Introduction

WillFA7 is a board designed to replace the MPU and Driver boards of Williams systems 3 to 7.

It improves the reliability of your pinball machines by removing the connection between the driver and CPU boards, while retaining all the original features. Compatible with all Williams pinball machines from System 3 to System 7, it offers advanced solenoid management to prevent jams.

Additionally, this card is preloaded with stock ROMs, ready to use without any additional configuration.

In this article, Sylvie explains how she used the WillFA7 card to repair her Flash pinball machine. The initial situation? The pinball machine would start, but the targets would not go up and some mushrooms were inactive.

Step 1: Inspecting the original cards

Upon first inspection, we can see the installation of a lithium battery and a modification of the EPROMs. Nothing catastrophic, but they seem to have taken a few years of service!

Step 2: Disassembling the original cards

The first step in the replacement is to disassemble the original cards. Here's how Sylvie did it:

• Remove all cables - don't panic, they are all keyed.
• Unscrew all screws holding the boards and remove them from the pinball machine.
• Install the WillFA7 card by securing it with the screws at the very bottom of the rails, then remove the cables from the cable glands.

Connecting the cables

After installing the new board, Sylvie started connecting the cables. Depending on the pinball model, the 1J4 connector for diagnostics may be equipped with a cap that must be removed before connecting it to the WillFA7 board.

Once everything is installed, the result should look like this:

Note: The cables wander a little more than on the original Williams, but we are far from the chaos of the Gotlieb standards!

The result

Everything works as it did before! The targets go up, the mushrooms are responsive, and the pinball machine is ready to play again.

To learn more, don't hesitate to watch Sylvie's presentation video:

Conclusion

If you too want to resurrect your Williams pinball machine without tearing your hair out, we recommend that you take action now by ordering your WillFA7 card: Order the WillFA7 card