A flash lamp is unusually bright or burns out repeatedly.
#89 flasher very bright or keeps burning out: it is a 50 V circuit
Cause: That flasher is on a 50 V solenoid circuit and needs a #1251 bulb, not a #89 made for the 25 V circuits.
Checks
- Measure DC volts from the side rail to each lug of the socket.
- If the flasher is on an A/C bank, ground the Q7 or Q8 tab so the C bank has power while measuring.
Fix
- Fit a #1251 bulb in 50 V flasher sockets.
Systems
Related tips
- Bulbs worth keeping on hand for a System 11 game
- How the System 11 flash lamp circuit works
- Flashers out on any System 11 game: R2 desoldered itself
- C-bank coil or flasher not working
- Isolating the 50 V flasher circuits for LED flashers
- Flashers dead on early games: resistors broken on under-playfield flasher boards
- Where the flash lamp resistors are by era
- Flash lamps stay lit after fitting LED flashers: System 11 warming resistors
Source: Repairing Williams System 11 Pinball 1986 to 1990, Part Two, Clay Harrell (pinrepair.com)