the strobe charges up and fires so fast that even a brief pulse is enough to flash it several times. Not sure if all strobe units will work, but the simple one I got does. The unit has a dial to adjust the flash rate, and you can easily set a point where it almost always flashes just once, although you can change it to flash several times if you want a different effect.

The SSR I used requires a 5v supply to activate, since I wanted to only drive this when the game was active, not strobe all the time during atract mode. I don't remember the exact details how I did this, but I think I hooked up to the flipper relay somehow so that only when the flippers are active during a game is the relay enabled. If you want to always have the strobe flash, even in atract mode, you can use a simpler SSR that does not require extra 5v power.

A bit of hack, but it works quiet well. Not sure if this approach will shorten the life expectancy of the strobe, but I have been using it for years without trouble. At some point I need to record a video of how this looks and possibly wired up, including how I got all the GI to flash as well...

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Interesting, thanks for the pics. Like you say, I would have expected too much delay, so it is great to know it can work just like that.

I was thining of trying to re-use an old camera flash. Thanks for the tip about the SSR working in this case. Did you use the mod board someone made up for the GI? Cant' recall the name now, or did you modify directly?

Thanks-

-Koji

has anyone else had trouble setting the number of balls? I did a factory reset and it defaults to 3 balls. Whats weird is the setting (function 31) says its supposed to be set to 03 or 05. After the factory reset it was at zero. setting to 05 (or 03) does not change it.

I have rebuilt boards with the green roms

The end of the Flash manual, page 61 of 62, shows the settings for the green roms.

https://www.ipdb.org/files/871/Williams_1979_Flash_Manual.pdf

Beginning at Function 25 the Function number is different when using the green roms - the 'Number of balls (03 or 05)' is Function 30, not 31.

Oh wow I had forgotten about the manual addendum. Thank you!

That's odd, I am assuming you are using the recessed area for the prop rod (so it is not slipping under the PF), and also that the back of the PF is nearly all the way back on the rails against the backing under the head? (When I lift a PF like this, I would typically pull it out a couple of inches, raise it up and prop it, then carefully allow it to slide a bit back so that it is flush against the back. The only reason I pull it out slightly is to avoid damage to the back plastics). As far as falling, I don't see how this could happen unless part of the rail is broken, although this PF will flex more than most pinballs, as I don't believe the wood is as strong.

That said, I would never do much work like this, and it isn't good for the PF to leave it like this for any length of time. I would typically just pull it forward and raise it all the way up.

Just pulled a big bonehead move. I've been filling inserts with Polycrylic over past month and decided to go ahead and clearcoat the whole Playfield. Did first coat 5 days ago. Sanded today lightly and got my gun and everything ready and sprayed 2nd coat. Its really starting to look good and then I notice I didnt put the old 47 bulbs back in sockets. Duh! So I went around and qtipped every lamp socket 5 times with alcohol. Did I fck up bad or am I ok? Feel like an idiot. I was pumped to get another coat on and went to asleep. I did have them in for 1st coat.

My first gameplay video. Bit of a ghetto setup video-wise, but it's what I could cobble together

Hopefully it helps with some ideas of how the machine can be set up, so far as the repeatable loop goes, strafing the 3-bank targets, full plunge loops to third flipper etc. Thanks to this forum, it also has the strobe light mod, but not too visible in this video (Gotta love the room flashing up with the lightning tho)

Hey y'all,

Finally got my Flash PLAYABLE, and it's a blast to shoot!

I do have a couple weird things that aren't working, though, and I'm not sure why:

- the blue Flash crescent never goes off
- the ascending tone never happens (I've seen it in videos...it doesn't happen on mine)

Any help appreciated! Thanks!

Congratulations on fixing the machine.

I had an issue with the blue flash crescent, in my case, one of the bulbs was burnt out, this will cause the whole thing to fail as they are connected, so make sure both bulbs and all connectors are good.

For the background tone, you need to set one of the software options for this to be 'on'. Check the manual for the correct setting and note the ROM type you are using.

Good luck!

Thanks for this! Going to get a couple of LEDs for the bulbs, and I'm ordering the 1 ohm resistor in case that's jacked up, too. Does anyone know, is there a schematic somewhere for that board on the underside of the playfield that controls these lights?

I'll look into the tone setting, too, thank you; I didn't realize it was a setting!

Has anyone done a speaker upgrade on their flash? Although the kits would be great I don’t think I can justify $150 for it, I am thinking some $20 speaker direct replacements

Cool, just note you do not want the warming resistor with LED. See:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/williams-flash-killed-the-flashers

Also maybe check voltages to see if it is just a loose connector (if the bulbs are ok).

I believe the schematic is in the manual you can DL off of ipdb.

Awesome; yeah, I found that thread earlier, and that's a good note about the warming resistor.

The schematic, as far as I can tell, is actually not in the manual, although admittedly I'm new to reading schematics and whatnot, and maybe I'm just totally missing it. If anyone has a page # for me to check, it'd be appreciated. Thanks for all the advice!

Hey again, everyone—new problem developed...

The right flipper is strangely weak, and will often do a "double-flip" kind of reaction when activated (I have a video I could share, if that doesn't make sense; basically, it'll quickly activate/deactivate/reactivate).

I've read the Vid thread about adjustments to the leaf switch gap, and how they should be set up, but setting the closed switch to open to exactly 1/8" when the plunger is fully depressed upon activation of the solenoid hasn't helped. Any recommendation on what ELSE could be wrong? Or is it possible the new switch that I put on is bad, in some way?

Not sure if it means anything, but there's a noticeable hum when the right flipper is activated that isn't there when the left is activated. It's not always the same hum, either, from flip to flip. Unsure if this is relevant, but thought I'd mention it.

Attaching a couple photos, in case they can shed any light on what might be wrong.

Thanks, as always, y'all.

IMG_6597 (resized).jpg

IMG_6598 (resized).jpg

Hmm, if the EOS on both right flippers is good, maybe check the switch on the right button? just make sure the contacts are really clean and fully engaged with the button?

Yeah, I've replaced that switch, too; brand new, seems to be making the connection fine!

Hmm, I have a hacky switch on my right flipper, but that switch stack you have looks odd to me.

I'm thinking the lower leaf should be bent toward the middle, rather than the other way around, so basically, it is prematurely going EOS on your setup.

Hmm, I have a hacky switch on my right flipper, but that switch stack you have looks odd to me.

I'm thinking the lower leaf should be bent toward the middle, so that the first switches are separated closer to the actual EOS?

I'll give this a try...appreciate your advice! Will check back once I can mess around with it...

The upper flipper should look like that, the lower right flipper should have a the additional switches.

To confirm, is that a photo of your lower right flipper? If so, I'd be curious to see how they are all wired, as it would definitely be a mod of some kind.

No, the second switch set is connected to the third flipper in an OE set up. You must have some kind of modification on yours. I have read about it, curious to see the gameplay on yours, I like the idea of your set up better, just not sure of everything involved.

Yes, to prevent as much of a shock to the circuitry. I don't think it's really needed.

Some of the WMS games of this era that have upper flippers have a staged flipper setup in the cabinet instead, although for non-multiball games, there's really no purpose.

Looks like it will work, is there enough clearance between the backglass and the bracket?

Your home made bracket should work. If you prefer, some years ago I designed a Williams Display Glass holder - it's available here: https://www.shapeways.com/product/M472WWJ2F/wiliams-display-bracket-for-system-3-7-pinball?optionId=64303053&li=shops

Display bracket

Display bracket detail

-Rob
-visit http://www.kahr.us to get my daughterboard that helps fix WPC pinball resets or my replacement LED display boards for model H & model S Skee Ball

My Flash has recently developed a problem with the spinner. With a good shot it used to spin ~20 times. Now it seems like it spins around 10 or so - definitely fewer than it used to. If one manually spins it by flicking it with a finger, it seems to spin fine. I think the problem is the spinner rests at an angle as can be seen in the attached photos. My guess is the ball is not hitting the spinner squarely. I've tried everything I can think of to get it to rest straight up and down - I've fiddled with both mounting posts and I've tried bending the leaf switch both up and down. Has anyone else had this issue or have a possible solution?

IMG_2458 (resized).JPG

IMG_2459 (resized).JPG

You have to (carefully) bend the arms of the spinner itself in some cases.

I like your idea but when you say take it out of the frame are you suggesting taking the spinner and its mounting frame out of the machine and adjusting it that way or are you suggesting that you take the spinner completely out of its frame and just hold the spinner between your finger and thumb?

Thanks for the helpful suggestions! I'll give them a try and report back.

Finished my refurb of my Flash i bought in early
Feb. Game was.working except for a couple of inserts
and a switch or 2 which I fixed.Before doing anything else.

So I don't want to bore anybody but I'll list what I did
and.then post some pics.
Rebuilt all mechs under playfield.(first time rebuilding pops)
New flippers assemblies etc. Rebuilt drop targets. All new coil sleeves on everything.
Cleaned all inserts and all switches . New rails made.out of red oak in custom
color. Drop target custom decals. F L A S H for left bank and
M O F for.center bank. Read that master of flow was a nickname
for mr ritchie.
Cleaned and polished coin door ,rails shooter rod and legs .
Did the same for all metal on top of playfield. Touched up paint all over cabinet. Touched up paint on playfield.
New blue.posts, translucent rubber. New pops.
Dripped Minwax Polycrylic into inserts which were really cupped
bad. Once I'd done that a couple of times I decided to just clear
entire playfield
Used spraymax 2k last year on my wing ding playfield.
Decided to buy hf purple gun and just use Minwax Polycrylic
since it was already on the inserts. 6 coats and.lots of
sanding. (6 weeks) my playfield looks and plays great.
Also added sub wire out from cabinet speaker.
Added Inkochnitos bridge board and the special solenoid
saver board from barakandl. Tons of new leds from
comet and almost all of the new parts from pinball
life. Biggest project I've done so far. Very rewarding
but it is a lot of work!! Learned alot. Thx for reading this far.
Was really inspired by 2 threads.. Not another flash restore by @Mark532011. The other was Williams Flash amateur garage
restoration by @Sunking. Just wanted to share. Thx for reading.
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