Gottlieb SF2 Sys 3 Menu/flipper issues???

qbass187

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Hey guys,
I was hoping someone here would be able to help me with my Gottlieb street fighter 2 pin restoration.
I picked it up a month or so ago and it was working fine but the DMD didn't work.
I repaired the DMD board and all was working fine to that point so I decided to begin the restoration process.
All the flippers needed to be replaced so that's where I started. I did so and I also rebuilt the 3 PF flippers. So when I was done I went to test them out and not the game will not coin up.
I've been loosing my mind trying to figure this out for the last week.
A little background first:
The interlock switch never triggered the menu (it was on my list of things to repair and as far as I can tell is not functional although the physical "switch" is good) but it didn't matter so much because it was already set to FREE PLAY so I didn't need to get into it per say.
The coin door in not original and the previous owner hacked the original harness into the one that's there. But again it was functional and didn't affect play when I got it.
I've tried to trace down a broken connector or a bad wire using the switch matrix with no luck...
Also, when I put it in "test" mode on the Vol/Tournament board I cannot navigate with the Left or Right flippers but yet they still give the small spark when pushed so there's power there.
I'm clearly waaayyyy out of my league here and I was hoping someone here has some experience with Gottliebs and could point me in the right direction.
ANY help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
ERIC
 
Alright... I'm not an expert with these bad boys, but here's what I'm thinking.

Usually flipper cabinet switches run the voltage for the coils through them (or the ground)... if you look at the cabinet switches (behind the button) it may have a second switch on each stack, which is the actual switch for the menu, etc. Check to make sure those are connecting like they're supposed to, or that the wires aren't broken, or that the blades from the other switches aren't touching them wrong, etc.

After that, look at the coils you rebuilt and make sure you've got all the switches adjusted the right way on there. You may have to find a picture of soembody else's setup to make sure. There are switches that open or close as the plunger goes all the way into the coil, one will be the 'end of stroke' switch that drops the high power off the coil so you can hold it in.

Also anywhere that you have a switch wire connected to the wrong side of a diode could screw up the entire matrix, anywhere you have a wire disconnected can screw up the entire matrix, and anywhere you have two wires touching can screw up the entire matrix.

Anytime the matrix is screwed up, switches will lock on, or will not work at all. So all of that is what you need to look at.
 
actually the above post is not correct in my experience.
yes the flipper menu manipulation is done through the flipper switch and the voltage. but i suspect the issue is something else. There's a small board mounted under the PF that has a 4n25 chip (if i remember correctly) on the board. this is what tells the CPU board that the flipper buttons have been pressed.

so what happens is this board senses when the flipper buttons are pressed. if the board is disconnected, you can't move through the diagnostic menus. i have also seen this board go "bad", causing a similar problem.

a good way of checking it out is to get the game into diagnostics (yellow button twice), and then remove the plug to the flipper sensor board under the playfield. does the menu change selected position? if so, you have found your problem.
 
actually the above post is not correct in my experience.
yes the flipper menu manipulation is done through the flipper switch and the voltage. but i suspect the issue is something else. There's a small board mounted under the PF that has a 4n25 chip (if i remember correctly) on the board. this is what tells the CPU board that the flipper buttons have been pressed.

so what happens is this board senses when the flipper buttons are pressed. if the board is disconnected, you can't move through the diagnostic menus. i have also seen this board go "bad", causing a similar problem.

a good way of checking it out is to get the game into diagnostics (yellow button twice), and then remove the plug to the flipper sensor board under the playfield. does the menu change selected position? if so, you have found your problem.


Hi Clay,
Thanks for the suggestion. I assume you're talking about the MA-1334 flipper board on the underside of the playfield.

I tried it and unfortunately there was no change on the diagnostic menu when I unplugged the board. :(
 
i still think your problem lies here. if you have another sys3 game, you can swap the flipper sensor board and see if things change. or just examine that board. there's not a lot to it, i think one chip, and they do go bad sometimes.
 
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