Just picked up a Williams Hot Tip.
I know I have a lot of reading to do on System 3 games but thought some of you would have some early stage ideas.
All fuses check good. When powered on the back box lights come on and flash.
One display has one orange dot on it.
No play field lights at all.
Both red LED's on the main board stay solid.
If we press in on the far left socketed chip, L2 I believe, it will suddenly power the flippers and pop bumper.
Thought we would try some things with these old boards before breaking down and getting the single board replacement.

image.jpg

Yes. We got the eBay deal. It was in Nixon TX in the middle of nowhere.
It was a 3 1/2 hour drive but the play field is in great shape, still glossy, and the boards and backglass are very nice as well. Cabinet is near perfect.

When I turn the game on the two red LED's come on and stay on solid. No blinking of any kind.

I ordered new 5 volt regulator and caps today.
Until they come in I pulled all the boards, reseated every chip and put them back in.
Now when I power it up I still only get back box lights, but the power to the flippers is always going.
Also the red things on the bottom right of my large bottom board get very hot and my 28 amp fuse blows.

No problem. Easy mistake.
My parts should be in Thursday or Friday so hopefully we can work on this over the weekend.

Success!!!
After much learning from the Ninja, our Williams Hot Tip is up and running.
We replaced all caps on the power board.
We replaced every "scanbe" socket on the main board with new double sided sockets.
We reflowed all male pin solder joints on the backs of the power board and CPU board.
Replaced a few .156 male sockets completely that looked burnt or discolored.
Put a new female pin in the lower playfield GI power board connector.
Finally turned on the game, and everything works.
We played many games tonight and the machine ran like a champ.

Just a few minor things left to do.
Our displays need to have some solder work, as some of the segments are not working.
And the spinner refuses to stay upright. Any tips on spinner adjustment are appreciated.

IMG_0509.JPG
IMG_0510.JPG

We took the spinner apart and finally got it to stay upright. Spins like a champ again.

But we need help with the display diagnosis.
We have players 3 and 4 working perfectly. However players 1 and 2 and the main LED driver board itself have missing segments.
We took the driver board out completely and cleaned all the contacts on the back. The pins in the molex seem to be in very nice shape and we can't wiggle anything to come on.
Also if we swap broken displays 1 & 2 for working displays 3 & 4, the broken ones come to life in the 3 & 4 slots.
I would swear is was a connector issue, but the bad segmented displays on the driver board itself worry me.
Also both 1 and 2 displays have the exact same issue, which again leads me to believe it may be something with the driver board.
Any ideas to try?

Awesome. Thanks GList.
We have two new IC chips on the way. Should get to put them in next week.

For the coil you could be correct. We stupidly put the new knocker coil on the game with no diode. (Doh!)
Tried adding one after the fact, but no dice.