They Hacked The Power Supply On This 1987 Williams F-14 Tomcat Pinball Machine! - Repair #2

[@mikee4216]

I live in South Carolina and was going to my granddaughters softball game in a town next to where these guys are located. Stopped into their shop and talked with Ron?. Very nice person and very knowledgeable. He told me an interesting story about how they got into repairing these machines. They have lots of inventory and so interesting to look through.

[@LyonsArcade]

It was nice meeting you Mike, stop back in the next time you're up this way!

[@richjacka1]

I love how much detail you go into. Excellent explanations. 👍

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks Rich, glad you enjoyed it!

[@army01soldier1]

Absolutely awesome seeing u at work. Love the older machine's

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks Vern we appreciate you watching with us!

[@Tranarpnorra]

Oh Ron! You're so practical (pedagogical?). We start at the wall. =) BTW, F14 Tomcat was one of my favourites back in the day. I loved the speed. Steve Ritchie was the designer of speed&flow pinballs.

[@LyonsArcade]

He still is :) Thanks for watching Matthias, we'll see you on the next one!

[@Tranarpnorra]

@@LyonsArcade Yeah, I know. Unfortunately since many years ago, playing a pinball machine around where I live is impossible. They're nowhere to be found. =(

[@edptrs9040]

I have an F-14 that arrived in similar condition so watching closely what you do. Mine booted, but the playfield was a solenoid and switch matrix mess mostly due to past work done to it. I still have the working untouched power supply and starting to fail display. I restored the 2 flashers that were common shorts to the switch matrix in the early games. Great game, thanks for the videos!

[@LyonsArcade]

We're steadily working through it, next up, we're gonna fix all that battery corrosion!

[@JoshFrazetta]

Thank you so Koch for the video info working on a 1986 PinBot this was a HUGE help on the power supply questions.

[@bhuff123]

It’s nice to see your video again I always count on your videos Monday through Friday so keep them coming have a good day bye-bye

[@LyonsArcade]

Thank you for watching Clark, we appreciate you hanging out with us!

[@GrandTheftWatto]

I remember those blue/black Panasonic batteries - definitely 90's I think...

[@LyonsArcade]

If they would have popped those out it would have saved a bunch of work, you're not going to believe how bad the MPU was!

[@808zhu]

Yep!!

[@mcostafernando]

They are still sold in Brazil with that very same color pattern... When Ron opened the back box in the first video I thought "cool, the owner changed the batteries" 😆

[@gregoryschmidt1233]

Great video. That battery damage issue seems to be a pretty major design flaw. Seems like they could have located the battery holder somewhere so that a leak would not trash the MB.

[@LyonsArcade]

At the time they didn't forsee that somebody would never change the batteries, it's kind of like any battery operated thing if you leave batteries in it for 25 years it's going to get ruined :) So I don't really blame them, it's just how things were done back then...

[@pablopruzsiani2454]

Pedagogical,positive and enthusiastic. U have a a rare to find skill,u can transmit knowledge. In my opinion this was a very nice travel ,it catched me. Go on man. Congrats from Argentina ( sorry for my limitated english). And thank u .👍💪

[@LyonsArcade]

You're english is better than my spanish so don't feel about it :) Thank you for watching Pablo, hope to see you on the next video!

[@pablopruzsiani2454]

@@LyonsArcade see u there !

[@pabloluchi3595]

Hello Ron, I really appreciate your patience and knowledge you put every day on this machines! It is really admirable!! Looking forward to watching the next video for this repair! Best Regards! Pablo from Argentina.

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks Pablo, we have other videos coming, we appreciate you watching them with us!

[@patrickfivetrick9202]

Once again, very good video. I like how you go over things again. Ingrain methods and how stuff works. Thanks again Ron!!

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks Patrick we appreciate it man!

[@simondempsey1]

Totally agree with comments below, ive learnt so much from you over the last 12 months and i'm more than happy to give it a go. Just dont look at it as one big problem, start at the beginning and work your way through. Brilliant!

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks Simon, here’s to another year 😀

[@RS2000XPACK]

Excellent pin ball remember play one in the UK

[@LyonsArcade]

Maybe it was this one, did you scratch your name in it or anything? :)

[@RS2000XPACK]

Never mate :)

[@akgyrator]

Thanks again for another great upload Ron. Looking forward to the next one 😀

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks for watching, next one is coming right up :)

[@frankgagliano9677]

Great job, always enjoy the knowledge sharing. A couple of things are working better. I want to see how you fix the battery acid damage, I guess that is video 3. Slow and steady wins the race. Thanks Ron

[@LyonsArcade]

Battery Damage next video :) I think if you look close in this one, the lights are brighter now...

[@yowl00]

Interested to see how you tackle the battery leakage. My TAF has had serious problems with that, it's working today, but will probably fail again at some point.

[@LyonsArcade]

We're gonna fix it :)

[@EngineeringVignettes]

Generic capacitors, resistors and diodes can be picked up at either of the two big electronics sellers in the US, Digikey and Mouser, probably cheaper than the specialty parts stores. The bulk buy options are better too. Older DIP chips (through hole) can be picked up by Jameco if they have stock. I recently picked up some Intel ICs circa 1977 from there (NOS). SMT style ICs are more readily available by the stores I previously mentioned. Cheers,

[@RetroGamingWithHopper]

I love the videos Ron keep up the great work.

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks Hopper, we appreciate you hanging out with us!

[@naytch2003]

Ron will rebuild it..he has the technology

[@LyonsArcade]

We're gonna fix it!

[@pinball541]

Ron's videos also remind me of Field of Dreams, "If you build it, he will come."👍

[@naytch2003]

@@LyonsArcade Meant to ask ya Ron..did you ever get in the shit for playing the Doors that time?

[@Jimmy83-i3g]

Another great video ron

[@LyonsArcade]

Thank you Arcade Crusaders, glad you enjoyed it!

[@Itmonolith]

Great, fun informative video brother man! Love it and can't wait to see more. That is a great pin as well. Sadly the pin prices (for me) have climbed as quick as that f14 tomcat on afterburners. I cant find many in budget needing to be worked on. Bummed.

[@LyonsArcade]

Yeah it's getting harder to find deals on them for sure. Everybody wants one!

[@Itmonolith]

@@LyonsArcade Yup! Good luck on that MPU board and battery corrosion ("ewwww" in your terms). Look forward to next video on it. -cheers-

[@pierrec1590]

Note that the way zeners work, the voltage should be 91V, regardless of resistor tolerance or line voltage. To verify if the zener itself is any good, measure the voltage directly across the diode. Some diodes can have up to 10% tolerance anyway, so you may need to pick and chose if you really want a specific value.

[@bobbyjack8033]

Spot on!! I start at the ground plug also due to 99% are broken off 😁😂

[@LyonsArcade]

If your wires are broken or missing inside the wall you don't even need a ground plug :)

[@bobbyjack8033]

@@LyonsArcade you are correct again my fine sir! 😂 I sent you an update on F14

[@mikesummers4712]

I have this game, awaiting it's revival , great pin my favorite out of my other one's. you got my sub!!!

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks Ken, we appreciate it! Hope you don't mind irreverent commentary :)

[@pcachu]

Adding a physical coin meter when the machine already keeps track of that in software feels like the sort of thing that would be ordered by management types still mentally stuck in the '70's. They can waste hours of your life soldering in redundant obsolete technology but can't be bothered to spring for a fresh set of AAs every few years.

[@LyonsArcade]

hahaha yeah they did a pretty decent little hack except for the wires soldered to the power supply, we'll have to undo all that crap in the cabinet in a later video!

[@evergriven7402]

Edison bothers mall entertainment (EBME) stores (Space Port, Timeouts )was NOTORIOUS for doing this kind of add in coin meter back in the early 90's They did it with everything using 4.5 volt coin meters for video games. Thy use to use 5V coin meters but some managers figured out that 5 v meters would stop working while the games logic board still would and steal the excess non counted quarters by lowering Power supply voltages just enough to make the coin meters not count.. Just FYI

[@brianwiles8129]

I've watched several of your videos now and am learning quite a lot. That being said, I would like to watch you reflow the pins. On your next new video that deals with a printed circuit board can you set up the tripod and give a demonstration or is there already a video or two somewhere that you've done this? Thanks

[@danijelcar5184]

Lots of work to Bee done still... 😁👍

[@LyonsArcade]

We're gonna fix it :)

[@litz13]

Fun fact - for a coin meter to work, you need a tripped ground, and 12v. On System 11 games, the coin switches are on the switch matrix. There is no ground on the switches. So connecting the meter to the coin switches puts the meter on to the switch matrix, which will cause it to go absolutely bezerk. This would have never worked. Regarding the HV supply, the one - singlemost - important thing that will almost completely eliminate future failure, is mount the zener diodes and resistors about 3/16" off the PCB surface. This allows airflow all the way around the part, and is a vast improvement to reliability.

[@LyonsArcade]

They hooked this one up with a relay, it looked like it was pretty well thought out, i'll bet they had hacked those into dozens of games, lol

[@litz13]

@@LyonsArcade a relay is no better unless they wired the coin switch to the relay, and moved the matrix column/row there too ... that's a lot of work, though.

[@Newberntrains]

Wow that hum is something else sounds like something is getting line interference and it’s gonna be interesting to see how y’all work on that playfield maybe get a sign shop to make u a new overlay and clear that or do they make new playfields like they do back glass

[@LyonsArcade]

I think this is the loudest hum I've ever heard on one actually, lol They do make new playfields but unfortunately they're very expensive and it's a tonnnnn of work to install one. I'm charging a customer to repair this game so I can't really spend dozens of hours on the playfield since I'd have to charge them so much to do that...

[@DAVIDGREGORYKERR]

I think that the Scorekeeper batteries need removing and replaced with a LIPO battery and the tracks repaired, a little vinegar and water should clear out the corrosion but you can use Wires conductive glue to remake the tracks if you want to go that way.

[@davidh6713]

Wasn’t f-14 tomcat one of the last machines that the surface mount bridge rectifiers were unprotected?

[@LyonsArcade]

I believe so, yes.

[@pinball541]

The attached link below is Ron's video explaining why you need to fuse Williams' System 7, 9, & 11 pinball bridge Rectifiers! 👍 kzbin.info/www/bejne/j5vdq6qZlLV8o5I

[@LyonsArcade]

Boy, that's a good video :)

[@pinball541]

@@LyonsArcade- I'll second that Ron!👍 Hello from Phoenix Arizona!🔥

[@pauz2175]

Looking forward to the fuse on the bridge video. I gotta do that on mine. Is it really howling that bad??? That sound is horrendous.

[@LyonsArcade]

It's humming, about the loudest I've ever heard, lol We're gonna fix it though, no big deal :)

[@TheGnomestead]

George is speaking to us in the white noise!! 😬😳🙄

[@LyonsArcade]

Man I didn't even think about that, I'm gonna have to go back and play everything in slow motion reverse now to see what he was saying!

[@sturkrazee288]

The power hum from that pin sounds like a bad game of qix!!

[@LyonsArcade]

It kind of does now that you mention it :) We're gonna fix it don't worry about it :)

[@DLDietz]

If you're going to replace a resistor prone to overheating, you can go UP in wattage. You can get a 39 ohm 2 WATT for about the same price as the 1 Watt

[@DoctorDetroit100]

I was thinking the same thing. Then checked the prints and they say 1/2 Watt. So Ron is correct by doing 1 watt, 2 watt is .5m larger. This video inspired me to look at my Cyclone and the high voltage is +100 and -106 Everything original on the power supply and 12 and 5 volts perfect. So I recap it, and waiting for new resistors and 91v diodes to get the most out of displays. One of the caps from arcadeparts was 50v and the original one was 63v, thought they mess up. But checking the prints it listed it as 25v, so always check the prints.

[@808zhu]

Gotta love wiring hacks..

[@LyonsArcade]

It happens :)

[@evergriven7402]

@@LyonsArcade WAYYYYY TOO MUCH in the amusements Biz.. They don't tolerate it in the nuclear power generation BIz

[@memyopinionsche6610]

What's the temperature the solder has to be in in order to be considered cold solder? I would think room temperature would be too warm.

[@LyonsArcade]

I think that name comes from, as I understand it, it cooled off too quickly in the factory when it was installed, so it leaves the solder where it's not properly mixed and doesn't conduct right after awhile. So it's not really a temperature now, it's the temperature it dried at originally :)

[@memyopinionsche6610]

Ok that makes sense. When I first started watching arcade and pinball restoring videos. Everyone mentioned cold solder and I couldn't figure out why. Thanks.

[@litz13]

Also - do you come down to ATL for the Southern Fried Expo? Would love to meet up and have a chat ...

[@LyonsArcade]

I've never made it down, heard it was fun though!

[@litz13]

@@LyonsArcade it is!

[@djlamar2]

I can see how that buzzing would get on someone's nerves

[@LyonsArcade]

We're gonna fix it :) Don't worry about it :)

[@pinball541]

I own two Williams System 11 pinball machines. I own High Speed, & Pin-Bot, they will always have that gentle hum, but that loud noise is another way the machine is letting you know something is wrong. Hello from Phoenix Arizona!🔥

[@bzhmaddog]

I'm going to do the fuse 'mod' on my F-14 but since I am in France (220V) I am still Wondering about the fuse I should use. Should I use 8A or 4A since voltage is higher ?

[@LyonsArcade]

You would use the same 8amp fuses because although the voltage is higher at the wall, once it goes through the transformer everything is exactly the same. So your voltages on those two bridge rectifiers is the same as mine. Thanks!

[@bzhmaddog]

@@LyonsArcadeTotally make sense. Thx for your reply and for your videos

[@waynegram8907]

JOE'S classic, you installed 1n6493 regulators but why are they outputting +100vdc and -100vdc? I thought they were supposed to output +91vdc and -91vdc. Also what type of flame proof resistors do you use because I do t see often them listing the flame proof specifications for resistors about the flame proof tolerances or specs

[@LyonsArcade]

Wayne I believe the voltage was higher because the displays weren't hooked up, so since there was no load the voltage was higher. On the flame proof resistors they're just listed as that when you buy them.

[@waynegram8907]

@@LyonsArcade ok thanks I will look for the flame proof resistors I don't see them often

[@SpearM3064]

They are, but if you pay attention at around the 20:15 mark, he explains that wall voltage has gone up over the years. So he's not getting 110V (which the game was designed for), he's getting 120V. It just stands to reason, if you're getting more voltage from the wall, then you're going to get more voltage from the diodes.

[@waynegram8907]

@@SpearM3064 ok it's 10volts vac higher so they better use a different regulator part number since the wall vac is at 120vac and not at 110vac

[@DiggingNorway]

Please show some soldering once

[@LuvADuc]

Bite size or byte size?

[@LyonsArcade]

haha I see what you did there :)

[@bhuff123]

What you’re trying to say is that there’s a sequence of electronics you fix. If you work on something else and the power board is bad then you may have to go back and re-fix the problem. In other words if the power supply is kicking out 150 V that could be the problem with the other boards and you need to fix that first then you can fix the problem on the other boards

[@LyonsArcade]

Absolutely, we have to start at the beginning of the power train to make sure the other boards issues aren't because of that! Thanks for watching Clark!

[@evergriven7402]

Edison bothers mall entertainment (EBME) stores (Space Port, Timeouts )was NOTORIOUS for doing this kind of add in coin meter back in the early 90's They did it with everything using 4.5 volt coin meters for video games. Thy use to use 5V coin meters but some managers figured out that 5 v meters would stop working while the games logic board still would and steal the excess non counted quarters by lowering Power supply voltages just enough to make the coin meters not count.. Just FYI

[@LyonsArcade]

That's pretty amazing, I guess where there's a will (to steal) there's a way! Thanks for the info, I'd never heard that...

[@Jetrulez15]

What do you suppose that humming sound is? Is it produced by the speakers or is that straight up voltage sound? It sounds similar to when my Mystery Castle kept blowing fuses as soon as power came on and that would concern me greatly lol

[@LyonsArcade]

We're gonna talk about it, and fix it but not until video.... 7 or so!

[@gspugh]

Looking forward to video 7 then :) I own a F-14 Tomcat (it’s actually my only machine) and that’s one of the nagging things I’d like to fix! I’ll be watching this entire series with great interest

[@Jetrulez15]

@@gspugh If I had a guess to give you somewhere to look, I would guess either the speakers are going bad or you have failing caps on the sound board. Hard to diagnose when I can't see it obviously, but I figure you didn't want to wait for a starting point, at least :)

[@jussikuusela7345]

I think it might be bad caps on the sound board, or a half voltage to one or more op-amp missing, might be loose ground to some component, but I don't think the speakers are the culprit. The tone of the hum alters sharply and seems to follow the changing lamp loads... so it follows slight voltage changes. My educated guesstimate is bad caps or regulator on sound board, but hard to say much more because I haven't seen the board or schematics.

[@Jetrulez15]

Moral of the story: start with the caps on the sound board and see if any are bulging. If any look/test suspicious, replace them. Make sure you get the right part number through the manual; you don't wanna stick the wrong parts on the board!

[@izzynutz2000]

What are you doing son you need to get that cabinet cleaned out before you start working on it 😵😵😉

[@LyonsArcade]

We're not working on that part yet :)

[@MRNBricks]

What condition my condition was in.

[@LyonsArcade]

Why thanks MRN, hope you drop in again soon!

[@victorsvarietychannel2459]

I am the king of hackery😂😂

[@LyonsArcade]

Hackery can be a good thing :)

[@TheGnomestead]

Ok if we go 👍👍👍 You land on thumbs up but the second one takes away an interaction SO....... Wonder what 👍👎👍 would do to the algorithm since each is an interaction? Anyway great job! I did both.....take that KZbin 🤣😂

[@LyonsArcade]

Up Down Up is pretty good, but if you go Up Up Down Down it gives me 33 thumbs up!

[@naytch2003]

We don't smoke Marijuana in Muskogee 😁

[@mikequenzer9100]

how do you eat an elephant...one bite at a time!

[@LyonsArcade]

Yup, divide and conquer :) The power supply is always a good place to start, a lot of problems are usually power supply related, and once you get that nice and solid the rest builds on it, thank you for watching Mike!

[@blacquejacqueshellaque6373]

digikey for electronics parts

[@808zhu]

Half working, half pinball machine, half garbage can.

[@LyonsArcade]

We're gonna fix it :)

[@williamcooper2368]

It's BROKE

[@TheGnomestead]

If ya weren't so dang Swowal! You could cross your fingers! Like those body builders that can't put their arms down! Back off the gym buddy!

[@LyonsArcade]

Remember Cartman from Southpark and he drank all the "Weight Gainer 4000" which promptly turned him into a fatass, he said he was so Swowal he couldn't even fit through the door anymore!!! kzbin.info/www/bejne/m4mTl4Z_iLyootE

[@naytch2003]

Drugs are bad mmmkay