(Topic ID: 77660)

Laser War Club

By joetechbob

10 years ago


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Topic Stats

  • 480 posts
  • 88 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 29 days ago by oldden01
  • Topic is favorited by 40 Pinsiders

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There are 480 posts in this topic. You are on page 9 of 10.
#401 1 year ago
Quoted from topkat:

Has anyone found a source for stencils? Or made their own?
I see there are decals available but haven’t come up with stencils

I couldn’t find any either. And diddnt want to make them. I bought new decals from europe

#402 1 year ago
Quoted from petebest:

I couldn’t find any either. And diddnt want to make them. I bought new decals from europe

I saw those, I worry about decals getting wrinkled. Did they turn out well?

1 month later
#403 1 year ago

Hey everyone - having an issue with Yellow Base. Ball goes in but doesn’t stick and pops out to the bumper area. I’ve heard of this happening before but couldn’t find a fix. Anyone have an idea of how to get the ball to stick in the base more consistently? Thanks!

#404 1 year ago

I put felt in various configurations here and there around the hole. I never found a great solution.

#405 1 year ago
Quoted from supermoot:

I never found a great solution.

I was thinking about raising the eject mech with some washers, effectively making the hole deeper, has anyone tried that or heard of that solution?

#406 1 year ago
Quoted from dri:

If anyone is interested at all, I'm going to document some steps while I rebuild my Laser War. VODs from my Twitch stream will be made available on this YouTube playlist as they become available:

Looking stupid while replying to your own post, but I've completed the series now and the game is up and running: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-eIxuLeDsB00wASHVQ35UD79t39DwodB

2 weeks later
#407 1 year ago
Quoted from supermoot:

I put felt in various configurations here and there around the hole. I never found a great solution.

I’m gonna try to spend a little time on it this weekend. Will report back if I find any solution.

#408 1 year ago

dri did you have better luck dropping the mech?

#409 1 year ago
Quoted from supermoot:

dri did you have better luck dropping the mech?

I just ordered DIY gasket material (1/8"). I'll report back to the thread how it went.

1 week later
#410 1 year ago
Quoted from supermoot:

dri did you have better luck dropping the mech?

I got these sheets (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XFRJD56) and cut a gasket similar to the carton material that's already there and used 3/4" wood screws to sandwich it all together. I saw some minor improvements. The right flipper to yellow still rejects about two out of three shots, left flipper it's near 100%. The blue works really good now and a perfect shot grabs the ball with a kinetic satisfaction. The red I really never had a problem with but just because I never had, it rejected one shot yesterday.

My theory is that the brackets hanging over the saucers needs to be bent forward as decades of ball hits may have change the angle a tiny bit or they weren't at the optimal angle to begin with.

Anyhow, I had a long game yesterday with a ball 1 that never ended.

1 month later
#411 1 year ago

Hey all - have two separate issues with my laser war. Hoping someone may be able to point me in the right direction.
1) Right flipper to change W-A-R lights above the bumpers stopped working. Was working fine.
2) when on 3-ball multiball, everything starts as it should including the change to music and “shoot the ion cannon” audio. Problem is that when you lose a ball (or even two) the game remains in 3-ball mode. Music remains in 3 ball mode and it keeps saying “shoot the ion cannon” despite only having one or two balls in play.

Any ideas of where to look for either of these?

Cheers!

#412 1 year ago
Quoted from rmedine:

Hey all - have two separate issues with my laser war. Hoping someone may be able to point me in the right direction.
1) Right flipper to change W-A-R lights above the bumpers stopped working. Was working fine.
2) when on 3-ball multiball, everything starts as it should including the change to music and “shoot the ion cannon” audio. Problem is that when you lose a ball (or even two) the game remains in 3-ball mode. Music remains in 3 ball mode and it keeps saying “shoot the ion cannon” despite only having one or two balls in play.
Any ideas of where to look for either of these?
Cheers!

1) Check right flipper EOS switch, there will be a second switch for the switch matrix in the stack.

2) I'd look at the trough switches.

#413 1 year ago

Anyone using a Rottendog MPU004 in their Laser war ?

I have issues with sound - no FX/speech/music in test menu.
FX/speech work in game - but music doesn't ...

I've tried replacement chips for the YM2151 and YM3012 and have new sound roms.
I have replaced the ribbon cable going from the MPU to the sound board.

So right now I'm not sure if the problem is on the sound board or on the MPU.

#414 1 year ago
Quoted from Zigzagzag:

Anyone using a Rottendog MPU004 in their Laser war ?
I have issues with sound - no FX/speech/music in test menu.
FX/speech work in game - but music doesn't ...
I've tried replacement chips for the YM2151 and YM3012 and have new sound roms.
I have replaced the ribbon cable going from the MPU to the sound board.
So right now I'm not sure if the problem is on the sound board or on the MPU.

Try flipping the ribbon cable?

#415 1 year ago
Quoted from Zigzagzag:

Anyone using a Rottendog MPU004 in their Laser war ?
I have issues with sound - no FX/speech/music in test menu.
FX/speech work in game - but music doesn't ...
I've tried replacement chips for the YM2151 and YM3012 and have new sound roms.
I have replaced the ribbon cable going from the MPU to the sound board.
So right now I'm not sure if the problem is on the sound board or on the MPU.

I feel like when I looked at this long, long ago there were incompatibilities due to Laser War using a rev 1 MPU. At the time I ended up down converting a LW3 (rev 3) board which required jumper changes and extending a header.

#416 1 year ago
Quoted from joetechbob:

I feel like when I looked at this long, long ago there were incompatibilities due to Laser War using a rev 1 MPU. At the time I ended up down converting a LW3 (rev 3) board which required jumper changes and extending a header.

Seen a few Laser Wars running RD boards, it should not be an issue.

#417 1 year ago
Quoted from gdonovan:

Seen a few Laser Wars running RD boards, it should not be an issue.

Ok, guess I'll try to borrow a friend's sound board and try in my machine.

#418 1 year ago
Quoted from Zigzagzag:

Ok, guess I'll try to borrow a friend's sound board and try in my machine.

Have you tried flipping the cable?

#419 1 year ago
Quoted from gdonovan:

Have you tried flipping the cable?

I have tried to reverse the connectors (taking the end from the sound board and connecting it to the MPU and vice versa).
I have also replaced the ribbon cable with a new one.
The connector on the sound board has been reflowed and measured as well, all connections are good.

The results are unfortunately the same - speech and FX in game ok, sound test gives no sounds - but there are button/switch sounds when in the test menu.

#420 1 year ago
Quoted from gdonovan:

Seen a few Laser Wars running RD boards, it should not be an issue.

The question is what jumpers were changed as LW expects a rev 1 board, which is likely not what RD is shipping them configured to, given LW is the only rev 1 game. See my original post in the thread for more info.

#421 1 year ago
Quoted from joetechbob:

The question is what jumpers were changed as LW expects a rev 1 board, which is likely not what RD is shipping them configured to, given LW is the only rev 1 game. See my original post in the thread for more info.

I removed J5 and added J4.
Game works fine except for music issues as mentioned.
Laser war is listed on the board as compatible.

Board in picture is not mine, but shows the jumpers.

used-rottendog-mpu004-mpu-board-data_1_dc7f085e511e1ac0ca7b8e1b481d14c6 (resized).jpgused-rottendog-mpu004-mpu-board-data_1_dc7f085e511e1ac0ca7b8e1b481d14c6 (resized).jpg
#422 1 year ago
Quoted from Zigzagzag:

I removed J5 and added J4.
Game works fine except for music issues as mentioned.
Laser war is listed on the board as compatible.
Board in picture is not mine, but shows the jumpers.
[quoted image]

Cool. Hope you get it sorted.

#423 1 year ago
Quoted from joetechbob:

Cool. Hope you get it sorted.

Problem solved : PIA 7 on the MPU board was bad.
Easy to test thanks to gianfri 's excellent tester : https://www.pinballsolutions.eu/product/ram-pia-riot-tester/

#424 1 year ago
Quoted from gdonovan:

1) Check right flipper EOS switch, there will be a second switch for the switch matrix in the stack.
2) I'd look at the trough switches.

Thanks will give both of those a look. For the second, the trough switches make sense as they’ve given me some minor issues before. Appreciate the help!

#425 1 year ago
Quoted from Zigzagzag:

Problem solved : PIA 7 on the MPU board was bad.
Easy to test thanks to gianfri 's excellent tester : https://www.pinballsolutions.eu/product/ram-pia-riot-tester/

Nice!

1 week later
#426 1 year ago

Hey all, I added some Star Post lights to Laser War on the slings. Putting the lights in place was super easy. Soldering the connections was less fun but got it done eventually.

The space to get a soldering iron in is pretty tight what with how some of the wire looms are routed.

It really brightens up the game and looks sharp in person. There are a few in the top half of the playfield I want to do as well when I get the time.

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2 months later
#427 1 year ago

I have some new plastics for Laser Wars if anyone is interested in purchasing. DM me

2 months later
#428 1 year ago

Continue to have issues with multiball and could use some troubleshooting help.

When entering 3-ball multiball play everything works as expected. However, when you lose one of the balls (2 remaining in play), it should no longer be in multiball mode with the Ion cannon bonus, but on my machine it's still playing the 3-ball music and you can still shoot the Ion cannon and get the bonus even if one ball has been lost. Additionally, when you lose the 2nd ball (only 1 remaining in play) the Ion cannon bonus goes away but the music is still the music that plays when entering 3-ball play. At this point, if you then light up 3 targets and lock the only remaining ball in a base, the play goes back to the normal music in typical single ball play. I've checked and double checked all of the trough switches and all three seem to be triggering fine.

Where else should I look?

Thanks!

#429 1 year ago
Quoted from rmedine:

I've checked and double checked all of the trough switches and all three seem to be triggering fine.

When you checked these, did you do it with the playfield in normal position and drop balls in there one at a time? I’m thinking one of the switch arms might not be depressing far enough with a ball on it, but enough when pressed by hand to register.

#430 1 year ago
Quoted from sevenrites:

When you checked these, did you do it with the playfield in normal position and drop balls in there one at a time? I’m thinking one of the switch arms might not be depressing far enough with a ball on it, but enough when pressed by hand to register.

Thanks @sevenrites! I was checking with it up and down before and wasn’t seeing anything weird. But I just checked it again with the playfield down based on your note and now I’m seeing some weird trough 1 and trough 2 readings. I didn’t have time to get in there and adjust them, but seems like this might be the culprit! Thanks for the tip and will report back once I adjust them a bit. Thank you!

#431 1 year ago

sevenrites so I made a few adjustments and checked and double checked the switches. They seem to be functioning properly now. But I’m still having the same issue.

Any other ideas on what might be causing this weird behavior?

Anyone else have any thoughts on where to look?

2 weeks later
#432 1 year ago

Has anybody had any success with replacing the factory flipper coils on their Laser War ? I've tried adjusting the playfield incline but I'm still finding the flippers to be too strong. I'm not sure if this is unique to my game, but I'm getting quite a few airballs if I hit the yellow bank with a full flip. Any other recommendations to solve this? Any help would be appreciated! Cheers.

#433 1 year ago
Quoted from WilhelmRyanIV:

Has anybody had any success with replacing the factory flipper coils on their Laser War ? I've tried adjusting the playfield incline but I'm still finding the flippers to be too strong. I'm not sure if this is unique to my game, but I'm getting quite a few airballs if I hit the yellow bank with a full flip. Any other recommendations to solve this? Any help would be appreciated! Cheers.

Here's a suggestion to replace with Williams FL11630-coils : https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/laser-war-club/page/2#post-2937684

#434 1 year ago

I downgraded my coils and it has been swell.

#435 1 year ago
Quoted from WilhelmRyanIV:

Has anybody had any success with replacing the factory flipper coils on their Laser War ? I've tried adjusting the playfield incline but I'm still finding the flippers to be too strong. I'm not sure if this is unique to my game, but I'm getting quite a few airballs if I hit the yellow bank with a full flip. Any other recommendations to solve this? Any help would be appreciated! Cheers.

I added some resistors in line. It helped a lot.

I also just got a delivery of CPU's from Pinball.Center. Tried a 6800 first and it didn't work. Swapped it out for a 6802 and it started right up. I bought two 6800's and one of them had really bent legs and a broken pin so I'm suspicious about the one I tried. Will a Laser War run on a 6800?

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#436 1 year ago

Not sure how I missed this - thank you my friend!

1 week later
#437 1 year ago

Yooooo! A lil pricey but I like supporting this cat. They work hard supporting pinball parts niches

ebay.com link: itm

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2 weeks later
#438 1 year ago

Found some Laser War key fob's, if interested pm. $5 shipped.

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1 week later
#439 12 months ago

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your help earlier! Swapped in the Williams coils (11630) and they have improved the gameplay significantly (at least in my opinion). Still plenty of power for the ramp shot, even with the back legs maxed out, but virtually 0 airballs off of the Yellow Base targets.

The bad news is that the coil swap somehow triggered several lighting issues - the W-A-R lamps won't light at all and the various target lights (all the bases) seem to go dark intermittently after starting a multi-ball. Prior to starting a multi-ball, everything but the W-A-R lamps function normally. I've checked CN7 and all of the connections seem solid - does anybody know where else I can start troubleshooting? None of these issues were present prior to the coil swap.

Cheers!

#440 12 months ago
Quoted from WilhelmRyanIV:

does anybody know where else I can start troubleshooting?

I'm not an expert, but if you took coils out that had diodes, the replacements should probably also have diodes. If the ones you took out didn't have diodes, then the ones you put in shouldn't need them either. This is what I'd check first based on the information you provided.

I believe the Data East Laser War coils have diodes on them. I've seen some Williams 11630 coils come with diodes, and some without. I guess it depends where you order from.

If this is what happened, you should be able to move the diodes to the new coils, but be certain you have them oriented the right direction and make sure you have them soldered to the corresponding lugs on the new coil.

#441 12 months ago

OEM 1st generation Data East flipper coil is:
s-l1600-00b (resized).jpgs-l1600-00b (resized).jpg
as used, in the only game, Laser War.
Williams as FL-23-600/30-2600 flipper coil.
as used in Pinbot.

#442 12 months ago

sevenrites vec-tor the Williams coils also have two diodes built in to the entire assembly. I assumed that they would be in the correct orientation and it would just be plug and play as nobody mentioned any issues when it came to swapping them over.

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/FL-11630

#443 12 months ago

Are you sure the Data East coils each had 2 diodes? I thought there was only one on each of them.

And does it make a difference if there are now 2 diodes per coil? Do the 2 equal what the one used to? And the 2 of them are joined together on the center lug, and not just one diode across the two outer lugs, so does that make a difference?

Someone with more electronics knowledge and better understanding of these things would be more helpful than me. I'm just noting what I'm observing that appears to be different than what you started with.

If it wasn't such a pain in the ass I'd suggest putting the old coils back in and see if you still have the problem. Then you know for sure it's something with the new coils and/or their diode(s) and positions. But there's likely a better and easier way to figure this out.

#444 12 months ago

Laser War does not use the Deger flipper board (TYFFASI).

  • You can use a standard FL-11630. This is a parallel wound solenoid. It has TWO diodes on it.
  • The solenoid shown above is a serial solenoid. It has ONE diode on it.

Reference: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vids-guide-to-upgradingrebuilding-flippers/page/2#post-453690

#445 12 months ago
Quoted from WilhelmRyanIV:

Williams coils also have two diodes built in to the entire assembly.

Only the new style parallel wound coils that where introduced in the mid 1987.
Starting with Williams F-14 TOMCAT.
Prior years, the coils where series wound and used only one diode.

#446 12 months ago
Quoted from DumbAss:

Laser War does not use the Deger flipper board (TYFFASI).

You can use a standard FL-11630. This is a parallel wound solenoid. It has TWO diodes on it.
The solenoid shown above is a serial solenoid. It has ONE diode on it.

Reference: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vids-guide-to-upgradingrebuilding-flippers/page/2#post-453690

Quoted from DumbAss:

Laser War does not use the Deger flipper board (TYFFASI).

You can use a standard FL-11630. This is a parallel wound solenoid. It has TWO diodes on it.
The solenoid shown above is a serial solenoid. It has ONE diode on it.

Reference: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vids-guide-to-upgradingrebuilding-flippers/page/2#post-453690

Thanks for sending that link! I used the same wiring configuration on the new coils, which seems to be correct based on that walkthrough. Sounds like it's not a diode issue, so at least that rules something out.

#447 12 months ago
Quoted from sevenrites:

Are you sure the Data East coils each had 2 diodes? I thought there was only one on each of them.
And does it make a difference if there are now 2 diodes per coil? Do the 2 equal what the one used to? And the 2 of them are joined together on the center lug, and not just one diode across the two outer lugs, so does that make a difference?
Someone with more electronics knowledge and better understanding of these things would be more helpful than me. I'm just noting what I'm observing that appears to be different than what you started with.
If it wasn't such a pain in the ass I'd suggest putting the old coils back in and see if you still have the problem. Then you know for sure it's something with the new coils and/or their diode(s) and positions. But there's likely a better and easier way to figure this out.

You're absolutely right - the new coils are the only thing that should be any different. I wish I understood the lamp wiring in the playfield better to know what to troubleshoot. The old coil didn't look stock to me but it also had a single diode. Not sure why a flipper coil would result in certain lamps engaging/not engaging. Still fairly new to pinball repairs so looks like I have some homework to do!

1 week later
#448 11 months ago

Just joined the club today. Having lots of solenoid issues that I'll have to sort through but I'd like to undo this... lovely...mess... on the power board. Could someone show me their connectors in the lower right corner, for CN8?

I found BLOWN 10A fuses (yikes!!) for F5 and F6 and replaced with appropriate 5A fuses to restore most game functions and then swapped in a new kicker assembly/coil on my left lock, but I assume I still have more work to do.

20230410_175302 (resized).jpg20230410_175302 (resized).jpgIMG_20230410_111243_01 (resized).jpgIMG_20230410_111243_01 (resized).jpg20230410_200208 (resized).jpg20230410_200208 (resized).jpg20230410_200209 (resized).jpg20230410_200209 (resized).jpg20230410_200213 (resized).jpg20230410_200213 (resized).jpg20230410_200220 (resized).jpg20230410_200220 (resized).jpg20230410_110953 (resized).jpg20230410_110953 (resized).jpg

#449 11 months ago

All I can say: fuse those rectifiers or use an Inkochnito Bridge Board!
They are a fire hazard, especialy with solenoid problems.

Peter

#450 11 months ago

Time to dig in on the playfield. There's some fade but all in all it looks pretty decent. The mylar might even shine up with some work.

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Boards go off for repairs next week. I'll have my CN8 molexed before I put them back in.

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