(Topic ID: 70775)

The Firepower Club

By wiredoug

10 years ago


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  • Latest reply 6 days ago by ChrisHibler
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#2976 4 years ago

I finally got my favourite machine from my childhood and would love to join the club. It was stored for 30 years (or so I was told) and they left the good ol Eveready batteries in it all those years! The playfields nice but the backglass needs sealing with some paint shrinkage. Cabinet's solid too. When I switched it on after doing all the checks the lights came on but that's all. Lots of learning to do but looking forward to bringing Firepower back to life.
IMG20190812202455 (resized).jpgIMG20190812202455 (resized).jpgIMG20190813191040 (resized).jpgIMG20190813191040 (resized).jpgIMG20190813191050 (resized).jpgIMG20190813191050 (resized).jpg

#2981 4 years ago

Thanks for the comments guys. What a shame they left the batteries in. I wasn't sure if I should repair the boards or replace. I don't know anyone local but it's definitely missing the speech board which I might have to source from the US. I printed out lots of info but I couldn't find a manual online. Are all the parts for the Mpu and driver boards still available?

#2985 4 years ago
Quoted from iamdrunker:

I replaced mine with this. There are other boards also but this one seems to work great.
https://ksarcade.net/rottendog-mpu-driver-combo-mpu327.html

I was looking at that board. I think they're out of stock right now but that's probably what I'll do. What are your thoughts on the speech /sound combo board?

#2986 4 years ago
Quoted from ss-pinball:

The beautiful thing about having one of the most-produced pinball machines of all time is that parts are always available.
here's a link with a misleading name that has useful info:
http://blackknightpinball.co.uk/wp/
also the go-to:
https://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=856

I love those sites. I pretty much used up all my printer ink on all the material on the blackknight site! Yes it is great to finally have a game with loads of available parts...even backglasses! Even though I just sealed mine and am going to touch up a few areas and hope for the best.

#2987 4 years ago
Quoted from Don_C:

On the batteries, is there any green fuzz on the the batteries, their holder or nearby on the boards? Those look like carbon-zinc old school batteries, I can see rust, which is very typical on C-Zn batteries. Check that before sending out the board. No fuzz means no alkali corrosion.
Don C.

There was a little green fuzz on the battery holder terminals. I was going to stick the boards in the dishwasher...is that something people still do to get rid of any residual gunk?

IMG20190815122326 (resized).jpgIMG20190815122326 (resized).jpgIMG_20190815_122702 (resized).jpgIMG_20190815_122702 (resized).jpgIMG_20190815_122726 (resized).jpgIMG_20190815_122726 (resized).jpg
#2989 4 years ago

Does anyone have a page showing what size playfield rubbers and where they go? If anyone has the actual manual that would be good.

#2994 4 years ago
Quoted from Don_C:

Yes, but before the dishwasher I would remove the battery holder (use an off-board holder) and scrub the area around where the holder was with vinegar and a toothbrush. Be generous, scrub a large area or the whole board. Rinse with isopropyl alcohol. Repeat those steps a couple times. This is actually the most important part of the cleaning, as the vinegar (an acid) neutralizes the corrosion from the alkaline in the batteries. Check that the board is still working properly. I don't think the dishwasher is necessary unless the board is covered in crud, but it's your choice.
Before starting anything, read the many Pinside threads on battery corrosion (often called battery acid, it's actually an alkaline, but 'acid' may be a good search term).
Don C.

Very helpful info, thanks Don.
At the moment when I switch the machine on, I just get static lights in the backbox and playfield.

#3000 4 years ago
Quoted from goingincirclez:

Search the web for "Clay's Guides" (not sure where those are mirrored now, and I have lousy connection myself ATM). "Mark's pinball repair pages" also helped out a few years ago, distilling Clay's into something a little less overwhelming. Pinwiki mugh also have a troubleshooting flow procedure.
Essentially you need to find out why the MPU is not booting up. "Flashing lights", attract mode, displays, etc all come from the program in the Game ROM so if the board won't boot, the ROM program won't be read, therefore you only get GI.

I managed to get the game to start but only after restoring factory settings and turning the game off and on. The game doesn't go into attract mode on startup automatically. Straight away the left kicker locked on. Initially, in the solenoid test it wasn't firing and I found a wire off the coil which I repaired.I also replaced the diode and now I'm thinking the problem might be on the driver board but I'm not sure.

#3006 4 years ago
Quoted from Yetti:

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

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.

1 week later
#3022 4 years ago

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).jpgIMG_20190901_000919 (resized).jpgIMG_20190901_000951 (resized).jpgIMG_20190901_000951 (resized).jpg
#3027 4 years ago
Quoted from HHaase:

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.

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?

#3030 4 years ago

Here's a few pics under the playfield Hhaase. It looks like a few pilot holes around that area.
IMG_20190901_181402 (resized).jpgIMG_20190901_181402 (resized).jpgIMG20190901174034 (resized).jpgIMG20190901174034 (resized).jpgIMG_20190901_174419 (resized).jpgIMG_20190901_174419 (resized).jpg

3 weeks later
#3060 4 years ago

My top right pop bumper locks on when I switch Firepower on and blows the solenoid fuse. I've replaced the diodes and the coils okay so would it be a transistor on the driver board? Can anyone pinpoint which transistor handles that pop bumper? Any help would be appreciated.

#3063 4 years ago
Quoted from HHaase:

Top right jet bumper is solenoid #19, which is in the special solenoid group, Special #3.
Driven by transistors Q5 and Q6, special solenoid logic driven by IC6 and IC2.
Most likely the transistors, but could also be either two of those logic IC's.
-hans

Thanks mate.

Added over 5 years ago:

Turned out to be transistor Q6.

#3072 4 years ago

Great info regarding the pop bumper locking on, thanks. Are all the resistors the same throughout...the 1N4004 ? I didn't realise the third on the switch was a capacitor, lucky I hadn't changed it yet as I wasn't sure of the part number. Meanwhile, another glitch has reared its ugly head... where the ball goes into the left lock but isn't recognised and so doesn't release or lock properly. At the end of the game it releases the ball though. I've been using four balls just so I can have a game without the glass off

1 week later
#3085 4 years ago

My Firepower isn't releasing the ball from the left kicker still. I replaced the transistor and the diode and the wires are securely attached to clean switches. It has the green wire with red stripe and I noticed that my unused switches for drop targets have the same wires. Could this have something to do with it not working?

1 week later
#3117 4 years ago

Would someone mind taking a pic of the switch under the left kicker hole showing wiring and diode placement? Mine is all messed up. Thanks in advance

#3119 4 years ago
Quoted from iamdrunker:

Will this work?[quoted image]

Thanks but I'm after the switch parallel to the playfield that gets activated when the ball rolls into the left hole.

#3122 4 years ago
Quoted from iamdrunker:

Take a photo of the top of the playfield where you want to look under the playfield.

This is the switch I mean. Apparently my switch is from a gottlieb??

IMG20190930203125 (resized).jpgIMG20190930203125 (resized).jpg
#3125 4 years ago
Quoted from iamdrunker:

How bout these?[quoted image][quoted image]

Perfect, thanks.

2 months later
#3237 4 years ago

Having problems with the top right pop bumper locking on. Is this 1n4004 diode facing the right way?

IMG_20200118_195025 (resized).jpgIMG_20200118_195025 (resized).jpg
#3243 4 years ago
Quoted from Schwaggs:

That Diode will not cause your pop to lock on. That half of the switch is in the switch matrix for scoring and sound effects, etc. The half further back in your picture with the capacitor and resistor is what directly triggers the transistors and fires the coil.
Try removing J13 from the driver board and see if it still locks on. If it does, you have a driver board problem. If it doesn't, you have a switch and or wiring problem.

Thanks. It still locks on when I remove 2J13 so more driver board problems. I sent all my boards away for repair but this issue keeps arising. I changed q5 &q6 and also ic8. Can you confirm my resistor, diode and capacitor in the pic are the right way round?

#3244 4 years ago
Quoted from iamdrunker:

Here's mine.[quoted image]

Is the + side of your capacitor facing down? From your pic it looks like my resistor is the wrong way round and I can't see your diode?

#3246 4 years ago
Quoted from Schwaggs:

The resistor and capacitor on the switch are to make a more complete switch closure so the coil can fire fully. The capacitors (one on each pop switch) are nearly 40 years old and should be replaced. They sometimes fail closed and are often cut out of the circuit as an easy fix from a lazy operator.
After the board comes back, does it lock on right away or does it take time to fail? If it locks right away, the switch capacitor is likely shorted or the switch is adjusted too close.

The first time the boards came back it was fine for a day or two then failed. I replaced the two transistors for the pop bumper and it came good. The second time I got the boards back it worked for weeks until it went out again with the locked bumper and this time no sound or speech. I replaced the processor chip on the soundboard to get that going and replaced the two ic's on the driver board but nothing. I had already replaced the diode on the switch stack. I also had a technician out who reckons the boards are just old and will keep stuffing up even though I spent close to $600 having all boards repaired and apparently 'bulletproofed'.

#3248 4 years ago
Quoted from Schwaggs:

I would replace the diode on the coil (not the switch). Pay attention to the orientation of the wires and the stripe on the coil. The diode on the coil is there to protect the driver transistor.
Then repair the transistors on the driver board.

Okay I will, thanks. Hopefully the switch diode, cap and resistor are all in the right direction as well.

#3251 4 years ago
Quoted from Schwaggs:

I would replace the diode on the coil (not the switch). Pay attention to the orientation of the wires and the stripe on the coil. The diode on the coil is there to protect the driver transistor.
Then repair the transistors on the driver board.

No luck after changing that diode and the two transistors.
Two other issues I wanted to ask about;
When the ball goes through the F lane the score and noise register but the letter doesn't register. When you lite other letters you can lane change to light the F and it will still award Fire and the multiplier when you lite all four.
The other issue I have is the power target in the middle when hit, lites the one to its left. The left target when hit will lite and register as will the one on the right but the middle will never register or light. I changed the diode on the middle target and the F lane.

IMG20200123152013 (resized).jpgIMG20200123152013 (resized).jpg
#3265 4 years ago
Quoted from Schwaggs:

Its really hard to tell in that picture but it seems your Power targets are not wired up correctly, specifically the center target. Have a close look at the yellow wire there. Where does the yellow wire that runs off the edge of the picture connect?
Enter switch diagonistics (instructions in the FP manual) - press each target and switch and capture which switch number is registering. You can print a copy of the switch matrix table from the manual and write on there which switch is actually registering. For your Fire target issue, sounds like there is a bad diode somewhere in the matrix and the switch test procedure above might shed some light on what is happening.

The yellow wire attaches to the lower switch in an awkward way. Not sure if there's a tab missing from that switch.The different coloured wiring, I believe, relates to this being an early proto fp set up for drop targets.
IMG20200128180505 (resized).jpgIMG20200128180505 (resized).jpg

1 week later
#3281 4 years ago
Quoted from crujones4life:

Got my boards back after having them repaired. They were tested working before sent back to me.
When I power on the machine all 4 pops and the slings fire then all but one coil (left upper pop) releases. So for now that connector has been pulled. I have tried testing Q2 and I think it's ok. It seems to get similar readings as neighboring transistors.
Also, I have no sound. Sound test does nothing. There is no speaker hum.
I also replaced a connector going to the power supply. I did this before connecting boards and powering on for the 1st time.
[quoted image]
Also the voltage on the 3 gray wires from top to bottom are 10v, 10v, 0v.
[quoted image]
The voltage on these 3 gray wires from left to right are 10v, 0v, 10v.
I get 0v on all 3 test points on sound board.
Should be:
TP1 12v
TP2 -12v
TP3 ground
TP4 5v
So...any ideas?

I've sent all my boards away 3 times now and I've still got issues 6 months on. My sound goes out and then comes back on randomly and other times the sound and speech is slightly different to how it should be. Like one sound is missing or garbled. Good luck with yours...all I could think of was replacing some pins and the processor chip on the soundboard. That worked for me for a short time until something else went wrong.

2 weeks later
#3316 4 years ago

I just got my boards repaired and now when I try and power up, the two top bumpers and the left slingshot lock on. Then the second fuse on the power board blows. Do I need to send the boards back again? I sent the driver and cpu board away because the game had the top right pop bumper locking on and now it's got more problems...
I also noticed that the switch below the power targets triggers 'tilt'. Any help would be appreciated.

3 weeks later
#3328 4 years ago
Quoted from chad:

Possibly the diodes on the coils were bad, and also has the 40 pin male/ female headers been replaced.

Yes, the 40 pin m/f headers are new. Only the one pop bumper locked on; then when I got the boards repaired, other coils locked on. I had changed the diode on the pop bumper.

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