Joined the Alien club yesterday and became the proud owner of an Alien LE in green. Have been busy fine-tuning for two evenings and all goes well sofar.
One problem I cannot solve: the right beacon is on but doesn’t turn. The left works fine. The first day both beacons worked as they should as far as I can remember, but now not.
Checked the wires but all seems connected. Haven’t checked the power on the wires yet. Any advice how to continue my check is kindly appreciated.
Seems like if I want to remove a beacon dome I have to take out the monitor, since that blocks the screws that attaches the beacon to the top of the backbox.

did you get it used or NIB Alien LE?
Just curious

It’s a NIB LE green. Very lucky to get this one of the last ones.

Got very regularly the error “1 IO board missing”. Usually during the first or 2nd game already. Replaced all 4 USB cables for shielded with ferriet and gold contacts. Message and errors in gameplay came back just after 6 games played.
When the IO board Goes missing the airlock scoop coil doesn’t fire. Also other switches and popbumper coils are dead.
I switch the game off and back on: everything ok. But the problem always returns.
Any advice what to do/check next?
Do I have a bad IO board? And if so: which one?

2nd problem (haven’t read any Solution here yet); right beacon is on, but doesn’t spin. Left is ok. What can I do about This?

Re-adjusted the USB on the back of the pf. All ok for now. Took off the flasher dome and reassembeld the gears. It rotates again.

Happy Alien owner!!!!

Did mister Huber also replace the USB holder/connector on the IO-board with a type that connects better then the original one?
I consider this upgrade/repair too since especially the connector on IO-board 1 is due to fail. On my Alien this connector seems to have to much “space” between the cable head and the connector.

Averell: Can you send me more info on mr. Huber?

What is a good way to “destress” the USB connector/cable connection on Io-board 1? The cable points towards the back of the cabinet and seems to move easily which causes my IO-board 1 to be “missing”. All coils and lamps are out of order. This connector is indeed a incredibly fragile (and from a pinball persoective) and stupid design. It just doesn’t fit tight.
I want to replace the connector at IO-board 1 for a better one that fits more tight. Do these more tight or better locking connectors exist?

On my LE I have a persistent problem that keeps coming back: IO-board 1 missing.
I replaced all 4 usb cables that lead to the IO boards. I also bought a new IO-board to replace IO-board 1.
Still the exact same problem remains. I switch the machine off and back on after 20 sec: game works 100%. But never for long. Can take 1 game or 20, but the problem does always come back.
The usb cable seems to “wiggle” a lot in the holder/connector on the IO-board. Should I replace this holder to finally get rid of this problem?

Second: my magnet fell of the rod. Any advice on how to re attach this in a reliable way.

My game is being ‘tested’ at the DPO 2019 as we speak.

My Alien LE is new and came from Sweden. All 4 IO boards are sent for a reliability upgrade to Flipperwerk, Markus, in Germany.

Great solution. PM sent.

Do you still have 1 for sale? Destination the Netherlands.

Questions:
1: 3 out of 4 of my slingshot leds are out. The design is terrible. Any Solution for these leds? I believe to just replace with a NOS led/switch assembly won’t last.

2: I want to remove the top of the Xeno head. Where to start? I also want to remove the metal rod to drill a m3 screw hole in it and attach the magnets just like Averell did.

Tip: if you want to make your chestburster shot easier to shoot/not rattle just in front of the chestburster target bend the metal to the right of the chestburster lane to the right. To do so remove the lane guide and bend all 4 tabs 15 degrees. Re-assemble and tadaa!!!
Big difference a few mm make.

Still need help to improve the reliability of my Alien. IO-board 1 regularly is “missing”. Switch The game off and on and works 100%.
Replaced all USB cables for Oehlbach high quality ones: no difference.
These cables still “wiggle” in the connector sockets. I believe that is the problem but that is just a guess. The connection is not “tight” or firm. Are the cables still not the right ones or are all small usb connectors so poorly connected to the cable.
Added tape on the usb connector and cable end to stabilize the connection: no result. Still regularly get the error: IO-board 1 missing.
What else can I do? Hot glue the connector and cable with a small drop of glue to eliminate any interference?

Update on the “IO-board 1 missing” error:

I used 3 different USB cables: no effect. All 3 different brands and 2 out of 3 were high quality shielded, ferrite core etc. But no effect.

I stabilised the end of the cable and the connector on the IO-board with a cable and a plastic spacer like the ones you use to route cables under the playfield, but once again no effect.

Changed all IO-boards in different locations and even bought a fifth and tried that one also: no effect.

If any Alien owner has a flawlessly stable running Alien please let me know how to do This. I just played 4 games and 3/4 the error occured which meant end of game.

I would like to play This game one evening without errors and maybe try to get to “All out war” but in This condition that might never happen.

Change the USB cables and reroute them. Might make a difference.

Found my error log in the audits. Remember I had regular “IO-board 1” failures for 3 months. Since I removed the usb cable from lying around the silver amplifier in the cabinet two weeks ago I have no more “IO-board 1” failures. Have played at least 50 games without errors. Could the solution really be this simple?

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Move the usb cables away from the speaker and the amplifier in the cabinet. That solved my “IO-board missing” problems that occured regularly during gameplay. Better quality cables didn’t seem to help.

Recently the playfield monitor turns red. It happened several times. I switch the machine off and on and problem gone. What can cause this and how can I prevent it from happening?

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Red playfield display: I reseated the 2 cables/connectors that lead to the monitor. I recently removed the cable that was attached to the lower part of the 3- drop target bank. I added two screws and self locking nuts to the target bank bottom and tested and adjusted the hight of the screws. The coil that resets the targets fired many times and this might have caused my red display. For now the display works as it should.

Problem: the upper inner loop almost never registers. A clear and fast hit never registers. How can this be improved? It seems the switches cannot cope with the speed of the ball. This loop has two switches. In test they both work.
Cannot reduce the upper right flipper power since you need power to make the left upper ramp shot.

About the plastic: why is it so much bigger than the original? Can it be Made smaller so it doesn’t stick out so much?

I bought my Alien LE green from Royneblom and was happy with my purchase.

I had the same issue and it’s a Software problem. Solution: update to 1.3. Read the 1.2-1.3 update log. You’ll notice that also the slingshot coils will activate much better.

Request for the next update: remove the repeating sound while ball save is active. It is especially annoying during the wizard modes. Just let the two “shoot” and “again” inserts flash while ball save is active. That provides all the info needed.

I pulled the 6V regular light bulbs from the extra ball, start and launch button at the cabinet front. They become too hot. I tried 6V and 12V leds but these all melted immediately or were toasted directly. Any suggestions? Should I use regular 12v small light bulbs?

Haven’t seem any response to my previous questions, so I repeat it. Anyone?

Requests for the code update:
Reward more points for the ambush SJ.
The SJ inner loop shot should register if the ball triggers the lower OR the upper inductive switch.
Call out for SJ on inner loop should prevail over “mother ready at vent one” or other callouts that block the SJ callout.
Remove the looping sound during ball save. This is extremely annoying during the modes Self destruct and Loader battle. Just let the “scream” and “again” inserts light up.
Adjust the timing of the slingshot coils. This is not yet like a stern or B/W. 1.3 is better than 1.2, but still. The ball needs to get more speed. The bump is too slow.
Add lane change if possible for the bonus x.

2 suggestions.
1: I/O board 1 stops working. Result no more kick-out from the airlock and the top 1/3 of the playfield won’t work either.
Fix: reroute usb cables away from amplifier in cabinet.
2: the scoop does not have the plastic ball-guide inside or it is positioned poorly. Fix: adjust this black piece of plastic or get it. I believe some early model Alien didn’t have this plastic in the scoop.
3: check the metal protector around the scoop. If the edges are off they might block the ball in the way out.
Fix: remove and bend in the proper position. Even better: order the Cliffy protector set.

Replace the stock cables with any good quality cables. More important: move cables away from amplifier on bottom cabinet.
Also support the cables near the port of the IO-boards. Especially IO-board 1. The one at the rear end of the playfield.

Looking for a new EL inverter. Model nr. HY AC5000-BKL. It’s located in the rear of the cabinet. Can find it via several oriental sites, but cannot order just one: minimum is 10 or company doesn’t ship to my country. Any idea where I can buy this inverter?

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The original glass is pretty think and therefore heavy as hell combined with the frame. I replaced the glass with the “Roman” glass from Germany. Two big plusses: big visual improvement and the weight is reduced a lot.
Removing the original glass is fairly easy. Just remove about 20 screws. When you reassemble use proper sticky foam and protect the glass from the metal screws.

I would say, stock speakers are ok!!! I play mine om level 3 and the roof almost comes down already.

Since there unfortunately are no new slingshot double ledded lamp + switch boards from Timebandit, who made them in the past I post this question: can some body else make these?
Or are the specs available for others so anyone else can reproduce them.

The odds of scoring a upper left flipper shot into vent 2 is 1:50.
From the lower left flipper via the post or underside of right upper flipper 1:100.
Summary: the shot is near impossible from any angle. A direct hit shot from the upper left flipper bounces out via the metal lane guide.
To finish tunnel hunt requires luck or a multiball. And even in MB you still need lots of luck.

Rail cannot be tweaked. Shot is just near impossible to make. Backhand from lower right flipper as you describe is worth a try. I’ll report back on that.

Sometimes people need to be challenged. Great effort and fantastic result. I will do this too in my Alien LE.

Can you still properly hit the weapon target?

Where can I buy these better Ss leds?

How can I prevent the playfield LCD to look like this? On startup it’s always ok, but unfortunately it regularly shows red or green lines. Sometimes during gameplay the screen goes back to normal. I took out the entire screen and reseated all connectors EXCEPT the flat brittle and fragile looking connector. No difference.

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I dismounted the playfield display also but did not notice any damage. Will look again for any damaged or cut cables.
If I replace the monitor DVI-cable from the playfield monitor: a link to a good quality cable is highly appreciated.

“Look man, I only want to know one thing: where they are...”
Replace they by (these incredibile software updates!!!!!)

Request: please remove the “ball save” music loop. This annoying and useless sound drives me crazy as long as the ball save timer is active.
The “scream again” audio and visuals are too long and dominant. Something short and simple I would suggest.
Add many Ripley quotes during Self Destruct and Loader Battle if possible.
Add Ripley in Derelict Ship.

Played a 45 minute game. Twice I had a scene bonus of 1,2 billion. Got to all out war twice. 30 Weapons collected what helped alot to revive a ball with the flame thrower or smart gun.
I believe the 12x scene bonus what scored the 1.2 billion twice is a scoring bug. I hope this exceptional scoring can be reduced in an update. Also because I have no idea how I got the scene bonus and the multiplier. Some end of ball bonus do have a scene bonus and others don’t.

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3 balls per game... some extra balls scored.

I’m game over man, sold my Alien LE. Good news for pinheads in the USA: it’s on it’s way to a new owner overseas.
I’m on to a new project....