It could just be that I'm not very good at the alley pass shot...

I'm going to keep trying/practicing before I adjust them, just to be sure. I haven't played that may games on it since I got it a couple weeks ago.
I never knew about the center post bounce... I'll have to give that a try to. Thanks!

I don't have any real consistency with an alley-pass but I have been successful when I tried it. Usually when a catch attempt results in the ball roll up the in-lane is what collects it for me. The inner "f" lanes don't seem like something you can shoot for, it's just chopping wood 'til it happens. I do have the machine set to collect the "f"'s independently.

https://classicplayfields.com/shop/pinball-playfields/f2k-playfield/

short run currently available at CPR

I just picked up one of the new cpr playfields and they look really nice. Colors are very rich and vibrant & no flaws that I can detect.

Planning to do the swap next fall and a full cabinet restoration next year. I did a deep shop job/rebuild/harness cleaning on the game a couple years ago so that will save some time thankfully.

Theres a F2k for 2800 in marketplace, I did not know that they are going for that these days, unassembled. I wonder how much mine is since the playfield is clearcoated..fully yoppsicled

Not sure where to post this, but I modded my lamp driver board following @gdonovan’s guide here: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/seawitch-from-scratch-allentown-edition/page/18#post-6676387

Some exposition: The board in question was fully working with Siegecraft adapters prior to my messing with it.

Now, everything is working great, except for the bonus multiplier lamps. They are all 5 flaky now. The function of the lamps per the drivers is correct (i.e. 2x lights, then 3x, then 4x, and so on like it’s supposed to). However, whatever is lit (even up to the max when they’re all lit) will flake out. Coil action makes them flake out and back on (i.e. flipping the flippers or a drop bank reset will make whatever you have lit turn off. Then flipping again, sometimes takes a few flips, they will turn back on).

I have NOT repinned my connectors but I’m not sure that’s the issue since some lamps are on J1 and some are on J3. How would they all 5 be acting strange in unison like this?

6529EAB0-6875-42F7-A71C-5E8C5E23118A (resized).jpeg

Very odd, I'd double check for any solder whiskers first.

Anyone on this thread do a playfield swap and keep track of parts ordered? Was hoping to cheat and get a list of quantity and what lamp sockets to order for replacing gi and feature.

I went for warm white Yoppsicles for feature lights : https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/all-praise-be-to-the-yoppsicle-
Then you don't need sockets.
Apparently they are not working/not ideal for GI, though.

I finally got a chance to crack her open and look around. It seems likely there was a MASSIVE coincidence with the extra ball lamp socket buss wire that connects that group of lights. It was working without fail until I did the LDB swap. Then I guess right after I started my first game, the screw holding the Extra Ball lamp socket to the playfield jarred loose and broke the solder connection between the socket and buss wire. Secured back and it seems to be working. Freak timing. Board seems to be doing pretty well. Some very light flickering but that occurred with the Seigecraft adapters too. Haven't tried swapping in a Weebly or Alltek to compare. Probably won't, I'm happy with the results!

Now I need to take apart my right flipper as it decided to gum up last night in play test. Definitely under 1000 plays since I rebuilt them, but more than a few hundred too. Not sure if it's the bushing, the spring, or the coil sleeve causing the hangups.

My favorite mod for classic Bally/Stern, so satisfying to do.

Hey fellow F2k owners,

I'm new to the club since December 2021. Got a great machine from a friend and everything was working fine until a couple weeks ago it stopped talking.
I swear I didn't yell at it, insult it or say anything to hurt her feelings...

Here's what happened;
When I first got the machine, I noticed that every time I turned the machine on it would make a weird "very loud" yelp sound like a half spoken word or something (probably was an indicator of the issue to come)

Anyway, about 2/3 weeks ago as I was playing a game then I heard a loud high pitched kinda beeping or electrical sound and sure enough after that weird noise the speech stopped working. I think maybe my speech board took a dump and it might have to be replaced?

***The sound effects still work normal just no speaking.

I checked all the connectors on all the boards I even removed some and all the ribbon connectors and reinstalled them (I kinda did all this quickly) and plan to check things out again. But, before I do, I wanted to check here to see if this has ever happened to any of you owners and or if at least maybe someone could point me in the right direction for what to look for.

This is my first 80's machine I've ever owned so not too familiar with them.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Believe it or not that's normal.

Reseat the chips on the speech board and if you have the ability to burn new eproms try that. I've had a couple speech boards that crapped out and was worried it was the synth chip but it was just the roms.

Hi All,

Having this problem with a stuck ball when trapping. Ball just gets stuck between the metal guide protector and the back of the flipper. Takes a swift whack to the side of the cabinet to get moving again. Not sure if the metal guide is just improperly installed or if I just need to replace inlane plastic. Hoping for suggestions on the best ways to fix. I've dialed in the playfield pitch, waxed area, and dropped the flippers to the guide pins. Improved, but still happens enough that my Flight....is not 2000.

Thanks in advance!

F2K Ball Stuck (resized).jpg

F2K Ball Stuck 2 (resized).jpg

ok, I wasn't sure that was normal or not.

good to know, thanks.

I'll try to reseat those chips and hopefully that does it!

thanks so much for the info.

Your metal wire guide is to far to the right... Someone installed it wrong. Needs to be moved over. That wire guide was recommended by stern to fix the broken plastic tip so you can replace the plastic as well.

Hmmmm. Reading that the guide seems to do very little in protecting the plastic anyhow. Wondering if replacing the plastic with the PETG repro would suffice? Or does your experience say it will just get quickly broken again if I don’t move guide? Even if PETG? Not too keen nor experienced on drilling holes into playfield! Thanks again for input.

The guide isn't supposed to protect the plastic. It's too prevent ball hang ups on the flipper between the inlane and the flipper. Operators didn't care about plastics when that kit came out.

I installed them on my new CPR playfield a little higher than the plastic so I probably get a little protection from that. Will try to remember to snap a pic of that tomorrow and post.

No doubt sometime makes either a plastic protector or a metal lane guide if not shouldn't be too hard to make.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4843720

I did these up over a year ago. You can use them to print a set or have them laser cut in steel. I posted lots of photos when I did it and how I did it. Worked like a charm.

Houston, we have a problem with the Flight 2000.
Game started acting very weird Saturday. Started registering additional points from previously knocked down targets automatically, all solenoids stopped working, then automatically ending game. I think it's possibly something in the solenoid section of the rectifier board. About 6 months ago it started doing this weird stuff after a long session of playing so I shut it down and let it cool down. That solved the problem for a while. I would assume it allowed the thermal protector to reset? This time though an overnight shutdown did not work. However the solenoids inside the walker were working very weakly for about a minute then I lost all solenoids again for good. I'm guessing the thermal protector is shot?? All fuses are OK (dang! easiest fix never the problem) Anyway. Just wondering why a non functioning solenoid section of the board would have these weird scoring symptoms. Also, I'm planning to just replace the entire TA-100 board. Makes sense?

What is the solenoid voltage at the transformer rectifier board and at a playfield solenoid?

Is the under pf solenoid fuse good?

The voltage at the transformer rectifier board is 43V. Pretty much dead on. I didn't check across any of the solenoids. The fuses all show continuity. Actually I was checking all the contacts for quality in the Molex connectors and pin headers and found that J1 had a terminal that had backed out. I think it was the wire for the solenoid bus, but I have to admit I'm not absolutely sure cause the wire colors don't match the schematic. I pushed it back in place and booted up the game. The solenoids worked and I played the game for about a minute and then solenoids went dead again. Double checked that wire again and it still won't work. Fuse still checks OK. Could the discontinuity now be up in the solenoid bus? Also, now when I boot it up I still get the 7 dings, but the start button won't initiate a new game. Seems like it's locked up.

Depending on where the balls are at bootup, F2k runs the walker 7 times to walk them out. If your solenoids aren't working obviously this can't take place.

It's not locked up, it's waiting to see the balls. It will eventually give up and show the normal displays/lamp show.

Have the connector and rectifier pins been replaced? If old they could be making poor contact especially when heat is generated from the bad contact.

The balls are out of the walker. They are down in the collection tray or whatever you call it. I actually did try placing a couple balls in the walker as well, but the solenoids aren't firing. In both cases the white push button won't initiate a new game. Should I check for voltage elsewhere? I think the solenoid bus is up in the top case correct??

They look original. Some areas of the post and connector housings are pretty dark brown, so it's obvious they've been overheated over the years. The contacts themselves don't look bad. Probably were replaced some time in life of machine. Anyway, I guess I should just buy a new harness kit to go with the new rectifier board I'm waiting to receive. Is there a solenoid bus up in the top case behind the glass? I was thinking I should check up there for 43V.

The 43v solenoid voltage does go into the backbox to the solenoid driver board that controls the coils

OK. I'll check up there tonight to see if it's getting 43v from the harness at the rectifier board. My guess is it's not because the wiring/connectors are aged too much.

I mated and unmated all the connectors at the rectifier and at the solenoid controller a few times to see if that would improve things and it did. The self test performed without a hitch. All solenoids firing and some better than before. But I still can't initiate a game when I push the button. I checked the button for continuity and it is good.
Is it possible that the coin lock out solenoid is the issue? Or is there some other reset or relay I need to check?

I mated and unmated all the connectors at the rectifier and at the solenoid controller a few times to see if that would improve things and it did. The self test performed without a hitch. All solenoids firing and some better than before. But I still can't initiate a game when I push the button. I checked the button for continuity and it is good.
Is it possible that the coin lock out solenoid is the issue? Or is there some other reset or relay I need to check?

Absolutely not. That has zero to do with starting a game. All it does it move a lever to allow coins to drop when there is <max credits on the game.

Do you have credits on the game? Does the switch test show the credit button working?

I used to but didn't think to check that. The guy that I bought the machine from had it set up already, so I never learned how to do it for myself.
Maybe it got dumped somehow??? I certainly didn't change it. I wonder how it could have been eliminated.
Stupid question, but how do I start a game manually? Last time before all solenoids went dead I only had 2000 points from drop down targets, so maybe I never reached minimum points for free game.

Look at the bottom of the coin mech you will see a switch (it might have a guard over it, depends on your coin door) - you 'flick' it to simulate a coin dropping. Of course if you have coin mechs in the door you can also drop a quarter through it.

The low replay thing is a trick from the past. Modern way to do it is update the roms to free play type. Weebly board has them built in. There's physical ways to do it as well, double up a switch on the credit button to add a credit. I have a couple of mine wired with a secondary switch that you hit the coin return to add a credit (despite having freeplay roms in all my games anyway.... sometimes nice to hear the coin drop sound, or if I want to do something like 'see how long I can make 4 credits last' type of things)

OK Rookie mistake. Yes I drained down my credits while trouble shooting the solenoid issue. Didn't realize that and obviously pushing start button stops initiating games. Dropped a quarter in the coin mech and walah game starts up. What a moron.

So another question. One of my LED score displays flickers like fake fireplace. Over time it slowly heals but inevitably goes back to crippled condition. What is the recommended method for solving that? Clean the contacts on the connector one by one or just replace the part. I'm a little worried I wont get one that matches color and form.

If it's an original any stern 7 digit display will match.

Luckily that's usually an easy fix, you resolder the pins on the circuit board and the glass. There's likely a cracked solder joint on one of them (very common on the connector, not so common on the glass side)

There is a way to do that on a working machine, if your timing is perfectly bad.

Is this the only time you've had that experience, or does it always do that?

...and the game is set for 3-ball play (as opposed to 5)?

Hmmm... let's hope somebody who knows more than I do chimes in on this.

Did it walk down to the first position in the walker or was it still at the top? The way the software works because there's only the entry switch, is that it has 'virtual' switches for the other 2 positions. If it didn't walk down, it missed the entry switch. If it did walk down and still didn't end, the virtual register is messed up.

I know when I rewrote f2k the routines require the entry switch to NOT be held down when entering. There should be enough room in front of switch for it to pop up while the ball is resting on the first switch.

Any time the virtual switch registers get screwed up it just won't work right.

Agree 100%. Had multi ball errors like this for years on mine and a friends F2K. I recently took apart and cleaned/adjusted the entrance switch for the ball walker and finally the problems on both games have gone away.