NVRAM makes no difference in gameplay, it's just the inability to keep correct time that you mentioned... which it sucks at even with original batteries so no big deal!

Nope. It just keeps the time.

This is not an easy change as the RAM isn't socketed and this the pads and traces are tiny. I've seen many boards destroyed in the attempt, so if you aren't 100% sure that you can do it without damaging the board...just don't do it.
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In the end I did replace C1, but that didn't fix the issue. I pulled the boards out to reflow things and they're a mess from previous repairs and mismatched LEDs. To keep the machine running while I repair the original trough boards, I bought a new set that mounts with the rubber grommets. Machine now plays 99% right.

The 1% is cannon related. Sometimes, especially during the initial portion of Borg multiball, the left cannon fails to fire. You hear the phaser noise so I assume the trigger works, but something else obviously isn't. In test it seems quite irregularly timed. I've never had a WPC so I don't know if that's normal:

The left cannon is also slower than the right, and both cannons test at startup, turning and firing the coil.

First port of call will be to disassemble the cannons and clean everything, but any tips on stuff to look out for would be great.

looks normal.

Possible causes of intermittent failures

1) Cannon Mark switch failure

2) Cannon wiring failure

Today's upgrade:

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Color DMD and Invisiglass. Quite amazing.

But, not sure if this is ColorDMD related, but since I installed it, I have an intermittent issue.
Sometimes, and there seems to be no rhyme or reason behind when it happens, the ball when entering the underground subway system from behind the borgship won't eject anymore. This seems to be in particular when there is multiple balls in the game.
Nothing obviously happens till all the balls that are still in the game drain, and then the machine goes into search mode for the ball. Mysterious about this, it appears as if the hidden ball won't fire on top on the first round of all the coils firing, but on the second round.
On the 2nd round the ball finally gets on top, and the coils stop firing eventually. This also has happened on initial launch when skill shot was selected.
Coil test 16, 17, and 18 seem to work fine.
Any thoughs?

Yes, I knew about this, I am comfortable with soldering in a new socket. Getting the old one out is the tough part.

The wiring harness is notorious on the cannons. That would be my first look on anything cannon related. Looks like Marco has the set only these days. You can get individuals here:
https://www.thepinballwizard.net/electronics/electrical/star-trek-the-next-generation-gun-cable-h-17067/
I have used this guy with great results.
The newer wires are more flexible so changing both is not a terrible idea either if they are the originals.

Since this started after the ColorDMD install I'd suspect your +12VDC is weak and causing opto problems or the diverter is not firing so the ball ends up in the wrong place, which I believe can also be opto related. I'd start by putting a meter on the 12 Volts and measure with and without the ColorDMD plugged in. From there I would probably look to the opto that should register the ball entering the subway from behind the drop target, go into switch test and drop balls in there and see if it is registering every time.

Measure the 12V where? At the opto?

No, at the test points on the board in the back box.

This should not be related to the Color DMD install at all this machine should have more than enough power available for everything to operate including the ColorDMD. More than likely you do have a failed opto, the best way to identify this is to make all of the optical switches close all the time by removing all 6 balls and verifying they all register as closed; THEN, monitor your switch edge test and start moving around the playfield knocking on it to see if one changes state...you can also lift the playfield (all of the balls are removed) and start wiggling wires to see if you hear the switch state change sound in edge test...you can then look at the display to see which switch last changed.
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will run some more test on the weekend and report back. Thanks for the help so far.

I had problems with slow moving cannons, weak upper right flipper and opto problems which got worse after I installed my color DMD. Turned out my 12 volt unregulated power supply was only outputting 10.5 volts. My Power Driver Board still had original capacitors so I pulled the board and replaced all the bridge rectifiers and filter capacitors which brought my 12 volt unregulated voltage back up to over 12 volts and everything has been working great ever sense. I made a video which shows testing the voltages and installing the new bridge rectifiers and filter capacitors. Test your voltages and if they are OK then you might have a diverter problem. I had 2 diverter problems with my game, one was sticking from dryed grease and the other was not adjusted properly. I have videos of those too.

FWIW, I don't recommend anyone without EXPERT level board repair skills AND the proper soldering equipment make an attempt at replacing these snap-in caps. I also recommend not replacing them at all unless you are measuring excessive AC ripple on your DC line...if you don't know what this is or how to measure it, in all likelihood you shouldn't replace the capacitor.

I'm generally of the camp of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." But I don't consider myself expert, and I've done several snap caps. I've never found them to be any worse than bridges and transistors... Maybe I am an expert.

Any reason my subwoofer wouldn't be working? It hasn't since I've owned the pin, but I never got around to looking into it. It's still active in the menu. Visually checks out. Where should I be checking?

Edit: I'm talking about the speaker in the bottom of the cabinet, not an external sub.

I'm not trying to knock Sams Classics here but I've seen this video before and cringed when I saw how he was removing it. If you have to remove the subway, do yourself a solid here and just remove the 3 VUK's first to get them out of the way, then take out the subway. This gives you the opportunity to inspect and clean everything, while you have the VUKs out, you may as well clean all of the optos. After you removed all that ancient clay based grease, you will want to apply a TINY bit of PTFE synthetic grease to the diverter shafts buring reassembly. A dab the size of a pea on each shaft should be enough. Just like the VUKs, clean or replace all the optos, there is literally no reason not to do it while you have the assembly out of the game.

I also use Locktite 615 Epoxy on all of the set screws as I don't want the actuator arms to move at all after they are aligned.

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And WOW! What a massive difference.

I have had this pin for over 2 years, and I have known for the majority of that time that the bottom speaker wasn't working. Not sure why I never looked into it. It was literally just the connector off a pin on the sound board...

Aside from feeling like a massive idiot, I am blown away by how much better the game sounds. I had no idea what I was missing.

Tomorrow is my big testing day. I don't believe I'll have to get the subway off. My deserters seem to run smooth. Nothing sticking. The guy I bought it from actually had the subway off and cleaned everything, and he really seemed to know what he was doing.
It might just be the opto itself, or maybe it is the power for some reason, or just a cable leading to the opto. I moved quite some cabling around when I installed the DMD. Idiot me got the old dmd power cable out, because I thought my RS from which I was pulling the DMD did not have that power cable anymore....well, should have checked better first. RS still had it, just the connectors where tucked away, so I did alot of cable sorting for no reason.
I'll check power, continuity, and opto tomorrow.

Make it so....

Got to test this just now, confirmed, Right Ramp Flasher (SOL 42), aka the red flasher in the right side, works.
I have to move some stuff around to get into the backboard, but I'll try the ribbon cable flip first to see if its a data problem or a transistor issue...
Is there a particular variant of TIP102 I should be shopping for if I need to replace it?

Thanks for the hints!

Ok, I did the ribbon cable flip (on both sides), but that didn't make the Romulan flasher light. I flipped it back (red stripe on ribbon should always be on pin 1), and then it did, but the Right Ramp Flasher didn't work. Seems like the ribbon cable is marginal. I pressed down on the ribbon terminals with some pliers, and gave a very gentle squeeze to the pins on both boards to improve contact. After that, both flashers are working!

One remaining issue I have. Neither the left or right bank switches (Ferengi Jackpot and Klingon Assistance, respectively) are registering closed ever. Service menu resports top, middle, bottom haven't been triggered in a while.

I've looked underneath the switches seem to make contact, so I'm guessing it's something upstream.

Broken column 5 wire (Green Black), likely between right outer loop and right drop target bank. I'm assuming drop target and right outer loop are registering since you didn't mention any issues with them.

If I was a betting man, I would put my money on a broken wire on the top target of the right target bank (SW #54) as shown below:
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Hi guys, here is an update on my testing.
1. Tested the voltage at the board. Consistent 13.05V, with or without ColorDMD. So I don't believe there is a voltage related issue.
2. Edge switch Test. All as is it supposed to be. No issues. Tested all the optos with a piece of paper.....all good. Well, I could not get to the optos before the subway knockouts. Got the one at the kick out, but no idea how to get to the other.
Did not have any occurance of this phenomenon during game play today, but only played about 10 games. But, after one of the games finished, the machine went into search mode firing everything including the cannons. So still clueless. And before anybody asked, no battery damage.
Oh well, it played, so onto some modding.

Ok, here are couple of things I did today.
Added lighted flipper buttons, have them set on pulsating for now.
Added the third bumper cover and applied metal decals on the pop bumpers.
Changed out bumper single LED bulb for bright multi bumper LEDs. Set center ring for turn on on vibration, fun effect when playing. Only bumped out that I could not put this one on the 3rd bumper, just no room.
Added metal decals all over the playfield. My VUK shoot out has a big dent from the ball shooting up, so I could not get the decal on 100% clean, had to make a little cut to allow for the dent. Not sure about the flipper decals yet, especially since they appear to be a bit too large.
Changed the canon red lenses covers to some covers. What an improvement. And thanks to whoever gave the tip of drilling the opening larger with a cone drill, worked like a charm.
Started playing with the Hallmark Enterprise ornament. Here is my question, and I tried to find some answers on here, but could not find anything conclusive. The box reads to attach to 5V - 6.5V light bulb chain.....so I connected it to my variable power supply with 6.5V. Well, the light are very dim and the LED on the top (navigation light) does not turn on at all. Once I increase the voltage to 12V, the lights had a good brightness, and the navigation light started to blink like it should. So it sounds like I could simply attach it to the GI 12V? Afraid of blowing the LEDs in the ship though. Question, could this be because my variable power supply is DC, and the ornament wants AC? And if the latter, and I need some resistors, what do I need? 200 Ohm? Been a while since I had physics in school and had to calculate voltage drops.

And here are some pics of today's work.

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Not familiar with an Enterprise mod? You mean you're trying to connect to a Enterprise-D?
Like this?

If so; Christmas Ornaments which plug into the string are ALWAYS AC devices... just like the Romulan and Klingon Bird of Prey. This means these devices almost always need the 6.3VAC GI circuit; not a DC power supply. If you don't connect these device an AC source; the lights won't blink. 12VDC seems way to much and will like burn everything out in the ship in short order. Additionally; to protect the ships from melt-down; you almost always need a serial resistor on the ships. I was looking for the original R.G.P thread on the ships; but can't seem to find it on google.

TBH; I'm kinda surprised you went with the decal on the popcaps instead of my STNG popcaps:
STNG Popcaps
More detail in my thread:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stng-popcaps-any-interest

Yup, I think the AC power was the issue, so if I type into GI, I guess I need to set some resistors to reduce it down.
As for your popcaps, I saw yours, but I was too cheap

It's alright... you'll come to your senses.

Found a thread:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!searchin/rec.games.pinball/hallmark|sort:date/rec.games.pinball/0HP938FRFX0/KuaTeY-rvMMJ
which says 22ohms at .2W.

That was it, broken Green Black at the switch for the drop target. Detached upstream, still worked for the other two switches in that row. I think all known issues are resolved now - at some point I'll need to clean up the subway system.

Thanks @pin_guy !

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Yup, saw this before, but nowbody knows what is inside the ENTERPRISE 1701-D ship. As in what type of LEDs, or if they are in series or parallel.

I've been working on rebuilding all the mechs in my game. The left cannon has been slow and chugged along since I got the game. Narrowed it down the the gear box. The left one was a lot harder to move than the right. It also locked up sometimes when moving it slowly by hand.

I decided to drill the rivets out and see what's up. The grease was like sludge and turns out the left gear box is missing a spacer from when it was new. I carefully took them apart and I'm positive I didnt lose it.

Would anyone have a old cannon gearbox that is broke and would part with it? Looking to harvest the spacer out of it.

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ID: #2 / .0900" / 2.28mm
OD: #n/a / .2165" / 5.50mm
Height: #27 / .1140" / 2.89mm

Been looking not easy to find one, even somewhat close in size.

I've never looked at my cannon gearboxes... are they MPC / MultiProducts Company, Inc. assemblies?
If so, maybe contact them.
https://www.multiproducts.com/

Or, contact Steve @ ThePinballResource. He does gear/motor repairs. (for MPC) Maybe he has one to sell.

It doesn't look like there is any top side wear on the gear you would be spacing it away from, so if the gears all align properly you probably don't need it. Its possible that the two gearboxes are slightly different versions and the small washer is all you need in it.

Yes this ^ and when you drop the gear back on there is a huge gap. I thinking the idea of this spacer is to keep the faces of the gears from touching. Just ordered the 1st spacer you linked to try. I have to order some stuff from PBR. When I get my list done, I'll ask Steve if he could supply me with the correct one. Thanks for the help.

Probably, I try and not speculate on things not said. Since there is no mention of the gears contacting each other, and no visible signs that the gears were rubbing against each other, I had to take it that they were not.

There does seem to be some possible contact on the other gears though; however, this may just be that they haven't been cleaned yet.
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I do have a couple of these lying around, I may take one apart just to see what they look like.

Question for scooter8416 : What grease are you going to use when you reseal the gearboxes?

Oddly, my left canon started to move slowly today. It is intermittent though. Does this mean I have to crack open the gear box?? I hope not...

Plan is to use this;

Found at HFT or Home Depot

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That stuff is great, the only thing I use on pins

https://www.amazon.com/Super-Lube-Synthetic-FamilyValue-kes-Super/dp/B000XBH9HI

Can anyone with artblades or mirrorblades send me a rough measurement of their size? I know they look like a step ladder on the fatter end so maybe how long they are until they start stepping down.

I did an experiment with cheap eBay vinyl on the backboard a few months ago and it turned out well. I'd like to try extending that (and changing the color) down the sides of the inside of the cabinet to see if it will work for a cheaper alternative to shelling out $85 for side art.

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I think the backboard turned out really nice aside from being too pink.

My left canon moves slow only some of the time, so I’m assuming it’s not a grease issue?

Got my new machine setup. The only issue I notice is the VUK that feeds the left cannon fires the ball into the outlane or even onto the apron (once). Either way it overshoots the cannon 50% of the time. Same coil on the right and that one is perfect. Any known fix?

Alignment issue, game angle too shallow, wrong coil stop, wrong plunger, bad coil...

Anybody install a stronger coil in the shooter lane with the catapult mechanism ?

If so I'm Interested in knowing details, the coil size, benefits or negatives?

TIA.

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