I'll try this later today and report back

Yeah, I'm pretty sure I have a spare one to swap in. I'll try this later today.

Rubber kit and decal set for Firepower purchased from Marco but never used.

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Could you please post a picture of this installed? Trying to understand better. Thanks

i recently purchased a firepower that came with a new cpr back glass. can anyone guide me to the trim they used for it? i have the bottom piece but need the sides and top. i have been looking on pbl and marco and cannot really find one for it. I reached to pbr but they did not recommend any saying the CPR backglass is an odd size.

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/M-1889-1-2

I ended up getting the trim from the place on this flyer.

INDIVIDUAL PINBALL PARTS FLYER 2022.pdf

Go ahead and remove these old bridges and take note of where the positive and negative terminals are.
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The new kits come with new crimp lugs, dont reuse the 40 year old ones when you have brand new ones right in front of you.
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Also, note that the new screws are shorter. Thats because the new bridges are slimmer than the old ones. If you use the old screw it WILL be too long and stick out the back of your cabinet.
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Here are the new fused bridges in and installed.
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Pretty slick!

Question for you all.

I just purchased a FP and the top of the backbox has two staples in it. I am assuming that there is some "warning" decal/label up there. Anyone have a picture of what this is? Thx Dave

Thanks for the install notes Steve! Follow Big Daddy on Facebook for an announcement on these tonight: www.facebook.com/p/Big-Daddy-Enterprises-100057092004164

DBP99. I only have one staple on mine

Thanks. Upon closer review, there are 3 staples on mine and there was some residue from a decal/cardboard notice up there. Do you have any decal/cardboard up there you can take a photo? Thanks! Dave

Dave - here’s what is on top of my Firepower. It does look like there was a piece of card stock stapled to the top. I’m not sure of the sticker - no idea what/why it’s there.

I’m guessing the card was a checklist for the head, much like the card on the inside of the body. (There was a whole thread dedicated to figuring out what/why there were staples on the inside of pinball bodies - that’s why this seems to have a familiar ring.)

I put this in the curious mysteries of life bucket, something to contemplate when I’m really, really, really bored.

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Thank you!!! Mystery for me solved. Dave

I think I have my sound issue figured out. Seems like it's the volume control potentiometer inside the cabinet.

I re-pinned the connector for 10J2 on the sound board and no changes.

I removed the volume control pot from inside the cabinet, took it apart and cleaned it well. 1/4 of the resistive strip (black ring) is completely worn off. I forgot to snap a picture but here's a random pic and I circled an approximate area where the resistive strip is worn away:
Screenshot_20230610-202359_Chrome.jpg

I put it back together and wired it up and now with the volume turned all the way up it's at a normal sound level instead of a whisper. The last 1/4 turn of the knob doesn't increase the sound at all.....I'm guessing due to the worn away resistive strip.

Time to order a new volume pot. Is this the correct one? https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/123-5000-02
I couldn't find it in the parts manual to verify.

Thank you for your help.

Question for the group. The 40+/- red posts on the game, my research doesn't come up consistent between a few vendors (ie 1" vs 1 1/16"). Does anyone by chance know the proper red post and part number?

Also, for cleaning the wax off, I've seen dishwasher (upper tray in a contained basket) or toothbrush. Anyone got an success on either or a different method?

Thanks as always! Dave

I just used hot soapy water and soaked them for a while and used a toothbrush. Just had to be careful sometimes I used to much pressure and lost a couple.

https://illinois.hibid.com/lot/158234646/williams-fire-power-ii-pinball-machine--vintage

Planetary Pinball has the parts catalog online.

You can find the post part numbers at: https://online.fliphtml5.com/vrtyz/ltjq/#p=147

Alright guys, looks like my sound issue isn't solved. I put in a new 5k potentiometer for the volume control and my sound is still not as loud as it should be.

Cranked all the way up it's almost at a normal sound level, but it's a little quieter than I would like.

I then put in a new cabinet speaker (8ohm 60watts). The sound quality is greatly improved with the new speaker, but it didn't do anything for the sound volume.

This is all done on known working sound board(s).

I'll probably start a repair thread topic, but wanted to try one last time hear if anyone had any further ideas.

Interesting. The only thing I can think of is to double check you have the pot soldered on correctly (see the attach diagram) or the wiring to the speaker. Check the speaker connection on the board (the other 4 pin connector) and J7 between the head and cabinet (also in the diagram below).

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When my speech was low I was told to try replacing IC3 on the speech board. I did and that fixed my low speech problem.
opamp IC3 (LM1458 or TL072)

On one of the last sound boards I repaired the low speech was caused by a bad transistor on the main sound board. That one was an inexpensive fix.

Thank you!! Dave

Hi everyone does anyone know why fire lights don't advance after they are lite?

Are you talking about the bonus x advancement or the 20/30/50k advancement at the top? If the 20/30/50k at the top you have to get Power as well for those to advance.

Clean and adjust the lane change switch located along with the EOS switch on the right flipper assembly.

My Firepower keeps randomly staring a game on its own. Sometimes it happens in under 5 minutes of turning on all my games, sometimes longer like 25 minutes.

Switch test shows only the ball trough switches, even if I pound my fist on the playfield, I don't get anything unusual.

Thoughts on what might be happening?

Start switch gapped too close? Can you post pictures of the boards in the backbox? What MPU and driver does it have?

The start switch has plenty of gap. The boards were also just reworked by Eugene in Springfield.

If this is a row/column matrix issue, will switch test show multiple switches when one is held closed?

In a bit over my head. Got a project Firepower. It's my first non-working pin.

I have done stuff in this guide:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vids-guide-to-bulletproofing-williams-system-6

e.g. replacing all electrolytic caps, some stressed diodes/resistors/etc. replaced 40 pin connector, some bad sockets.
Put it all back together, no luck. No reset/ no blanking.
Found wiggling a ram chip caused blanking LED i added to light up. (blanking signal 3.5V, hopefully that's fine). So I replaced that socket

current state:
On power on, 2 red LEDs turn on then off, once. Then, blanking signal comes on.
No sounds, and the only insert light lit is "1" down by the flippers. (is that trying to tell me something?)
displays are on and are 0s . bottom left has nothing.
I put balls in in case it wanted them. No response to coin or credit switches.
The sounds do work when i push the test button on the sound board (no voice, but i'll deal with that later).

I've been reading
https://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php/Williams_System_3_-_7

But I don't know what to do for "blanking signal is high but nothing happens".

Any pointers on things to check? Or is there a better thread to look for help in. Thanks in advance.

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Probably best you start your own repair thread so you can track things better.

No idea why the 1 insert is lit, might be a wiring or diode problem. It is not a diagnostic code or anything.

When blanking was not working before you messed with the ram socket, were there 0s on the displays? If blanking is enabled, the displays should be blank (unlit).

You have an AMI branded PIA at IC11 on the driver board. Those are notoriously suspect. Do you have another PIA you can swap in there?

Can you burn a ROM? Might be worth trying andre’s diagnostic ROM. Or you could try pincoders ROMs here on pinside.

Thanks..no spare chips but I may buy at least 1 new PIA to swap around. I was also considering buying an eprom burner and some chips to try a diagnostic rom or just try fresh game roms.

The displays were showing 0s before I got the blanking signal high. They were 0s before I did any work. Getting the reset high (5v) and blanking high (3.5ish v) is the only real progress I've made.

In a bit over my head. Got a project Firepower. It's my first non-working pin.
I have done stuff in this guide:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vids-guide-to-bulletproofing-williams-system-6
e.g. replacing all electrolytic caps, some stressed diodes/resistors/etc. replaced 40 pin connector, some bad sockets.
Put it all back together, no luck. No reset/ no blanking.
Found wiggling a ram chip caused blanking LED i added to light up. (blanking signal 3.5V, hopefully that's fine). So I replaced that socket
current state:
On power on, 2 red LEDs turn on then off, once. Then, blanking signal comes on.
No sounds, and the only insert light lit is "1" down by the flippers. (is that trying to tell me something?)
displays are on and are 0s . bottom left has nothing.
I put balls in in case it wanted them. No response to coin or credit switches.
The sounds do work when i push the test button on the sound board (no voice, but i'll deal with that later).
I've been reading
https://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php/Williams_System_3_-_7
But I don't know what to do for "blanking signal is high but nothing happens".
Any pointeorirs on things to check? Or is there a better thread to look for help in. Thanks in advance. [quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]</blockquot

I see original boards. You may to look at the 40 pin connector. You might have to re pin it.

You said it was non-working when you bought it. Did the owner say anything about that? 40 pin connector was a great start. I would started there.

Thanks for reply. Guy I got it from is in my local circuit. He bought a bunch of machines from a storage unit where they had been ??? Years until the guy died and his family dumped em.. so nobody knows how long ago it was working or what all might be wrong..fun!

I started a separate thread so that I don't clog this one up asking for help once a week!

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/need-help-getting-system-6-firepower-working#post-7684332

I was contemplating trying to salvage these plastics. if I can solve the yellowing(difficult without ruining art, i know) and the slight warping, i thought they wouldn't be too bad. But it seems the color seems very muted compared to the CPR repros. What happened to my blues?? I thought usually reds faded, but mine are pretty much only yellow/red.

I should probably just get new plastics huh?

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Yeah, those are pretty toast. I'd get new ones for sure.

Mine looked close to that, I bought new ones and I was amazed at the difference. It looked a new machine, again.

Ok. I am pretty much convinced on new plastics. trying to figure out if i should order a backglass at the same time.

I believe mine has been painted over on the back. But I put 2SMD bulbs all in the backboard and it shines through pretty well. i think comparable to my Sorcerer. Only a few nicks in it which I could touch up a little bit. A replacement is $270 which feels like a lot. I am doing a hardtime and restoring the playfield, but not the cabinet. trying to figure where to draw the line. Unsure if the game is a keeper or not... haven't even got it to boot yet!

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FirePower is pretty fun and fast. Once you get it going make the choice, save the money if you can. The back on yours look weird, maybe they tried to seal it with white instead of using clear triple thick.

found this great spreadsheet from a year ago... thanks to you if you're still following.

I'm doing my hardtop now and my inserts are maybe ok except I have some cracked green ones at top and bottom.
The spreadsheet mentions plain transparent are hard to find. Would this not be the right part?
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/PI-1RGT
is the green too light? I would replace all 8, but trying to avoid replacing all the inserts on the playfield with starburst.

Also wondering if my whites are OK or too yellowed. I'm going to put cool white LEDS under them. I guess i'll try to polish them up quickly (also to verify the rest are in OK shape), lay the hard top on and decide.

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anyone got a CPR backglass lately?
I got one from Marcos and the red was very washed out. Marcos was great about returning it(they had no other stock to check or send). I have an email to CPR im waiting back on to see if that was an anomoly or not but wanted to see if anyone here had gotten one lately. My original one is on the right, very deep saturated red in most parts 43 years later. (i'd just keep this one, but its painted over on the back in white...)

just want to make sure i don't get a second one with same issue.

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Mayfair amusements usually has stock on fp backglass.

I think it's still CPR though, they are the ones with the license to make it. The photo on the Wayfair website looks great, so I'm just trying to figure out if I got an anomaly

I don't think they're the same. I got my repro backglass from Mayfair and the coloring on mine is different compared to the one from CPR in your previous post.

Original on left, Mayfair on right.

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It is not.

I noticed firepowerpinball.com is down. Maybe temporary maybe not. I relied heavily on that site. Maybe some of the resources are elsewhere, but just in case I scraped the wayback machine and got all the PDFs I felt were important:

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1FtlUz2oD52e53RdDIYgvIXxqvZewfceQ

Also have in there some old guides i found for drop target retrofit. Doesn't take up much space, I don't think I'll remove access to this any time soon but wouldnt be a bad idea to get your own copy (you can do "Download All" to get a zip file)

I posted about this previously, that site is weird. Sometimes it's down other times I can find the site and access everything.