Lethal Weapon issues

Murdock7

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I recently purchased a Lethal Weapon ($350). It is in fairly decent shape with a few issues. The machine was in a private home and the the man told me his grandchild was nosing around inside under the play field. Afterwards the machine did not fire the pinball and the flippers do not work. He did not know the play field lifted and did not know how to even open up the back box. I was hoping it was something as simple as a fuse. Not my luck. What could cause this issue that could be reached under the play field? I am awaiting new Eproms and can not see any wires that are loose. The power board had some burnt connectors that I replaced. I am considering replacing the whole power board. Any help prior to spending the $100 on that? Also the display works but it is kind of choppy (meaning pixels out here and there).

Thanks....
 
i dont know to much about data east and dont know if they have this, but maybe he messed with a slam switch.i know gottliebs are great for that problem
 
This is my first DE. I also have had Gottlieb (Tee'd Off). I will check the switch...I have had the display say something about closing door and closing it didn't turn the message off.
 
First off, there is a lockout switch that has to be closed (via the coin door being closed). If that switch is messed up or a wire came off of it, then the high voltage at the coils will be cut off. Check that white lockout switch inside and to the right on the coin door area first.

Also, the flipper board is on the wall to the left. He could have buggered it.
 
I dont have a switch on the right of the coin door...I checked all the wires on the left side and none are disconnected...the flipper board looks fine. I also realize that the lazer kick coil doesn't work either....so its pretty much all the ones up front (flippers, lazer kick, and shooter)...but the one works that feeds the ball to the shooter????? I'm baffled....and I'm not an electronic whiz but I can figure things out.....

Any other suggestions?
 
Re-seat all of the connectors on the CPU? Make sure all of your connectors are intact.

Put the playfield up, pull out the white interlock switch on the LEFT of the coindoor, and check for voltage at all of the coils. Refer to the pinrepair guide to test the coils. Basically, you will hook up an alligator clip to the ground braid, and then touch the other end to each TIP122 driver transistor at the bottom left of the CPU.

Lastly, the coils on the DE games are duplexed via an A-B relay. If that relay is bad or stuck, some of your coils won't work. Most of the saucers and laser kick are on this one.
 
Ok...I will try that this afternoon.

I did pick this up in Richmond.....do you know of the machine?
 
Well yes I do actually. I went and gave it a look but ultimately decided that if the cost of new parts started adding up trying to get it working 100% it would be a little too much. This is of course when they were really firm on their $450 price. For $350 you better believe it would be sitting in my garage.

Still a decent deal at $450 but being at college I didn't want to buy a project and get it working when I'm home on break. It just didn't work out logistically for me when I really thought about it.
 
Where is the A-B relay you are talking about? I checked and my coils are all good. I'm thinking the power board at this point....
 
Don't buy a new power board!!!!
The burned connectors are easily replaced and they are probably the GI lighting, so they do not effect the operation of the machine.

For starters read this:

http://www.pinrepair.com/de/index.htm

From end to end. He follows a systematic method to get the pinball machine up and running. It will help you get a long way in the repair.

Mike
 
I did the diagnostic test first....then checked the coils that didn't fire the way you described....I also replaced the laser kick coil with one that was firing through the tests to see if it was working that way....it did not work after I changed it....so it isn't the coils. The power board looks rough....some one had spliced wires and wire nutted them together...some of the soldering looks very rough in the upper right hand corner. I did change some of the molex and at least got all the lights on the backboard working. At this point the VUK doesn't work (I replaced most of the parts on that), the laser kick back, both flippers, and the shooter. I have a brand new complete flipper and parts to rebuild the other one. I replaced the coil and most of the parts on the shooter, and cleaned and rebuilt the laser kick back. I hope this don't turn into a money pit. At this point I have roughly $500 into it (including replacing all yellow targets, switches on most of the drop targets, a new globe on top (used a F-14 one (lined up perfectly in the screw holes already there...just a different shape than the original one). I have all the chips on the way for video and sound cards to update them....all the boards look like they still have the original DataEast markings. I am hoping it is just one small item that will get everything working so that I can start stripping the field and cleaning it (Ive made my first plastics and they look VERY good).
 
I made the plastics on the left side...they are both with the guys holding the guns. It is time consuming but they don't look too bad....curious as to how long they will last....I used sticker project paper with a reverse image stuck to the bottom (becomes face up then). They are darker than the original but look good.

Anyone have GOOD pictures of the power supply board and of the computer chips on the cpu board. I ordered new chips and 2 of them aren't the right size..they have too many legs. I am fairly confident my problem is the power board...the wires are VERY jacked up...they have been spliced and I am not sure which color of wire goes where (mainly the wiring in the top right of the power supply board)

Thanks again.....
 
Here is a picture of a JP PS. Is should be close enough to a LW3 PS. Let me know if you need anything else, or another angle


JurassicParkbefore046.jpg
 
That pic is good....I hate to ask but can you tell me the wire color in the far upper right hand (has 8 wires going into it).

Thanks again
 
Oh, the Infamous GI connector:

Top to Bottom:

Brown
Yellow
Green
Purple
No Connection (key)
White W/ Brown Stripe
White W/ Yellow Stripe
White W/ Green Stripe
White W/ Purple Stripe

Hope this helps:

JurassicParkbefore050cropped.jpg


As long as the solid colors are on the top 4 and the stripes are on the bottom 4, the order does not matter,

Mike
 
Thanks for the pic....I wired it in...I have everything hooked up...any bad wiring properly fixed. I changed out all the proms...turn it on....and now it won't boot. The pia lamp and the +5 lamp are on but the blanking is not. Marvin's guide says that is a problem with the EPROM at location 5C and/or 5B. I thought maybe I bought a bad chip for there....so I pulled it out and put the old one in...still have the same problem...won't boot. Any help on this one?
 
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