I hope it comes back online. Great resource.

Question for the group. My game will randomly start a new game all by itself while in attract mode. Just for diagnostic purposes, I pulled the green/brown wire out of the connector and waited.

It still started a game on its own with the credit wire completely removed from the connector.

Wouldn't this method eliminate a short in the switch matrix?

SmartSelect_20230816_212228_Drive (resized).jpg

SmartSelect_20230816_215907_Drive (resized).jpg

Better to leave that wire you removed in & unplug both 2J2 & 2J3 column & row switch plugs instead from the driver board (that go to the playfield switches) if it starts a game in attract mode then it's a board problem for sure.

Then run self test to the switch test mode & see if their is a stuck switch (with all balls out) if the credit switch number "03" comes up it confirms it's a problem with the driver board & not the playfield switch side. If no stuck switch number shows, issue/short will be on the playfield wiring/switch side.

Quick trough question... When two balls are locked and a single ball is in the trough, that ball will not load into the shooter lane. It will try over and over again to load. But without the weight of the other balls, the last ball does not roll to the end of the trough (all the way right) Is this a gravity problem or something else?

Agreed. My reasoning for not trying to remove both connectors is because Firepower wont start a game without seeing the trough switches as closed. Correct?

That's why I tried removing the credit wire only.

Maybe there's a way to trick the matrix into seeing those 3 trough switches as closed?

Jumping Box
Take a look at the inside of the trough and make sure there’s not divet or a gate that’s preventing the ball from falling all the way down to where it should be.

Yes, that's correct. To rule out switches/wiring 100% I like to separate the two & switch test first up.

Hi guys
..looking for a new playfield if anyone has one to sell...thankyou.

Does the game have the amended trough kit? Distributors were giving away kits to repair and upgrade
the faulty out-hole trough system back in early 1980's.

Also check if the 3rd switch is bent too far into the trough providing too much resistance for a single ball to roll over the switch.

I don't know about any amended kit.. Great advice about third switch. Thanks!

Black Knight and Fire Power have switch flaws.
Fire Power kit had parts
A-8645 Wireform and Bracket
A-8659 Microswitch and Bracket
B-8644 Microswitches and Bracket
" This kit replaces ball ramp switches with microswitches.
The microswitches should provide reliable, adjustment-free operations."

Check here:

https://classicplayfields.com/shop/pinball-playfields/firepower-playfield/

Mayfair has NOS. My understanding is that these were run by Williams a few years after the game was originally released. Mayfair purchased a pile of stuff when Williams shut down. The colours are a bit different than original, specifically the orange behind Firepower. There is no gradient like the original backglass.

CPR is currently licensed to print them. They are pretty good as well but again there will be some colour variation.

My switch test returns nothing unusual.

For kicks, I swapped the driver board from my Stellar Wars to my Firepower and after 4 hours it never started up a game on its own.

I'm going to pull the board this weekend and see if I can find anything unusual or out of spec in the switch columns/rows circuitry.

Meanwhile, I have a spare driver board out of a united pompeii shuffle bowler. It looks very similar. Think it can be used in Firepower?

It's quite often a column/row 7408 or a 7802 chip that fails in some way. I have had one of the capacitors short in either a column or switch row. Good to test the resistor values & test the associated capacitors as well for a short.

Their is some discussion here about Williams driver board variants.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/strange-type-of-williams-driver-board-5763-09464-00

I was able to get the spare driver board running in my Firepower and so far my game has not started a game on its own! Hopefully I can mark this as solved. Although Id still like to find the issue within the other driver board. Hopefully I can find time to do a little digging this weekend.

Our firepower is in overall pretty good shape, but we've got cupped inserts. Whould a playfield protector from playfield-protectors take care of that? Love the game, but hate that the cupped inserts affect the ball travel and I don't want to resort to a new cpr playfield just yet.

Lots of threads on this subject. I have used Krylon crystal clear sprayed in a cup and with disposable eye droppers from Amazon dropped onto inserts with the playfield being level. It took a few days/applications but it worked.

Yes, a protector will make a massive difference! I have one & make the game so much better to play - the ball glides over the cupped inserts. Particularly as the cupped centre bonus inserts on Firepower in particular tend to track the ball sometimes along the inserts to drain down the centre.

There's an option between CPR and playfield protector, which is the hard top. It's around $366 shipped in the US. You will have to disassemble the whole top (but not the bottom). If you are totally fine with the artwork as is, maybe a playfield protector is the way to go.. save a little time and money.

Hello FP Club owners! Have a question...I did a swap for a friend and the flips were kind of weak before I tore the game down. Now the game is back together and they still seem weak. I tore the mech down, which were pretty clean and at some point replaced with new springs, plunger, coils/coil sleeve, etc. The EOS switches are properly gapped and clean as well as the cabinet switches. The coils are the correct size according to the manual; SFL19-400/30-750. Still, kind of weak and without a solid ricochet off the flipper it will not make it to the upper right cup.

Any suggestions? Was this just a bad coil choice by Williams? Wondering if upping the strength of the coil would be recommended, if so what would be a good replacement without making the ball like a rocket! Thanks for the insight on this!

Is the EOS switch opening at the very end of the flipper movement? let it have full power till the bitter end! ( I'm sure you know this but thought I would throw it out there)

Yes, its so close at the end it's almost touching lol. I think I may just replace the mechs with WPC mechs.

What is the game pitch? The game is not designed to have a steep pitch.
OEM game used the short leg levelers.

I'm pretty confident this is the answer. I had trouble with mine making the left lock until I lowered the back legs down. Right now I have mine the highest I can get it without having extreme difficulty with the lock shot. But trust me, it takes a good solid shot.

6.5 degrees is probably too high for this game, but when its any lower the difference is enough that it makes the game too floaty for me.

Screenshot_20230905_205106_Pinball Leveller (resized).jpg

This thread has a few things to try if you want to check it out.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/firepower-right-flipper-still-too-weak-after-everything-replaced

I've read through your posts. You will definitely be happier with the WMS flippers. It's really the only way to balance getting rid of the floatyness and still be able to hit the lock shot consistently that I found on mine. I hesitated, but now enjoy my machine a lot more with the WMS flippers. It's not a massive difference, they are just a lot crisper.

Good to know. I played a Stars at TPF earlier this year that had WPC flippers. That thing was a rush! The spinner would go for days. Made me think about trying that on Firepower.

I have a Stars too... haven't done the WMS flipper conversion. I've thought about it but it plays pretty good as is.

Thank you for all the info! I will ask the owner what he thinks about lowering the game some versus changing out the mechs. All good info!!!!

I have WPC style mechs on mine, 3in leg levelers on the back - cranked all the way up, and I have no issues hitting the top ball lock. My game plays wicked fast. But the playfeild is in amazing shape and it's freshly waxed as well.

Looking at going with a playfield protector. Who is recommended to buy it from? I see cointaker has one and also one from overseas.

Check this out it may help.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/lexan-playfield-protector-install-and-review

Im having problems with two of my displays, I have tested moving cables around and all of the displays are working. Reseated cables etc, doesnt help.

It is the displays for player 3 & 4.

The machine has pretty new Kohout boards and Im suspecting the master display PCB.
20231021_151107 (resized).jpg

Check the solder points on the displays. I have had to reflow many a display like that.

You probably have some open resistors on the master display board. Common. I’ve had to fix several.

Thank you. You are probably right. I will start working on this board next time I visit our location. Found alot of good reading about this.

Hell yes! Machine up and running 100% again. Just in time for next monthly tournament on saturday. Cheers Robotworkshop

What was the solution? Solder joints or resistors?

Resistors.

I am going to be installing a hardtop and wanted to replace the 1 1/2" x 5/8" triangle inserts, as many of mine are warped. I'm fine with starburst instead of clear, but looks like even those are sold out everywhere in orange or green.

Anybody know where to buy these or am I out of luck? CPR is still making playfields so maybe they bought up all the stock.

If the inserts are just bowed inward or upwards, you can pop them out and sand them flat or heat them up and gently squeeze them flat with a clamp. Then epoxy them back in. I did both methods on the Firepower playfield that I clear coated.

This was my original plan (heating/clamping, then sanding) but then figured I may as well replace them if I'm going to the trouble of removing them all. I know it can be a lot of work getting new inserts to fit properly so I may revisit the idea of just sticking with all the original inserts and doing what you suggested.

The triangle inserts are already popping out due to the bowing so I could do an experiment on one pretty easily.

Yeah Id say pop them out and reshape them either way with sanding or heat

I'm currently prepping for a hardtop on my firepower. I went with all new starburst inserts. I couldnt find orange for the triangle ones, only amber. I like how they look.

20231130_080957.jpg

Are those the ones from Pinball Life? I asked Terry about them and he said they are between red and orange (amber is supposed to be between orange and yellow). I later saw these from Pinball Resource that look more like a true amber:
IMG_0040 (resized).jpeg

Still haven’t seen green ones anywhere. What did you do with those?

I bought all my inserts about 10 months ago from pinballlife and Marcos. Can't remember off hand which ones came from where. Here is the amber compared to a red insert.

20231130_083100.jpg
Here's a red insert, the old orange one, and the amber (installed)

20231130_082838.jpg

Thanks for the comparison photos. Those ambers look like a pretty good match. Were you able to find the green arrow inserts anywhere?

I feel like I either want to replace all inserts with starbursts, or stay with the original clear. Mixing doesn't feel right, but that might be my OCD kicking in.

The new inserts are definitely more redish than orange but I think they'll look good. I'll post some pics of it all lit up when done, but it may be a while.

Yep, I found green arrow inserts too. Again, I can't remember where I got them from sorry.