Alice Cooper's Nightmare Castle
Spooky Pinball, 2017You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider Jakers.
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Recently joined the club but I have one issue I'm hoping you guys can help me out with. My drop target #2 fails every time in test mode. It will reset fine but will not drop on its own. The wires are all still attached to the small coil that controls the drop.
Any idea where to start with diagnosis for this?
IMG_1530 copy.jpgQuoted from Coyote:Check that the release coil is *trying* to drop the target. If you hear it attempt, then do a search on here, there was a video posted - a part of the drop target needs to be bent back in place. There was a video posted many pages back about how to do this. A few people - myself included - purposefully stretched the spring out to lighen the pressure on the latch.
If you do NOT hear the release relay trying to fire, it's a wiring or coil issue. Check wires to the coil, etc.
It's definitely not even trying to drop the target. I hear nothing. Wires are not broken off the coil. Does anyone know what board these drop coil wires go to so I can check for a loose connection?
Quoted from Coyote:Check that the release coil is *trying* to drop the target. If you hear it attempt, then do a search on here, there was a video posted - a part of the drop target needs to be bent back in place. There was a video posted many pages back about how to do this. A few people - myself included - purposefully stretched the spring out to lighen the pressure on the latch.
If you do NOT hear the release relay trying to fire, it's a wiring or coil issue. Check wires to the coil, etc.
I got my multimeter out to check voltage at the small #2 drop coil. In drop test mode, I get no voltage when that coil fires. I then tested the #1 drop coil the same way and #1 does register as getting voltage. I also have wire continuity from the coil to the backbox. I believe it’s the upper left PROC board, correct?
Quoted from Coyote:When the coil is resting - not trying to be powered, you should get ~48v on **BOTH** coil lugs.
When the coil is pulsed - when it is told to try and drop the target - the SMALLER wire will 'drop' to ground.
If you're not getting any voltage on either lug, then the coil is not getting it's 48v.
(This is important to know, because yu wanna trace the right wire. )
Ok, so I had my multimeter on the wrong setting. Early morning pinball repairs are tough. lol.
Anyways, I tested the lugs and they are both registering 48 volts. I’m guessing this means a board issue? This is such a bummer.
Quoted from Pinball_Freak:I had a similar problem with two of the drop target switches, upper PF and lower #2 drop. Working with Chris at Spooky we were able to work out the two switches were broken. Got a couple of new ones sent out and after replacing switches have been 100 % since. All the wires were good to both switches and they were receiving power.
The switch that registers drop target 2 as “down” is working correctly according to when I put the game in switch test mode. When the drop target is down, it activates the switch.
Quoted from Coyote:Not necessarily, though likely. Since you're getting the coil power, we just need to make sure that the driver isn't getting to the coil, and your coil's not bad. Easy tests..
If your multimeter has a 'buzzer', or continuity test, put it on that, and put one lead on the driver wire (the thin one), and one on the metal strapping in the cabinet. In coin test, get that coil to fire repeatedly. When it is SUPPOSED to fire, your multimeter should buzz every time the driver tries to fire the coil. (Note: Verify that your multimeter is high-impedance. If it is not, you could blow out the meter, or blow the 48v fuse supplying power to the coils.)
Barring that, check that the coil is good by manually grounding the driver wire yourself. Take a wire, connect one end to the coil's lug that has the small wire, and quickly lightly touch the other end to the same ground strap. The coil should try to move. If it does not, coil is bad.
Note that these testing procedures are pretty much the same for ANY solid-state pinball game. (Of course, there are exceptions out there.)
THANK YOU for this in depth description of how to diagnose. I've done both tests. I am not getting any continuity when testing the #2 reset. I do get continuity when testing #1 reset. I then manually grounded the #2 coil and it did fire. So, looks like a board issue. Damn! Is this a board issue that can be repaired by replacing a component on the board or do I need to buy an entire new board? I know how to solder and have replaced components before on my other games.
Can anyone shed some light on the way items work? If you enter a certain room and the tower light is lit (on the backboard) does that mean there's an item in the room and you collect it by hitting the vampire target? I swear sometimes that's blinking, I hit it and nothing happens. Other times I hit it when blinking and collect a weapon. The only weapon I've ever actually saw confirmed collected is the dynamite which appears on the screen when fighting the monster. It shows up in a comic speech bubble saying you only need one shot to kill. I've collected scissors and a chainsaw as well but when I get to the monster, it doesn't appear in that speech bubble, yet the perk of the weapon seems to be active when fighting the monster.
Thanks for the link. That definitely helps with finding the weapons but I'm more interested in learning how they're collected and used. Why is it that the dynamite shows up on screen when fighting a monster but other weapons I've collected do not show up? Example...I've collected dynamite and it shows up on screen when fighting zombie but I've also collected the chainsaw on a previous game and it does not show up on screen when fighting zombie.
My spinner rejects the ball about half the time I make a clean shot to it. It's because the spinner comes to a rest at a very low angle, making the ball bounce off the bottom edge a lot of the time. The spinner spins very freely and I've lubed it up as well.
We all know this game is not the cleanest shooter so I definitely don't need the spinner rejecting clean shots to the left orbit. Has anyone figured out a way to make the spinner rest at more of a vertical angle? It's almost like mine is not weighted enough at the bottom.
Thanks zacaj and
jitneystand1
I bent the arms a bit upward and now the spinner sits at a MUCH more vertical angle. It’s working great so far and not a single reject in a few games.
Quoted from Tuna_Delight:+1
Mine used to work pretty well until the last code update. Now rarely kicks the ball back into play no matter the setting. Pinball Life insert install also no help and I've removed it.
When I bought my ACNC it had the Pinball Life insert on the magnet. The magna save barely ever worked no matter what setting it was on. I removed the insert and it helped a lot. Now my magna save works about 80% of the time. I really hope they address this in a future code update since its such a cool feature. My Shadow magnet lock has never failed to shoot the ball (with quite a bit of force) up into the lock. If they could figure it out in 1994 I don't see why it can't be done in 2020.
Quoted from Silkenone:Loving these decals - despite my clumsy application.
Many thanks arcadevideo!
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I can't wait to get mine. They look so good! Unfortunately, mine seem to be lost in the mail at the moment.
Quoted from GuiitarMan:Nothing is more frustrating than getting the Ethyl weapon, only to start Crypt MB and it switching to Igor mode - effectively losing your weapon. fawzmagames Please fix this bug.
This happened to me the other day and I thought I was going crazy. Good to know it’s a bug and not my mind going out.
Quoted from Gnrwarkfc:When do you guys think new code will drop? Must be getting close to a couple of weeks now.
Today is Friday the 13th. In my opinion, it's the perfect day this month to drop that new code!
Quoted from rave24:Hey all.
My right slingshot is continually being triggered. I've tried adjusting it in the settings, no luck. It seems when the ball hits it, and sometimes even just upon starting a game, the hammer just starts wildly kicking the rubber until the ball drains or the machine is cut off (obviously). I tried adjusting the rubber, tried adjusting the power of the sling, it's helped none. Any ideas? As a first time owner - I've got zero clue what I'm doing here. Any help is much appreciated
It's a simple adjustment of the leaf switches. Spread them away from each other a little bit. It's always a good idea to do any adjusting with the game powered off to ensure you don't short something. Next time you order some parts, get yourself one of these tools.
https://www.pinballlife.com/ultimate-leaf-adjuster-tool.html?Category_Code=
Does anyone know if I can safely pull 12 volts from the backbox LED strip to power a second LED strip? My ACNC doesn’t have any mods on it but I’d like to get 12 volts without having to order a secondary Accessory Power Supply.
What have people done to try and stop this ball stick area? A slow enough shot to the right ramp makes the ball sit right here. Ball search endlessly try’s to find it but obviously can’t. The game doesn’t send a chase ball after ball searching so it just ball searches forever.
Seems like it’s stuck on the ramp flap rivet. I honestly don’t even see a need for that particular ramp flap.
C28C27D4-ED84-419E-A13C-0F63E7260228.jpegQuoted from Jmckune:I looked all around for issues with my optos and I’ve come to the conclusion that the left ramp one is dead somehow. The right ramp, chop opto and crypt optos randomly trigger. Went to check for loose connections and the connectors have been glued to the boards? Is that normal? It was on every connector in the game that had a connection to a board under the playfield.
My mystery scoop coil is starting to fire randomly. I've checked and cleaned the scoop optos but it still happens. If you figure out how to fix your opto issues please let us know.
Quoted from finnflash:Does this look like there is no solder? Could that be my issue?
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I'd say there's a 99% chance that's your problem. That looks like it got barely any solder on it when being built. I had the same issue on one of my TNA displays when I first got it. I put a bit of solder on it and it's been fine ever since.
It's super easy to solder something like that. Basic soldering iron and a drop of solder.
I would really like to see some type of symbol on the map that shows what room a weapon is in for whatever monster you are currently on. Instead of trapping up and scrolling through the menu to get to the weapon locations, it would be much quicker and easier just to look up and see a red dot (or whatever symbol) showing where a weapon is.
Quoted from Completist:Doesn’t the new code have an info screen that shows you which weapon is available in which room for what monster? Saw that in a recent Bowen YouTube vid.
It does, which is appreciated, but why not just show what room has a weapon in it on the main map at the bottom of the screen? The map is always on screen, just show me with a simple icon where a weapon is for whatever monster I’m on. Then I can simply look up for a quick second to see what direction I need to go, versus having to trap up and look at the info screen.
Quoted from Coyote:Depending on the driver position, you MAY be able to swap boards (as one board is only about half-utilized).
The boards are swappable. You only have to make sure you set the dip switches accordingly.
Quoted from Coyote:Yes.
BUT - if the driver that fires the drop target reset drives somethign ELSE, then that something ELSE won't work. It can only be changed if the driver on the other board isn't used for anything.
I'm using swapping boards as a troubleshooting method for figuring out if the problem lies on the board itself or somewhere else down the line. I had drop target issues as well when I first got my ACNC. It helped me figure out my issue very quickly.
Quoted from Coyote:Understood. But you quoted me, and that's not what I was referring to swapping the boards for.
Ah, gotcha. Damn drop target issues!
Quoted from Lethal_Inc:What is the correct flipper alignment on this game? Back edge of flippers without the rubbers lined up to the alignment holes right?
I know this isn’t the “correct” way of aligning the flippers, but I found that I enjoy the game much more with the flippers slightly higher than normal. I can backhand both ramps and the left orbit with them like this.
Try adjusting yours a few different ways to see how it affects gameplay. See what you like best.
6D78F68F-5408-4630-8685-E602F7DF1DE8.jpegQuoted from awassig:Is it much a difference hooking up a PSW10 to ACNC ? I have the opportunity to purchase one for $50.00 but didnt want to add it if it didnt add anything to the game....The factory setup is pretty nice as it is.
Anyone hook up a
I have one hooked up to my ACNC. Massive difference. I would 100% buy that sub for $50. You'll need a 3.5mm audio splitter then just run the audio cable out the back of the game through a cabinet vent hole.
Quoted from finnflash:I am not figuring out the directions to install Pin Stadium lights on this pin. I cant figure out how the pin that goes to the GI stays in place. Not to mention the metal probe fell off just touching it to the board, but that's another issue. If anyone has any recommendations I would love to hear it.
I hooked mine up to a coin door LED bulb for the GI and the UV flasher to the shaker motor. This game looks amazing with pinstadiums.
Quoted from finnflash:Had similar issue when I locked in the crypt. Didnt send out a ball but went into ball search. When it released my locked ball it thought it was the start of Crypt multiball, so when that ball drained it just sits in a holding pattern with no ball searches until I have to turn it off.
I'm stumped.
I had this same issue a couple weeks back. The game would randomly not give me a ball into the shooter lane. I thought I had a bad trough switch but it turned out that I had 2 magnetized balls. Replaced all the balls and it's been fine ever since.
Quoted from PinballHaven:Hello all, I am helping my buddy HopBeard work on his recently acquired ACNC and troubleshooting various problems his machine is having that seem to be consistent with this game historically and faulty switches. His is on the newest code version.
The game is losing track of balls at various points, sometimes all balls in trough isn't registering and other times the locked balls aren't recognized and the game then goes to ball check after the drain and gives some bonus balls while disrupting the game flow. He has recently replaced the balls with high carbon balls, and that didn't solve the issues. He also reached out to Spooky and received a couple extra switches and a new amp for the speakers which were shorting out / feeding back through the sub channel.
We have seen that the game seems to work OK for a few games and once things start failing then they continue to get worse and the game becomes unplayable, and rebooting at that point doesn't solve the issues.
specifically we're going to try to adjust / reflow / replace:
right frank lock switch(es)
crypt switch(es)
trough switches
My questions:
Are we missing anything obvious, for others who have worked on these issues?
Any particular recommended sequence for working through these?
Can the crypt switches be adjusted or worked on without removing the upper playfield?
Thanks in advance.....
I suggest going through the game and making sure all your opto wires are pushed securely into their IDC connectors. 99% of my issues with Spooky games have been a wire not seated properly into the IDC connectors.
The other 1% was magnetized balls in Alice Cooper.
Quoted from Gnrwarkfc:Are you referring to the coils? Or like a actually lowering them? If so how do m you do that?
Try playing a few games with the flippers raised as well. I tried lowering them and wasn't a fan of it. I raised them a bit and love the way it shoots now. I can backhand both ramps and even backhand the left orbit sometimes. It's all personal preference of course so find what works best for you. Here's a video of how my game shoots with the flippers raised.
Quoted from insight75:Interesting. I'm going to try this. Any idea on the playfield pitch or flipper coil power setting?
My flippers coils are default power. Playfield is 6.5 degrees.
Quoted from Gear_Grinder:Nice! Where can I get one?
Quoted from Magicchiz:I want one also
Magicchiz
Quoted from rockrand:I have the drop with one colored light but how did you get the color changing?
Very nice!
It's basically the same process as how I made my under cabinet lights change with the monster modes. The only difference is that I had to fabricate a bracket to direct my LED strip at the drop target.
See this page and scroll down to my post #11389 for a how to: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/aw-jeez-official-rick-and-morty-club/page/228#post-11389
Quoted from XatchieS:Hi we just bought an Alice Cooper BSE, it worked from the start and now it lowers volume and starta random crypt multiballs.
Any suggestions?
Done test which all drop targets passed several times.
Cleaned optos.
Thanks
Check your IDC connectors where the optos plug into the little board under the playfield. I was having those same issues and it ended up being a loose connection because an opto wire wasn't punched into the connector all the way.
Quoted from boogies:I'd love to do the under cabinet lighting. How did you hook up?
Here's my write-up on how I connect undercab lighting on my Spooky games.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/aw-jeez-official-rick-and-morty-club/page/228#post-6165855
Quoted from Numskul:Joined the club last night! This game is awesome!!
Game is in great shape and seems to be working fine.
Any must have mods or preventative fixes?
Thinking of porting the cabinet to prevent glass rattle - unless there is a better fix?
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I like to mod all my Spooky games with undercab lights that change colors with the the speaker lights. Here's my writeup on how to do that:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/aw-jeez-official-rick-and-morty-club/page/228#post-6165855
As far as preventative mods, all I've done is add the ball trap fixes and quiet fan mod from PinballLife.
https://www.pinballlife.com/alice-coopers-nightmare-castle.html
It's a fantastic game. Enjoy it!
Quoted from 1956PINHEAD:Deleted post
Legit just installed on my Alice Cooper last night. I love the ease of changing and testing out different flipper angles ESPECIALLY on this game. We all know how frustrating the shots can be on this title. 
After a few different flipper positions I found one that works fantastic for my playstyle.
Also, 1956PINHEAD did you mean November 30th??
EB2995FA-03AC-452C-A175-415CDF9A62E2.jpegQuoted from insight75:I'm thinking of giving this a these for the same reasons. Did you install on the upper playfield as well or just the lower?
Just the lower flippers. I've never had an issue with hitting the upper playfield shots.
Quoted from WannabeWizard:Where did you get the flippers and tops. Thanks
I got them from here:
Quoted from Crazysurfkid:Hi, I suddenly seem to be having trouble with the first drop down target.
It's just suddenly started constantly going up and down while I'm playing.
I've have a visual (under playfield) and tested by hand as well as via the test menu, and it seems to work OK. But when I now start a game, even before I launch my ball, the drop target is constantly dropping and raising?
Any ideas?
That drop target opto connects to a small opto board under the playfield. Replace the connector for that opto. I was having your exact issue until I replaced that connector with the more reliable version from PinballLife. Sorry I don't remember the exact part number but I believe these are what you need. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, please.
https://www.pinballlife.com/156-trifurcon-crimp-terminals.html
https://www.pinballlife.com/156-396mm-crimp-stuff-2-position-housing-with-locking-ramp-17574.html
It could also be a cold solder joint on the opto itself. I also had that issue when I first got my game. Check my post #5510 in this thread for a picture of it.
Quoted from Coyote:This is something I was thinking of doing. Kinda surprised you didn't connect it up to the insert though..!
I could have, but I wanted the colors to change along with the modes/speaker lights.
Quoted from chewiec:Has anyone else had an issue with the ball getting stuck at the top of the right ramp? If I hit a clean shot up the right ramp it will sometimes push back through the top gate and sit next to it requiring me to remove the glass to get it. Game is level and at 6.8 degrees of slope.
It sometimes happens on my game. I haven’t found a solution for it. I think it just comes with the design of that ramp. I bent my gate down as far as it could go to minimize the possibility of a ball rolling back through it. It helped but didn’t completely stop it from happening.
Quoted from GuiitarMan:I'm beyond floored and in awe of the pinball community! After telling my ACNC story on Episode 190 of the Slam Tilt Podcast, some members of the Nashville Pinball League went out and somehow secured unobtainium. They presented a ACNC original topper to me last night live on the broken_diode Twitch stream of our local weekly tournament. I'm still in shock and hopefully can get this thing lit up and moving around soon!
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Jealous!
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Howell, MI
Vancouver, BC