Has anyone hooked up an external subwoofer yet? If so, could you post pics and show us how you did it.

Anyone else have a problem with the ball getting stuck here? It's happened several times because the screw they installed has a head that sticks up and creates a nice little cradle for the ball to rest in. Why they didn't use a wood screw with a flat head is beyond me.

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Here's what black legs look like on the machine if anyone's interested.

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Way easier than screwing around with a key all of the time.

Also made some plastic protectors for the slingshots out of Lexan. The only problem is the posts aren't quite long enough on top to handle the additional thickness. I will need to install some new posts with a longer top. I tried using a washer but the largest ones that pinball life has don't extend out past the edge of the plastic.

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OK Alien owners, look what's coming for the airlock! Just need to fine tune it a bit.

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Visited with Cliffy today. He has Alien in the production que, but wanted me to relay to people to please have patience. He has had email problems lately and between those problems, the holidays and fine tuning the protector it may take slightly longer than usual to get these airlock orders filled. Please be patient. They're coming. Thanks

Use a nut driver. Not sure on size.

Could someone help me out and let me know which wire (green and purple) goes to which lug on the bottom pop bumper. Had a bad coil and forgot to take a pic before I removed it.
Thanks

Thanks delt. That helped.

It looks like your pops are installed backwards also. I had this conversation with Helmut at HP as the wires from 2 of my pops were stretched tight. I was afraid that, over time, they might come loose somewhere as a result of the tension. He told me that the lugs on all of the pop bumpers should face left.

Yeah, the bottom 2 are reversed according to Helmut. But, like Joe said, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. You're probably fine, although it's easy to flip them around, just take the pod top off first.

What is broke is this coil. Anyone else have this happen?

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After putting about 50 games on the machine I've noticed 2 design errors on mine and I'm curious if anyone else experiences the same thing. First, about 20% of the time the ball comes down the left ramp and pops UP out of the left inlane instead of going down. Very frustrating when lighting the inlane is one of the major things you have to accomplish on the game. I'm thinking some sort of one-way gate just above where the ball drops out of the ramp would solve that, just not sure how to design one. I do have one of the newer games without the teardrop drop hole in the ramp, ie. mine is a regular round drophole.

Secondly, about 10-20% of the time when the ball comes out of the airlock and hits my lower left flipper it jumps right over the flipper and drains. That also really sucks. I think this problem could be solved with the software similarly to how Wms IJ accounts for airballs.

Anyone else have a problem with either or these issues or any thoughts on how to solve them? I would welcome them.

+1

Thanks Joe. I'll try that.

Just got my beacons installed last night. Awesome addition to the game.

If your connector looks like the one in this pic, the correct pins are the Molex 4.2mm mini fit jr. pins, not the round ones. You can order them from here:

https://www.greatplainselectronics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=39-00-0041

You need to push 2 wires in that pin. I used 20 gauge wire for mine. It was a tight fit but doable.

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I also mounted my beacons by using magnets. I wasn't too excited about drilling a bunch of holes in my backbox. It worked out really well. I would recommend it to anyone who hasn't mounted their beacons yet. You only have to drill 2 holes instead of 8. If anyone's interested I'll post some photos.

For those interested in mounting their beacons using magnets, here's how I did it. I am assuming you have taken the beacon apart in order to paint the base black. FYI, I would use a semi-gloss or even a satin finish if your trying to match the sheen on the backbox. Gloss is a little too shiny in my opinion.

1. Take an oscillating multi tool with a flat blade and cut off the small feet on the bottom of the beacon.

2. Take a random orbit sander and get the base relatively flat. I used 80 grit followed by 120. Once the base is flat use a 5/16" drill bit and drill 3 holes where the feet were. I used 5/16" because the magnets I used were that size. If you end up using a different size magnet, use the appropriate drill bit. Alternatively, I suppose you could simply hot glue any type of magnet to the base, I just liked the look of the beacons resting tight on the backbox. I used rare earth magnets that I re-purposed from some old name badges that I had laying around. They are 5/16" diameter by 1/8" thick.

3. Push the magnets in the holes that you drilled and put a healthy blob of hot glue over the top of them. Between the friction fit of the holes and the glue they should stay in place.

4. Re-paint the bottom if you want. I haven't yet, but I will when I take the beacons apart to add more grease as they are noisy.

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Part 2--Hooking them up. Of course there are different ways to hook them up. I chose to make them detachable for a couple reasons. First, if HP ever makes another compelling game that offers a topper it would be nice to be able to easily remove the beacons. Secondly, if I ever need to work on them for any reason It's easier to work on them if they're removed.

1. Here's the gut check part. Drill a 3/8" hole in the top of the backbox just below each beacon. If you look at the interior of the backbox you will notice a hole has already been drilled in the wood below the beacon. You just need to drill through the metal. I used a new COBALT bit and it worked like a champ. I got a nice clean hole. One other tip. Prior to drilling, put a piece of wide tape underneath where you're going to be drilling. The last thing you want are a bunch of metal bits sprinkled all over the inside. The tape will hopefully catch most of them.

2. Buy some bullet connectors or bullet splices as some companies call them, a pack of 1/4" cable clamps, a few 1/2" #6 hex head screws and 10' of 18 or 20 gauge wire. Crimp the MALE end of the bullet connectors on the wires that came with the beacons. I just used a pair of pliers and squeezed as hard as I could. Cut the wire into a 6' length and a 4' length. Strip the ends and attach the FEMALE end to the wire.

3. Next, get out your cable clamps and 1/2" screws. Attach the wire to the interior of the backbox with the 1/2" screws. If you need to, wrap some electrical tape around the wire to thicken it up so that it won't slide around once you screw the clamp down tight. Run it along the outside of the backbox to the middle where the connector comes up from the cabinet.

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Part 3. Hooking up to the connector.

If your pin has the square sockets in the connector like mine, the Molex 4.2mm mini fit Jr. are the correct pins. I got mine from GPE as you can see. Take the same color wire from each beacon, strip them and crimp them together in the same pin. Put the pins in the socket in the positions shown, being sure they are firmly seated. Ideally, there should not be any exposed wire outside of the connector.

With that your beacons should be ready to go. Enjoy!

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The magnets were re-purposed from some old name tags I had. I would look for rare earth magnets. 5/16" diameter by 1/8" thick.

Not sure what type of grease I'm going to use but need to do something as they are kind of loud.

No, you want the 12VDC. That's what I used anyway.