Hi

It does sound like someone disconnected that wire because of the fault you are now experiencing. As you suggest, the reason for the stuck on coil is probably a fault on the driver board. Q12 I would consider is the first place to check as this is the transistor that drives that coil and it sounds like a classic blown up transistor stuck on. Q12 is towards the top left corner of the driver board ie the bottom board. Q12 could have blown because of a faulty (open) diode across that left kicker coil. So replacing that diode was a great start. BTW Did you test the diode? Was it indeed bad? If so, then this is a strong contender to why you may have a blown Q12.

Cheers,
edit : Ohh A dead shorted diode would cause it too and generally a very burnt transistor is what you may see at Q12 in that case

Hope I didn't miss out completely on this nicer run of backglasses from Planetary Pinball as now I NEED ONE!

I just picked up a very nice Firepower. Great restoration candidate as the cab and playfield are in dirty but nice shape.

Bad news is backglass is pretty beat.

Planetary and Marco are out of stock.

Anyone know if they will be doing another run of these?

I believe the ones Planetary sold were made by OuterEdge, the Hardtop folks. And they are changing over equipment. At this point about 1 month into what they hoped was a 3 month process.

Well then that is good news! There is hope for this to be back in stock! =)

Hopefully they will have restock the same repros made by outside edge. They are excellent & look very close to an original glass. The only difference I really noticed was spotting, both with #47 globes & with leds. Maybe their was some difference with ink thickness compared to the originals resulting in this.

A bit of spotting wouldn't be an issue for most people, but I am pretty fussy, so I found putting white condoms on all the #47 backglass bulbs fixed the spotting & looked perfect.

I ended up sending all my boards away including the display one as I was having issues with the displays too. My hands shake too much to do any fine electronic work so I'd just make a mess of the boards if I did them myself.

Trying to fix a couple machines today. Wildfires have me stuck home. Anyway one of my firepower coils is reading about 2ohms compared to 1ohm on the other. I assume this is my issue (weak flipper) and needs replaced. Anyone have any thoughts or agree with my assesment? Thanks for any help. Just went through a weak flipper issue on my HS and I think my eos is fine and gapped propperly.

Also it is the 2ohm that is the weak one.

I’m away from my machine, so can’t look, but does this have a diode across the coil? If so, you need to lift one side of the diode to measure the coil resistance.

The stated resistance on a new coil is 1ohm. Yes it does have a diode, but I am getting good readings, at least I think. Would more resistance in the coil make it weaker? Not sure how resistance would increase, I would think it would go down as if it had an issue or a partial short, but I really do not know.

Also with the eos switch openex, I get proper resistance for the hold coil, so I think I am getting a proper reading but again I am not sure

I’ve always lifted one side of the diode when measuring coil resistance. Otherwise, you’re reading forward bias on the diode or resistance of the coil, and you won’t know which one you’re reading.

I’m not sure about what causes a weak coil, I’ve only seen them open winding.

Just a curiosity - do you have new sleeves and stops or at least clean ones? Little to no slop in the linkage pins? All that will contribute to a weaker flipper.

It could probably use a rebuild, but nothing is binding or causing resistance of the flipper moving. I noticed the rubber is missing on both coil stops. I will check tomorrow on any play in the mech and try to lift the diode for better testing. Thanks!

Coil either works or it doesn't; they don't go weak.

Richard

I have heard that and I have heard the exact opposite. Some have reported to have it happen so I assume they are not lying?

Well I have ruled out both switches (eos and cabinet) so it seems like coil is the only other thing at this point. With 2x resistance something is going on.

Does anyone know the exact dimensions of a firepower II backglass?

thanks,
Aaron

Got my Firepower too and I'm really happy!!

FP (resized).JPG

Cabinet is great, BG is meh, and PF could have been an 8. Could have because... it's fully covered with Mylar... like a giant sheet over everything, even the bumpers and slings mylar were left in place and covered!!! Inserts are cupped and as I'm pretty sure a mylar removal will lift the paint everywhere, that PF will become a 4... so no big deal, I'll get a hardtop as soon as they're available.

The game was booting on Test 04 and would only go back in Game over after double reboot with coin door open. It wouldn't keep the settings even with fresh batteries. Also the main display was flickering, and there were several other problems so:

- Thanks to vid1900 I've fire- and bullet-proofed it. New caps everywhere, MOSFET/resistors, and fuses on the bridge rectifiers.
- Fuses card and NVram from weebly (that guy is fast and his products are great!)
- reflow here and there
- luckily the 40 pin header has been replaced at some point and everything, every contact there looked good
- cleaned all contactors (I'll replace them all in the near future, if I understand what I must buy, IDC? crimps? and if I find the motivation to make a complete list)

backbox (resized).JPG

So, with all of that, pretty much everything works now.

One weird thing I seem to have though, as I was rebuilding the flipper I've noticed something by the right flipper and guys, I will need your help.

Shouldn't there be a diode here and instead of a resistor? It's on the second switch behind the EOS (what does it do?)

resistor (resized).JPG

I was drooling last night reading High_End_Pins absolutely jaw-dropping FP resto (Chris you're a god to me), and on a close-up, I can clearly see a diode there. Not a resistor, https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/hep-firepower-2018#post-4316377 (second picture)

So, anyone to tell me if I leave it like that or if I must replace it with a diode (which one?)?

Thanks

That’s the lane change switch and it should have a diode. Almost any diode will do 1N4001 on up. Use whatever you have. Make sure you get it installed in the proper direction.

17 3/8 x 28 1/2

I just measured my old one. (It could be available but isn't great).

You might want to consider hanging out at the Firepower II Lounge...weekends are clothing optional.

Thanks!

I'm replacing the playfield rubbers and noticed this switch behind the stand ups. What does it do and is there a particular way to set up the rubber band...I didn't take notice when I removed the old ones.
Thanks .

IMG_20190901_000919 (resized).jpg

IMG_20190901_000951 (resized).jpg

ah ha! you have one of the early ones that was wired and setup for drop targets and may have originally had them, would be an easy conversion for you. right now the switch does nothing.

I noticed you have a mix of hit target styles though, some with the straight back and some with the 90 degree one. mine are all the 90 degree ones and I'm not sure I like them. anybody have thoughts on those? (ha)

no help on the rubbers, not sure on mine either.

Rare bird! You may have a sample/Porto game. Before you start altering things I’d say get some good photos of everything.

As far as I knew none shipped with the stand ups for the drop target game.

What’s the serial number?

Not the first time I’ve seen unique stuff come out of your region. Also seen some photos of Black Knights with different color lock arrows.

If anyone is looking to get into the Firepower club, I'm looking to sell.

SOLD!

Machine - For Sale

Firepower Archived

Fully shopped/refurbished - “I need room, so a couple of games have to go. I got this game a few years ago from another Pinsider. He had John Freel from Elkhart Pinball go through the boards. Very clean with n...”

2019-08-31

St Joseph, MI

RCA1

1,400 (OBO)

Archived after: 8 days

Viewed: 392 times

Status: Sold (amount private)

Contributed to Pinside

Got positive feedback

I’m struggling with reboots and blown fuses with my Firepower. For deeper context, I have been working on different parts of it for over a year. The game has all “new” boards, Rottendog MPU, NVRAM.Weebly Power Supply, and even some new sound board. It has the NVRAM solenoid saver and the bridge rectifier fuses board. Generally the game plays amazing, until it doesn’t.

I’ve done extensive switch tests and adjustments. Solenoid tests work perfectly. Frankly I am out of ideas.

What typically happens is that I will replace a blown solenoid fuse, or find an always on switch. I’ll get it back together and it plays for a while then repeats. But then there are times like right now where I can draw the reboot by hitting both flippers at the same time, or hitting them at the same time the second the ball rolls over another switch.

It is almost as if it is on the edge of what it can do, and the extra action pegs the board.

I know this must have to do with some kind of grounding or constant on coil, but I cannot find it. Is there some kind of suggested diagnostic procedure that could lead me to the ultimate issue?

Thanks for any tips!

I knew it was an early one as it's number 407056 but that's awesome that it might be a little bit special. I wonder what the story was?

Basically, the game was originally designed with drop targets in mind for those 6 main targets. Even shows them with the drop targets on the game flyer. But they proved to be very unreliable, so the design was changed to standup targets before even going into production. Some early games have the notch in place behind the standups, like yours does, and a bunch have the wiring in place for the reset coil. Basically the switch is there to give you 10pts for hitting where the drop target USED to be. However yours is the first I've seen that actually had the target in place behind the rubbers. Like you said, a very early machine. I'd be interested in seeing the underside of the playfield, would be neat to see if there are screw holes from the drop target bank or not.

Black Knight was also designed the same way, with a target behind 3 of the drop target sets. But it was found to be useless, since the targets didn't spend any time in the down position, so the standups likely never shipped. But very early games have the notches in the playfield. Steve Ritchie sure loved his drop targets during the early 80's, that's for sure.

Another fun fact with the drop target stuff on Firepower, the code actually still supports them completely. A number of people have installed the drop banks and play it that way.

OR.... some people use the drop target solenoid wiring for flash lamps instead. Neat mod that doesn't take much effort at all.

-Hans

Here's a few pics under the playfield Hhaase. It looks like a few pilot holes around that area.
IMG_20190901_181402 (resized).jpgIMG20190901174034 (resized).jpgIMG_20190901_174419 (resized).jpg

Alright I've put new flipper coils, removed that weird resistor on the lane change switch and soldered a 1N4007 diode instead.

Now when I turn the machine on, the 10A flipper fuse blows...

Note that the resistor was soldered between the top leaf and the third one (the one with the nylon block), while I've soldered the diode between the first and the second with - hopefully - the right orientation.

Any idea for me guys?

IMG_20190901_081734__01__01 (resized).jpg

IMG_20190901_083108 (resized).jpg

Both flipper resets can point to a couple things:
1) Bad diodes on the flipper coils - I'd replace them with new, even if they test or look good. Simple $0.20 thing to try first.
2) Bad power - since you have new CPU and power board, I would look at the connectors on the stock wiring harness.
a) 4A fuses on the fuse card on the cabinet wall below the power board. These fuse the AC leading into the 5V regulator. Corrosion or oxidation here could cause a low power situation.
b) Replace all the IDC connectors to the power board and J2 (left side) on the CPU board and J8 (bottom left) on the driver board with fresh new trifuricon crimp on connectors. Your new boards have shiny new pins but the wiring side of these connections are original and could be causing a voltage drop.
c) Replace the pins in J1 and J2 on the power supply board. This is ground and AC supply to the power board.

Diode looks good.

On the flipper coil fuse - is the fuse blowing when you turn the game on or when you first hit the flipper buttons in a game?

Well I've just replaced the 10A fuse, now the machine starts normally and both flippers work... Duh.

I think it's time for me to replace all connectors... got to eliminate these random things happening. Like now I have no more GI... Firepower is great to learn about early SS

Well, that's interesting. I wonder what it does?

My wires are actually well separated, the bottom picture is the before.

Here's a closeup pic of the resistor, if someone has an idea..
IMG_20190901_102204__01 (resized).jpg

Ok, I’ll start testing this stuff. I did notice that the flipper coils are on backwards and the plastic on one of the coils is cracked. I wonder if I need to replace them.

More than a few early FP's came with the dimples, wiring, etc. for the drop target setup. Mine had the correct target bank plastics, too - shorter to clear the drops; the standup style ones have that added blue border at the front.

Pics and story in this older post: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/the-firepower-club/page/39#post-4215289

Richard

I did some work on it and I am fairly confident it is the connectors to the power board. Can you link me to the type you generally replace those with?

Order as many contacts as there are pins on your connectors (I just order them in 100 bags)
These contacts for 18-20ga wires (thicker wires, typically for power)
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Molex/08-52-0113?qs=sGAEpiMZZMs%252BGHln7q6pm%252BS0pk2Wo0XxGug0%2F%252BLZPRY%3D
These contacts for 22-26ga wires (thinner wires, typically for switch matrix and solenoid drives)
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Molex/08-50-0185?qs=sGAEpiMZZMs%252BGHln7q6pm%252BS0pk2Wo0XxEf%252B86vVEeGs%3D

These housings (order the number of positions for the connectors you are replacing
https://www.mouser.com/Molex/Connectors/Headers-Wire-Housings/41695-Series/_/N-ay0lo?P=1yzvh2oZ1z0zlew

This crimp tool makes crimping on the contacts a breeze
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007JLN93S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title

Awesome! Ty.

Curious -- other than cleaning/aligning -- has anyone ever adjusted their kickout to become more powerful? (stronger coil perhaps)

I think sometimes I get a good launch half way up the right orbit (what I want), and more often, I just get a limp "pass" over to the right outlane or thereabouts.

thanks,
mof

I asked the same thing. Check this out - https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/hep-firepower-2018/page/4#post-4354484

Brought home a non-working Firepower to sort of join the club yesterday. I'm getting to learn all the joys of System 6 diagnositcs (or lack thereof). I'm putting together an order and trying to track down things that might need work. Looks like the warming resistor did more than get warm at some point. Does anyone know the specs for this resistor as I don't plan on going LED just yet? Thanks.

IMG_2420[1] (resized).JPG

Welcome to the club! Very common for that warming resistor to be burned. Stock was 330 ohm 2W. You can bump up the wattage on your replacement to make it last a bit longer.

What the... it never occurred to me that the kickout should make the full orbit to the F-I-R-E lanes! I don't think mine has ever even made it into the orbit lane in the first place. BUT it's never just direct shanked into the outlane either. It consistently hits somewhere on/near the blue Power targets and ricochets from there - generally a low-risk save like it should be, with enough randomness (and occasional freebie target score) to be interesting and keep you alert.

SHOULD it go into the FIRE lanes? Sounds like it's more common to be inconsistent... so as mine is running what seems to be a good reliable happy medium, I'm almost afraid to mess with it.

goingincirclez FWIW, my kick out sounds like it functions very similar to yours. I had it at the Louisville arcade expo (I think I remember you playing it; you have the awesome BadCats). I’ll have it at the Pincinnati show on 11/22-24 for comparison. I too have wished the kickout were a little stronger but it’s probably working as-designed.

My kickout used to always go into the 'Power' targets, never up the orbit.

rlbohon3 Was your FP the incredibly nice original in the "back section" (IIRC by the Getaway and TMNT) With the flickering fire bulbs in the backbox (an idea I promptly and shamelessly borrowed, haha)? I think you've had it there in previous years; it's a highlight I always make sure to play a few times... always nice to see a FP with original flat (not starburst) inserts, and yours plays sooooo well it shames me to keep mine tuned up to snuff

Would love to get to Pincinnati. Unfortunately as I told Erik, that's a brutal time of year for me: not only does Thanksgiving typically require a Chicago trip, both my kids' birthdays flank the holiday at opposite ends only a week apart and they're too old to share now, so... along with surviving the holiday, I get to host two separate bday parties, ugh. But I just realized Pinci is ahead of T/G this year so... maaaaybe I can escape to swing a day?!

Thanks for the compliments on my BadCats. My kids put a lot of work into it and their being interviewed for TV about it was a highlight they (and I) won't forget

I have to admit, tuning FP's kickout for a free orbit shot is tempting, but I think I'll keep mine the way it is

I never became too old for a split birthday... and to add insult to injury, my brother was always the same age as me for 1 week per year.