(Topic ID: 242007)

Williams Flash PB machine Drop Targets / Ball Return coils not working

By StotzBotz

4 years ago



Topic Stats

  • 8 posts
  • 6 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 4 years ago by uofmer
  • Topic is favorited by 1 Pinsider

You

Linked Games

#1 4 years ago

Hello friends. I posted a problem with this machine last week before I purchased in and it seems as though I was misled about the problem. What's happening with my Williams Flash is that the Drop targets are not being reset and the ball is not being kicked out of the trough. It appears as though the coils are not firing that perform those functions. The previous owner replaced the coils for the drop targets and replaced the motherboard with no results. He didn't say anything about the trough coil not kicking the ball out. When I first fired this machine up I thought I was smelling something electrical getting too hot. The trough coil did work once before the problem started. I turned the machine off and started touching and smelling everything to see if I could find the problem. Today I took off the cover to expose the coil which will not work at all anymore and the paper cover is all burnt looking much like the other coils that were replaced. There are other coils on the machine that look the same way and are working so this may not be an indication of anything. If anyone could tell me a good way to figure this problem out I would be most grateful. Many thanks in advance.

#2 4 years ago

Fuses good?

#3 4 years ago

Yes all fuses good.

#4 4 years ago

This era Williams notorious for poor drop targets, luckily there are modern day superior replacements, get with HHaase he can help you there.

For your kick out coil, perhaps diode was swapped or your transistor is bad.
http://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Williams_System_3_-_7

^ link on good HOW TOs

Do you own a DMM ?

#5 4 years ago

I removed the driver board and found 4 TIP120 transistors either cracked or with chunks blown out of them. These are solenoids 1 2 3 4. 1 is a Ball release, 2 Bank reset (Top), 3 Bank reset (Bottom), 4 Bank Reset. Not sure if the transistors are just old and died or if there is an underlying issue that is making them fry. They're so cheap I guess I'll replace them first and see what happens. If anyone thinks that there is something else I should be doing before I replacethem please let me know.

#6 4 years ago

Replace the 40 pin interconnect if it hasn't been done.

Male and female side

#7 4 years ago
Quoted from StotzBotz:

I removed the driver board and found 4 TIP120 transistors either cracked or with chunks blown out of them. These are solenoids 1 2 3 4. 1 is a Ball release, 2 Bank reset (Top), 3 Bank reset (Bottom), 4 Bank Reset. Not sure if the transistors are just old and died or if there is an underlying issue that is making them fry. They're so cheap I guess I'll replace them first and see what happens. If anyone thinks that there is something else I should be doing before I replacethem please let me know.

I've redone a number of games from the 6&7 era. The main suspects on these old boards are the 40-pin interconnectors need replaced (mandatory), the ram/rom sockets need replaced, and any AMI brand chips/ICs need replaced, especially the large 40-pin PIA chips (6820 or 6821) need replaced. If you have multiple blown transistors it can be from the game locking up due to problems with those prior 3 items I listed. The blanking signal can't do its job and multiple coils can get locked on because of it and blow transistors. I know it sounds like a lot of surgery to do on the board but it really is the only way to feel confident about the issue going away for good. Its really only $20 worth of parts... more of a timesink than anything.

#8 4 years ago

I cleaned my drop targets on my Flash as they would not reset once all knocked down. as you can find on the forums, the drop downs are all connected in series so once all knocked down, they complete the circuit to tell the electronics to fire the solenoid. The horseshoe contacts are pretty sensitive and a couple had to be readjusted after I cleaned them and then they worked.. However, once I put them all back together, I blew up the TIP for the center 3 targets (lots of smoke and the transistor package was blown apart!). Turned out I didn't solder the solenoid wire back to the solenoid - <duh> and the wire shorted to the bracket, so after replacing the TIP, the same thing happened again.... <ugh!> turns out I reversed the wires on the solenoid, so the diode would always conduct and I basically had shorted the 35V though the TIP... Long story short, if your coils are burned or the TIPs are getting blown, make sure the wires are not reversed on the solenoid. I haven't seen a diode failed shorted, but that could also be the case.

It's a great game once it gets working!

Promoted items from Pinside Marketplace and Pinside Shops!
$ 170.00
Displays
Digipinball Shop
 
1,300
Machine - For Sale
Allentown, PA
2,100 (OBO)
Machine - For Sale
Milan, IL
From: $ 90.00
Tools
Pincoder Store
 
$ 12.50
Lighting - Led
RoyGBev Pinball
 
$ 27.95
Eproms
Pinballrom
 
400 (OBO)
Machine - For Sale
Green Brook Township, NJ
From: $ 11.00
$ 20.00
Electronics
Yorktown Arcade Supply
 
$ 9.95
Eproms
Pinballrom
 
$ 130.00
Electronics
KAHR.US Circuits
 
950 (Firm)
Machine - For Sale
Woolwich Township, NJ
From: $ 5.00
Cabinet - Other
UpKick Pinball
 

Reply

Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.

Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!

Donate to Pinside

Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!


This page was printed from https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/williams-flash-pb-machine-drop-targets-ball-return-coils-not-working and we tried optimising it for printing. Some page elements may have been deliberately hidden.

Scan the QR code on the left to jump to the URL this document was printed from.