(Topic ID: 308601)

Need alternative for discontinued F-14 Tomcat switch

By Rhetrax

2 years ago



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#1 2 years ago

Hey all, wanting to leverage some wider experience as my Google-fu has turned up nothing but smoke so far.

Looking for a replacement or alternative for a Williams 5647-12133-01 switch, specifically for the left and right center ejects on an F-14 Tomcat (page 48, #22 and #23 in the manual).

Everywhere I look there are none to be found, and it seems that they've been discontinued for some time. Looks like it was a fairly uncommon switch and is only found in a few spots on a few games, but given the amount of topics similar to what I'm making now that came up during my search, I'm surprised that an alternative hasn't been found.

But I know people didn't just give up, someone must have found some kind of solution, even if it was home-baked. Does anyone have any experience as to what worked as a replacement? Any solution is welcomed, no matter to skill level needed to implement it.

The forever-out-of-stock Marco page, for visual: https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/5647-12133-01

Thanks for any and all advice!

#2 2 years ago

Just get a generic switch with a wire arm and bend it to suit - you might be able to find a generic one with the same body as yours but if not - well, drill away and fit one like this.

I seems you don't realize that MANY parts for these old machines simply are not and have not been available, many since the machines were actually made!

You are likely to have to get creative on many more things as well as this switch.

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#3 2 years ago
Quoted from Rhetrax:

Hey all, wanting to leverage some wider experience as my Google-fu has turned up nothing but smoke so far.
Looking for a replacement or alternative for a Williams 5647-12133-01 switch, specifically for the left and right center ejects on an F-14 Tomcat (page 48, #22 and #23 in the manual).
Everywhere I look there are none to be found, and it seems that they've been discontinued for some time. Looks like it was a fairly uncommon switch and is only found in a few spots on a few games, but given the amount of topics similar to what I'm making now that came up during my search, I'm surprised that an alternative hasn't been found.
But I know people didn't just give up, someone must have found some kind of solution, even if it was home-baked. Does anyone have any experience as to what worked as a replacement? Any solution is welcomed, no matter to skill level needed to implement it.
The forever-out-of-stock Marco page, for visual: https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/5647-12133-01
Thanks for any and all advice!

If you still have the regional switch, find a like body switch and do some replacement surgery for the actuator.
If the actuator is broken then do like the post above.

#4 2 years ago
Quoted from pins4u:

Just get a generic switch with a wire arm and bend it to suit - you might be able to find a generic one with the same body as yours but if not - well, drill away and fit one like this.
I seems you don't realize that MANY parts for these old machines simply are not and have not been available, many since the machines were actually made!
You are likely to have to get creative on many more things as well as this switch.[quoted image]

This was my fallblack plan, but figured I might as well put the question out there to see if someone had found a better solution. And yeah, it's a 35 year old machine, I'm aware--I was just hoping that there might have been a retrofittable part from a newer production line. Alas!

#5 2 years ago

Be careful, the bodies come in two main styles, the type you have which mounts with two diagonal points and is a bit bigger in size, and then the smaller 'microswitch' type (pictured above) which is normally used under the playfield for lanes or on the playfield for gates.

You need to find a switch body that matches yours, and when I looked at Marco, ALL of the bigger bodies were also sold out. PBL or Cointaker might have something closer, and then you may be able to move the arm to the new body.... carefully!

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