This Beacon Light Looks Horrible And Doesn't Work - 1987 Williams F-14 Tomcat Pinball Repair #6

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[@NivagSwerdna]

@8:40 that brave little pinball machine has a nice clean looking backglass now. very pretty.

[@LyonsArcade]

Looks great!

[@mcostafernando]

Liked the Boss/Manfred Mann reference on the thumbnail! Those beacons are proof that pinballs are meant to be played in the dark!

[@LyonsArcade]

I agree! What kind of weirdo plays them in the light :)

[@danijelcar5184]

Nice work on that topper lights, look nice and works great 👍😎

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks Danijel!

[@DiabloDeathPusher]

Amazing that all those top display lights worked just needing new bulbs and I totally agree when you said the beacon lights are one of the coolest things about it. I sometimes ask myself how these games get in such poor condition.

[@LyonsArcade]

What happens is the repairs just add up, something breaks and isn't fixed, then something else breaks and they just barely fix it... then something else breaks and they put the wrong part in and change it... etc. and after awhile everything on it is wrong or broken or something....

[@robertlipsett2535]

it all adds up to money. the only repairs done to a game onsite are the ones that have to be to keep earning money otherwise its not worth the time of the guy to repair the game since the game is expendable anyways to the operator with a limited life span.

[@litz13]

Friend of mine had one of these in a house that backed right onto a Metra line in Chicago. It was bright enough you could see those beacon lights hitting the bushes next to the railroad from the front of the house. It literally lit up the night. I can only imagine what the train crews thought. Had to have looked like an entire fire dept was headed their way.

[@LyonsArcade]

I know, ain't it cool :)

[@litz13]

@@LyonsArcade quite! One of the most visually striking effects for sure

[@xheralt]

I loved playing this table back in the day!

[@LyonsArcade]

It's a fun one for sure!

[@Sunsetdrivein]

I personally uncrated a dozen of these F14 machines back in the day. All of ours came with a white dome in the center position. Regarding the indented legs, system 11 machines weighed more than the system 3 thru 7 machines. Williams indented the legs for better strength and to resist twisting from kids kicking the front legs. When WPC series machines came out, they weighed even more than the system 11 machines. The extra weight necessitated a full length indentation instead of just a half length.

[@LyonsArcade]

I always thought that was just a style decision but that makes sense, the thing is very heavy! Thanks for the information Ken!

[@1_mg_1]

Always fun to watch you troubleshoot and fix these electronic and mechanical problems on these old pinball machines. Makes me want to buy an old funhouse pinball machine and fix it up myself.

[@LyonsArcade]

That's a fun game!

[@jussikuusela7345]

Well, the beacons in attraction mode really make it flashy, LOL! I hope we still are in messaging terms.

[@LyonsArcade]

Tonight I was playing it and I could see the beacon lights reflecting off the church across the street :)

[@mrvanT]

Gotta love the 80’s. And Joe’s!!

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks Wilco!

[@Itmonolith]

Thanks Ron! Nice job and very cool pin. Looking forward to more videos on it and other pins. -cheers-

[@LyonsArcade]

Thank you ITMonolith, we have more videos coming :)

[@josarian420]

Thanks for the great videos! I am greatly enjoying them up here in Virginia. One day once my bills are paid I will make a pilgrimage down and buy that damn Time Crisis 3 cabinet so it stops taunting me in all your videos!

[@LyonsArcade]

haha thanks Orochu Saki we appreciate it, swing by antime!

[@ovalteen4404]

*squeak* *squeak* *squeak* I guess those reflectors have to get used to turning again :) Well, one way I've seen for a bulb to short out, is if the bulb glass turns separately from the blade, which allows the connecting wires to short. Maybe whoever installed that bulb horked it too hard.

[@LyonsArcade]

I've had them do that before, good way to blow a fuse :)

[@mdewidt]

Your video’s keep on fascinating me. Thank you !

[@LyonsArcade]

I'm glad you enjoy them Marinus, thanks for watching!

[@richjacka1]

Awesome video. Love the humour. I think I would prefer the white cover. See you next time. I'm in suspence to see what you will do with the playfield. I had my Bonebusters clear coated. I managed to get 97% of the Mylar off without damaging the paint by using freeze spray. I understand the risk with damaging the painted dots.

[@LyonsArcade]

It's not just the risk unfortunately it's the time and cost too, if someone was spending the time on their own machine it could be done but as a repair line item on a machine that's pretty heavily routed I don't know if it makes financial sense for the owner...

[@william1752]

From the old days from the EM machines up to the newest one the trick to level them was to start with the back about 3/4 the way up and the front 1/4 way. Put a level on the bottom outside cabinet and adjust till level then across glass next to the front for side to side.

[@LyonsArcade]

I just set 'em until the ball rolls fast!

[@akgyrator]

Thanks you for another great upload Ron :)

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks AK-Gyrator we appreciate you watching man!

[@maccustoms2295]

Great work love those beacon lights. Thanks for sharing. Such craftsmanship you guys have and the care you guys take refurbishing these machines. Have a great weekend guys.

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks Mac Customs, we appreciate it!

[@johnathanasiou9284]

Fantastic tips & approach there Ron. It's so cool to watch a master at work. Randy Fromm would be deeply proud of you!. Keep em coming & God bless you & all the family

[@1959blantz]

I really wish Williams had used this exact same topper on their High Speed machines. I wonder how difficult it would be to find an F-14 topper and install it on a High Speed.

[@LyonsArcade]

you could probably make it happen, because the High Speed topper with the bulbs is turned on by solenoids, which is also what turns this on, so with some creative wiring it could be done.

[@EsotericArctos]

Hoping to see the playfield come up reasonable. The rest of the machine is looking pretty good now. I like to keep things original as much as possible, but I can see why having an opaque dome may appeal. Hiding the light globe and also would tame the light down a bit. Thanks for another great video.

[@LyonsArcade]

I think they switched to the opaque one halfway through, all the flasher domes are clear though so what's the difference :) Thanks for watching Brendan!

[@t.c.bowling1934]

Looking great!

[@LyonsArcade]

Thank you T.C.!

[@DarthVader-ESB]

Loving this game👍🏾👍🏾👍🏾

[@ItsaRomethingeveryday]

Just got notifications, watching now, Game looks great Playfield doesn't really look all that bad from what I was able to see of it

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks It's A Rome Thing!

[@TheGnomestead]

Nice job buddy! I will have a good evening :)👍👍👍

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks Gnomie!

[@wilder9777]

good work Joe´s

[@LyonsArcade]

Thank you Wilder!

[@Jeroen_a]

If you did not told us we would have not even noticed that the cap was clear instead of orange :D

[@LyonsArcade]

Yeah it's pretty rough! The customer mentioned it when he dropped it off, lol

[@pauz2175]

They're just like old headlights.

[@xheralt]

Those of us who played the machine back in the day know how its supposed to be :)

[@pauz2175]

@@xheralt I was there too Gary. Doesn’t mean I can’t like bright shiny things. Lol

[@bhuff123]

Good video just keep them coming

[@LyonsArcade]

More coming soon Clark, thank you for watching!

[@greglilly3866]

I helped unpack about a dozen of these pinball machines direct from the factory back in the 80s and worked on them all the time. Seems I recall the middle dome wasn't that clear as in not perfectly see through. It wasn't white though either. It was kind of a frosted clear / white... or like an opaque white. 🤔

[@GrandTheftWatto]

Great work, Ron, as always............(I woulda picked the white dome though....in a dim room its going to be BRIGHT)

[@LyonsArcade]

You definitely should put the white one on yours

[@gregoryschmidt1233]

Great work. :)

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks Gregory!

[@saskia6750]

Thanks guys for another great repair video !! :) x

[@LyonsArcade]

Thank you Saskia, I hope you've been well!

[@saskia6750]

@@LyonsArcade All good in the hood thank you :) ,hope you guys are good x

[@kevtris]

that looks like an AC synchronous motor, but a low voltage one. if you put the meter into AC volts and turn it, it should produce several volts to tens of volts. that'd be a good test of its operation.

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks Kev, I've never checked one like that before....

[@bruwin]

@@LyonsArcade Works for DC motors as well. In fact it's basically what a car's alternator is. An electric motor spun by the engine to create electricity to charge your battery.

[@harvey66616]

@@bruwin _"it's basically what a car's alternator"_ -- nope. The generators one found on older (antique) cars are simple like this, but alternators are different. They use a field coil to generate the magnetic field that induces current in the rotor windings, along with a regulator to adjust the strength of the field to govern the output voltage. An alternator won't produce any current at all if the field coil isn't energized.

[@wackyworldofwindios3476]

The one I us to play at the bar had a clear dome on it , and it did strobe out the bar down at one end were the game was at.

[@wackyworldofwindios3476]

The Williams pinball game called BLACKOUT had a pretty good strobe effect , but the best was when you got multi ball play. It would strobe out all the lights on the entire game, the all the lights would go out right before it would serve all 3 balls back into play from 3 different places all at the same time and turn on all the light as well. You would go from total BLACKOUT to brightly lit mayhem in a blink of an eye.

[@LyonsArcade]

They came up with so many cool ways to do it, with the lights and sounds and flashers, I always love how they came up with the light show!

[@808zhu]

Nice work. I'll be helping someone restore their F-14 Tomcat soon. I sent them your videos. 👍

[@LyonsArcade]

Hope it helps!

[@pauz2175]

If you have any strange behavior... balls shooting out of the lock when they shouldn't... random tilts... watch the last f14 videos from the previous one ron worked on. Fixed up all my issues replacing scr6

[@808zhu]

@@pauz2175 Will refer to em and see what I can glean.

[@808zhu]

@@LyonsArcade Your videos teach me something new all the time. I'm really grateful that you take the time to share your knowledge and experience with the community. People like you are the reason pinball is thriving right now.

[@andymouse]

Nice one !....cheers.

[@LyonsArcade]

Thanks AndyMouse!

[@AppliedCryogenics]

This is a good looking machine, and getting better all the time! Any chance your customer would appreciate the model jet mod like in the other Tomcat? I thought that looked pretty slick.

[@LyonsArcade]

Yeah that thing was nice!

[@markburton1624]

Dome lights and motor run of of 28VAC.

[@ejonesss]

the bulb with 2 filaments are probably a car bulb for the brake and turn signal. witch means the motor is probably 12 volt ac. you should never apply voltage across the resistance or current modes on your meter. when you spun the motor you turned it into a generator. the reason you probably did not damage the meter is because it is a fluke and is built to higher standards. it is better to be a 2 amp fast blow fuse than a 3 amp slow blow or even 5 amp so if you have the wrong fuse it is better to be less current because you will blot it again than to but a higher current and destroy some electronics .

[@MRNBricks]

Dumb fact. When I put the beacons on my virtual pin, the red drew 1amp. The blue drew 5. Opened the blue, took it apart, bent the motor mount out a bit, and reassembled it. Blue then drew 1amp. Friction, baby!!

[@Tranarpnorra]

You always get a thumb up Ron. =)

[@LyonsArcade]

Thank you Matthias!

[@douglasquaid4518]

Let me tell you about Gorgar i went to play it when it was released in early 1980 there was a line to play

[@LyonsArcade]

Those were the days :) I will be having some Gorgar videos coming up...

[@blacquejacqueshellaque6373]

That twist in the Ribbon cable is triggering my OCD

[@LyonsArcade]

The D stands for Disorder

[@jasonmushersee]

ughh... auto parts stores & light bulbs. they'll ask you 100 times "what kind of car is it for" if you dont tell them they'll sell you pack of 4 that fits the socket but totally wrong one or even "ive got something in LED". if you ever restored a vintage car there's so many different bulb sizes number of filaments and clear amber yellow red colored bulbs they have no clue

[@LyonsArcade]

I try to look it up before I go in to make sure I know what I want then I just go in and ask them for a specific part number, easy peasy :)

[@cheapasstech]

What looks better on this one? Black or stainless legs? I would put aircraft grey on this one.

[@LyonsArcade]

That would look good!

[@bzhmaddog]

Didn't see in other comments but to my knowledge the motor is powered by an AC current (26VAC WHT/RED from transformer) The relay is controlled by a DC voltage though. gallery.antelopearcade.com/gs/handler/getmedia.ashx?moid=3846&dt=2&g=2

[@LyonsArcade]

That sounds right to me, thanks!

[@pauz2175]

Finally I disagree with you. This game has an insane light show. LED this one. All the way. Lol

[@LyonsArcade]

I like 'em as intended!

[@douglasquaid4518]

try playing it in a bar with low lighting and half shot in the arse lol

[@Ebinsugewa]

I can't say I disagree and I detest LEDs. But if there was only one game that should have it it's this one!

[@mrromantimothy]

Chrome? that's stainless steel, on the old school legs anyway, it's a lot stronger than steel or cheap stainless Chineseeum as they started using that they had to put the ribs in there for strength.

[@LyonsArcade]

sorry

[@ruaraidhmcdonald-walker9524]

Here’s a question: My project F14 has developed a short (only under vibration) on the blue rotating light bulb holder. It’s all loose hence the short. Is it possible to get them separate from the whole assembly do you know? Cheers Ron!

[@memyopinionsche6610]

Wouldn't it be the same size light as police or ambulance lights?

[@LyonsArcade]

I think this was all custom stuff they designed :)

[@memyopinionsche6610]

Oh ok.

[@marksmith-ew7ir]

Like normal everything will work it just people being cheap stakes when changing items over the year's

[@LyonsArcade]

We're getting it back to normal as best we can!

[@army01soldier1]

So 😎

[@LyonsArcade]

So fresh and so clean :)

[@Vermilicious]

That was a tad too bright, I think. You sure it isn't supposed to be yellow? Anyways, it's already looking a lot better.

[@LyonsArcade]

If you think it's too bright you haven't heard much about Steve Ritchie the guy that designed the machine :) It was originally clear and faded yellow over the years, the customer specifically wanted a new one. That's how it's supposed to look...

[@SpearM3064]

Yes. I am absolutely sure it is not supposed to be yellow. I remember these in the arcade when it WAS new. www.pinball-restorations.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/DSCN0132.jpg

[@Vermilicious]

@@SpearM3064 That one looks amazing. Perhaps the other two were a bit dim also. Still, seems very bright. A dimmer bulb maybe.

[@SpearM3064]

@@Vermilicious I think you're right about the other two domes. They haven't gone opaque like the middle one did, but to my eye they do seem to have aged a bit. As for putting in dimmer bulbs, that's reasonable. In fact, that's probably what I'd do... use the clear domes but put dimmer bulbs in them. The original bulbs are admittedly extremely bright, especially in a dim room. The last time I played an F14 game and the flashers went off, I remember having to blink for a few seconds to get my vision back to normal. _That_ arcade was darker than most, being lit almost entirely by the games themselves and the emergency lights pointing to the exits.

[@harvey66616]

@@Vermilicious _"Perhaps the other two were a bit dim also"_ -- Ron can correct me if I'm wrong, but I was under the impression that he'd put the good bulb in the middle (white) dome and the other two hadn't gotten their new bulbs yet. So, yes...the other two were "a bit dim", because they weren't lit at all! :)

[@robertlipsett2535]

great game but it could be a real health hazard. the game is an epileptic seizure in a box for those unfortunately susceptible.

[@LyonsArcade]

True but you could say that about a cop car ambulance or fire truck too....

[@harvey66616]

_"the game is an epileptic seizure in a box"_ -- that's true of most video games and pinball machines anyway. People with PSE (photosensitive epilepsy) should probably not be hanging around in arcades in the first place. Frankly, these rotating beacons are probably not varying the light intensity quickly enough or with enough contrast (since even when facing away from the person, there is still considerable illumination visible) to be a significant factor for most affected people.

[@angrydove4067]

I hope its not a Calypso Beacon.

[@808zhu]

Ribbed for his pleasure. Eeeeeewwww.

[@LyonsArcade]

Got to be illegal