Yes it's cracked. When I got the game is was overdue for a flipper rebuild. Once I rebuilt the flippers - which tightened up the tolerances - the right flipper started sticking in the up position. Closer inspection revealed the crack running from the edge of the base plate to the threads for the coil stop.

I had to loosen up the coil stop a bit to get the flipper to stop sticking so I could play!

How do I fix this guys? First pinball table - don't judge

1497102931751838844575 (resized).jpg

There's a rod that goes down beneath playfield from the flipper and is clamped tight with an allen head/nut to the flipper mechanism. You just need to loosen the allen head/nut a bit and rotate the flipper into correct position, hold it there and re-tighten--might take a couple tries to get it exactly like the other flipper. It was probably a little loose and flipper went out of align with use.

EDIT:With the game off you can look under playfield while moving the flipper bat with your hand to see the action of how the whole thing works to get an idea.

Also, do you know how to raise the playfield and/or remove the glass?

Ah see what you mean Wickerman, can move the flippers manually from underneath the playfield (yes I turned it off first ) won't lie that it took me a couple of minutes to find them tho.

Playfield is definitely going to have to come out. Not enough room from Coin door to adjust.

lifting games playfields are part of pinball ownership, might as well get used to it. You can tip the whole playfield up and lean it back, but take the balls out first before they roll out.

1st pic - is this hanging metal supposed to be like this?

2nd pic shows metal sticking out at entrance to garage lock. was alot worse before but still catches balls when heading to the lock. Have tried to bend it back a little. Any ideas don't want to break anything.

14971116436261957470808 (resized).jpg
14971117915901242874868 (resized).jpg

I'm not near my game now so can't comment on 1st pic

As far as 2nd pic, looks like previous owner got a little aggressive and bent the lane guide to prevent STDM balls on launch. I would either remove and straighten a little or carefully use 2 small vise grips while in game. Be very careful to hold bottom tight or you may damage the playfield. I tweaked mine a little to prevent most STDM drains but still get a few. The ball save timer protects against most anyway.

Read thru the thread, there's lots of tips for tweaking the game to make it play better

1st pic is normal, that's correct.

They did go a little nuts on that guide though!

I'm linking a post from bcd here for posterity. It confirms there is a path to upgrade our Full Throttle to better and less expensive hardware if our Utilite takes a crap. If it turns out Heighway can't support us in the future with a kit or upgrade then maybe we can work together to make this happen.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/rebirth-of-heighway-pinball/page/19#post-3816533

No idea if this is even possible, but is there any (easy) way to clone or create a mirror image that could be re-installed fresh if there are any problems? I am not a computer expert so this could be a completely stupid question.

There must be a way but Heighway would need to provide the files and some instructions. I don't think it's as simple as copying the USB stick (although that's not a bad idea in case it gets corrupted). I didn't see a SD slot on my Utility.

A shout out to Heighway Pinball

I needed some parts for my #FT. My email for support was returned very quickly and in just a couple of days my parts were on their way. I have the parts in hand now and the price including shipping was very reasonable. Many thanks to the support crew at Heighway!

I installed the cliffy carbon fiber protectors on my FT Playfield. I wasn't thinking clearly when I did this and ended up placing one off center a bit but I was able to trim it easily and i think while not perfect it still looks pretty good. I have played several games and haven't noticed the protectors interfering with the ball at all. Several others have played this as well and agree these look good and don't affect game play. Anyway here are some pics for your reference and I would say that you should definitely get these to protect you your playfield and if you do, you should remove the wheels when you do the installation so you can easily get them centered correctly.

IMG_1518 (resized).JPG

IMG_1523[1] (resized).JPG

IMG_1521 (resized).JPG

I just leveled my screen and put mylar down. My next step is to mylar around the wheels.

Did the same thing a few months back. I have a big roll of mylar that I just cut to fit whatever.

I plan on removing the wheels, putting the mylar down, then carefully cutting around the inside of the wheel holes with a new blade. I have not removed the wheels yet. Is that a big deal?

I have found that removing the wheels is pretty easy. Actually this machine is one of the easiest I have ever worked on. (3 cheers to Heighway for excellent design.) However it is a bit tedious trying to level the wheels when you are reinstalling them. Also you should take care when reinstalling to make sure your screw is contacting a flat part of the shaft when you reinstall them.

Ultimately what worked best for me was to use a small level on the playfield to push the wheel against when reinstalling. This is a bit confusing as I read it so I will try to make my point a little clearer.

If you have a helper have them hold the flat edge (small level in my case) across the middle of the wheel hole.
Then you come at the wheel from under the playfield and with one hand hold the wheel so it is against the straight edge and with the other tighten the screw.

If you don't have a helper you can install the wheel so it is snug but not tight against the the motor shaft. Then using the straight edge push the wheel down to the right height (may need to work on the correct snugness that will hold the wheel in place but also allow for it to be moved) then carefully tighten the screw the rest of the way. Since the wheel is a bit loose on the shaft make sure that when you are tightening the screw you don't tilt the angle of the wheel. When you are done you want the wheel to be flush with the playfield all the way around.

Wow, so how far do you go with the Mylar? Seems like you would end up with a big 'island' of mylar in the middle of your playfield. Which is definitely better that having a damaged pf. But I would think that a few large circles of mylar centered on the wheels would be preferable.

I used a compass to create circular pieces of mylar after I measured the wheel holes--so just circles that cover the edges a bit. The LCD I just put a square overlapping enough to save the edges. With the game lit up you can't even see the mylar...when it's off you can spot it if you are looking for it.

I've got an odd problem on a LE that i just got. Game played fine yesterday, but tonight, every time ball 1 is launched, the credit knocker goes off. Ball stays in the shooter lane for a bit, then launches and awards the skill shot. Ball 2 and 3 operate fine - I'm running the latest 1.41 code - I power cycled and tried a multi player game and it only affects Ball 1 for every player.

I really don't know where to start - Any ideas?

MV

I ended up not removing the wheels. Instead I put mylar down and cut carefully around the wheel holes. That gave me 4 perfect round pieces of mylar that I put under the 2 ball drops at the bottom of the ramps and over the magnet. Here's a photo but it's probably not easy to see the mylar.

1499915250702255260624 (resized).jpg

Perhaps your replay value is set to 0? Check your adjustments. There is a bug with the auto-replay system that can cause this; you should try changing this to FIXED if it's currently set to AUTO, and see if that helps. Also check the audits to see if replays are being counted.

Brian

never would've thought of that

In case anyone needs some mylar for their wheels, these fit perfectly (just have to trim the middle ones since the wheels are a bit to close together)

http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/66-MFC

So what are the chances or are they close to available, for an alien insert playfield or are the interchanging playfields history?

No idea. They are just now getting Alien machines sent out so playfield kits, if they happen, will be a while my guess.

Full throttle in red - saw the mock up pic, always thought it looked great, not sure if any actually got made so made it happen myself

ft.jpg

Can you post a close up of your side blades? Did you make those too?

Looks great! I think it found a happy home.

Does anyone off hand have a part number for the shooter lane switch? Mine broke On location so I'd like to get it up and running ASAP.

Does anyone know if they plan on doing a code update on full throttle?

Brian has said earlier any updates for Full Throttle will only be for the "new" computer system. So if you're going to upgrade your Full Throttle with an Alien kit, you might see an update. But they'd have to make kits available first.

From the Alien thread, there seems to be more issues with Alien machines than with Full Throttles, so I'm ok with waiting for kits as they improve their process.

Anyone have this pop up post get knock off by the ball like me? Not sure how to fix this any help would be great. I put it back in but it just popped off again?!? Is it broken? Where would I find this out?

Full throttle (resized).jpg

That plastic post is attached to a metal plunger underneath the playfield. You will need to replace the whole piece, that part should be readily available. I broke a couple of those when my game was on location.

I replaced ball launch plunger that broke in that same manner. No idea on the posts, but I was told launch was https://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=472

Thank you very much for the help!

One more question, anyone have this plastic break also? Where would I find it? Thanks in advance!

FT1 (resized).jpg

FT2 (resized).jpg

http://www.marcospecialties.com/control/keywordsearch?SEARCH_STRING=oblong+target

might have to buy the whole switch--they are cheap.

New issue popped up for my FT. Power up, starts booting, play field LCD gets to the point where it says game updating files and just sits there. Nothing else happens. Anyone have any idea?

You've cold rebooted and it gets stuck there every time?

I don't believe I've run into a problem where a cold reboot didn't clear it up.

Hmm yea, hard reset on the pc? If not I could make a copy of my flash drive and send it to you if you'd like?

Yup.

Well that was weird. Turned on FT to try to figure it out, got distracted by work, and after about 12 minutes it finished booting and is playable.

I've left it on while the cafe is open and will try another reboot after we close.

Boots fine now. I'm thinking during our tournament someone turned it off and on in rapid succession and the computer didn't like it.

I am offered this game at a reasonable price. Not much into the theme, but is it worth picking it up for the Alien kit? Or am I better off waiting for a deal on a used Alien somewhere in the future?