Alien (Heighway Pinball)
Heighway Pinball, 2017Quoted from MK6PIN:Are you using drop dead foam at the top of the form? Works way better than stock rubber.
That piece pretty much solved for me...got the trough loading correctly about 95% consistently w some tweaking as well...just some thoughts..
Can you elaborate as to a source for the foam and maybe a pic? Maybe? My launch reject rate is too high.
Quoted from budroosker:Can you elaborate as to a source for the foam and maybe a pic? Maybe? My launch reject rate is too high.
Pinbits sells it in strips, so you can cut it to size (square in this case). Pretty cheap, and is magic for many areas where the ball bounces out of various areas (Doc Ock in Spidey comes to mind)
https://www.pinbits.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=17&products_id=131
drats...looks like it's sold out at the moment...bought a few strips awhile back, and is perfect for Alien wireform launch end
Quoted from MK6PIN:Pinbits sells it in strips, so you can cut it to size (square in this case). Pretty cheap, and is magic for many areas where the ball bounces out of various areas (Doc Ock in Spidey comes to mind)
https://www.pinbits.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=17&products_id=131
drats...looks like it's sold out at the moment...bought a few strips awhile back, and is perfect for Alien wireform launch end
where on alien?
Quoted from billsfanmd:where on alien?
At the top of shooter wireform stop, replacing the rubber piece currently. The rubber causes the ball to rebound back into the shooter lane quite a bit, even w coil power at minimum, the drop dead foam almost eliminates it...dramatic improvement.
Quoted from MK6PIN:Are you using drop dead foam at the top of the form? Works way better than stock rubber.
That piece pretty much solved for me...got the trough loading correctly about 95% consistently w some tweaking as well...just some thoughts..
I had a rubber stop from TAF in my shelves and replaced the black original rubber stop with it. Works very well now. I believe it is this one: https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/23-6702
Quoted from SunKing:Speaking of mods, I've always hated how the ball launches right into that dead-end, then dribbles back to the right in-lane. Why not launch it up into the pops?
HMmmmm.... So I just purchased an old wireform ramp that will hopefully work. Basically, I'm going to cut off the dead-end, and mount an extension ramp so the ball will launch directly into the pops. ...curious why it wasn't designed that way in the first place - seems it would make for a much cleaner launch.
Of course, the proof is in the pudding as they say - so I'll report back if I can get it working.
yes this ball entrance to the theater of magic, indy 500 and others, it's not super top, it's one of the few small default games for me. but for the rules of games it is essential.
for skil shoot at the start for example, it is essential that the ball arrives right away to the right flipper to choose what reward skil shoot the want. for multi-ball and others ...
the idea is interesting but it will have an impact too important on the rules of the game I think.
about the rebound on the luncher ramp.
on my pinball machine last production, set the coil at least to completely solve the problem. which was already very rare.
on an older game, very slightly twist the end of the ramp to completely solve the problem.
Well, the day is finally here. Today is officially New Alien Pin Day!! Courier is somewhere between 3-4 hours away still, but I wanted to get warmed up, hehe.
Life will deal you crap hands now and then, but resilience is everything, and our problems truly are those of the first world kind. I'm just so glad I can be part of the thread I kicked off back when things were new and exciting.
Unboxing pics will follow soon.
I have read a lot about the gameplay, but have no real plans upon the first plunge. That feeling of first walking up to a new game is something we all understand, and to a greater degree than the average punter. It is not just a cursory flip around for a laugh, but an experience of the unknown opening up before you under the influence of your own hand. I do plan on getting lost in it for a few hours at least.
Quoted from TimeBandit:Well, the day is finally here. Today is officially New Alien Pin Day!! Courier is somewhere between 3-4 hours away still, but I wanted to get warmed up, hehe.
Life will deal you crap hands now and then, but resilience is everything, and our problems truly are those of the first world kind. I'm just so glad I can be part of the thread I kicked off back when things were new and exciting.
Unboxing pics will follow soon.
I have read a lot about the gameplay, but have no real plans upon the first plunge. That feeling of first walking up to a new game is something we all understand, and to a greater degree than the average punter. It is not just a cursory flip around for a laugh, but an experience of the unknown opening up before you under the influence of your own hand. I do plan on getting lost in it for a few hours at least.
I am super excited for you!!!! Many adventures await.....
Gosh, I hope everything boots up and works 100% right out of the box for you. 
Experience tells me that may not happen.
It's gonna be ok.
We're here to help.
I've had a years worth of experience with this amazing pinball machine - from pre-prod to production machines - as have a few lucky other folks. Congrats on getting one. I'm willing to put $$ on a happy experience here...
Yes, I'm drinking on a weeknight again... blame the wife...
I think Alien is a top 10 pin. Legit.
Ok, freaking heavy! I lay it down to crawl it over the door frame on the escalera. The ramp I use acts like a seesaw as you cross the threshold, and I don’t want to risk it getting away from me while I’m here on my own.
Now I can’t pick it up, lol! This might be my first sideways unbox. Hopefully they packed it according to the ‘truck this side’ labeling.
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Need some help here...purchased a NIB SE and the translight was destroyed. Know of where I may be able to purchase a new one? Anyone have any known sources? Very bummed! 
49C31523-A639-4183-9EE8-F70793C276D0 (resized).jpeg8225D500-6EE0-459B-9054-3F1AF709E148 (resized).jpeghello, great news to have an alien !! 
no need to put the cardboard down, everything is done for an up unpacking which is much more practical!
a tip, do right now the last update of the software! and make the update of the 4 I / O card is very important.
it's better to do it before you start playing, and think about the I / O cards!
I haven’t updated the code yet. Just checking the mechanics.
Just had to bend the scoop top a little. The ball was taking 5-6 attempts to get out. Everything else seems great.
Area 2 fuse has just blown.
Like everyone else has said, audiovisual is incredible. Just incredible. There is nothing that matches it.
Well almost everything is perfect. I haven't been this drawn into a game for a long time. That back left hand corner is all X-Men, and that's my favourite piece of layout in any game ever, so I guess this is too!
Now here's a major ballache though. The Recharge target is not screwed in. And the two screws are under a damn PCB. Not any PCB..the biggest one under the playfield. There is no way I'm taking that board off to screw that target in.
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I'm going to drill!
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I can't see any traces on this side of the board, but I can't see the other side obviously. Does anyone know if it's safe to go through here? It's only holding LEDs, so I'm pretty sure it's fine.
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Quoted from SunKing:Yikes! I'd try to loosen that big PCP before drilling a hole in it. I was able to unscrew enough of the mounting screws to be able to swap some LED's on that big board.
That's no fun! Are you the Party King, or the party pooper?
Heheh, I like a good party as much as anyone ...paying for it this this morning to be honest. But if you screw up that big PCB, your game is toast, as the chances of finding another are pretty slim. That would be a party pooper!
Hi all
Got my ticket to the club, Alien LE#439 will hopefully arrive next week from its way from Austria to Germany 
Played the game on the DutchPinballOpen ... it was intresting. I played the game at a friends place with more time and no other pins switched on, the sound louder, the light darker ... WOW. I was flashed. Due to 15 years experience in the hobby and a STZERN basher since a NIB GoT LE which was more out of order than playing, I thought a Heighway pinball could not be more crappy as my GoT and so I ordered my Alien from the distributor in Austria.
Thanks to all the guys in this community looking for parts and keeping this games up and running ... this was also a reason to buy ! From the quality HeighwayPinball is on Level with JJP !
I am looking forward for my machine !
im so jealous reading this thread.... I just dont want to fork out the cash again. Now if a nice broken one came up for sale i might take that on.
Im glad some are out there in peoples collections and the community can come together and fix them.
Decided to try to install the playfield protector. It seems like a were difficult task, so I think I will use scissors with the playfield protector at some point to make some shortcuts But before I even reach that point, I am going to try to remove the left ramps. There is a million screws and its a bit difficult to know which ones to remove and how to access them. Especially the screw in the picture is difficult - how did you remove it? Did you take the backboard away to access it? Also any tips on how to go removing the left rams would be most appreciated! Most of the screws holding the ramps down are covered with plastics and seems that some screws are blocking the removal of the plastics quite efficently!
IMG_4178 (resized).JPGSo, I’m getting intermittent flipper failure. They just stop until the ball drains then are ok on next ball. No, I’m not tilting. It got really bad at one point so I restarted the machine and that seemed to fix it for a while, but it’s still there every now and then.
Is this a thing? I haven’t noticed it in other threads but I could have missed it. Otherwise I’ll check connections again, but given the behaviour I don’t think it’s cabling.
Quoted from Ballypinball:Check if both top and bottom green lights are on the io board that runs the flippers?
If not change the usb cable position
Have you updated code to 1.2 and all 4 io boards
Could also be balls not rolling in ball through
Code is 1.2. How do I do io boards?
Quoted from TimeBandit:Code is 1.2. How do I do io boards?
Menu
Io board
Update
You can't update without updating each board
Decided to try to install the playfield protector. .... /blockquote>
Are you willing to remove all plastics and scan them ?
I read that they are not macrolon and like to break easy. With good scans I would reproduce them in macrolon.
Or we wait if complete plastics sets will show up later on ....Cheers
Tom
Quoted from rlslick:Need some help here...purchased a NIB SE and the translight was destroyed. Know of where I may be able to purchase a new one? Anyone have any known sources? Very bummed!
[quoted image][quoted image]
Man that sucks, did you buy it new? Talk to your distro - they should replace with one from another machine if so.
If used youll have to get one made, maybe talk nice to some owners and see if someone could get theirs scanned for you ( or if Aurich could provide the art file) and some kind of a sign shop that can print on plexi.
Quoted from TimeBandit:Code is 1.2. How do I do io boards?
Def remove the board to tighten, dont drill!! Lol, just pull all the screws and slide it over, no need to undo all the connectors.
My problems like that were caused by chrome balls being magnatized and sticking in the trough, however as mentioned there were some other sources of this issue addressed in one of the threads (think it was reseating connectors or something)
TomDK - it seems that I do not have to remove all the plastics to get the protector in and I do not have a good scanner, so I guess it would not work. I also left some plastics with bolts in them, since it was not necessary to unscrew them.
About the playfield protector - I was just planning to put it in and I noticed that one hole was missing. I tried to cut a hole with scissors, but it did not work out. I am just hoping that I will be able to put the pieces back together, when the proper playfield protector arrives. Anybody installing the protector and had similar problems? Its a bummer, I am hoping I can still put it back together. I have taken many pics though.
Quoted from TimeBandit:So, I’m getting intermittent flipper failure. They just stop until the ball drains then are ok on next ball.
Consider replacing the USB cables from the CPU to the IOBoards. The ones from the factory seem to be crappy. Thing is, if a little vibration wiggles them just a smidge, it causes a USB connection reset, which takes a few seconds to reset... unfortunately, by that time, the ball has drained. Most or all customers I’ve spoken with have resolved this problem with new good quality cables.
Quoted from Ferret:Consider replacing the USB cables from the CPU to the IOBoards. The ones from the factory seem to be crappy. Thing is, if a little vibration wiggles them just a smidge, it causes a USB connection reset, which takes a few seconds to reset... unfortunately, by that time, the ball has drained. Most or all customers I’ve spoken with have resolved this problem with new good quality cables.
Can't be overstated enough...also make sure to rebundle them in a way to always have the end " naturally seated" in the connector. A nice soft bend into to connector, secured as such, did the trick.
Now over 300 games in post cable swap w zero drops
Yes, this PCB marking says "THROOUGHPOWER", spelled wrong, yes, but we know what it means. That's a constant 12V.
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Voila! Spotlight hookup kit.
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Plug for the power header..
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Adjust this little fella to spit out 6.3V..
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Custom cable harness..
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I "borrowed" the spotlights of my Metallica and spent half an hour making and installing. Dark Alien PF "problems" (if you think they're problems of course)..gone.
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More GI added. Stern backboard style..
The shot before the glass goes on shows the lights blaring in your face. But once the glass is on the lights are shielded by the bezel.
I think the two behind the Xeno head are brilliant! 
470D9EA2-E612-4092-832D-635BF6E75265 (resized).jpeg52D04312-0E93-428F-980B-AAFD40A737A4 (resized).jpeg70345457-89F7-4E48-92E1-63A7D58C9E5C (resized).jpeg709AF03E-F83F-45E5-81B6-5F85255ABCA4 (resized).jpegC607A7CA-2306-4836-A3B0-D38A39D538A3 (resized).jpegCC7F03E3-6872-4EB2-8751-29EB0DAD778D (resized).jpegD40ADEDE-3631-4401-8FE0-5CED6D31EDD0 (resized).jpeg
0C55AA8F-6335-4B03-A1E8-2F45C8D7FD78 (resized).jpegB9942CA1-A6C8-47EE-B681-52A2BA520F3C (resized).jpegQuoted from Nepi23:TomDK - it seems that I do not have to remove all the plastics to get the protector in and I do not have a good scanner, so I guess it would not work. I also left some plastics with bolts in them, since it was not necessary to unscrew them.
About the playfield protector - I was just planning to put it in and I noticed that one hole was missing. I tried to cut a hole with scissors, but it did not work out. I am just hoping that I will be able to put the pieces back together, when the proper playfield protector arrives. Anybody installing the protector and had similar problems? Its a bummer, I am hoping I can still put it back together. I have taken many pics though.
No problem ... maybe I will take my time and scan all the plastics after arrival of my machine and see what I can do !
The playfieldprotektor: Cutting for easy laying over is possible but you should "fix" this areas with a small piece of mylar.
I decided not to use a playfieldprotektor but will make some mylar in front of the kickout and the "frame" netween playfield and the monitor after adjusting.
This area seems "in danger" to me if not 101% levelled !
To someone who has a working Xeno mechanism with I/O boards stamped 0.94 (obviously they've been updated--but original boards) how/where is your 12 volt yellow/black power cable plugged in (instructions from Helmut show yellow pin 1, black pin 2, but my connector is oriented to plug in the opposite way). Also, where is your 4 prong connector plugged into (it's the 3 blue wires and nothing pinned for the fourth spot). Again, instructions say to plug it into a spot labeled "Xeno modes" but this I/O board has no such label. There isn't a lot of extra wire length to these connectors so I'd imagine I have them correct, but I'm once again starting from step one and trying to figure this out.
Edit: still working my way through the steps and "step 7" shows the 7-way rainbow colored connector plugged in. I see that, but also in the picture from Helmut, a blue/nothing/black connector is nearby. I don't have such a thing, and the empty plug where it goes is labeled "SW8". I do, however, have an orange/nothing/black connector two spots away (in the picture, it is the farthest left of the row of connectors) from where that should go, and that is labeled "SW6". Hmm.
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Quoted from Ferret:Consider replacing the USB cables from the CPU to the IOBoards. The ones from the factory seem to be crappy. Thing is, if a little vibration wiggles them just a smidge, it causes a USB connection reset, which takes a few seconds to reset... unfortunately, by that time, the ball has drained. Most or all customers I’ve spoken with have resolved this problem with new good quality cables.
Most. Several sets of cables still haven't fixed mine. Swapped I/O boards, zip ties on the cables all over the place. Frustrating.
Quoted from TimeBandit:More GI added. Stern backboard style..
The shot before the glass goes on shows the lights blaring in your face. But once the glass is on the lights are shielded by the bezel.
I think the two behind the Xeno head are brilliant!
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
Very cool!!! I have some nice overhead lighting, or I'd do it.,...going to add pulsing green flipper buttons, along w green underglow....ps seems pretty robust in this machine, so may just grab my power there, instead of adding external supply...
Quoted from Agent_Hero:Most. Several sets of cables still haven't fixed mine. Swapped I/O boards, zip ties on the cables all over the place. Frustrating.
It will be the power connectors on the io boards then
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