Thinking of joining the club. Have an exclusive collection of new Sterns but want something new and this game looks fantastic. I am a bit nervous about the state it will arrive in. Anyone have any comments for someone just about the receive one NIB? Any "I wish I ...when I got it" comments?

I have been part of the purchase of pretty much EVERY NIB stern in the past 3 years and also bought a NIB FullT, NIB AMH, and NIB RZ.

Without a question the FullT is the BEST engineered, designed, and built game of any of them.

As with any NIB game it will need tweaks but that is to be expected.
I suggest to go through and tighten down every mech and stuff that may have bounced around during shipment (it is coming a long way afterall). Aside from that I have only had 1 issue in well over 1000plays and that was a single standup that broke. I replaced it and all good.

Speaking from lots of hands on experience, FullT has been by far the best quality game we have bought in the past 3 years, the problems have been minimal, and the customer service has been the best.

People seem to be hit or miss on the game but more and more seem to be enjoying it as they figure out the ruleset.
It has more flow and better feel than any game in recent history.

You talking code or things loose or what? We plugged in/bolted on the backbox and started playing! I haven't had anything come loose yet, no switch issues so far. From what I've heard, typical or less stuff than other NIB's. I will probably adjust some lane guides--there's one particular that needs to be just right. Just updated the software, took 5 minutes.

I say go for it...great value. You get a super fast fun widebody game with LCD for the price of a Stern Premium(check the Batman66 prices )...AND you now have the cabinet which means you can buy ALIEN Kit at 60% of retail(playfield and all art swap out) and drop it in along with the (at least) 3 other licenses that are next up for them. Lots of a la carte options too...27" LCD, Trim, Shaker etc

That is very encouraging. Having a wide body in the collection is just the icing on the cake. I will report back once I get it in and fire it up!

Wow this is excellent Andrew! Can't wait to play FT again next month.

My only complaint with unboxing was the lack of a manual as I had some wires disconnected and I wasnt sure where they went. In the end I figured it out , for the distance it traveled I was surprised there weren't a few more issues , the one box that was loose should probably be zip tied down , it would alleviate the issue . The documentation should probably be a little better too , I had nothing to explain hooking up wires to the big monitor and with the price paid I didn't want to make a mistake .

I set up my new FTh LE yesterday and the pop bumpers and the octane ANE targets don't light up. Since they are both on the right side, I was thinking it might be a single issue. Does anyone have any ideas? I have checked for loose connections with no luck. Thanks for any suggestions.

fuses?

Maybe a fuse? People have mentioned double checking the USB hub too. Just guesses here, I have not seen a schematic which would be nice to have.

Fuses look good. Of course, I have no idea which one it might be.

do switches work in switch test?

The switches all operate normally, the lights don't work though.

Contact heighway support. It's nice to get suggestions from us, but heighway needs to know how their games end up at the customers place so they can prevent issues in the subsequent runs. Plus they make the game so they should know best!

Thanks, I called my distributor this morning. Melissa at CoinTaker is contacting Andrew for me. I'll post the results when resolved.

Sorry for the cross post from the other Full Throttle thread, but I want to be sure everyone sees how simple the fix was:

My FTh LE is fixed and playing perfectly! I reseated the connector from the main green board on the floor of the cabinet marked Playfield Power Supply and then on both sides of where that cable passes through the steel brace between the playfield rails. Nothing worse than a loose connection. Thanks Andrew for your suggestions. This a fun and beautiful game!

I have never loaded a video before and am having no luck thus far.

I shot a short video on my iPhone and I don't know how to post it here. Any suggestions? The file ends in .MOV and that seems to be part of the problem. Sorry, this is not like posting photos.

My FTLE shipped. I just tracked it and it says "Held Awaiting Payment Of Duties/taxes Or Charges By Receiver." Not sure what happens next. Does someone contact me?

You pay for ground ship once it gets here...no other "duties" etc. Heighway should have contacted you for payment I think.

What value/rating are the caps please?

I am currently running 1.2 code. I emailed Andrew a few months ago and heard nothing.
Can anyone hook me up with the newer code? Is it worth it?

You can request it at [email protected]

Dave
Heighway Pinball

Finally got my hands on a FT. Picked up a somewhat lightly routed unit. Needs some TLC but nothing I can't handle or that wasn't expected.

A couple of questions:

What is the latest code version?

Assuming my code is old, how does one go about updating the game?

After adjusting the pop bumper switches I pulled out the interlock switch so they would have power to test. I noticed that all of the RGB LEDs on that board flash green when the pops hit. Is this normal behavior? I also noticed that the game just seems slow/sluggish to register the switches on the pops. I have the switches set pretty close and the pops are still sluggish and occasionally fail to fire - especially the bottom one.

Any update on a manual for the game?

Oh and can anyone with the shaker installed please take a pic of the connector to the board in the bottom of the cabinet and a pic of where the shaker is mounted?

Thank you!

Edit: Got most of these questions answered except the pics of the shaker motor set up. Anyone?

Hi, can you tell me how you got the latest code update and how to install etc.

Don't update, don't even think about it.
I updated mine and the new software is not stable. It keeps bricking my FT after a few games after which I have to rewrite the SD card. Terrible.

I updated and had no issues ? Worked great and was easy. First I've heard of any "bricking". Have you emailed helmut at heighway?

I can get a pick of the shaker later today.

Anyone know how to adjust the sensitivity of the switches/sensors? I have one sensor on Alien that is registering too frequently, and it is causing some issues. Was hoping someone with experience on FT may be able to help since there are only a handful of aliens out there at this point. Thanks. -Tommy

I would think you could email Heighway and they would be happy to help. No?

I'd like to say yes but have been emailing for 2 weeks with little to no help on this specific issues. Others they have just said they are aware of the problem and working on it but thats a whole other story.

I was in contact with everyone there, tried everything they and I could think of.

I feel like I exhausted what they can do for me at this point.

Here is the deal: I flash the SD card and have a fresh 1.41

Game runs PERFECT. Tons of fun. Then at some point it craps out. And then this happens

All reports, switches etc check out 100% fine.
It is software that gets dizzy.

It seems related to me opening the coin door while the machine is on. It always happened right after I opened the door, made adjustments (most likely volume) and then closed it. The software somehow took a hit every time after that.

I will re-install 1.41 again, NOT open the door while the machine is on from now on and report back to you guys.
And I will follow a friendly pinsider's advice and exchange the USB cables as there seems to be a known issue with a certain early batch of said cables.

It is a shame, as you can tell by the video I modded the crap out of mine, added 3 interactive color-changing LED towers at the slings and the wheelie bike, added center drain light, shooter lane light and bike, external volume control, lit flipper buttons, bikes exchanged and added on playfield, improved the broken wheelie mechanism, exchanged the back light from harsh white to red, exchanged rings and rubbers and and and. And replaced the speaker amp.

I have the LE version which has chrome hardware. Said hardware oxidized like you have never seen where the hands rest. Heighway were kind enough to send me a second set or armor and should I be able to fix software I will powder-coat to racing orange.

Any chance the added lighting is having an impact on the game somehow? Also have any chance it is the brand of SD card? I know that was an issue on some stern and spooky games at one point.

Everything was fine until I got greedy and installed 1.41

Thank you for pointing out the card, I will exchange brand there as well, good pointer. I will try everything one can think of.

See - this pin is NOT broken. The fact that it works after a fresh install shows that, but something goes bad along the line.

mine double pumps when it kicks a ball onto the playfield sometimes (80% of the time ? ) any suggestions on what to adjust ?
its not kicking two balls out , just the mech shoots the ball onto the field then shoots again with the ball gone .

Maybe the autoplunger switch is sticking. Its sensing a ball hit it, but when plunged it still thinks there is a ball on the switch so it plunges again?

Has anyone received any tech support recently from Heighway? I have tried to contact Helmut with no response now going on three days, nor any response from the general support email address. My game has an intermittent problem with the game freezing up requiring a reset. All of a sudden the game will just freeze, flippers die, the ball drains and then the game just sits there. After a reset I can play several games with no problem and then out of the blue the game freezes up again. I have reseated all cables and so far nothing.

Thoughts?

Interlock switch?

I will check it, thanks. I have already replaced the interlock switch once for a different reason. My biggest concern is that I can't get any help from Heighway, not even a response.

Could very well be your utilite dying. It sounds like something is corrupting your image, or perhaps the image you have is corrupted?

I've had similar issues with my Alien over the last few days, not sure whats going on.....actually looking back at my email I did communicate with Helmut yesterday, but before that it was 6 days between responses.

I emailed a day or 2 ago and he got right back to me. I saw in the Alien thread that he was going to be out of town for the next few days though...

Utilite most likely.

THAT makes sense, and it is the only thing that makes sense. Finally an answer that clears.

I already had the on-board amp go bad due to vibration, the locking tabs for the speaker wires simply fell apart, beyond repair. Good thing that their "High-End" amp is only $13.85 shipped.

https://www.amazon.com/ELEGIANT-Amplifier-Booster-Stereo-Motorcycle/dp/B018QKX8E0/ref=pd_sim_23_2

But I wish they had spend 5 bucks more on an amp that is suited for it's application. That the utilite dies the same cause of death, meaning not fit to be used in it's environment, the shacking does it in does not surprise me anymore. I already had both flipper assemblies fall apart and down into the cabinet floor due to vibration. That clear plastic on top of the main board saved the pin from shooting itself in the foot.

So, to those who know: can I simply buy a replacement one from Amazon etc? And install the SD card that I have or the image that Heighway send me? Or is there more to it and I am screwed?

If you are referring to replacing the utilite, I would probably buy the upgraded CPU from Heighway. This way its no longer a utilite and it has more horsepower for Alien if you want to swap it and you should get full credit since its new. I recall there being a $200 cost plus your existing CPU, something like that. I think someone else tried to replace their utilite and they were unsuccessful (couldn't find the right model).

good idea , i will check that tonight.

Board is actually labeled "shaker":

FULLTH 001 (resized).JPG

FULLTH 002 (resized).JPG

Note: The Shaker w/current code shakes the living shit out of the game...that's why mine is unplugged.

Plunger switch was actually set to high , so I think it shot the ball and still registered a ball there for a sec . Works great now . I will miss this game as it moves on .