I just dragged home another project, Firepower. It was very cheap, and very rough. It has lichens growing on too of the backbox and the whole thing smells like mushrooms. But the playfield is in pretty good shape, and it shows signs of life. The first thing I did was pull the boards out and clean them with spray eelectronics cleaner and a stiff bristle brush. Cleaned moles pins with magic eraser, replaced some blown fuses and put it all back together and powered it up. The MPU LEDs flashed and went out and not much else. I did get the credit/match display to show a number which could be advanced with the button inside the coin door. Then it all went downhill. I decided to reset some chips to see if I could get some more progress and not having the right tools I ended up breaking a pin off a ROM. Today I soldered the pin back on but the LEDs on the MPU still don't behave as they did before, nothing on the displays now. However, the sound now works! Sometimes when I hit the switch, I hear a related click and the "Firepower" speech and another sound plays. Pressing the test switch on the sound board plays a library of sounds.
One odd thing is I'm getting 40-42v at the 28v fuse on the power supply board and seeing 12v where I'd expect 5v according to the label near the board. I'd hate to plug a newly overhauled board set (or a brand new rottendog) in and fry it...I'm not an expert at all, not terribly comfortable with doing my own board repairs (but I am cheap enough to try) SO...
do I buy the $30 ROM set from K's Arcade and keep cleaning and wiggling connectors?
Send all three boards off to a pro? (Recommendations?)
Drop the 3 bills for a Rottendog?
Scrap it and sell off parts? Make a coffee table?
It shows just enough like to lure me in deeper...

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Woodworking is no problem, even the paint work. If I can get it to go, the wood is the easy part. I run a small bodyshop so clearcoating the pf isn't a big deal if it's a keeper. I don't mind spending a couple Benjamins on making sure it works, maybe a couple more after that for displays or glass... hate to spend $$ and still not play. Electronics are mostly swahili to me, but I have replaced board components back when I was a kid. I'd rather send the boards off to someone who can thoroughly fix them and test them. I emailed Clive at Coin-op Cauldron about my GamePlan boards and he's 10 weeks out. . .

Here's what I'm seeing at the pus fuses. No Ac ripple across big cap. 40.2, 40.2 (blown fuse, again) 20.4, 98vac

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These measurements were taken with the (-) lead grounded to the aluminum shielding

So I'm seeing something strange I think. The xformer voltage out seems fine at 28-30vac and15vac to the rectfiers but DCV from the rectifiers is 41vdc and 20vdc. Shouldn't the voltage out of the rectifiers be the same as Ac volts in?

barakandl thanks! Are you currently accepting new work?

Boards off to J.C., order of new legs, bulbs, fuses, balls, rubbers etc. in, starting wood repair on backbox. This one's gonna live again!

So one more question (for now) Clearcoat or just wax it? Clearing it isn't a big deal for me, couple hours labor once it's knocked apart. The paint all has a fine crazing from age like old lacquer. But a couple coats of carnauba wax would be quick.

Got the backbox all rebuilt, painted the repaired area with acrylic enamel and it matched pretty well. Decided against clearcoating the pf to avoid this thing morphing into a full restoration.just cleaned it as best I could and put a few coats of "liquid glass" on. Installing new rubber now and then i'll check diodes on the coils . I should have it all ready to plug n play when the boards get back.

Checked that, claims "no wax or silicone" I keep it on the shelf specifically for that reason as I run a body/paint shop. It's super durable on a car, we'll see how it does on a pf

Update! I just received my boards back from JC today and plugged everything together. IT PLAYS! it's not perfect yet, but it plays. Aside from the usual lights out and wonky switches , there are a few minor issues.
Bottom row is out on all the displays.
L Flipper triggers "tilt" sounds, but not actual tilt.
Tilt bob doesn't work. It triggers sounds but doesn't shut the machine down.
Coin switch awards like 25 credits each!