Author Topic: A couple of problems with my Flash  (Read 479 times)

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Offline Creech

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A couple of problems with my Flash
« on: July 26, 2009, 11:14:24 AM »
Hi guys, my respect for the reliability of 70's Williams electronics is slowly going downhill...

Problem 1

My flashers don't flash anymore. I changed all the globes and still nothing. They connect to a little board with a couple of resistors. Could these be gone? Also, there is some debate as what is the factory setup for this. The guys on RGP reckon I should have 2 x #89's in there, not 4 x #44's. Can anyone confirm?

Problem 2

My displays have gone dead. I went into diagnostics and noticed they all went blank as I was navigating around. It looks like fuse F1 died so I replaced it and it blew again on startup. Replaced it one more time and the same thing happened. Any ideas?

Offline Ballywannabe

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Re: A couple of problems with my Flash
« Reply #1 on: July 26, 2009, 12:14:10 PM »
Had Flash many moons ago - had 2*89's on each side (12v globes).

With the displays, try disconnecting all 4 player displays.  If the fuse blows you at least know the problem is the master display, most likely the circuitry, which I know very little about!  I am a Stern/Bally guy <.>

cheers
Ian

Offline Strangeways

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Re: A couple of problems with my Flash
« Reply #2 on: July 26, 2009, 12:56:39 PM »
Had Flash many moons ago - had 2*89's on each side (12v globes).

With the displays, try disconnecting all 4 player displays.  If the fuse blows you at least know the problem is the master display, most likely the circuitry, which I know very little about!  I am a Stern/Bally guy <.>

cheers
Ian

Yes me too ! Williams electronics is so far behind Bally and Sterns of this era.

This is the machine I restored a while ago, and typically, it worked faultlessly for three months in my gamesroom, but it developed the dreaded travel bug and has had a couple of issues.

The #44 globe socket looks to be a factory job - Regardless, it was working fine and it could be a connector problem, or a loose wire.

The F1 fuse looks to be a MDB issue (WMS MDB are the worst design of any pinball, any era..), as F1 does not blow with J1 and J2 connected. I don't think it is a display (P1 - P4) issue. This is to be confirmed when Tony gets a chance to look at it again.

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Offline Creech

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Re: A couple of problems with my Flash
« Reply #3 on: July 26, 2009, 09:06:02 PM »
The fuse does not blow with the main J5 connector disconnected. Any ideas?

Offline Strangeways

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Re: A couple of problems with my Flash
« Reply #4 on: July 26, 2009, 09:57:48 PM »

Well folks - We are getting there. Could be R15 cooking - which is +100V for the MASTER Display. I suspect a short.
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