Quoted from latenite04:

It's a metal standoff.
I think this is it.
https://www.pinballlife.com/williams-metal-lane-guide-spacer.html
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Quoted from latenite04:

Mine looks exactly like yours, no diode.

Quoted from Skyemont:

Does anyone know how to remove the slam ramp?

Quoted from Skyemont:

Thanks guys. Not looking forward to doing this. Looks like a B.

Quoted from Frogman:

Thank you! I must need glasses - I didn't see look closely enough inside the screw part to see that it required an allen wrench.

Quoted from JT-Pinball:

Well I’m going to need a few spacers or I’m going to have to make some brackets that are longer by about a 1/2 inch.
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Quoted from latenite04:

JT-Pinball - Here's the measurements and tracing for the ball guide. I converted it to an stl and printed one to double check and it looks pretty close. If the 3d model helps you as an example for fabricating the new one let me know and I can get you the file.
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Quoted from jackd104:

Just discovered this - looks like the vertical position of the ramp can be adjusted by moving the coil stop at the end of the assembly. See pic. Sliding it lower would let the ramp drop lower probably. On mine it looks like it's adjusted as high as possible. [quoted image]

Quoted from SimplePin:

I'll be looking at this today. My slam ramp slams pretty good. Looks like my ramp was broken and welded at one point in it's life and may be hitting harder that most. I'll report back later today on my findings.

Quoted from jackd104:

The decal on the wheel - is it supposed to be smooth or have a slightly rough texture? The one that's on mine now is smooth. I bought a replacement (because the one on their now is not aligned properly) and it has the rough texture. That does make more sense to me given one purpose of the wheel is to speed the ball up the slam ramp. Thx.

Quoted from gliebig:

Was it hard to line up to the correct award/wheel value?

Quoted from JT-Pinball:

In very large part to you!
One of my friends that owns the local arcade builds cars for a living. Guy he builds them for has a large packing co. They have lots of SS steel
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Quoted from jackd104:

This thing has got to be the most punishing hunk of metal to clean in all of pinball.
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Quoted from Blu:

I have the same problem and have never been able fix it. It comes and goes even after rebuilding everything.
If you figure it out, I’d love to know what this goblin is.

Quoted from latenite04:

It sounds like a bad solder joint on the wheel opto board is making the connection flaky. I would check it for cracked solder joints or just reflow the board to see if that fixes it. I've seen it mentioned a few times that replacing that board fixes the errors.
A-22026 - http://www.greatlakesmodular.com/products/pinball/ngg_sdo.html

Quoted from latenite04:

Thanks, I didn't know GLM was closed.
There's also Pindora Box but more options for a replacement are always good.
https://www.pindorabox.com/product/no-good-gofers-disc-opto-board-a-22026/

Quoted from TheOnlyest:

Ok, this may sound nuts but... If your flasher for the insert "Wheel Value" was replaced with an LED.... Try changing just that flasher bulb back to an incandescent bulb and see what happens.

Quoted from TheOnlyest:

Go to flasher test mode and make sure the flasher bulb isn't burned out.

Quoted from Pinster5000:

Hard to say these days but I figure a real nice one can go for $5500-$6000.

Quoted from Pinster5000:

Yeah, very glad to have mine as well. Simple game, but hard to put in big score. Super jackpot is one of the best shots in pinball.

Quoted from jackd104:

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Quoted from jackd104:

There’s definitely a molex connector of the right size under my pf. Maybe yours was removed or stuffed and hidden in a wire harness?

Quoted from SimplePin:

I found the stray harness near the a hole in the playfield below the tower. Yay. Thanks for the tip.
Another question I have. The coil that moves the ball from the center of the back trap assembly to the left side of the playfield kicker stopped working. I assume this coil is the "underground passage" on the coil test. Can anyone confirm this? The coil in my game is labeled AE-26-1200 while the manual states that it should be AE-27-1200.
Thanks.

Quoted from CoolCatPinball:

What triggers the coil? Some type of switch? I've never torn that area down. But given the info you provided, my guess would be the game isn't recognizing the ball is there, which leads me to believe possibly a bad switch or optic? Whatever tells the game the ball is present.

Quoted from jackd104:

You said you ran jumper wire from board to coil and it won’t fire. So maybe it’s a board problem? MPU board or power driver board? Some component is bad that controls the firing of that coil?

Quoted from TheOnlyest:

Before going to all that trouble, try a RAM clear, take the batteries out and leave the game off for 1/2hr. You'll lose all your settings and scores, but same if you swap out the MPU, unless you have a spare MPU with NGG ROM's.

Quoted from TheOnlyest:

It clears up many nutty logic problems, which appears to be the cause, based on your testing results thus far. I'm wondering if your RAM is failing or has some bad blocks.

Quoted from TheOnlyest:

It really depends on the games history... how long it was routed, how many plays, how many hours its been powered on, etc.
RAM should theoretically last the life of the game, but dirty power, spikes, heat and fluctuating voltages due to power supply components not performing as they once did, are all factors. boards dont typically fail, and can almost always be repaired if they do, but notorious components like capacitors, transistors and IC's certainly do fail.

Quoted from TheOnlyest:

That's as good as any! I've been doing it with a 90 degree pick or a tiny flat head screwdriver for nearly 40 years so...

Quoted from BRW84:

Just joined the club yesterday and I have a potentially stupid question! In regular multiball, is the right ramp supposed to stay raised throughout multiball? At first I thought this was a switch issue, but it also makes it easier to feed the ball to the upper right flipper for a jackpot shot, so it occurred to me that it might be a feature.
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Quoted from Ryancaseystudio:

Helping a buddy out with his NGG that he just got and hoping someone can point me in the right direction. When powered on everything works and plays well but we are not getting any sound. The other thing is the DMD looks shot. See picture. I'm wondering if the DMD issue could be causing the lack of sound. I can't do test or diagnostics because I can't read the screen. We are planning to replace the DMD for a ColorDMD (if we can find one). If anyone is selling one, please let me know.
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Quoted from KingVidiot:

Just picked up a mint HUO NGG yesterday! Everything original, with the owner handing the receipt from 1998.
The only things I can see needing are:
1. new rubbers
2. new spinner decal
3. new batteries because it doesn’t save any audits or high scores.
4. Maybe cleaning the trough opto? It says to install 6 balls, but then it launches 2. Plays just fine with 5 and no errors.
Pretty stoked on this find!
My question is this - should I replace the incandescent bulbs with LEDs? personally, I like the soft glow of the older bulbs, but if I plan on reselling it someday, I’m wondering if I should just replace all the bulbs while I’m fixing it up. [quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

Quoted from Run_dll:

Just brought home my Gofers! Proud to be a part of the club! I do have one quick question though.
I've levelled it but a full plunge doesn't make it up the left ramp to set up the Hole in One shot. It rattles off the posts at the bottom of the ramp as it tries to go up. Is this a levelling issue? I had it at 7.5 degrees and taken back down to 6.5 but it still does it. The metal bracket over the top of the plunger is loose aswell so it seems the plunger gets caught on it sometimes. Is it like this on your machines?

Quoted from Run_dll:

Thanks for the answers. The plunger needed adjusting (it was mounted too high and catching the autoplunge assembly) and I moved the shooter guide slightly with the adjustment screw under the playfield and now it plunges great! Thanks for the help!

Quoted from jathomp22:

I decided to shop my NGG. There is a lot more pieces then I was expectiong….
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Quoted from madamyates:

So I was getting the "wires are installed backwards" error and did some research in this thread. I replaced the opto board like suggested but once I replaced it the game started going apeshit; kicking balls out repeatedly, modes starting for no reason, etc.
I installed the old board and despite displaying the error the game works just fine. I don't like the credit dot but what else could be happening here?

Quoted from mrSATURN2012:

Oh man, I have the same issue. Did you have to remove that plastic cover and then the ramp?

Quoted from jrcmlc:

Well, I've been waiting to post anything and working on this thing I bought recently, but today is the day I give in. So there have been various issues since I turned this on for the first time, today I decided to take the comet matrix alligator clip bullshit off and use a real comet bulb adapter, did that and while I was in there I found this hidden back in a loom. No idea what it goes to, there are no loose connectors near it, etc... Turn it back in get the usual wires backwards motor bad bullshit that I've gotten since day one of bringing it home, but motor works fine, game plays 100%...and then I got a "checksum" error, took matrix out entirely, no change, reseated everything, no change. Shut it off and waited, back on, works fine. Never failed again after 20 reboots and 20 games. Wtf.
And not for nothing that loose connector was hidden back in the loom, looks like in purpose.
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Quoted from TheOnlyest:

Based on the wire colors, that plug would be for a GI string that would be attached to a detachable playfield assembly with GI lights on it, like an upper PF, spotlights, etc. Its entirely possible that it is unused. You could confirm this by checking if there is 5-6VAC at that connector.

Quoted from beltking:

Picked up an excellent condition gofers.
Question…
When you drain and ball save puts another ball out on lane, my kicker doesn’t auto launch it you have to manually plunge. Why?
The kicker does work in test so idk maybe a setting Or supposed to be that way.
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Quoted from mrSATURN2012:

I do have another problem (always with this machine), does anyone have a picture of their J4 connector? Here’s mine…it looks fine but it’s completely reversed in order from the manual (it should be red-white then blue-brown, etc.).
My flashers are out so I think this is the culprit.
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Quoted from mrSATURN2012:

Any luck on Switch 47?
Also, can someone either verify that the manual is correct for wiring the flashers (J4, even though it should be in the J3 spot on the board) or take pictures of the wiring for their upper flashers (the rows of three flashers). Thanks!

Quoted from mrSATURN2012:

Woot!!!

Quoted from ezatnova:

Thanks in advance for the slew of posts I'll likely have in the coming days as I dig into my "new" machine. Pics to come soon too. I think overall I did well with this NGG. Only real wear is on the mylar below the slam ramp, and on the "Drive" insert right in front of the newton captive ball. Boards look good and it has a Rottendog MPU with NVRAM and also the voltage stability mini-board thing to stop it from resetting, I suppose. Color DMD was included too.
Prior owner just put in new Gofers and LEDs for the most part (not the flashers and upper playfield underlights). Just need to dig in and clean it and go through it now.
I did notice that the triple spotlight is on the wrong post (its one over on the right of where it should be), and also the left gofer does two shady things. First, he is slow to descend and sometimes hangs up halfway or partially. Secondly, he kills himself as soon as he is activated in normal play. I do see a screw laying in the cabinet, so that's somewhere to start lol!
My first two questions that I haven't been able to answer myself in the manual are lighting related:
- When is the lowermost right (clear dome near the shooter lane) light/flasher supposed to light? Mine doesn't light in any tests, but I also don't see it at all in the manual that lists all of the bulbs locations.
- For the backbox lighting, I briefly saw that some of the sockets going into the back of it are black, while most are white. I assume the black ones dictate that they are blinking and not constant on. My question is, are the BULBS themselves blinking bulbs or are the SOCKETS that are black somehow different and cause the blinking?
More to come as I dig in but wanted to at least start here.[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

Quoted from ezatnova:

hmm. Wouldn’t these be them?
Nice thing is that the box is already done with a nice LED kit including comet fire bulbs for the areas of the fuse and explosions in the drawing
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Quoted from jackd104:

It’s a lot of fun. It has a rambunctious quality at times where all hell is breaking loose and the gophers are haranguing you. It’s a simpler game compared to many but has a unique vibe. Fills a nice niche in collection.

Quoted from ezatnova:

Ok, admittedly I do need to get through pages 20-39 of the thread, but I have it operating as good as new except for one gofer behavior from Bud where he still auto hits himself when he activates and you’re supposed to hit him and THEN be able to lock the ball. On that mode he activates, auto hits, then that ramp is up and ready to get the ball locked.
From what I can tell, in all other modes where he’s just popping up to yell or taunt or whatever, he goes up and down as intended. Even in the chicken dance mode he seems fine.
Anyone know where I might hone in on, within that gofer, to remedy that?
He is still dropping perfectly nice and fast when he is trying to drop now that the bolt through his head is secured, so I’m glad that part is fixed up.

Quoted from buckeyesrewind:

Has anyone done a pinsound remix for this game? Thanks!

Quoted from ezatnova:

Need a quick hand if someone is able. Changed out the tapered rubber which entailed loosening the right ramp, red white blue light housing above it, and the spinner underneath it. I have this clear plastic left that I forget where it goes, and also a post. I know one post goes to mount the red white blue housing.
Any ideas please?[quoted image]

Quoted from ezatnova:

I ordered a Ball Hangup kit and have read the instruction a bunch of times but am still a bit confused.
My machine already has about half of the kit on it. The black rubber mini domes are all on mine in the suggested spots. And I also have the slam ramp guard.
I do NOT have the two flasher dome metal guards installed, which came with my new kit. Does anyone have a pic of how these are installed? I have a sense of where they are trying to go but can’t see exactly how they shout sit.
Also, the instructions reference a clear plastic that involved the space up by the right slasher bank and the ramp, however, the plastic mine came with doesn’t seem at all to go there. I think it might go somewhere over the plastic that is intentionally warped, over the Putt Out hole, to protect hangups over the wire bundle back there?
The kit also came with two small black risers. The instructions mention them involved with the plastic, mentioned above, but it’s just not making sense to me where and how that all goes.
Last, I don’t quite understand the instructions step about properly routine the left flasher bank wire bundle. Does anyone have a pic of that properly routed? I have gotten a hangup on that bundle, so I’m thinking mine needs fixing.
Thanks

Quoted from ezatnova:

Looking for some help with my gofers. Was running fine, then my display went all yellow and on restarting the game it won’t boot. Lights on the field all come on but screen is black and no boot up “bong” noise and start button does nothing.
Fuse 108 was blown (solenoid secondary) so I replaced it. Turned it back on and 108 blew instantly again.
Any pointers for me?

Quoted from ezatnova:

Thanks. Scouring over things now. Trying to understand what “solenoid secondary” really means for this game, since that’s the F108 fuse that keeps blowing.
Went through all the coils and tested them for resistance. Nothing looks visibly bad on the PDB.
Of course next step might be removing the board and testing the big diodes etc.
Shame it doesn’t look like that can really be done with the board in the game.

Quoted from Rudy68:

I don’t know if this has been discussed earlier but the other day I adjusted my ball guide so I can plunge up the ramp for the hole-in-one “skillshot”. Now sometimes when I start multiball the auto-plunger also kicks the ball up the ramp for “an easy jackpot”… Is there anything to do about this? I can imagine some tournament players wouldn’t be thrilled with this happening.

Quoted from DumbAss:

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Quoted from allsportdvd:

Another question
I bought a new slam ramp for my game but there is no guard piece for the left side. Is it really needed?

Quoted from jrcmlc:

Yeah my gofers did it the first time I turned it on after I bought it, seller claimed it never happened before. It does it about 50% of the time I turn it on, which pisses me off every time. The wires are correct and the wheel works correctly every time...regaedles of if it boots with an error or not. I have not found a solution.

Quoted from jrcmlc:

Maybe DumbAss has some idea from an electrical standpoint? My knee jerk reaction is to replace the motor and see if it fixes it, but I've not done so.

Quoted from jrcmlc:

Since you have it 100% you wanna be the guinea pig for DumbAss solution?

Quoted from DumbAss:

Run the wheel test (assuming there is one) after you get the failure and see what it reports. I haven't seen my NGG for years now. It's been on "permanent" loan to a friend who moved it upstairs so I haven't bothered to bring it back into the annual local show rotation.
After that, I can only think that it might be a software bug. I am running v1.0 but there's a v1.3 out there. It's not unknown for WMS software to have bugs. This game in particular is likely "unfinished" since the trough expects 6 balls but the game only utilizes 4 at any one time. An example of an "errant error" is IJ. Early versions of the software report a drop target failure but the failure is due to interrupted high power so the software is unable to reset the drop targets at POST and incorrectly assumes the drop target solenoids are at fault when in fact, the power is interrupted.

Quoted from SimplePin:

My results. Normal. And guess what? This is the first time I've turned my game on in months and there is no error. Go figure. Let me turn off and then back on and test a few more times. I tend to agree with DumbAss that it's potentially a software bug. From all accounts that I've read the software was unfinished. [quoted image]

Quoted from jrcmlc:

What rom do you have? I broke my left flipper tonight, sheared the linkage I mean, so I'm gonna be rebuilding flippers tomorrow and will check my rom rev then.

Quoted from jrcmlc:

Well no reason to investigate rom versions if yours is now working without changing the rom. I feel like I understand less now. Lol

Quoted from allsportdvd:

Does anyone’s machine have this metal piece on top of this plastic? Concerned I have an aftermarket piece in here, if so does anyone have the plastic as mine now has holes in it
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Quoted from allsportdvd:

I’ve had to use the holes for something useful so I added a golf ball there
I still have the wheel issue though even though it seems to work fine in tests
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Quoted from jrcmlc:

I got swayed to do the lcd because it can also do "dots" if you want it to look more original. I run mine in gofers on "runny crayon" mode as tantrum calls it, which is smooth lcd not dots, and I think it is the only way to go on gofers. Fits the game and "feel" perfectly. Let me know if there is a specific scene you want to see and I'll shoot some video.

Quoted from madamyates:

Getting this error all of sudden in switch test when moving the wheel. Claims the wheel is broken but it plays fine other than not calibrating to the correct award. I have replaced both the motor board and opto board with no luck. Any thoughts? I can’t find a ground short anywhere.
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Quoted from madamyates:

Getting this error all of sudden in switch test when moving the wheel. Claims the wheel is broken but it plays fine other than not calibrating to the correct award. I have replaced both the motor board and opto board with no luck. Any thoughts? I can’t find a ground short anywhere.
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Quoted from madamyates:

Getting the wheel motor broken message on boot but nothing about wires being backwards.

Quoted from ezatnova:

My machine is down while Dr. Hibler works on my boards.
So meanwhile I’m staring at this Mylar area below the slam ramp. The rest of my machine is in 9/10 condition and I’ve spent a lot of time and elbow grease getting it looking fantastic and playing like new.
The big question is, while it’s down, do I dare go down the road of upside down air canning the old Mylar to try and remove it, then fill the depression in the wood and match the paint and then re-Mylar? Or should I leave well enough along and not risk screwing up the paint? I’m so torn.
(And yes before anyone asks, I did put thin felt on the bottom of the ramp and the posts to mute future wear.)
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Quoted from Bugsy:

Does anyone know if the manual is accurate in it's listing of rubbers and sizes? I know some manuals are notoriously flat out wrong regarding rubber sizes and quantity, so just checking if the manual for NGG is accurate or not.

Quoted from SimplePin:

Just finished converting my NGG to LED's. As I've said in other threads recently, it's like a whole new game! Questions for you guys. Now that I'm playing it I'm seeing things I didn't notice before. Especially in the pops. I think they act as indicators during play, otherwise they cycle with the light shows. At the start of the ball the red pop is lit, then at some point the white comes on, the blue I've only seen on during light shows. Can anyone shed light on this?

Quoted from DumbAss:

This is a feature of almost all Pat Lawlor games. The pop bumper lamps in his games are controlled (part of the lamp matrix). Most other designers have games where the pop bumper lamps are part of the GI (general illumination).
I am fairly sure it relates to how many points you score when the pop bumper is "hit". An unilluminated one scores minimum. An illuminated one scores more and a flashing one scores maximum.
You will see this in games such as Whirlwind, The Addams Family and Twilight Zone (the ones I am immediately familiar with) as well. All Pat Lawlor games.

Quoted from metallik:

Most likely: your lift catch plate had the spring hook break off, the spring sprung away and now it's kinda random whether the latch engages or not.
If so, you need these:
http://www.passionforpinball.com/ngg_catch.htm

Quoted from SimplePin:

Just noticed something while playing last night. After making the putt out shot the wheel award should be random. My suddenly started awarding "cart attack" for every award across multiple games and reboots. I haven't started looking into the issue yet. Just thought I would ask see if anyone else has had this issue before I start the process.
Happy New Year!

Quoted from SimplePin:

I've started looking into this. Strangeness ensued. If I boot the game and start a game with the glass the off and put a ball into the putt out it will start "cart attack" every time. If I light putt out and then move the wheel by hand before putting the ball into the putt out the wheel award will then be random for the rest of the game. If I start a second game the wheel awards will also be random. Not sure what the logic is supposed to be but I'm guessing the wheel is supposed to spin on putt out to select the award? I checked the putt out popper opto switch and it's working. Stumped at this point. I'll look at the wheel and wheel optos next, however the wheel seems to work as usual except for the putt out wheel award.
Any ideas?

Quoted from DuffysArcade:

Joined the club today! 8th Lawlor machine
Game is still on rom v1.0 ...is it worthwhile to upgrade it?
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Quoted from ezatnova:

Hey maybe he’s a Charger guy who leaves the yellow splitter shipping protectors on the car forever!.

Quoted from allsportdvd:

Haven't seen it in person but to me it looks woefully bad, I wouldn't ruin my game with it

Quoted from jackd104:

FH 2.0 is ok. It’s not a masterpiece but not terrible either. It extends enjoyment of the game. I haven’t played NGG 2.0 but it looks like it’s on a whole other level (and not a higher one).

Quoted from SimplePin:

So I started getting false gofer hits during the mode where you try to hit the gophers as they alternate up and down (don't recall the mode name). Does this mean that my reed switches are going bad? I'm not interested in rebuilding them as it looks like you have to destroy them to rebuild them. I know M&M makes replacements. Just wondering what others have done in this case before I spend $120 on four new switches. Is there reliable way to determine the faulty switch?
Thanks!
Side note: I have more info on the recurring wheel error problem and another issue that I reported recently being linked. I'll create a separate post for that.

Quoted from dudah:

Never heard of it, but it sounds cool! One of the ramp guys could probably do it. Big piece with lots of bends, decals and flashers riveted; wouldn't be cheap!

What was the resolution so the next guy can find it?

Quoted from PinHead25:

Hey all fellow ngg owners. Was running into the issue were balls were getting stuck in the subway. To ok it off to find this metal bracket laying in it. Any idea were this one goes? Any idea helps.
Thanks Grant
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Quoted from tilt-master:

Side of slam ramp, part of this kit:
https://www.ipdb.org/files/4338/NGG_A_22599.pdf

Quoted from PinRat:

Hello, I just picked up an NGG in trade and was hoping I could find help with what types of switches go in the left and right return ramps for the "left ramp make" and "right ramp make" switches. The manual indicates they are the same type of magnetic reed switch that the "center ramp make" uses, but these two are clearly physically actuated microswitches.
Thank you!

Quoted from shirkle:

I’m not sure I’ve seen this on this thread yet…I kept getting a ball stuck in the VUK behind the pop bumpers. It would only get unstuck by a second ball. I couldn’t figure out if it was somehow a switch error or the opto wasn’t working. Turns out the scoop itself was pinching the ball. Check out the picture. I guess it got hit from the pop bumper area enough that it pushed backward and was pinching the ball. Easy fix![quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

Quoted from brian-allen:

Hi all, I just finished a new alternate Translite for No Good Gofers. Here's the ink drawing before I added color. Lots of mayhem going on in this one!
I'll post the final here once I get more photos, but you can see it or grab one here:
https://www.flylanddesigns.com/product-category/pinball-and-arcade-artwork/
Thank you![quoted image]

Quoted from jackd104:

I’m leaving the club. Bon voyage, Bud and Buzz! I hardly knew ye.
Love this game, had a ton of fun overhauling it and playing for a few years. I hear it may end up at Port City Pinball or Funspot at some point. Actually kind of glad it may be available for the public to enjoy.
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