(Topic ID: 70775)

The Firepower Club

By wiredoug

10 years ago


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  • 4,635 posts
  • 391 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 6 hours ago by slochar
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There are 4,635 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 93.
#1 10 years ago

Not every machine needs a club .. but Firepower is surely worthy.

We'll even share the love with Firepower2 ( face it - it needs all the help it can get in the shade of its big brother)

I am about to instal this lovely piece of CPRs finest work

cpr-fp.jpgcpr-fp.jpg

Into this well worn veteran of the 80s

fp-old.jpgfp-old.jpg

Its apparently a Silver grade PF. I guess it didnt get a perfect score because they forgot to add the registration errors the original one has where the inserts are only meant to be 'sort of close' to lining up.

fp-insert1.jpgfp-insert1.jpg
fp-insert2.jpgfp-insert2.jpg

Its currently got a mix of switches in it for the main standup targets .. i have some bullseyes but the original targets seem to be long gone? I'll probably use GTB 25460-6R unless someone has a better suggestion? http://nikolich.us/Maverick/catalog/index.php claims to have them but it seems to be a ghost town site that doesnt work any more.

#2 10 years ago

Had a Firepower, sold it, got another. The only way I let it go is if a nicer one comes along. Love everything about Firepower, especially the sounds.

#3 10 years ago

Mine is nearly finished, just missing one of the center standups. Had a deal worked out with a Pinsider for some originals but I haven't heard from him in a few weeks so I guess it's back to looking.

Wiredoug, your old playfield looks plenty decent, you planning to sell it or anything?

#4 10 years ago

It is decent just faded and a bit cracked up ( it had full mylar) .. sorry its not for sale as its going on the wall and anyway its in Australia - it would cost you $200ish to get it home.

#5 10 years ago

I have a really good scan of the manual and schematics if anyone needs them too .. send PM

#6 10 years ago

I'm an old EM fart, but the one SS I'd love to have is a Firepower.

#7 10 years ago

Here's mine after my CPR swap and new plastics. I stupidly used the wrong style of pop bumper bodies, so that's something that I'll have to fix eventually.

image.jpgimage.jpg

image.jpgimage.jpg
#8 10 years ago

Just didnt have the budget for the CPR playfield on mine unfortunately, but still love the game even with a beat up playfield. Not sure if I will go LED or not.

Either way it is going to keep its spot between Stellar Wars and Black Knight.

#9 10 years ago

I have a project one incoming

#10 10 years ago

Finally, a club i can join!

I rescued mine from a dark, damp, dank warehouse and brought it back to life.

Firepower is a kick ass pin, for sure.

Not springing for a new PF on mine either. I like the vibe that an original pin has.

Kinda like a road-worn Strat...

#11 10 years ago

I'm in the club with a CPR playfield to boot!

#12 10 years ago

I have a restore with the CPR playfield queued up once I finish my Space Shuttle. Going to do the drop targets in the center as was originally designed. Can't wait to see how it plays.

-1
#13 10 years ago

Do we really need a club for EVERY GAME?

#14 10 years ago
Quoted from wayout440:

Do we really need a club for EVERY GAME?

Yes.

#15 10 years ago
Quoted from Gov:

Do we really need a club for EVERY GAME?

Quoted from wiredoug:

Not every machine needs a club .. but Firepower is surely worthy.

#16 10 years ago

Well, I don't own a Firepower but my buddy Wade has one which has been in my arcade sense 2001 so dose that count? I keep it maintained as if it were mine and he can drop by anytime and play it or any of my other games.
It's a great game. Here's Wade playing his Firepower at my house.
wadefp.JPGwadefp.JPG

#17 10 years ago

I have a Firepower with recently fitted CPR playfield which looks sweeeet!!

I have a problem with the left flipper though which when operated will pull in to maximum travel as normal but then gradually drop as if the hold is really weak or the return spring is too powerful. It does this until EOS closes and then it pulls back in again, sometimes fluttering so that the EOS closes a couple of times with mucho sparking before it finally pulls in.

I have new baseplates, new plunger pawl and link, new EOS correctly gapped, new flipper relay on driver board, new male headers on driver board and flipper button contacts have been filed until shiny.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

Andy

#18 10 years ago
Quoted from Andy_B:

I have a Firepower with recently fitted CPR playfield which looks sweeeet!!
I have a problem with the left flipper though which when operated will pull in to maximum travel as normal but then gradually drop as if the hold is really weak or the return spring is too powerful. It does this until EOS closes and then it pulls back in again, sometimes fluttering so that the EOS closes a couple of times with mucho sparking before it finally pulls in.
I have new baseplates, new plunger pawl and link, new EOS correctly gapped, new flipper relay on driver board, new male headers on driver board and flipper button contacts have been filed until shiny.
Anyone have any suggestions?
Thanks in advance.
Andy

Flipper flutter (machine gunning) may be a cold or weak solder joint on the coil lugs. Check it out there.

#20 10 years ago
Quoted from Sheprd:

I have a restore with the CPR playfield queued up once I finish my Space Shuttle. Going to do the drop targets in the center as was originally designed. Can't wait to see how it plays.

how do you do it? wouldn't mind doing that

#21 10 years ago

I am a proud member of the club with both Firepower original as well as Firepower II.

FPII was rescued from being turned into a vpinmame cab! Thankfully it's now working decently and that will not be happening

Firepower Original project was acquired last weekend and waiting for me to start the restore. Prior to picking up the project I already have CPR playfield & plastics. I'll get it working perfectly first, then play it a lot. After I get bored, I will start the playfield swap.

IMG_20130209_154448.jpgIMG_20130209_154448.jpg IMG_20130209_154343.jpgIMG_20130209_154343.jpg
#22 10 years ago

One more proud Firepower owner here. I've also installed the CPR playfield. LOVE my Firepower!!

DSC03112.jpgDSC03112.jpg DSC03322.jpgDSC03322.jpg
#23 10 years ago

Love my two Firepower machines! I really wish CPR would have gone with non-ribbed inserts to make it look more original. I would be all over one if they did...

I have one setup with standard playfield pitch and the other with extra long back legs. I actually like the lower pitch game play better....

#24 10 years ago

My first pin and a great game! Unfortunately, I sold mine a few weeks ago.

#25 10 years ago

SunKing, those hot dog inserts look nice and clear. Mine arrived very crazed and crackled. Still, it looks a million times better than the old PF.

#26 10 years ago

Firepower is my favorite pinball machine of all-time. I just redid mine with CPR's Playfield, re painted the cabinet and went proto style with drop targets. So glad I decided to do that. Game is still wicked fast!image-400.jpgimage-400.jpgimage-243.jpgimage-243.jpgimage-970.jpgimage-970.jpgimage.jpgimage.jpg

4 months later
#27 9 years ago

Aha, got alerted to clubs via the High Speed club and thought, Hmmm, there HAS to be a Firepower club in here--oop, there it is! yea!

Cabinet is not the best, backglass has minor scratches, replaced all lights with LEDs except for five #455s in the backglass behind FIREPOWER, CPR repro playfield, all new but, boy, good luck finding replacement bumper caps! I think I'll have to get blank whites and do 'm up myself...(ordered!). Also replaced the displays with PinScore units. "Less authentic", perhaps, but when the game's not being played and is just sitting there, I'm drawing 15 watts instead of 150 watts.

Before I put in the playfield, I got some polyurethane resin and some dyes and deepened the colours on the inserts -- the blues and oranges are way too pale.

Had to replace MPU/Driver/Sound boards with PinballPCB (I *really* like them) boards. They do good work.

For extra fun, get a set of undercab 3-color LED strips: One down the left side, one down the right side and find a way to fit the short one across the bottom. Wire them up such that the pop bumpers, slings, kickback, firepower flashers, and plunger-side ball release are linked in.

Bright blue flashers behind the center targets, wired to the drop target resets, another one right near the plunger, wired into the ball release -- you KNOW when you have a ball waiting! -- and bright white flashers under the plastics near the eject holes hooked up to the eject solenoids.

Rebuilt the flippers. If you do NOTHING ELSE to your game, DO THIS. Don't forget to put in the rubber grommets where the linkages come to rest. Yes, it will look like your flippers can't swing as far, but you will actually INCREASE the power you get from your flippers and your coils will thank you.

Loosened up the spinner, lubed it a bit, and I can reliably get 35k+ on a hit from the right flipper. Replaced the knocker coil with something a little stronger, mounted it more toward the back, directly to the inside of the cabinet, and the report from that baby is eminently satisfying.

Now due to dissatisfaction with the first one, and worse dissatisfaction with the second one, I have to build a third topper for this puppy. I have the wiring in place, hooked to a Molex plug, so it's as easy as plug and play

Sound System is a Polk Audio 10" Subwoofer plus two pedestal home theatre satellites. On full volume it will rattle the playfield glass. Due to the directional nature of the speakers, I have not had to crank the volume to obnoxiously loud levels at the expos.

Paid $300 + traded a Xenon for this game. Considering Xenon only cost me $50 outright, I have no regrets over the transaction. IF I ever get it together to post, I'll post pix and video.

7 years and still a work in progress...

Oh, yeah, Hi! by the way...

--*greywolf;

#28 9 years ago
Quoted from Schwaggs:

Love my two Firepower machines! I really wish CPR would have gone with non-ribbed inserts to make it look more original. I would be all over one if they did...

I was SO bummed when they said they were doing starburst inserts... oh, well, nothing a little poly resin won't fix...

#29 9 years ago
Quoted from PromoJoe23:

Firepower is my favorite pinball machine of all-time. I just redid mine with CPR's Playfield, re painted the cabinet and went proto style with drop targets. So glad I decided to do that. Game is still wicked fast!

Hah! Blue LED behind "Highest Score"! Now, where I have I seen that done to a Firepower before...? Hmmmm...

#30 9 years ago

Surprised no one mentioned this yet - should be a bookmark of every Firepower owner:

http://firepowerpinball.com/

Best Sys6 schematics and assembly drawings out there as well as a bunch of other great info on the machine.

viperrwk

#31 9 years ago
Quoted from greywolf:

I was SO bummed when they said they were doing starburst inserts... oh, well, nothing a little poly resin won't fix...

Does the resin make the insert look clear instead of ribbed or can you still tell they were ribbed?

#32 9 years ago

Just sold 6 WMS system 3-7 games last weekend... You can bet your ass firepower is still in my collection! And it's not going anywhere!

#33 9 years ago
Quoted from greywolf:

boy, good luck finding replacement bumper caps! I think I'll have to get blank whites and do 'm up myself...(ordered!).

Good news for you, they make Firepower repro caps. I first saw them on ebay but BAA stocks them too: http://bayareaamusements.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=BAA&Screen=PROD&Product_Code=CP-03-7444-497

There are some original ones on ebay right now for about $13

#34 9 years ago
Quoted from Schwaggs:

Good news for you, they make Firepower repro caps. I first saw them on ebay but BAA stocks them too: http://bayareaamusements.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=BAA&Screen=PROD&Product_Code=CP-03-7444-497
There are some original ones on ebay right now for about $13

People should take a close look at the repro caps compared to the original. I could list many of the differences but as they say a picture is worth a 1000 words:

FPCAPS.jpgFPCAPS.jpg

I won't comment on the color differences since my original cap on the right was photographed under a warm white light and is MUCH whiter in person.

Obviously if you are missing caps and need them, its a good alternative. But the match is, less than optimal, as they say.

viperrwk

#35 9 years ago
Quoted from greywolf:

Aha, got alerted to clubs via the High Speed club and thought, Hmmm, there HAS to be a Firepower club in here--oop, there it is! yea!
Cabinet is not the best, backglass has minor scratches, replaced all lights with LEDs except for five #455s in the backglass behind FIREPOWER, CPR repro playfield, all new but, boy, good luck finding replacement bumper caps! I think I'll have to get blank whites and do 'm up myself...(ordered!). Also replaced the displays with PinScore units. "Less authentic", perhaps, but when the game's not being played and is just sitting there, I'm drawing 15 watts instead of 150 watts.
Before I put in the playfield, I got some polyurethane resin and some dyes and deepened the colours on the inserts -- the blues and oranges are way too pale.
Had to replace MPU/Driver/Sound boards with PinballPCB (I *really* like them) boards. They do good work.
For extra fun, get a set of undercab 3-color LED strips: One down the left side, one down the right side and find a way to fit the short one across the bottom. Wire them up such that the pop bumpers, slings, kickback, firepower flashers, and plunger-side ball release are linked in.
Bright blue flashers behind the center targets, wired to the drop target resets, another one right near the plunger, wired into the ball release -- you KNOW when you have a ball waiting! -- and bright white flashers under the plastics near the eject holes hooked up to the eject solenoids.
Rebuilt the flippers. If you do NOTHING ELSE to your game, DO THIS. Don't forget to put in the rubber grommets where the linkages come to rest. Yes, it will look like your flippers can't swing as far, but you will actually INCREASE the power you get from your flippers and your coils will thank you.
Loosened up the spinner, lubed it a bit, and I can reliably get 35k+ on a hit from the right flipper. Replaced the knocker coil with something a little stronger, mounted it more toward the back, directly to the inside of the cabinet, and the report from that baby is eminently satisfying.
Now due to dissatisfaction with the first one, and worse dissatisfaction with the second one, I have to build a third topper for this puppy. I have the wiring in place, hooked to a Molex plug, so it's as easy as plug and play
Sound System is a Polk Audio 10" Subwoofer plus two pedestal home theatre satellites. On full volume it will rattle the playfield glass. Due to the directional nature of the speakers, I have not had to crank the volume to obnoxiously loud levels at the expos.
Paid $300 + traded a Xenon for this game. Considering Xenon only cost me $50 outright, I have no regrets over the transaction. IF I ever get it together to post, I'll post pix and video.
7 years and still a work in progress...
Oh, yeah, Hi! by the way...
--*greywolf;

I have played this particular Firepower before at PAGG and CAX and I was completely blown away by it's awesomeness. I look forward to playing it again at both of those shows if it makes the trip!

I finally got my project Firepower setup in the garage and just about to begin the troubleshooting and restoration process. It's going to be fun! My FP has a center post, came that way!!! It also has 3 more holes drilled for alternate locations for the center post (WTF). Luckily, I picked up a CPR playfield along with the plastics when they were available.

#36 9 years ago

Looks like a lot of PF swaps are in people's future... Happy to say that mine is in the past. A friend of mine that has done many a PF swap told me that he'd never do another Firepower again. So I guess it was good that FP was my first swap. If anyone has any questions, I'd be glad to share what I learned in the process.

Here's a pic of mine.
FP Swap Complete.JPGFP Swap Complete.JPG

-Steve Ridge

#37 9 years ago

Greywolf... I'd like some more details on exactly how you wired those strip LEDs into your pops,slings and such... If you don't mind sharing that is?

-Steve Ridge

#38 9 years ago

Believe it or not, I have a HUO one. When I had my CA pin store it was traded in, about ten years ago. I think I gave all of $200 for it....pins weren't starting their price climb yet. Really fun game so I kept it, and still have it today. A couple plastics have broken since I have owned it....that's painful when everything looks new! What a fast game....still a rush when you get multiball. Doubt I will ever sell it. Kind of like the early Williams classics.

#39 9 years ago
Quoted from greywolf:

Sound System is a Polk Audio 10" Subwoofer plus two pedestal home theatre satellites. On full volume it will rattle the playfield glass. Due to the directional nature of the speakers, I have not had to crank the volume to obnoxiously loud levels at the expos.
--*greywolf;

I'm thinking this machine actually inspired me to get into the hobby. It had the best sound of any pin at the Pin Expo in Marin in the summer of 2012...

-mof

#40 9 years ago

spybryon is starting his firepower resurrection + cpr swap.
http://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/firepower-project-begun
Godspeed sir!
-mof

#41 9 years ago
Quoted from VDrums2112:

A friend of mine that has done many a PF swap told me that he'd never do another Firepower again. So I guess it was good that FP was my first swap.
-Steve Ridge

Not speaking from experience, but this surprises me to hear. I would expect all <1984 pins to be on the easy side without all the ramps.
-mof

#42 9 years ago

Got a question about the rules: the first time I make the 1-2-3-4-5-6 targets, two of the ball locks get lit, and it's always random which two. Next time I make the targets, the third ball lock gets lit. Any time after the initial multiball is enabled, making the 1-2-3-4-5-6 targets only lights one ball lock. So it's only the very first time you spot those targets that two locks are enabled, and it's always a random two?

#43 9 years ago

I wasn't aware you could add drop targets to the center banks. That would be pretty cool. Are there prototype roms for it?

#44 9 years ago
Quoted from Gov:

I wasn't aware you could add drop targets to the center banks. That would be pretty cool. Are there prototype roms for it?

Making it easy for people to do the conversion would be awesome.
http://pinball.flippers.info/firepowerdroptargets/
-mof

#45 9 years ago

I picked up a CPR playfield at the Ohio Show this year and plan on doing the swap this summer. My back glass is pretty beat up too, but I'm more concerned with the playfield right now.

This will be my first swap so I'm already pretty intimidated, but I know I'm capable.

What is this resin dye mentioned above for the inserts?

Grey wolf, I'd love to see pics and videos of all the add-ons you have done. Sounds great!

#46 9 years ago
Quoted from jibmums:

Got a question about the rules: the first time I make the 1-2-3-4-5-6 targets, two of the ball locks get lit, and it's always random which two. Next time I make the targets, the third ball lock gets lit. Any time after the initial multiball is enabled, making the 1-2-3-4-5-6 targets only lights one ball lock. So it's only the very first time you spot those targets that two locks are enabled, and it's always a random two?

Yes.

fprules.jpgfprules.jpg

But you can change this with adjustment 31.

fpadjust.jpgfpadjust.jpg

Quoted from Gov:

I wasn't aware you could add drop targets to the center banks. That would be pretty cool. Are there prototype roms for it?

Not necessary. The standard ROMs support the conversion.

viperrwk

#47 9 years ago

I have the new rewritten rules from installed and I like it. If you hit the 6 stand ups in multiball all 3 locks will reactivate.

#48 9 years ago

This is a great website! I'm a newbie here..

1. How do I join the Firepower club?
2. Check out my screw-up.

After watching several YouTube videos of leveling inserts, I gave it a try... But I made it worse. I used a heat gun to loosen the glue, but I burned the PF paint. All my target inserts are raised. What's the best way to level inserts with all the wiring attached?firepower-inser-screwupt.jpgfirepower-inser-screwupt.jpg

#49 9 years ago

To loosen insert glue, use a hair dryer instead of a heat gun and use it on the bottom of the playfield instead. I removed all the arrow inserts on my FP (with all wiring attached) in this manner with no problems at all: stand the playfield up vertically, lean the top against the back box but make sure it's at enough of an angle that it's not going to fall back down. Working on one insert at a time, keep your fingers of one hand on the topside of the insert while blowdrying the bottom side. As your fingers feel the insert get warm, stop the blowdrying and GENTLY but firmly press against the bottom of the insert with dull object, I used a 1/4" socket driver (without a socket on the end of course). Work from one end to the other but DON'T force it, if it's not loosening then you need to warm it again with the hair dryer. Eventually when pressing against it, you'll feel the glue give way and the insert can be worked out easily.

#50 9 years ago

When I got into the hobby back in late 1998, there were two pins I first desired, having played them so frequently back in the day, and Firepower was one of them. This is a game I will never get rid of, my wife and I played it together when going out some 21 years ago. Unfortunately, I did not have the coin to spend for a repro playfield, so mine will never be as perfect as my up and coming Black Knight (into which I am installing NOS, NOT repro playfields), but it will always be in my collection.

Chris

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