Set your slope to 6%. Maybe even 6.5%. F2K is a fast game.

For stock bulbs use #47s.

To drive LEDs you need an Alltek lamp board.

Oh boy! This doesn't sound good if the game crashes when going into self test. This one is beyond my capability. The only thing I can think to check is the solder tabs under the test button, could be shorting on the coin door frame. Or a short in wire harness from the coin door. You might have to google this or hope some smarter people see this lol.

I see many lamps out on your game. Often times, when games sit for a long time, just twisting the bulb will make it light up. That's usually just a temporary fix though. The big problem is that the lamp sockets have aged and the insulator between the base of the socket and the solder tab have dried up and causes the connection between the bulb and the solder tab become weak. Sometimes cleaning the socket will help. There are some tools for this from most pin part suppliers. But in reality you will end up replacing the sockets. F2k uses #44 bayonet style lamps. You can also use #47 lamps that burn a little dimmer but emit less heat. If you want to use LED lamps you can add the resistors, but like you said it would be very time consuming. The quick but expensive alternative is to use a Alltek LED/lamp driver board. They run between $99 and $119 USD. Using this board, there are special instructions for Stern games with speech so you need to read instructions thoroughly.

Or there's this option too, but sell out fast. Somebody on Pinside was selling these but I can't find them now.

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/MB-07-010

I'm not sure about the 3000 pt stand up target, yes it could be multiplier related or different from 3 ball to 5 ball games. I know some games award less points on 5 ball setting.

You can pitch the game per your liking, there's no standard. I have seen guys lower the front legs and raise the rear legs all the way up and make the game even higher by adding wood under the rear legs. But that's extreme. The important thing is to level the game from side to side.

Found these...not sure if the ship abroad though..

https://www.cometpinball.com/product-p/bally-stern-adapter.htm

Although, if you go with the Alltek, you will have a new board with no issues and solve the LED flicker at the same time.

Trough switches will cause the game to eject 2 balls as someone earlier mentioned. I found on mine that when a ball is kicked to the shooter lane, the balls behind it will roll backwards just a bit. If the switch under these is 'barely pressed' when ball is on it then when it rolls back it comes off the switch for a moment...once it settles back on the switch the game thinks you plunged without scoring any points and kicks out another ball. I had to tweak the trip wire so it closed the switch sooner and stayed closed during that slight rollback. Mine was the first switch so only happened when no balls were locked in the walker, but either switch could cause this theoretically. Hope that made any sense. Good luck with this great game.

Selling bags of soil, love it. Anyone want used playfield glass? Its tempered...would make good shelving. I have 3 sheets.

Following your progress; pinball and driveway.

I've always wanted to try an English pint.

when you first press the test button, the manual says "all outputs tested" https://www.ipdb.org/files/887/Stern_1980_Flight_2000_Manual.pdf

2'nd press is a lamp test/
3rd press displays (only)
4'th press solenoids (only)
5'th press switches

I think you can isolate what's resetting the MPU by quicker button presses.

when I first got mine a tech told me to replace both big capacitors on the solenoid driver board as their rated life is only about 10 years. one of them is for the displays(high voltage section). http://techniek.flipperwinkel.nl/ballyss/rep/index3.htm#hv

hope this helps some

Just like the displays, the solder connections on the solenoid driver board are likely cracked(cold) and need to be reheated. All kinds of weird shit can happen when they are like this

I told you about a chip for your VSU-100 speech board. Here is the info.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/catacomb-club?tq=&tu=gkw

See posts by pinsider GKW. Look at posts # 415, #419, and post #485

#485 gives you this link for a S14001A speech synthesizer.

http://www.gameroomrepair.com/ICparts/ICparts.htm#S14001

It looks like he still has some in stock. I bought my 2 chips and another UK contact also bought. But I got mine cheaper. The seller figured a rin was on and raised his prices to my UK friend.

Once you get it all together and if have no speech this is probably going to be what you need.

Did you try moving the score displays to different positions to see if the problem followed the display or if it was specific to the slot (player) instead? Just to rule out any connector issues.

Do the specs on those LEDs say anything about them working in AC as well as DC circuits?

If they're just for auto they will likely be DC only and these pinballs have the lamp sockets wired opposite to car lamp sockets so they won't work in the feature lamps. In the GI lamps they will flicker because they wont switch on during both AC positive and negative phases.

Note, these 5 SMD LEDs can run just as hot as standard incadescent lamps.

Hopefully these LEDs will work in AC and DC conditions.

I use Cointaker LED's in all my games. They have many options and colors. I can't see why they wouldn't ship to the UK. Give them a try. Cointaker.com

I use the mini for the switched lamps and I color match them to the inserts. For GI, I use the warm white retro bulbs. The GI lamps on F2K are mounted low, midway below the playfield surface, so you need to be careful of the bulbs you select. Some of the LED's on the market may have toppers that are too wide to the fit the GI lamp holes of the PF.

Its probably not a MPU issue since the problem follows the actual display with the problem. It may be the plasma display itself could be gassing out. In other words going dead. I know you have a new power supply but check the output voltage to the displays at the solenoid driver. Not sure what the test points are at the moment. You should have over 200 volts unregulated going to the sol board and about 185v coming out to the displays. Check pinwiki for the test points. Be careful there as you can short something with the test leads there. You should have an adjuster there to raise or lower the volts to the displays. It's usually a black or blue variable resistor pot under the plastic shield. Some have a small hole to allow tool in for adjustments.

If you have a chance checkout the PinWiki entry for the old Bally and Stern games:

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

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

At the very least add the extra jumper on the back of the driver board to tie the two 5v lines together. You'll also want to check for cracked solder joints at the headers. I usually remove most of the old solder, use a small wire brush on a Drexel tool or fiberglass eraser to clean off oxidation, and resolder those pins.

Most of the boards the high voltage cap for the displays tests fine but I change the large one for the main 5v supply with a fresh one.

These posts show how I add the jumpers to the back of the various versions of the driver boards. There are three that I add. The red for the 5v and the two black fir ground.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/bally-as-2518-club/page/28#post-4697461

This might be why the trough was redesigned on later f2k. Sounds like a switch error. Make sure the ball is closing the trough or out hole switch. Switch might need cleaning with alcohol.

Does the bonus points score/count down when that ball falls out?

Sounds like mpu not getting correct input voltage from solenoid driver. I suggested you check that earlier. Mpu needs 5 v for logic and 12 v to run. Voltage regulator probably bad on solenoid driver. Double check output voltages at power supply too.

You have a v dub and and F2K? Man you are asking for trouble lol. So I just re-read your last few posts. I got confused because you said the alltek won't boot but yet got 7 flashes. What you mean is that the game will not go into attract mode with the alltek now? So, F2K will kick out the locked balls in the upper maze (apollo area) before game goes into attract. It will not go into attract until all 3 balls fall into the trough, BUT, the balls must register the switches at the trough or the game will be looking for them and never go into attract mode. Also double check your dip switch settings on the Alltek 1 thru 8, make sure they are set for F2K per directions. On Stern games, I think there's timer jumper setting as well.

Game showing tilt if it was not manually tilted means you have switch error. If you can get the game to start, try this, manually close switches until the game tilts. Take note of the last switch closed before tilt lights up. Have you done the switch self test via the coin door test switch yet? Refer to manual for this. All balls must be removed from the game and all drop targets must be up. Post results here if you find any closed-stuck switches on testing.

The only thing that can think of is the tilt switches. You said before that the game was getting random tilts? Try to isolate the tilt switches one by one while trying to boot the game. But first make sure the white buttons inside the coin door are not stuck closed. They could be dirty causing them to stick. Visible check the tilt bob and the metal roller ball if present. Also where the tilt bob is, there is a capacitor, clip it, it could be shorted. You don't need it in a home use game, unless you're playing tournament style or just fussy about keeping the game original. If that's the case, you can just replace it. The fact hat you have random lamps lighting on the playfield are strange. Should all be out during boot process. So something is amiss.

You can also eliminate coin door errors by unplugging the coin door connector. The game will boot without it, but you won't be able to start a game. I'm sorry this is out of sequence but I'm thinking of things as I type. Did you add the LED's already? You could have disturbed something under the playfield while you installed them. If you installed the jumper wire for the Alltek lamp driver, take a pic of where you connected it to the switched bus wiring please.

The top switch in my lock mechanism is very temperamental. Registers one game and then not the next, killing the game as you can’t nudge the ball out due to the shape of the wireform on the switch. Switch is clean and has good connection, but has always been touchy and now worse. Ya anyone had this issue or modified the switch wire for these reasons?

I would replace that switch. Maybe the contacts are worn out. I had 4 F2K's so far, none of them had that issue.

Pic is fine. So coin door switches and wiring should be good. Pins typically have about 5 tilt switches. Also known as slam switches. On this last pic you posted, there's the plumb bob tilt. Right next to it is a brown disc capacitor. They are used to aid the switch matrix because the switch is hit very fast and sometimes doesn't register fast enough for the MPU to recognize that the switch was closed momentarily. These caps are pushing 40 years old and they start to fail usually by shorting out. When this happens, it messes up the switch matrix. To remove the cap from the circuit, all you need to do is clip one of the leads. If you are testing the caps and are found to be good, you can just dab some solder on the lead to re-connect it. But like I said, after 40 years it's a good idea to replace them throughout the game.

Oh, so the tilt switches are 1, the tilt bob, 2 the rolling ball next to the tilt bob which is usually wired up with the tilt bob. 3 a small tilt switch next to the plumb bob. 4 ,There's a slam switch on the coin door to prevent people from kicking the game, this will sometimes set off an alarm to alert the op and will reset the game. 5, Some games also have a tilt switch under the playfield. It will have a small weight attached to a leaf switch. You really have to rock the game to set these off though. I don't think F2K has one of those IIRC.

Just for shits and giggles, clip that cap and see what happens. The came can run without it for now. Also try pushing the white self test button on the coin door a few times and see if that does anything. Finally try to do a memory clear on the Alltek MPU, Maunal explains how. Did you set the dip switches 1-32 the same as the original MPU?

I just noticed a weird thing when you switched the game on in the video. The match/ball display lit up all zeros. That shouldn't be. Disconnect it for now, it might be causing an issue.

Can you double check the connections for the switch matrix where it plugs into the MPU. Look from broken contacts. The original pins are very brittle and can break at any time. My machine was working fine but started acting up after swapping in another board that I repaired to test. At that moment one of the pins broke. Before I did anything else I carefully installed new pins on that whole connector.

Flight 2000 can act really weird if there are any open connections, missing or shorted diodes, bad caps, or just some random shorted connection.

That's a capacitor, not a resistor. You need a special tester for them to see if they are actually in range of what it's labeled as. But you can check if it's shorted with an ohm meter, 0 ohms equals short. Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't you have the same issue with the original MPU-200?

You don't need to solder the wires to the connector. The weak point of the connection is where the one side of the connector touches the header pin. The connectors suffer from corrosion and also lose the spring tension over time. Since you already replaced some connectors, I assume you have a crimp tool? If so, which brand is it? Yellow or red handles?
I'm still suspecting the trough area. If F2K doesn't see all 3 balls, it will not go into attract mode. Since the MPU is showing all 7 flashes, I think you problem is somewhere else. It's possible that one of those trough switches are bad. I remember you had a weird issue before there. Pull the apron off via the 2 screws on top. Observe how the balls react to the switch trip wires. Also if you have micro switches there, ohm them out by manually closing them, they should read 0 ohms when closed. Also ohm them out with the balls resting on the switches. The trip wires may not be fully activated by the balls and could need tweeking.

Sunny, You'll forever have problems until you replace ALL the crimp connectors.

And as I recall the switch matrix is on the top right so the pins for that could be broken and causing the problems. Those are the ones I had problems with.

crack on buddy!

When re-pinning the connectors, make sure to give each pin a light tug to make sure it's got a good bite on the wire before sliding it into the housing. Make sure the inner crimp on the connector is grabbing bare wire, and the outer crimp is grabbing the insulation. Also make sure it stays tight in the housing once it's installed, again with a light tug.

Connectors are the source of probably 80-90% of the problems on classic Stern and Bally games i've seen here on pinside. You'll have this fixed soon, I'm sure!