Williams Flash (Williams, 1978) - most solenoids won't fire (HELP!)

[yaypinball]

Hi all,

I'm trying to help a friend of mine with his Williams Flash (1979 - System 4 upgraded to System 6).

I'd say 90% of the solenoids aren't firing (even in diagnostic mode). The exceptions are the filppers, credit knocker and the "sound board". The flash lamps aren't working either.

The guy that repaired the CPU and driver board swears it's a wiring problem and not the driver board so I'm pulling my hair out trying to figure what the issue is.

I disconnected a solenoid and test fired it with a bench power supply so I know they aren't burnt out but I can't figure out how the hell this thing should be working. From what I can tell, they are getting power and I tested the daisy chain of power through the harness with a continuity tester.

Any input is welcomed. Thanks so much!

 

[spalmer]

Check connector 2p11 at the driver board. There is also a black 24 pin connector between the backbox and the playfield. Check to make sure that thing is connected good. All of the solenoids you are having issues with get there ground signal or trigger to fire from the driver board through this connector. I suspect this is were your problem lies. Sometimes these large connectors don't get connected correctly when the game is assembled after moving it. If that does not help, let me know and I will tell you how to fire a solenoid at the driver board manually to make sure that the driver board actually working.

 

[yaypinball]

Thanks - I'll check the connections again. The guy that serviced the driver board had us touch ground to the tabs of the transistors to check the solenoids - none of them fire that way except the sound and kicker (same as diagnostics).

Maybe some kind of power issue? Not sure..

Thanks again

 

[spalmer]

Have you checked for power at the red wire on the solonoids?

 

[yaypinball]

Yes, and think I saw voltage when I grounded the DMM to braided ground in the backboard while touching the daisychain power lead of one of the solenoids.. Problem is that I don't remember how much voltage it was. Is there a better way I should be testing these?

Thanks so much!

 

[spalmer]

AT this point I would check for continuity on the red wire from the driver board board down with the power off.