1980 Stern Flight 2000 SS

I've been wanting a F2K project for years but had to delay working on it while I completed the Flash Gordon restoration. Every once in a while I’d take a break from Flash Gordon to at least get Flight 2000 working 99% and flipping games before tearing down and restoring.

So....here are the issues I had to tackle first:

WALKER COIL LOCKED ON

This is the first thing I looked at - wiring is correct, coil tested fine in and out of circuit as did the coil diode. The SDB is usually the next suspect but this SDB is a relatively new Weebly and those generally don't go bad. Unless someone fried a transistor with a bad coil or mis-wiring. Weebly uses surface mount components but thankfully Andrew puts in through-holes for the major components allowing hacks like me to do repairs without needing surface mount soldering tools or skills or patience. I removed the surface mount Q18 and put in a replacement MOSFET at that location, and bingo....ball walker working and I can start a game.

FLIPPERS WEAK, SOMETIMES CUT OFF

Eyeballed this one....flippers not wired correctly, likely during a previous owner's rebuild session. Re-wired the flippers correctly and they now work great. They have mostly new parts from the rebuild except for the leaf switches themselves. They work but they're crusty....during restoration all switches will be replaced with new.

MISC LAMPS OUT, SWITCHES NOT REGISTERING

Lots of bulbs not working, mostly due to aging/flaky lamps sockets. Fixed most, will leave the rest for later as I'll be replacing with new during the restoration. Also will be putting in the 555 lamp socket PCBs...I love those. Used them on my Meteor and Flash Gordon restorations.

Adjusted the gaps on all of the leaf switches and they all work now.

LAMP FLICKER

Game has LEDs in all sockets. The lamp board is an original Stern, but it has those connector adapters installed that support LEDs. However, the ground for those adapters was not attached to the proper ground wire and the result is lamp flicker. Secured it to the proper ground (on a control lamp) and the lamps are steady now. During the restoration, I'll probably put in a Alltek or Weebly lamp board and do away with the adapters.

All of the above took an afternoon. The 5-Bank Drop Target assembly is another matter!! Only 2 of the 5 targets register/score, and random targets will fall down immediately upon reset. The assembly is a BEAST but at least it’s complete. I’ll tear everything down and rebuild with new drop targets that I’ll 3D print myself (with embedded graphics printed, no decals).

On to the teardown - lots of dings, dents, scratches, and missing wood on corners to repair before painting. Playfield swap is pretty standard - if not replaced with new, each piece of metal will be ultrasonic cleaned and polished to look and perform as new. All wire harnesses will be cleaned thoroughly to get rid of 40+ years of dirt and grime (and odor).