Im fairly new to owning pins but any of you System 3 guys have a spare working driver board for a decent price? I have one that went out last week.

Also how are the "new" repro driver boards you see for sale online? Are these recommended at all?

Anyone?

Rottendog has them listed on their site, and it looks like PBResource still has origionals.

Used ones don't come up very often.

Which is the best way to go? Both used and repro are in the $100 range. Im not concerned about keeping the game original if that is the only reason to suggest a used board.

you said yours went out.... what is it doing or not doing? These driver boards are pretty basic, I have worked through about 15 of them now. As long as they aren't super charred and completely blown out, there isn't much to them to get them working again.

It's a street fighter 2. Paid $400 6 months ago from an old guy whose grand kids out grew it.

When I got the machine a few months ago everything functioned except the skill shot and occasionally the game would trigger the sensor for defeating Guile I think it was while the ball was still in play on another part of the field.

The machine took stopped working last month after a small power outage. Aside from the above issues the GI lamps are now not working, just the lamps under the playfield, flippers and start game not working. Fuses are good and replaced them anyways. I get a message saying something about a short on return 5.

Any help would be great I am a noob to these but have a decent electronics background.

This sounds pretty straightforward..... Give this a good read, Clay has this covered pretty well-
http://www.pinrepair.com/sys3/index.htm#smatrix

The dmd board is the hard one to track down cheap. Bought one and then found two full sets for only slightly more. I just need to find two projects now.

If include how much your time is worth, 100 is not bad. Maybe, you find a working one for 60-70 dollars but spent 4 collective hours looking around.

I am stuck right now on my Stargate project. The flippers buttons appear to be working (they cause the flippers to actuate) but they do not interact with the DMD. Rather it be when I am in the diagnostic menus or when I get to a prompt within the game, neither Left nor Right flipper registers a selection. I cant dig deeper into other issues because I can't test anything. Thoughts?

Thanks!
Seth

i love me some system 3s. want to get more! I have a SFII currently and my buddy has a waterworld. feel both are under rated for sure.

Yeah I see them both (A15 sensor boards) and both are plugged in (I reseated them just in case, no joy). One thing to point out though. If I unplug the board on the right side and try to tap on the Test button twice, I am stuck on the opening menu (prompting me to select left or right flipper). If I plug right board in and unplug left board, I can tap test button twice and get into the self diagnostics (still cant use flippers to make selections but at least I get in deeper). If both are unplugged, tapping twice still leaves me stuck at first menu.

Also to reiterate, all three flippers work when flipper buttons are pressed. Does it sounds like I need to replace one/both boards?

It looks like you could check the diodes and transistors, and make sure the resistors have the correct readings.

gtb-ma1334_(resized).jpg

a15_sensor_board_(resized).jpg

In further studying, I see that the A15 board on the right is part number MA-2018 versus the one on the left which is MA-1334. It looks like the one on the left drives the flippers, but I am not sure what the A15 board on the right does.

This a $14 board at PBR, I guess I should just snag one and see if a swap makes a difference. Is there something I can check on in the head to validate that this board is sending signals? It's a Optocoupler MCT6 IC for what it's worth...

It looks like the only difference between MA-2018 and MA-1334 is the zero ohm jumper at JP1. According to PBR's site, MA-1334's JP1 needs to be removed, then it can be used as a substitute for MA-2018.

[edit]: A brief general overview of how the board is supposed to work: http://pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Gottlieb_System_3#Flipper_Sensor_Board

I don't have a schematic of the playfield handy to see how it might be integrated and what the pinouts are.

There is almost no info on what the MA-2018 board does. I am assuming now that the MA-1334 board is the one to focus on?

Gov, did you have to swap out both boards or just the MA-1334 (the one on the left)? Was your dad's issue identical to mine, in that the flippers flipped (flipper coils fire) but nothing registered on the menus or were his flippers dead as well?

Ok, thanks for the details Gov! Sounds like I should roll the dice and buy a new board to test with.

Pretty sure one board is used for detecting the flippers, and the other is used for controlling the glidercraft. Apparently the two board are just slightly different, and I think I heard the flipper board works for the glidercraft, but the glidercraft board doesn't work on the flippers. Not sure though.

Just soldered on som new eos switches on my lights,camera,ction but the old one on the right wasn't soldered the same as the left ones so i need to know if i got it right.Would be a big help if someone could take a picture of the right flipper coil with the wires and eos switch so i can compare it to mine

Just picked up a Mario Andretti. This game is underrated by the masses. The game is simple but addicting! We'll see how it plays when its been shopped and tuned up. This might be a keeper as a loaner game. I "loan" pins out to schools, churches and other groups for special occasions, dances, lock ins and such. This game fits the bill, simple rules, lots going on, good sound and a family friendly theme. System 3 games are built like tanks once you get them shopped and dialed in.

Anyone who can help me out ?

If you have done it right and you actuate the flipper and hold it on the coil gets a little warm. If you did it wrong and hold the flipper on the coil gets really hot really fast.

Is anyone familiar with Shaq Attaq? Friend of mine picked one up. I'm not sure how the game is supposed to operate. Does the plunger gate solenoid always supposed to be energized? This is solenoid 6. It is supposed to hold balls for multiball on the right habittrail.

The story goes...He bought the game with this coil non functioning. The transistor, resistor were completely toast on the driver board. Looks like it caught fire. Look at the bottom playfield fuse and its 15amp fuse. It is supposed to be .5 slo blow. Uh......
Anyways, we swapped the board with what we thought what tested to be good transistors. Pop it in and wire up a replacement coil. Put the correct fuse in. Pops fuse immediately. Figured out the diode was actually bad on the coil. Replaced that. Fire it up and now it appears to always be energized and the plunger pulled down. I honestly wouldn't think that's how it should be. Not looking forward to his coil burning up if that's the case.

I was just reading this thread for first time...Shaq was my first pin but haven't played it in more than a year after selling it. I agree, I don't think this is how the post works. If I remember there are switch(es) above the post that trigger the post to retract. It is normally in the up position. I would think that switch is probably constantly on which is causing the coil to be on? complete guess based on memory but do a switch test.

Is anyone still following this thread? I picked up my first System 3 game recently and I'm having trouble with the right flipper blowing the solenoid fuse. Can anyone help?

thanks
aaron

Try posting a separate thread to help troubleshoot the issue on your game.

I did but I can't seem to reach anyone. I thought maybe some system 3 fans on this thread may be able to help. Sorry if I did the wrong thing.

Have you measured your coil resistance on the one that blows the fuses? I am assuming it only blows them if you use the flipper?

That is correct. It only blows the fuses if I use the flipper. I did not get the right resistance. I pulled the coil and found that the diode was bad. i think I fried it when I wired it backwards. I wired everything back up again with a new diode. The fuse is no longer burning up and the game doesn't stop when i activate the right flipper, but it doesn't flip. I thought the coil was okay when I put it back in, but now I get no resistance. I am going to try a new coil to see if that fixes the issue.

Thanks for pointing me in a direction. I really appreciate any help I can get. I'm still only about a year in, and it is great to participate in a community of friendly people willing to help.

I'll chime back in when the new coil arrives.

thanks,

With the coil disconnected and the diode off on one end, what is your coil resistance? It cannot be zero unless it is really well shorted which is pretty hard to do.

Picked up 2 system 3's this past weekend, Cactus Jack's and Operation Thunder, Both great pins, just can't figure why these pins get no love. they are rock solid once up and running, Also got a Freddy project and a Teed Off in the wings

I'll disconnect it tonight and try to figure that out. It seemed weird to me as well.

It turns out it was one of the coil wires not connected. When I switched the diodes, I accidentally broke one of the coil wires. Everything is working now. Thanks for your help guys.

Operation Thunder is a great game! Sorry to have sold mine. Always wanted a Cactus Jack's!

Picked up a Silver Slugger at Pinfest. Lots of shots packed into the game and everyones likes how you can play for runs. Would love to pick up a Deadly Weapon as well. Cactus Jack's looks cool too!

I may be picking one up this weekend. I'll likely go through it and sell if anyone is interested. Looks to be in nice shape

What a score. I'm jealous. Great pins indeed, both of 'em. Gottlieb really had something going in 1991-1992.

The small number of the 'regular' (don't know about the street levels) alpha numerical system 3 games all are gems in their own right. O:T and CJ, but also Surf 'n Safari and Class of 1812. I wouldn't mind having all these in a row. Plus maybe a Lights, Camera, Action as a fifth.

I havent gone thru all the posts, so forgive me if this has been asked, but does anyone know a way to polish system 3 rails? My gladiators looked great until we moved, i had it stored in my old garage for a month prior. I just looked at them and they are starting to rust by the flipper buttons. Id like to get them back to nice without buying new rails. Any advice?

Soak some paper towels in evaporust and put those on the rails for a couple hours.

Ok thanks. Ill give that a try!

I found an Operation: Thunder for $800. Never played it, but is it worth picking up? I have a Gottlieb Gladiators that I'm pretty fond with...

Never played it but looks like itd be worth it! If you hate it you can always sell it

For 800 get it, its worth it, and its worth more than that when cleaned up, and working properly, just finished mine...! (I too have a Gladiators

I just picked up my first System 3 this past weekend: a Surf 'n Safari. It's currently getting some work done to get it back to a playable state.

Any other SnS owners out there? How is your Whirlpool ramp? If you could use a new one, go here:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/freeplay40-ramps/page/13#post-3322384
And let Mark know!

What are you guys using for flipper bracket bumper pads/grommets for 1993+ system 3's