Two Williams Flash Pinball Repairs

I had two Williams Flash machines that I recently shopped out and got back to working 100%. I cleaned, re-rubbered, and waxed both machines. Both games had similar problems with different fixes.

Problem # 1

One machine did not have any background music. Flash was the first machine to have continuous background music. Machines prior to this would only sound if a certain feature was hit. This is a great feature on this game, and deserves to be working. The operator has a choice of turning this on or off in the adjustments.

Green ROM background sound = 31
00= OFF
01= ON

Yellow ROM background sound = 33
00 = Off
01 = ON

This game had Green ROM, set to 01 on adjustment 31, and still no sound.

Q13 on the driver board generates the background sound. Following this signal back led to a bad chip (PIA IV). Once I replaced this chip, the sound was back to working!

Problem #2

On the same machine, the credit knocker was burnt to a crisp. This is generated by Q15, and it was bad. I replaced the TIP122 with a TIP102, and the credit knocker was back to knocking.

Problem #3

The other machine had one coil that would lock on. The left slingshot would lock on as soon as a game was started. This is in the special solenoid section and ended up being a bad chip (U9-7402). I had good signals going into the chip but the output was floating. I tested this chip in my tester, and it flagged gate 3. Gate 3 is the one that controls the slingshot. Replaced the 7402 and slingshot was back to kicking.

Problem #4

Both machines needed the drop targets cleaned and adjusted. This is a common problem with this machines. When the drop targets fall, they contact a board that’s attached to them. The boards and contacts get dirty and will create intermittent issues. I cleaned up the drop targets and the boards. It’s a little bit of trial and error to get the right adjustments, but the drop targets were falling and now resetting once they were all completed.

Problem #5

Both machines needed work with the pop bumpers. Both machines had skirts that were broken. I replaced the broken skirts and adjusted any other problems with the pop bumpers.

Conclusion

I have had my Flash for quite some time and really enjoy the game. Quite a few things to shoot for in the game such as drop targets, spinners, loops along with 3 flippers. I was happy to get another one in my shop and new owner will be happy with it!