F14 Tomcat Restore

Restoration/upgrades/fixes/fabrication of pins and vids
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cap
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F14 Tomcat Restore

Post by cap »

I am restoring my first pin, an F14 Tomcat.
I'm a noob, greener than the Green Giant, but I'm willing to learn.
I'll post my questions as I progress.

The ball cup on the VUK fell off. I found the pin on the bottom of the cabinet.
I attached the ball cup back using the pin and now the VUK works.
Sometimes the VUK fires multiple times even though the ball is always ejected on the first kick.
Is there supposed to be a spring on the shaft of the ball cup? My VUK does not have one.
How do you fix this?

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Re: F14 Tomcat Restore

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Sparky wrote:your switch might be adjusted too sensitive.
Aha. The manual I downloaded was missing pages. I found another one with the component schematics.
There is a spring but it is on the other side of the coil, far from the ball cup.

Thanks for the hint. I'll check the switch adjustment tonight.
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Re: F14 Tomcat Restore

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I have another problem. Sometimes a ball can sneak in to the far right lock by rolling on the playfield instead of coming from the ramp. If there is a ball already locked there, the game hangs until ball search ejects all locked balls. Am I missing a one-way gate at the entrance of the far right ball lock, or that's a problem with the switch in the lock?
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Re: F14 Tomcat Restore

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cap wrote:Am I missing a one-way gate at the entrance of the far right ball lock, or that's a problem with the switch in the lock?
To answer my own question, there is definitely a gate holder with a pin hole on each side but the gate is missing. That explains why the game expects a single ball in the lock. I have another hand-made gate I want to replace, so that makes two to order.

I had a problem with an outlane switch. Turns out the sensitivity was fine, so I clean the switch with a piece of paper while holding the blades together. Worked like a charm.

I had "Adjust Failures", so I cleaned the contacts of the battery holder. It's working better but the problem sometimes comes back. I'll have to use sand paper on the worst contact.

I am done led'ing the inserts, except for 9 bulbs that have a different socket. I will have to procure different leds for those.

Next big project is removing the mylar. The maaca forum suggested freeze spray for the mylar and metyl hydrate for the glue. If you disagree, now is the time to let me know before I buy the stuff.

What about cleaning the rest of the playfield. Is Goo Gone still the best product? Should I buy the Goo Gone liquid cleaner 236mL or the Goo Gone spray gel 355 mL?
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Re: F14 Tomcat Restore

Post by Azatotht »

I use Goo Gone to remove the glue, not to clean the playfield...

Novus 2 is recommended to clean the playfield.
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Re: F14 Tomcat Restore

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Sparky wrote:If there is battery corrosion, then just sanding the contact won't solve the issue. The battery acid will keep eating out the board and cause multiple problems unless you neutralize it, and replace the battery holder.
Thanks for the warning. I don't think it's dramatic. There was no battery leakage. I think it is a little oxidization from the air.
Let's say I would like to neutralize it, how would I do that?
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Re: F14 Tomcat Restore

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Sparky wrote:Take the board off, rub vinegar on the corrosion with a toothbrush, and then neutralize with baking soda once the corrosion is gone. Rinse with hot water and then rubbing alcohol to remove the moisture. Blow with compressed air and let dry.
I'll write down the recipe. I sure hope I don't have to do that. I did not look at it yet because...

I started removing the mylar. After 3h I am 80% done. I will need 3 cans of freeze spray. Maybe 2 is enough if you really know what you are doing.

Removing the plastic is a breeze. It became easier after I realized the glue is neutralized only when frozen. If you give it time to thaw, you simply waste your product. Counter-intuitively, the spray does not freeze on contact. It works best if you pull after the 5 secs it needs to freeze. It's easy to pull even when not frozen, but that's when you cause damage.

I used Goo Gone because it had a spray applicator. Maybe I'm stupid, but it took me 90 mins to figure out the glue does not dissolve. You have to scrap it off with an old credit card and a cloth. That part is a PITA.

The playfield looks great but I damaged some of the inserts. They would need new imprints to do an excellent job. Also they don't look flat anymore. I have a hard time determining whether that's just left over glue or that's because the top coat of clear on the plastic was ripped. I am doubly hesitant because of the imprint issue.

I'm glad my first experience is on a cheap game. I would not want to learn how to do this on a collectible game.
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Re: F14 Tomcat Restore

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This morning the inserts are sticky. There is a lot of glue left to remove. Maybe I was 70% done instead.
The wood is fine though.
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Re: F14 Tomcat Restore

Post by dr.nybble »

Many people report success using alcohol and flour to remove Mylar glue. Anyone here tried it?
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Re: F14 Tomcat Restore

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I read on pinside it is common for insert art to be peeled when removing mylar.
Looks like I'll have to learn how to use water slide decal paper.

The inserts are not sticky anymore but they are uneven. The clear is ripped in patches and you can clearly see the difference in height.
What is the procedure to repair this in preparation of the water slide decal?
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Re: F14 Tomcat Restore

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Sparky wrote:The board can only manage so many solenoids and flasher bulbs. So, what they did was use one solenoid circuit (#14) to control a relay.
Service bulletin #41 required the removal of the two red flashers at the top of the playfield. That's already done on my machine.

All my flashers work except two.

Flasher 1 is the right-most one on the vertical wall behind the playfield.
I have replaced the bulb but that's not the problem. There is a loose connector right next to it.
It might be that easy but the location is a bitch because you can't see anything.
I'll have to use a mirror or film with an iPhone.

The last dark flasher is on the far left next to general Yagov.
Again the bulb is fine. It's not mentioned in service bulletin 41.
The connections are underneath the diverter so I can't check easily.
It's on my todo list with lower priority.
Sparky wrote:The knocker is solenoid 6A. It receives power from wire and is controlled by a grey/blue wire which goes to pin #7 on connector 1J11 (bottom of MPU, second from the left... pin 7 is the 3rd from the left). 34V solenoid power comes from the power supply board at connector 3J3.
Wow, that's super precise info. I am very grateful.
Tonight is the first time I reached the free play score. Quite a light show but it's not the same without the knocker.

I used iHandy on the iPhone to measure the playfield angle. It is set at 10 degrees now.
The manual recommends 7 degrees. Maybe I inverted the front and back legs compared with the seller.
I'm not sure if I want a fast game or an easy one. I'll have to try both.

My daughter played with me tonight. Already she noticed the game plays much better.
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Re: F14 Tomcat Restore

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dr.nybble wrote:Many people report success using alcohol and flour to remove Mylar glue. Anyone here tried it?
If vid from pinside recommends it, that means a lot.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic ... ost-547712
I wish I had known about it before I removed my mylar.
My playfield is great, but the inserts are terrible.
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Re: F14 Tomcat Restore

Post by dr.nybble »

You can now get a complete F-14 insert set:

http://www.planetarypinball.com/mm5/mer ... -INSERTSET
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Re: F14 Tomcat Restore

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dr.nybble wrote:You can now get a complete F-14 insert set
That's nice to know. That would be extremely tempting if it had solved the insert decal problem.

After reading part of Vid's Guide to Ultimate Playfield Restoration,
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic ... estoration
it appears the solution is to use a sharpened wood chisel vertically (not slanted) to chip the old clear.
Unfortunately, that also destroys the decal that's left.

Vid says waterslide decals must be printed with a laser printer since ink from ink jets fades too quickly.
He also says waterslide decals require a coat of clear before and after and
that requires clearing the board above and below because clear must be spray painted.

Looks like I had beginner's hubris. This is a big job that will take down my first and only pin for too long.
I'll consider it after I buy my second pin.
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Re: F14 Tomcat Restore

Post by dr.nybble »

They also sell a complete decal set too (if the time comes).
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Re: F14 Tomcat Restore

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The knocker is working now. I found the snipped wires inside the top cabinet. They had their original full length. It was not that obvious because they looked like they were powering the topper lights. Another surprising thing: the wire was not grey/blue. The grey/blue wire comes out of the J11 connector and goes down in the cabinet out of sight and comes back another color. That must be part of the system 11 coil multiplex scheme. The coil accepts 16V not 34V. Thanks to my friend Alain for his help.

I replaced all my rubbers and my balls.

I removed the custom zebra decals next to the coin door.

I cleaned the paint marks on the side rails and the legs.

My outlane switch was still malfunctioning even though the leaves made contact. I had to rub with alcohol to clean it more. Now it works and continues to work.

The police lights were squeaking. I bent one of the deflectors to avoid rubbing on the light socket. Now they work silently.

I used alcohol to prove the black paint is latex. I rubbed a little more and there is original red art on the back box side. That's good news. I can also see original art underneath the legs. I need to buy some xylene to continue. Someone tried Goo Off to remove the latex paint. I read somewhere this used to work but they changed the formula and it now contains acetone. Don't use Goo Off, it will damage the original paint. I hope my damaged spot is supposed to be all black.

I noticed the flashers come in pairs. I suspect my two broken flashers are one and the same. That is still on my todo list. Any hints welcome.
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Re: F14 Tomcat Restore

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For flasher 1, I know the transistor is good because the outhole solenoid in bank A is working.
That leaves a diode and two resistors to check. Next step is to figure out where these are.

ipdb says the flashers at the back were white in early production and later changed to red
because white was deemed too bright. That means I have an early production model.
That's the beauty of this pin: the light show is blinding when you get the shot.

This is my work in progress on the cabinet. The art is seriously damaged.
Thankfully, the backglass has the same logo. I'm hoping to scan it and enlarge it for the pattern.

Removing the decals peels all the paint. Freeze spray is not helping. I expect I'll have to repaint it from scratch.

For reference, here is the original state. I call it the zebra model.
viewtopic.php?f=48&t=22625&p=194461&hilit=f14#p194391
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IMG_7593.JPG
IMG_7592.JPG
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Re: F14 Tomcat Restore

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I finished removing the paint on one side. I'm disappointed by the quality of the art that remains.
I thought of scanning a good cabinet and make my own stencil, but I am now consider those decals instead.
http://www.retrorefurbs.com/shop/f-14-t ... et-decals/
They claim to be high quality yet they are cheaper than the ones on planetary pinball.

I found the diode board and the flasher resistor boards with the help of that video.

With my friend's DMM we'll be able to test these components to fix flasher 1.
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Re: F14 Tomcat Restore

Post by Chris Silver »

Sounds like it's coming along well. How are you enjoying your first restore job?
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Re: F14 Tomcat Restore

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Chris Silver wrote:Sounds like it's coming along well. How are you enjoying your first restore job?
If you forget demo night with friends, I spend about as much time fixing it as I play with it.
This was completely unexpected. I'm learning a lot which is fun.
I'm far from a manual kinda guy, so everything I do is outside my comfort zone.

I'm already dreaming of my next project with a more recent machine.
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Re: F14 Tomcat Restore

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This is what was underneath that custom decal picturing the jet and the yellow flower (explosion).
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Re: F14 Tomcat Restore

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And this is what the front looks like. This was the only semi-acceptable surface hiding behind the black paint.
IMG_7600.JPG
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Re: F14 Tomcat Restore

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I just bought the cabinet decals
http://www.retrorefurbs.com/shop/f-14-t ... et-decals/
I found a 5% off coupon on the net. The total comes out to $299CAD on paypal plus possible customs fees.
Compare that to $293US total on planetarypinball.com
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Re: F14 Tomcat Restore

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Yesterday I investigated which font was used on the insert decals.
I determined Helvetica Black is close enough.

Today I found out how to remove the side rails.
The nails are not very strong and they are easy to pull out partly with a dry wall knife like this
http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/ergon ... p.html#spc
pushed underneath the rail. Then regular pliers can pull on the nail.
No need to drill the nail head like others had to do or make a slit on the head and unscrew it.
I saw there is a bolt at each extremity too.

The backbox hinge is underneath the backbox on the F14 so it is not a problem for the side rail.

I also found out how to remove the flipper buttons by unscrewing the hex nut inside the cabinet.
My two flipper buttons are not identical. It bugs me now that I noticed.

I noticed the two leaf switch for the two flippers per button.
Press only part way and only one flipper is activated, hence the technique known as flipper staging.
I wish I could master this skill during multiball but it is very hard.

Finally, I started looking for a product to clear coat the playfield after I install the insert decals.
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Re: F14 Tomcat Restore

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I found this site where I can download the decal sheets for free.
I could go to Staples or whatever to have them printed with a laser printer.
http://flipper-fan.de/html/download.html

Also considering to buy the laminated decals instead.
http://www.planetarypinball.com/mm5/mer ... F14-INS-LM
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