My F2K is in storage right now but I think I have some pics of the J3 connector on an SD card that I have to look through. I saw earlier in this thread that there were 2 transformers installed. This usually happens when one of the windings (outputs) has shorted or gone bad. Firstly you need to verify that the original transformer is good. If you already stated that, my apologies for not reading the entire thread. Do you remember how the 2nd transformer was wire in? This should tell what they were trying to power up. I would think the GI lamps.

I will search for those pics for you...

F2K doesn't have a knocker. When winning a free credit by match, you get an electronic sound.

This pic straight from F2K. Please note that the J1 connector housing has 8 positions. The newer reproduction rec boards have 9 pins at J1. For F2K, the far right pin is not used. The key plug in the housing should prevent you from installing the connector to the wrong pins. Go to piniwiki.com Bally/Stern section to reference the back side of the rec board solder points and color codes. Sorry I don't have a clear pic of J3, but somebody on this group must. Also get the F2K manual if you don't have it. I have a suspicion that this game will have more issues once she does fire up, so you will need it. Good luck!

P3050578 (resized).JPG

LOL the booze on top. Don't drink too much, we don't want you to electricute yourself! Just watch your vid. Without my game year and failing memory, I cannot confirm what these wire colors are for. At least the knucklehead fused the secondary transformer.

The knocker is a coil with a plunger that makes a pop sound against the inside of the cabinet when you win free credits, hence the term "popping a free game".

SDB is solenoid driver. When you are confident that you nailed down the wiring, don't start the game full blast. Disconnect J1, which goes to the playfield. Take a measurement of the test points and note results. See pinwiki for specs. Also be aware that the score displays get a minimum of 180 volts so be careful where to put your fingers. When the mpu gets 43 volts from the power supply, you should finally get the 7th flash. When testing voltage point, place black lead on any part of the cab ground braid and the red to the test point on the rec board that you want to measure. Don't forget that the GI circuit is AC, so you may need to set the meter for that, all others are DC.

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

No wonder with 5 memory coils and 4 sling shots.

The mpu connectors and pins are Molex type. Spacing is .100 inch. The connector house is known as a KK style. Usually you can reuse the housings by sliding out old connectors.

Be gentle when replacing the header pins. The solder pads on the board are delicate and even more so after corrosion has set it.

Your rec board voltages seem low. The high volt for score displays should be over 200. Check pinwiki for the nornal no load readings. Tp 5 and 6 look acceptable. Tp 1 should be more than 6 more like 7.3 is normal I think.

What is the normal wall socket voltage for the UK? Are you sure the transformer is jumpered correctly?

Yes it looks like you're on the right track with the connectors. Yes the rectifier board has the same type of connector but is the .156 inch size. Also used on displays and solenoid driver. I would replace the header pins on the MPU as well, at least the bottom left and right just to get started.

This is common for a MPU not to boot if there's an issue with the sound board. With these Sterns that use the SB-300, those old ribbon cables are usually the culprit. Another thing to watch out for is when connecting the ribbon, it's very easy to place the cable on the header pins and be off by a pin or two. Double check and make sure they are on correctly. The sound board probably doesn't need new resistors, most often the capacitors go bad from age. It's very common to "re-cap" early solid state sound boards. In fact, there are cap kits available. Aaaaaand there's also a replacement SB-300 recently available here:

https://nvram.weebly.com/new-pcbs.html

For shits and giggles, try to boot the MPU with the ribbon cables attached. If it doesn't, then try pulling the speech board (VSU-100) cable and see if it boots. This may eliminate one of the two.

I would go weebly for rec board. Excellent design.

I'm sorry that I haven't chimed in sooner. I was away for 2 days at a pinball show. I see you are making great progress. It seems to me that this game has sat for many years and that some switches need to be cleaned and/or adjusted. It also appears that the rubbers are shot as well. First start with the upper pop bumper leaf switch under the playfield (PF for short). With game off, use a Q tip and rubbing alcohol. Soak a Q tip in the alcohol and run it between the contacts using slight pressure. NEVER use abrasive cleaners, sand paper or files. This will destroy the gold flashing on the contacts. The gap between the contacts should be approx. 1/16 of an inch (2 MM). With game off, you can slightly bend the leaf blades with a long needle nose type pliers if you don't have an adjusting tool, if it needs adjusting. Also on the pop bumper switch assy there is a plastic (spoon) that the tip of the actuator sits into. The tip of the actuator should be centered in the spoon. Sometimes the tip of the actuator ( or skirt) can be worn down and will not close the switch enough to make contact. Fire up the game and test the pop bumper. Let the ball roll thru the A or S lane and see if the weight of the ball fires the pop bumper. If it doesn't, try adjusting the switch a little closer. You don't want them too close, otherwise vibration from the lower pop bumper will cause the upper switch to close unintentionally. If the upper pop is still firing inconsistently, then you may need need to disassemble the pop bumper and clean or replace the skirt and/or the spring undernieth the skirt. The spring might be rusty or dirty. Then do the same for the ball walker switches. I bet this will get the ball walker to start working again. If you hear a humming sound coming from the ball walker, it may be stuck from sitting. Believe it or not, that thing can be disassembled and lubed if needed. The white plastic bushing can also be replaced. You can take it apart by removing the E clips. Lube with white lithium grease and use sparingly. Also check and make sure the ball walker coil is good, not burnt looking or swelled. Make sure the plunger moves freely.

Replace the dry-rotted rubbers, this will help with closing the sling shot switches. You will most likely end up having to clean all the switched in you game. It will help immensely!

Also note that all 3 balls must be in the trough for F2K to go into attract mode. Attract mode is when the insert lamps light in a specific sequence to attract potential players looking at the game. Also when in attract mode, the score display will change from current score to the highest score to date, repeating approx. every 5 seconds. If any balls are trapped in the ball walker maze, F2K will automatically eject those balls and let them drain into the ball trough. When all 3 balls are in the trough, it should start attract mode. If it doesn't, then you need to inspect the trip wires in the trough area where the balls line up under the apron. There are 2 trip wires there that will close the micro switches under the pf, telling the MPU that all 3 balls are ready and accounted for. These trip wires are small and flimsy and can easily be thrown out of adjustment. There are 2 different versions of the F2K ball trough because of issues from the earlier version. Please post a pic or 2 of your trough area and eject mechanism. I'm curious to see which one your game has. Hopefully it's the later improved version.

Do you know that there is a volume adjustment knob by the speaker in the cabinet? Try turning it a few times and see if your sound starts to work.

Flickering score displays can be fixed by re-flowing the solder on the header pins. Look for and pins that look like the solder make be loose around the pins. Turn display upside down, heat the solder just enough to melt it and quickly release the heat. this will help the solder re-bond to the pins.

Good luck bro!

Sorry for the typos in that last paragraph. Should say "Look and any pins that look like the solder may be loose around the pins"

Agreed, no lubricants should be used on any mechanisms under the PF. Except for the ball walker as I suggested previously.

When I said flip over display, I meant to turn it over to see if there are any cold solder joints on the main header pins. This is usually why the displays will flicker. Using a magnifying glass, closely look at the solder points around the pins. You will probably see that the solder looks like it pulled away from the pin. it could just be only 1 pin or more. If you find any that look suspicious, heat the solder up just enough to liquify the solder so it grabs the pin. Add a dab of solder while doing this won't hurt either. While you're at it, just reheat all the pins on the display to make it reliable.

Sound: Is there any static or noise at all coming from the speaker? Is the connector in the cabinet to the volume adjuster connected? Finally, inspect the ribbon cables by looking closely where the ends of the ribbon connect to the plastic housing. I had one on my first game that only 1 of the wire in the ribbon broke away from the connector housing. It was hard to notice until I looked for it. The ribbon cables are the weakest point of the sound in these games. The connectors are different from the rest of the game. They are IDC connectors which stands for "insulation displacement connector". The ribbons are pressed into the housing by force and the connector housing as tiny pinch points that make the connection. At this age, they are very easily broken away. One verified that the cables are good, check the test point voltages on the SB-300 per pinwiki. The lower connector at the bottom of the sound board could also be weak.

When you say ball kicker, are you referring to the outhole kicker that ejects the ball to the shooter lane? If it's ejecting 2 balls there, then the switches are not adjusted properly. CAn you post a pic of the trough area, I'd like to know if you have the early or later version. Also by pulling the apon off, you can observe the action of the balls while playing a game and look for odd behavior.

I don't envy you as far as having to dig a new drive lol. That has be difficult!.

If any of the ribbon cables are broke, then I figure you won't get any sounds. The SB-300 could also have a bad amplifier transistor as well. Cheap and easy to replace. Also new ribbon cables are available and so is the SB-300.

https://nvram.weebly.com/new-pcbs.html

It looks like you have the earlier trough set up. I haven't seen one in person so I can't help you much for that. My best advice is to remove the apron and observe the balls as you play a game or 2. Make sure the switches close when the balls rest in the trough to ensure that is doesn't eject 2 balls.

As far as inconsistent booting, it could be the ribbon cables but could also be more involved with voltage issues. You need constant 12 and 5 volts to the MPU. Does the game ever reboot (reset) during a game?

My daugter posted this vid when she was 11 years old.

Man that's a ton of work, kudos to you for taking it on.

The speech board may be good. You will know once the SB-300 is 100%. Have you tried to run the self test feature? It's one of the white buttons in the coin door. I can't remember which though, one is for memory clear and the other is self test. Usually the sticker for those buttons has been lost. Press once and the game will cycle though lamps, coils, displays and sound/speech.

You can set the game any way you want for credits and free games etc. I keep mine set to award extra balls instead of free games. Everybody has different preferences for that. The game will hold a max of 40 credits at a time. You can also change from a 3 ball game to 5 balls via the dip switches on the MPU. Do you have a manual?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

crack on buddy!

It is a long road brother, but you'll get there. So explain solenoid 17 to me, I don't understand what's going on. Did the kicker lock up? The LED on the solenoid driver should only light while the coil is activated and then go out. Unless the MPU is holding it up somehow? But yes, if a coil locks up, you need to kill the power immediately or the coil will fry and smoke and stink. The Alltek is new, so you shouldn't have a shorted driver transistor this soon. I have seen coils burn up and not blow the PF coil fuse. I just looked at my schematic. Q17 is listed under the "continuous solenoid" section. So maybe the LED for Q17 is supposed to stay lit? My game isn't set up at the moment so I can't check mine for you. Anyway, double check that you didn't mix up any wire while replacing connectors. Q17 goes to J4 pin 11 on the solenoid driver. Yellow/white wire. But this issue shouldn't cause the game not to go into attract mode.

I'm still thinking of the trough switches. Did you ohm-buzz them out while holding them closed? You have 3 switches there to check, 2 micro switches and the one under the red plastic thingy. All 3 must be closed for attract mode. Also check them with the pf in normal position and 3 balls in the trough. You will need to go through the coin door to do it this way. Make sure you bypass the diodes when measuring. It's also possible there's a bad diode on one of the trough switches.

I'm still puzzled about the match/ball display lighting up all zeros. Did you work on it? If reflowed header pins, make sure you didn't bridge any pins with solder.

Cheers Bro. We love to help here on PS.

Going back to the PF coil fuse. The primary voltage weather 240 or 120V doesn't matter for the fuse voltage rating because the transformer steps the voltages down to the proper voltages needed to run the game. Which for coils is like 43V. Since you manually measured the fuse, it should be ok. I don't think these fuses are vacuum sealed, I could be wrong. The bigger issue here is the fuse holder clips. I always replace them when doing a restore. The clips lose tension and corrode over time. This causes a weak connection, which leads to premature fuse failure and high resistance through the fuse. It's a pain to solder new ones in, unless you have the pf out on a table lying flat upside down.

But, the solenoid fuse weather good or bad will not prevent attract mode if you have all 3 balls at the trough. It will prevent the kickers from operating to release the balls in the Apollo launcher at the start of the game when you first power up.

To measure the switches, use the continuity selector on the VOM if it has one. Test by touching the leads together you should hear a beep sound from the meter. If it doesn't have this feature, set it the lowest ohm scale. A closed switch should read no more than 2-3 ohms, 0 would be the best reading. You have to do this test with the balls in place since the weight of the balls should activate the switch, your finger has more force than the ball, so the angle of the trip wires is important. To test the switch under the red plastic piece, you have to touch the ends of the leaf switch at the solder points while closing the switch, or placing the ball in position to close the switch.

Try going back to the original MPU. Also contact Alltek for tech assistance. They have great customer service.

Oh, to answer your question about the MPU LED, yes it will go dim after the initial 7 flashes. Are the voltage LED's lit after boot. This may sound trivial but did you connect the ground strap from the cabinet to the ground screw on the bottom center of the backbox? Also does your line cord have a proper ground plug?

We have a long weekend also. Monday off. So yeah, I guess a time lag fuse is the same as a slo-blo fuse? I never seen that term before. Slo-blo fuses are usually marked MDL on the barrel. But 7A is way to high for the PF fuse. If you can't find a 1.25, you can go to a 1.5. 2A would be stretching it.

I think you're correct about not being able to do self test diag. without attract mode.

I'm at a loss now to why this game won't run. Did you do anything to the lamp driver board? Is J4 lamp driver connected to the speech board? Did you touch anything under the pf , like change any bulbs? It's possible that something under there is shorting against something. Perhaps a lamp socket out of place. Any contact between the lighting circuits to the switch matrix circuit can cause an issue. Did all or most of the switched lamps light up before when game was running? Those few switched lamps that are lighting up and the zeros in the match ball display after the mpu boots is very strange.

The tilt lamp lighting up before is another strange thing. I'm thinking switch matrix problem still. Grasping here, but check the coin door switches. Make sure the credit button is not stuck. Check the leaf blades behind it and make sure there's a gap. Sam with the coin entry switches. Make sure no wires are touching ant metal part of the door. The door is part of the ground circuit and so are the lockdown bar, legs and side rails. Go over the tilt switches again.

Yeah that was me that suggested to clip the caps. You did get the one by the plumb bob.

A short could be anything metal that's touching other metal somewhere. If you bent a socket over to change a bulb for example and didn't put it back in position. You could also have a failing diode on the switch matrix that's confusing the game as far as the trough area. What type type of VOM do you have? Does it have a diode test setting?

Good stuff! Painting old furniture is popular in the states as well. The distressed look is also very popular right now...

Cheers bro! The Vdub is cool. My German grandfather always had at least 1 while I was growing up. It's neat to see a right handed driver. Too bad the newer ones are not built as well. Nice work!!