AFM Tech Questions...

[Brad]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Still working through some issues with my recently acquired AFM
machine, was hoping I could get some more advice on some stuff.

1. What's the easiest way to remove the mother ship LED board? I got
the top off but then noticed it's fastened by 2 screws underneath the
ship. The front one may be do-able but the rear, that's tougher. Is
there an easier procedure to remove this board? I need to have one of
the LEDs replaced.

And by the way, while on that subject, am I better off having that done
by someone who knows what they're doing? I'm a soldering newb, don't
do it much and never seem to do it very well. I just don't want to
destroy a rare board. I need to remove a green LED on there and
replace it with a red one.

2. I, A and N playfield lights: I noticed that these weren't lighting
up in attract mode or during gameplay. Not sure if it's been that way
since I got the game. Okay, perhaps a wire fell off or the bulbs are
bad I thought. But here's the weird thing -- They don't even show up
when I cycle through the single light test in test mode. What gives
there? Is my AFM's brain getting fried? The fact that they don't even
come up in test mode as an option when I cycle through has me worried.

3. I just replaced the auto kicker assmebly with the newer rod
recommended here. The ball seems to be firing all the way out for the
super skill shot regularly. However, is it normal for a ball, when
launched during gameplay (the "return to battle" for example) to sit
there for a couple of seconds before it's launched? I also notice when
a ball is first served up to the shooter lane, there's a 1-2 second
delay before I'm even allowed to launch it.

4. Left saucer lights -- Still no solution on this one. They flash
but very dimly. All wires seem to be hooked up the right way to them.
The right saucers all flash brightly and seem to flash when they
should. Occasionally I also notice the middle right saucer, for the
stroke of luck hole, doesn't flash to alert a ball being fired from it.
This is hit or miss, though.

I will put the disclaimer on all this that the machine still has the
1.0 game and sound ROMs on board. Hopefully the new ROM chips, which
are on the way, can remedy some of this.

Some suggestions from those of you in the know who have experience with
this machine would be most welcomed! Thank you!

Brad

 

[Brad]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Just noticed Extra Ball, all 3 atomic blasters, the jackpot light above
atomic blaster, also all out, and don't show up in test mode.

Yep, they're all on the same lamp matrix. Column 6! Never had this
happen before. What's the suggested fix? Or the normal cause of a
column going dead?

Thanks!

 

[pt]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

1) Have you removed the mothership and bracket? There are two screws
through the backboard that hold the entire mothership assembly in
place. Unscrew them and flip the mothership over to access the bottom
screws. Practice soldering on a broken radio or something. Have
someone else solder it if you don't feel comfortable.

2) Could be bad bulbs, loose wires on the sockets etc...

3) The switch in the shooter lane is not detecting the ball properly.
It needs adjusting or is broken.

4) Maybe the wrong bulb type is installed?

New ROMs will not help any of these problems...

Good luck
John

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

I can tell you that a common problem with those era games is the
connectors on the big light boards. I have had to take the entire light
board out of my Addams Family, Attack from Mars and Indiana Jones. The
problem is cold solder joints. Years of strobing those lights and
heating and cooling causes the solder to pull away from the pins. My
mansion lights on TAF were really screwed. Quick solder touch-up and
everything worked great.

Also, on the light problem, have you tried taking the lamp out and
putting it in a nearby light that is working to see if the bulb is in
fact bad? A quick twist and the lamps are out. Easy to swap them and
check functionality.

On the dim flashers, I have seen several threads on here that say that
the connectors have been swapped under the playfield. I guess they are
easy to swap due to them looking similar. Do a search on these pages
and you should come across the threads. The people that swapped them
back reported good bright lights again.

Doug

I would also disconnect and re-connect all your connectors under the
playfield near the back. I had a row of lights go out on my AFM and it
turned out to be a simple bad connection. These things are getting old
and scraping off the corrosion by taking them apart and putting them
back together does help.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

One more point, removing that big light board underneath the playfield
is very easy and it affords you the opportunity to clean all those
inserts out with q-tips. Amazing how much brighter the playfield
becomes without all that black carbon blocking the lights.

Doug

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

As I've already mentioned a few times, there are two 3-pin connectors
on the left underside of the playfield near the rear of the game where
the cables from the flashers are connected. The connectors are the
same size but have slightly different wire configurations. If you plug
the wrong ramp cable into the wrong under-playfield connector the flash
lamp will be either weak or invisible. Look very carefully at the male
and female halves of the connectors to be sure the wires on both halves
are in the same positions; if not, you've probably interchanged the two
sets of connectors for the ramp flashers.

Joseph "Tony" Dziedzic

 

[Brad]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Thanks for all the great advice. I am making progress.

Fiddled with some wires, and the lamps started working again. So that
problem is gone.

Still gotta look at that shooter lane switch. I know the last owner
replaced it. Any idea what type of adjustment needs to be make to
allow it to detect the ball faster? It always DOES detect, it just
takes a couple seconds. Maybe I just need to make it more sensitive?
I'll try that.

The flasher problem still really worries me. I am fairly certain the
problem is greater than just a swapped cable. In the flasher tests, it
just seems like a lot of the wrong things are flashing. And not just
one one side. Here's a summary of what's flashing and when (by the
way, is it normal for the backbox stuff to be flashing for some of
these? Something tells me not...) I put a * next to the ones I think
aren't right.

17. R Ramp Hi - Upper right saucer flashing
* 18. R Ramp Lo - Middle right saucer & right saucer in backbox art
flashing
19. R Side Hi - Below right saucer in backbox art (fire cloud) flashing
20. R Side Lo - Flasher under right playfield plastic flashing
21. Center Arrow - Center arrow flashing
22. Jets - Center Jets circle flashing
23. Saucer Dome - Saucer Dome flashing
* 25. L Ramp L - Light behind martian's chest in backbox is flashing,
lower left saucer is dimly flashing
* 26. L Ramp R - Lower left saucer is dimly flashing, light in backbox
behind girl is flashing
* 27. L Side Hi - Upper left saucers (both) dimly flashing, also light
in fire in backglass flashing

Note: The flasher for the lower right saucer never flashes in any tests
(though it does during the game and in attract mode). Also I noticed
there is no #24 in the tests.

I know it's asking a lot, but if anyone has the time to do a similar
test on their AFM, to know how it SHOULD be working, maybe that will
help me. I'd also be happy to post under playfield pics of the wiring
(though they all look to me color matching). I'm just getting worried
someone just did a big hack job on this thing in a previous repair and
there's wrong wiring everywhere.

Brad

 

[pt]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

> Still gotta look at that shooter lane switch. I know the last owner
> replaced it. Any idea what type of adjustment needs to be make to
> allow it to detect the ball faster? It always DOES detect, it just
> takes a couple seconds. Maybe I just need to make it more sensitive?
> I'll try that.
>

> Brad

Brad,

You need to go into the switch test and put a ball into the shooter
lane and see if the switch toggles. Here is what is probably
happening: The machine knows how many balls are in the ball trough.
It kicks a ball out into the shooter lane and detects that there is now
one less ball in the trough. It then waits to see the shooter lane
switch close before firing the shooter. That switch does not close.
The machine knows that a ball exited the trough, so it ASSUMES that the
ball is in the shooter lane and fires the shooter anyway (after waiting
a few seconds).

The adjustment is problably as simple as bending the wire up a little,
so that the ball depresses the switch further. Be carefull though; you
can bend it up too far and the shooter will hit the wire and really
mangle it... Or the ball will be held up by the wire and not fall all
the way to the shooter position. Its a delicate balance.

Good luck
John

 

[Brad]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Just a thought... If someone had rebuilt the main board flasher
connector, and put some of the wrong wires in the wrong place on said
connector, would that cause this problem?

 

[Brad]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

PT,

Thanks, that was a good suggestion. Unfortunately in switch edges a
ball dropped there trips the switch every time, immediately. A good
thought, though. I thought that was really it. It certainly seems
like the ball trough switch is functioning as it should be. Unless you
think I should bend it up even further anyway...

Thanks,

Brad

 

[pt]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

That's strange. Maybe the ball comes to rest in a slightly different
spot when kicked out of the trough than when you drop it manually. It
may be sitting on the wire. Take a good look at it during the game at
that moment it pauses before the shooter fires. Make sure it is all
the way back and not held forward by the wire.

John

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Agreed, I had problems with "coldies" on a couple of the lamp boards on my
AFM. Try wiggling the connector and see if the lights come on. if so that's
the problem.

To fix, just flow a small amount of solder at the base of the pins on the
board where the connector goes and that should fix it.

"Kansas Pinball" <cyberolds1@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:1120587923.569140.219690@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>I can tell you that a common problem with those era games is the
> connectors on the big light boards. I have had to take the entire light
> board out of my Addams Family, Attack from Mars and Indiana Jones. The
> problem is cold solder joints. Years of strobing those lights and
> heating and cooling causes the solder to pull away from the pins. My
> mansion lights on TAF were really screwed. Quick solder touch-up and
> everything worked great.
>
> Also, on the light problem, have you tried taking the lamp out and
> putting it in a nearby light that is working to see if the bulb is in
> fact bad? A quick twist and the lamps are out. Easy to swap them and
> check functionality.
>
> On the dim flashers, I have seen several threads on here that say that
> the connectors have been swapped under the playfield. I guess they are
> easy to swap due to them looking similar. Do a search on these pages
> and you should come across the threads. The people that swapped them
> back reported good bright lights again.
>
> Doug
>
> I would also disconnect and re-connect all your connectors under the
> playfield near the back. I had a row of lights go out on my AFM and it
> turned out to be a simple bad connection. These things are getting old
> and scraping off the corrosion by taking them apart and putting them
> back together does help.
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

When you do this test, let the ball roll down the shooter lane until it
comes to a stop. Does the switch stay closed when the ball is back to the
shooter ? It should, if it opens up, you need to adjust the switch. LTG

"Brad" <bplevyak@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1120623733.360113.289600@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
> PT,
>
> Thanks, that was a good suggestion. Unfortunately in switch edges a
> ball dropped there trips the switch every time, immediately. A good
> thought, though. I thought that was really it. It certainly seems
> like the ball trough switch is functioning as it should be. Unless you
> think I should bend it up even further anyway...
>
> Thanks,
>
> Brad
>

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

I had this problem on my AFM. When the ball is kicked out of the
trough it comes out sideways, not straight down so rolling a ball
straight down the shooter lane does not exactly replicate what happens
during game play. While gently fiddling with my switch wire it broke
off. Apparently the wire was fatigued and eventually gave way.
Installing a new switch fixed the problem.