I just picked up a flight 2000 and have parts on the way to get it going again. It looks like there has been previous work done soldering the flipper coils and also the trough switches that looks a little questionable. Does anyone happen to have some good pictures on how the flipper coils are wired and also the trough switches? Once I get the machine setup I want to clean up that wiring and go from there.

Thanks!

Just bringing up a Flight 2000 that has been sitting for many years. Did the repairs and uogrades to the driver board, went through the lamp driver, and have both sound and Speech. At the moment I'm trying to resolve several switches that won't register. They are switches 4 and 5 for the spinners, and switches 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16.

Since this machine had previous work I'm looking all that first.

Your note got me to go back and look at the connectors at the boards again. Found one sprung pin that broke when I pulled it out and after replacing that I have most of the switches working now. One center drop and the upper right sling switches still aren't but I will check those switches again and clean/adjust them.

It seems that the balls don't register properly when they drain so I have to look at that next. Once that is done it should be playable.

About half the GI is out and I noticed that one wire was cut for the coil going to the #3 drop. I had replaced a couple bad transistors on the driver. If the coil checks out i'll install a new diode and re-connect.

It looks like someone may have replaced a lot a GI sockets in the past and changed some of those wires. I'll start going over all of it to see if one broke loose of if they wired it wrong. Tomorrows project!

If you clear and reset the audit settings with the front panel it should fix the numbers displayed during the attract mode. I ran into something similar after installing an NVRAM module.

They also stock the correct power cord...

I had GI out as well. Went to LED's in the backbox to reduce the current and heat. Also added a couple Fire LEDs under the asteroid and under the rocket flames in the backglass. The effect is really cool.

Ended up with this as the final score the other day (I have done better)

Just thought it odd to end up with that exact score. Anyone else have one similar?

F2K_Score (resized).jpg

If you are running the original driver board does it have the updates to tie the two 5v lines together and optionally the grounds? Without those it relies on a jumper in the cable. If you have a bad pin or connection you'll have issues.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/bally-as-2518-club/page/31?gallery&galleryp=4

I'd also check the driver board to see if it has been updated with the extra jumpers on the back. There should be one to tie the 5v lines together and a couple others on grounds.

http://pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Bally/Stern#Solenoid_Driver_Upgrades

Before you part it out there may be someone on here that would buy it as is.

No, it won't boot. The 7th and last flash of the led on the MPU only happens if you have that 43v solenoid power.

There is a ton of details on Pinwiki about it.

http://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Bally/Stern#How_to_make_a_Benchtop_power_supply_for_the_MPU_board

Then back to basics checking for voltages at the MPU. If you're not getting any flashes and you have all the correct voltages the there is an MPU issue. You should get at least the first 6 even if the 43v is missing.

Before replacing that regulator I'd add the jumper on the back of the driver to tie the 5v points together instead of relying on the old contacts in the harness to do so. Also check to see if the large cap for the 5v supply was replaced.

I used color matched LEDs under the inserts and used the purple in that spot

https://www.cometpinball.com/product-p/1-flux.htm

These have been running well with no strobe or flicker.

I've run into odd switch issues when I had an open connection in the switch matrix. Had a broken pin where it plugged into the MPU board. The contacts are often brittle and can break. Check those too.

That is a good sign since I've had to replace many where the plating was coming off. Still need to check for broken solder connections on the solder side of the MPU to confirm that part is ok.

While the headers may be fine the small contacts in the connector shell of the harness that plugs onto the header can be broken inside. You can sometimes see by shining a light in the end.

http://www.robotworkshop.com/robotweb/wp-content/uploads/badpin3.jpg

Broken solder connections on the driver board? Bent or broken pins in the connector shells that plug onto that board.

I would check the rectifier board in the cabinet and the connectors. Repin any bad ones. Also check pins in the connectors at the boards in the head. Many were brittle or weak on my game. It has performed solid ever since.

I've rebuilt a lot of the Bally and Stern driver boards and haven't had to replace an lm323 yet. Don't know who said you have too.

If you haven't done the ground and 5v jumper mod I'd do that before swapping that voltage regulator.

That lamp driver is a single sided board and those solder connections at the header pins are prone to crack. Have you pulled off that board and checked it?

Usually the passive components like resistors don't usually fail unless underrated. I've had more issues with pins losing tension or just brittle and braking off the portion that should touch the pin.

Sure. Depends on how many solder joints are cracked. It only takes one fractured solder connection. Happens all the time and is very common. That is one of the first things I check on any boards I get in for repairs.

Definitely a great idea to test parts. Just look at how they are connected if you measure in circuit since other components can throw off the readings. You may need to unsolder a lead to measure. Usually not worth it for most resistors unless known ones that go bad. Electrolytic caps are worth pulling to test.

It's best not to replace parts unless you have to. Otherwise you risk board damage. A lot of repairs I do is stripping off all prior work and in many cases fixing traces and pads torn up by unnecessary repairs.

Does anyone know of a good replacement spinner for the Flight 2000? Just plain white would be fine. I was looking at the new replacement from PB Resource:

Generic Enhanced White Replacement Wire Spinner for Gottlieb, Bally, and Williams games that had wire spinner. BLY-A3460+ $17.14ea

http://www.pbresource.com/spinner/bly-a3460+.jpg

http://www.pbresource.com/spinner.html

Has anyone tried these? My game has a couple random beat up Bally spinners and I'd like to get a fresh set on the game. I have decals.

I don’t remember if it is a 6” or 6.5” speaker but there are a bunch of 8ohm of both sizes on Amazon.

Was going to use the coin lockout driver. I think there will be two versions. One that can use a knocker instead of coin lockout and another leaving it alone and keep the sound.

Do you have the STL files? I could possibly try running a 3D print to compare with my machine. I plan on making face masks but may be able to slip this in between runs.

Do you have an STL file for them? It would be good to export each one out separately for printing/machining.

Looks awesome! Enjoy the game.

I used a few Comet flame/fire LEDs behind the rocket flames for the back glass. Nice effect. Did the same for Meteor.

Yes! It is totally worth buying the quality solder wick. Comes in handy for board work too in addition to a good desoldering station.

As long as the display glass is ok then your displays can be repaired. As someone already mentioned one of the most common issues is cracked solder joints on the header connector where the plug goes. They can also crack on the pads going to the glass. That will fix a lot of Issues. I had to do that on mine. May also have open resistors, bad transistors, or bad decoder IC on the board. All those are fixable.

Unless you have a lot of burned up traces on the board they are worth fixing and are usually less than $100 to repair. Once gone over (and the updates applied / Jumpers on back of board) they are solid boards. I prefer clean updated original boards in these and running originals in all my games.

I've only had one Alltek MPU board. It was a nice board and I'm keeping it as a test board but went original MPU's so I can run the alternate code if I want.

Is the Flight 2000 supposed to have a metal channel in front of the neck for the playfield glass? Don't have one on mine and looking at some of the pictures in this thread I didn't notice one on others either. Noticed it when I was taking a closer look at the neck area.

My game is at my parents place so I just grabbed one of the images online. All my other games seem to have a metal bar up there at the front of the neck area. Just wondered if Flight 2000 should have one too. Since I haven't seen any in pictures I'm thinking that it may not.

f2kneck (resized).jpg

That's the one! Just wanted to find out if flight 2000 was supposed to have one or not. Mine doesn't.

Thank you for the confirmation!

My early Williams Blackout has a metal bar and I think my other games do too. That's why I though it was odd that Flight 2000 didn't have one and I thought someone may have removed and lost it.

I guess Stern didn't think it was needed and left it off.

That one actually doesn't look too bad compared to other boards I've seen. a set of new heavy duty bridges on the top of the board w/heatsinks and some other cleanup would make that board work ok.

Pull the connectors on the lamp board and MPU and shine a light in them to see the contacts. Some can be sprung or broken. My flight 2000 had some brittle pins where the contact broke and had to be repinned. May also have a wire off that needs to be resoldered. Could be bad lamp sockets too.

I haven’t run into any bad LM323 regulators yet. I have had to replace the large 5V capacitor on almost all the boards I’ve fixed as well as replacing some headers with worn or sanded off plating.

Not saying that the LM323 never go bad but I’ve had more issues with old caps and bad connections (including cold/cracked solder joints) than anything else. Also an occasional bad diode on a coil. I’d check all these first before the regulator.

That is probably one of the easiest repairs to start with. If you have a Digital volt meter with a diode test you can pretty quickly verify one of them failed shorted.

If you know it if bad cut off the body of the part or bend it back and forth to break it off. Then warm up the solder and pull out each pin. Some good quality solder wick will remove the excess solder. If you don't currently have solder make sure you get regular solder with a rosin type flux or similar. Avoid any acid based solder and aldo avoid the newer ROHS solder as that is awful.

What issues and what has been done? Does it have the original boards? If you haven't done so there are updates to the driver that add three jumpers on the back to ensure you have solid power for the game. That and replace the large 5V capacitor if original. I did notice on my flight 2000 that the .100" connector pins were brittle and some switched stopped registering after unplugging and plugging in a connector to test another board. One of the pins broke. Had to put on fresh pins, etc. Once you work out the bugs it should be fine.

Can someone snap a picture of the trough switches and diodes? I want to confirm the way the diodes are installed.

Could also use reference photos of the two switches for the ball walker assembly.

These did help. Thank you! Someone had a switch wired wrong with the wire on the wrong side of the diode. The diode was completely out of the circuit. All fixed now.

Anyone in need of the large drop target assembly? I have a whole assembly that includes an extra new coil to reset the bank and a full drop target set. I also have a very clean MPU-200 with NVRAM already installed. It was working well but just had as a backup for my Flight 2000. Won't need either of these. Just send a PM if you're interested.

As mentioned there could be random garbage stored in th battery backed RAM. Should try resetting each of those settings. If the problem persists then will need to do some troubleshooting.

I’d start with the basics. How is the power and voltages? Is the driver board original and has the driver board been gone over? Typically the main 5V capacitor will need to be replaced as well as a few ground mods to the driver and a 5V jumper. Once gone through the original boards are great. Next I would check the MPU. Maybe a failing PIA or RAM chip.

It can all be fixed and once you work the bugs out they can play well for quite a while.

That board is responsible for some but not all of the voltages. Some are done on the driver. Was it replaced with another used board or new one? There are several new replacement options. Some are better than others but most should work fine in that game. That particular board is often burned up on many machines and getting an aftermarket is usually the best for that one. I usually prefer original boards for the rest. If the displays stopped working after replacing that board did they double check their work and verify all the voltages are correct?

Another thought is if the battery is going bad on the MPU or if it has a small memory cap and game was off too long you can lose the settings and get garbage data in there. A picture of the MPU will help.

Your driver should be fine but on the MPU I see a couple issues:

- One of the EPROM chips is uncovered. They should always be covered as too much exposure to light can start to erase the data on them. If even one bit flips in the wrong spot it can make the game act weird or not work at all. I’d want to verify ROM chips are all ok.

- The big one is the 6810 RAM chip. That is the AMI brand and many of those are known to fail. I’d pull it, test it, and probably replace it even if it checks ok since there have been many failures of AMI chips in the past.

The MPU his the correct MPU-200 for your machine. With the sticker it looks like it may have been in a Big Game at one time. Also looks like one PIA chip was replaced. When I get in one of those boards for repairs I always pull those and test them and if ok put them back in and test again in the board.

Good find! On my Flight 2000 I found someone had replaced a switch on the walker and even though it had a diode on the new switch they had soldered to the wrong terminals bypassing the diode. Corrected that gremlin before selling it.