2 Firepower-related questions...

TheDrewster

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Question 1. I have a faulty driver board that makes the displays show the 0_0_0_ pattern. The online repair guide states: " If the lamp PIA (IC10) and/or solenoid PIA (IC5) have failed, this problem will often be seen. " That makes sense, but the driver board does not have any markings as to what/where these are. Where are they?

And 2, How can I stop my backglass from flaking any further? Is there a way to seal down whats remaining? I feel that it is getting worse as time goes on. I see new chips every day.
 
Question 1. I have a faulty driver board that makes the displays show the 0_0_0_ pattern. The online repair guide states: " If the lamp PIA (IC10) and/or solenoid PIA (IC5) have failed, this problem will often be seen. " That makes sense, but the driver board does not have any markings as to what/where these are. Where are they?.

There is a great resource for FirePower owners here:
http://firepowerpinball.com/
Under the Documents tab is the Assembly/Logic Drawings selection that has a parts layout for all the boards, inclding the driver board.

And 2, How can I stop my backglass from flaking any further? Is there a way to seal down whats remaining? I feel that it is getting worse as time goes on. I see new chips every day.

To stop backblass flaking use KRYLON Triple-Thick CRYSYAL CLEAR GLAZE No 0500. Mask off the display windows and lay on a thick coat. I used a whole can on a single backglass. Very carefully remove the masking for the windows, I do that when the paint is still wet so I have less chance of pulling up the paint on the backglass. Do a google search on "triple thick" and "backglass" and you get lots of information and how to guides. There have been some reports of triple thick removing the origonal paint on the backglass, so do your research and proceed with caution

Once you have the backglass sealed, there may be places where you still see the bulbs behind the backglass. What I have done is to cover the bulbs with white bulb covers, this helps to diffuse the light and make the hot filaments less noticeable.
 
A can of triple thick (available at Michaels Arts / Crafts) as said above works wonders. This was one of the first things I did when I got my FP. You don't really need to mask off the score windows, you can either scrape the window after it dries or leave it -- I left it on mine, can't really tell it's there if you put it on right.
 
Keep this up to date. I just picked up my first pin which is a Firepower and i was advised to buy the Arcadeshop board and take out the old. Anyone have experience with the Arcadeshop boards for pinball?
 
I replaced my faulty board with one that I bought from bstnguy. His worked perfectly so I havent messed with this faulty one though. It has previous repairs on it and the IC5 is now socketed, so it may just need to be reseated. Ill keep you all posted if I get this faulty one fixed.
 
If you do the mods from the repair guides your FP including the original CPU will be rock solid. I own two FPs (one is at my in laws so I can play it while I tear down the other for a full restore) and both are rock solid from an electronics perspective. Your choice.

Bill

Keep this up to date. I just picked up my first pin which is a Firepower and i was advised to buy the Arcadeshop board and take out the old. Anyone have experience with the Arcadeshop boards for pinball?
 
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