Hey all,
I am wanting to replace a connector on my System 6 Williams Firepower as one the female ends has some corrosion on it. I have repinned connectors on my Data East Tales from the Crypt and was wondering if Tales from the Crypt has the same size pins and female end connector housing as Firepower’s? Also! Am I able to use the same crimping tool?
C52B53CC-1317-404D-9DAD-C2EBD5A19DA5 (resized).jpegQuoted from Jrotten:Can you take corroded pin out to compare the .156 to it? They are a common size. Firepower I’m not sure though. Not much help I realize.
I appreciate it! I’m not sure, guess I will have to look
Can take pics of your connectors in question?
Can’t say this covers every pin out there, but generally there’s two sizes of those kk type board connectors. Small(.100” size) and big(.156” size). Compare your one in question, to others in your back box. Is it the smaller or bigger kk connector? You can also judge off wire size feeding into them. Bigger wire usually uses .156, smaller wire use .100, this is not a definitive, but a good guideline.
Unless you’re talking about a completely different connector, then that’s a different breakdown.
Quoted from SterlingRush:Can take pics of your connectors in question?
Can’t say this covers every pin out there, but generally there’s two sizes of those kk type board connectors. Small(.100” size) and big(.156” size). Compare your one in question, to others in your back box. Is it the smaller or bigger kk connector? You can also judge off wire size feeding into them. Bigger wire usually uses .156, smaller wire use .100, this is not a definitive, but a good guideline.
Unless you’re talking about a completely different connector, then that’s a different breakdown.
Will do! It is a larger (regular sized) connector
So I think I have everything I need except for the female end housing. Do I get that from Great Plains? .156 size on that too?
Great Plains Electronics has closed up shop. They were the best! I actually got a little nostalgic just seeing the label on that bag of pins you posted! 
There are other places that carry the pins you're looking for though. Wire-Bot is run by a pinsider, and has been getting a lot of positive feedback. Looks like they have the housings, pins, and keying pins as well: https://wirebot.xyz/products/0-156-connector-housing-w-locking-ramp?variant=42171288584438
Quoted from Pinball-DOOD:So I think I have everything I need except for the female end housing. Do I get that from Great Plains? .156 size on that too?
The housing can be reused if you extract the pins. If you go that route, clean the green goo.
Well dang! That is a shame! They were awesome! I think I’ll just get a new connector to play it safe! That battery leakage is what I suspect is screwing with my displays! Thanks, all! Will keep you posted!
Also, around the same time the displays starting messing up the knocker stopped working when I load in credits
Okay! So when I administer credits the knocker coil will just buzz. It doesn’t look buckled? It is not holding either so can’t be a bad driver
Follow the link below for your display issue.
https://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php/Williams_System_3_-_7#Segment_failures
Quoted from phishrace:Follow the link below for your display issue.
https://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php/Williams_System_3_-_7#Segment_failures
Excellent! Will measure those resistors
Okay! So I have circled which ones I can’t get a reading on in the attached picture. All other resistors read 10 ohms. I have replaced one of these before. I do happen to have replacement resistors, would these be suitable for replacing the 4 I can’t get a reading on? Thanks!
Quoted from Pinball-DOOD:Okay! So I have circled which ones I can’t get a reading on in the attached picture. All other resistors read 10 ohms. I have replaced one of these before.
You cannot measure resistors while they're in a circuit. Everything else on that board (caps, chips, other resistors, etc.) with any continuity to the resistor will be electrically parallel, which will cause lower and possibly erratic readings.
You must remove, or at least lift one leg, before measuring can be done with any degree of accuracy. That's likely the reason you're seeing 10 ohms for everything... they appear to be in parallel so you're reading through all of them at once.
Quoted from Pinball-DOOD:I do happen to have replacement resistors, would these be suitable for replacing the 4 I can’t get a reading on?
As far as replacements, they are not replacements unless the specs match. Check the schematic for proper value, tolerance, and wattage. Check the spares to make sure value is the same (matching color stripes), it's the same or better tolerance (the last stripe), and that it's the same or higher wattage than the original.
In this case, I don't know what "can't get a reading" means. You should always get a reading. An open circuit is infinite resistance, and a short circuit is zero ohms. Both of those things are valid readings, plus everything else in between.
Looking at your picture, it looks like your 'c' segment is out in displays 1,2 and MASTER. If you look at the first schematic closely where it says 'SEGMENT DRIVE FOR MASTER PLAYER 1 AND 2, the first three different-colored resistors are for keep alive, so not part of the problem. Segment 'c' is going thru resistor R3 but its hard to read because they wrote over it. If you look at the 2nd schematic, you can find segment c on the right of IC6. Follow that line straight through the right side of IC9, and it confirms that segment c is in line with R3. So replace R3 with 10K 1/2 watt.
r3 (resized).jpg
If that doesn't solve the issue, anything in that chain can be bad. IC6, IC9, the glass, or the signals from the MPU.
If you need to look up resistor color codes, just use one of the online calculators like this:
https://resistorcolorcodecalc.com/
wmsdisplayfront.pdfwmsdisplayschematic.pdfQuoted from KenH:Looking at your picture, it looks like your 'c' segment is out in displays 1,2 and MASTER. If you look at the first schematic closely where it says 'SEGMENT DRIVE FOR MASTER PLAYER 1 AND 2, the first three different-colored resistors are for keep alive, so not part of the problem. Segment 'c' is going thru resistor R3 but its hard to read because they wrote over it. If you look at the 2nd schematic, you can find segment c on the right of IC6. Follow that line straight through the right side of IC9, and it confirms that segment c is in line with R3. So replace R3 with 10K 1/2 watt.
[quoted image]
If that doesn't solve the issue, anything in that chain can be bad. IC6, IC9, the glass, or the signals from the MPU.
If you need to look up resistor color codes, just use one of the online calculators like this:
https://resistorcolorcodecalc.com/[quoted image][quoted image]
Excellent, thank you so much. Will replace the resistor and get back to you
Quoted from sparky672:You cannot measure resistors while they're in a circuit. Everything else on that board (caps, chips, other resistors, etc.) with any continuity to the resistor will be electrically parallel, which will cause lower and possibly erratic readings.
You must remove, or at least lift one leg, before measuring can be done with any degree of accuracy. That's likely the reason you're seeing 10 ohms for everything... they appear to be in parallel so you're reading through all of them at once.As far as replacements, they are not replacements unless the specs match. Check the schematic for proper value, tolerance, and wattage. Check the spares to make sure value is the same (matching color stripes), it's the same or better tolerance (the last stripe), and that it's the same or higher wattage than the original.
In this case, I don't know what "can't get a reading" means. You should always get a reading. An open circuit is infinite resistance, and a short circuit is zero ohms. Both of those things are valid readings, plus everything else in between.
Thanks for the help, much appreciated
So we are almost done! I am just having the issue where I am getting low power to the knocker coil. When I add credits, I hear the coil hum but it is not activating enough to where there is a knock. This just happened recently. I did take the driver and MPU board out recently so maybe that is related?
I was pushing on connectors on the power supply so maybe I cracked some solder joints? What do you all think?
Quoted from Pinball-DOOD:maybe I cracked some solder joints?
That is very common. Even if not the problem, it takes 5 minutes to reflow them and you don't have to worry about them again.
If you want to pinpoint the exact connector and pin driving the knocker, you can grab the schematics from here and see if you can find it.
https://www.ipdb.org/files/856/Williams_1980_Firepower_Schematics_paginated_from_manual_dated_March_1980.pdf
Does the plunger move freely with your finger?
Quoted from KenH:That is very common. Even if not the problem, it takes 5 minutes to reflow them and you don't have to worry about them again.
If you want to pinpoint the exact connector and pin driving the knocker, you can grab the schematics from here and see if you can find it.
https://www.ipdb.org/files/856/Williams_1980_Firepower_Schematics_paginated_from_manual_dated_March_1980.pdf
Does the plunger move freely with your finger?
Will find it! Yes, coil is not buckled
Quoted from Pinball-DOOD:I am just having the issue where I am getting low power to the knocker coil.
Quoted from Pinball-DOOD:Could the 40 pin connector be the culprit?
My advice is to first find where the knocker coil is connected in the schematic and concentrate on that. Otherwise you're just chasing your tail with other problems. If pushing on that 40 pin connector causes issues, it may be something you need to fix eventually -- but it can wait until you fix the knocker issue first, right? It is just my opinion, but I would work one issue at a time.
Quoted from KenH:My advice is to first find where the knocker coil is connected in the schematic and concentrate on that. Otherwise you're just chasing your tail with other problems. If pushing on that 40 pin connector causes issues, it may be something you need to fix eventually -- but it can wait until you fix the knocker issue first, right? It is just my opinion, but I would work one issue at a time.
What Mr. KenH just said! Troubleshooting should be logical and methodical, and worked from a schematic. Otherwise, you're blindly changing parts and possibly creating new issues.
I agree with Kenh. Work on the knocker first.
After you find where the signal comes from, you will likely have to remove the driver board. After you remove it, look for burn marks on the ground plane and on the back of the board. I suspect you’re pushing the board into the ground plane, causing the short.
Ohh sure, good point. Is it possible that I could get assistance on locating connectors related to the knocker coil?
Update: When I go to add credits now, the game will just lock up/freeze. It also does not appear to show the high score (it usually alternates between the high score and latest score).
Quoted from KenH:Page 9 of manual, and page 24 of schematics....
[quoted image][quoted image]
Thank you!
Quoted from Pinball-DOOD:Could the 40 pin connector be the culprit? Every time I push on it, and power the game up it acts erratic and will blow a 2.5 amp solenoid fuse. The resistors also look pretty burnt.
[quoted image]
Oh yea...the much loved 40 pin connector.
Eventually you WILL have to replace it...your soldering skills will triple after winning that battle!
Firepower is worth every second of labor you put into it...absolute classic!
Quoted from Randy_G:Oh yea...the much loved 40 pin connector.
Eventually you WILL have to replace it...your soldering skills will triple after winning that battle!
Firepower is worth every second of labor you put into it...absolute classic!
Thank you so much!! Yesss, have had to fix her many times but it is always worth it!
Quoted from Pinball-DOOD:I’d like to replace the 40-pin connector. Any idea where I can find one? Thanks!
I see marco has them...but damn, so expensive!
You can probably find it cheaper
https://twistywristarcade.com/pinball-parts/1166-williams-mpudriver-interconnect-kit.html
Quoted from Randy_G:I see marco has them...but damn, so expensive!
You can probably find it cheaper
https://twistywristarcade.com/pinball-parts/1166-williams-mpudriver-interconnect-kit.html
Nice!! Thanks, man!!
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