Wrong car. You need a Diablo Steve told me in a chat that the Diablo was the car, but it needed to be modified for three game because of the license.

I would go with this...
18954481-1975-amc-pacer-std.jpg

Not period, but this would work too.

pasted_image (resized).png

504 doesn't stand a chance . . .

1976 AMC Pacer X
- 90HP
- 170 lb-ft torque
- Top Speed 101mph (theoretical)
- 1/4 mile drag 20.2sec
- 0-60 14.6sec

so my accelerator is lackadaisical. Usually it works, but it's just not as fast as it should be. Sometimes it doesn't quite work (ball goes around slowly for awhile but the "millions" doesn't go up until it picks up enough speed). Are there any easy fixes for this I should try? Is this multimeter time? (I haven't tried anything yet). Any threads/posts/web sites I should check out? Thanks, dudes!

The supercharger test lets you individually control each magnet. When they’re ON, they repel the ball. So you can turn a magnet ON and roll the ball backward through the loop and you should see the ball “bounce” off the magnet that is enabled. Do that for each of the three magnets to make sure they’re all three working.

Go through the switch test and check each of the optos in the supercharger. If I remember correctly, there is one for each magnet, one at the entrance to the ramp, and one after the magnets. Might as well wipe each emitter and receiver bulb off with isopropyl while you’re in there.

Aside from that, you might try some new balls. I think the balls in my Getaway became magnetized, which seemed to slow down my supercharger.

Yes, perform the magnets test, clean the optos and test those, then report back.

Also, when you do the SC test what is the score/time?

hmm... well before I even get to the opto test, in the general test report is says "check switch 82. Opto 2 is stuck open" also says "check switch 74, top lock"

Reference page 2-40 in the manual.

Top lock might just be because you haven’t gotten multiball in a while. Manually activate it in switch test and see if it closes.

An opto “stuck open” might be because it’s so dirty that light isn’t making it across. Or it could be because the emitter or receptor is broken. When you go into switch test, with all 3 balls removed, all the optos should be “closed”, meaning light is going across them uninterrupted. When you block the path with your finger or a ball, then they should be “open”. First step is still to clean all your optos with a cotton swab / q-tip and isopropyl alcohol.

alright I cleaned everything and ran the tests. all three magnets work and speed test results average around 190. I'm still getting the error "check switch 82. Opto 2 is stuck open" (though the other error is gone with some fiddling.) So?? maybe a bad emitter? I don't see any wiring issues but I'm going to trace it back carefully now... (balls are new, btw) Thanks!!!

IMG_3659 (resized).JPG

Opto 2 is the center magnet. When in the sc test mode, how reliably does this work when you trip it manually (just move something solid back and forth (finger, folded business card, whatever you can fit in the space) between the optos?

Also, make sure the wires on the transmitter and receiver aren't coming loose/have bad contact.

You can easily replace those optos but I think there might be an issue on your accelerator board. If there is an issue and you cannot repair your board they are available...

https://www.marcospecialties.com/control/keywordsearch?SEARCH_STRING=+A-15189

https://www.pinballlife.com/getaway-hsll-supercharger-driver-board.html

Accelerator Board 2 (resized).jpgUnder side of PF b (resized).jpg

In my 1-yr ownership of The Getaway pb game, I have had switch error messages on several occasions, and once it was for an opto switch. On more than one occasion the error was caused by a wire (leading to the switch) which was touching (the insulation was touching, not bare wire) something metallic causing a short. Once it was a wire wrapped around an adjacent switch where the wires were soldered (and the wire insulation was actually touching the solder joint). This was apparently done to take out excess slack in the wire. This didn't look like a good place to take out wire slack to me, so I unwrapped the wire so it no longer made contact where the other wire was soldered, and I tucked the slack somewhere else where it didn't touch anything metallic and seemed safe from shorting out. Well, this solved the problem. Apparently with 30-yr old wires, there are micro-cracks in the insulation causing short circuiting that must be dealt with. It seems to me like the smaller dia. wires (with thinner insulation) more frequently have this problem. I suggest that you inspect your wiring to the problem opto switch and look for possible shorting thru the insulation, and rearrange the wiring, or wrap some electrical tape around the wire, to see if this solves the problem - this solution worked for me 3 or 4 times.

While adding Pinsound and a Pinduino motion light to my Getaway, we noticed the Right side Playfield Slide Assembly is cracked and flexing.
Part # A-15421-2

Anyone here happen to have a spare or a source for replacements? I looked at a few places and came up empty so I figured I’d ask you all.

Thanks,
Greg

5C22F5A0-C1C0-4373-875C-9BCFFDF7DDC6 (resized).jpeg

I just bought a set for my upcoming playfield swap:

Left: https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/A-17749.1-1
Right: https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/A-17749.1-2

Ahh see them. Looked under original part number and somehow missed these.

They don't make them like they used to... and in this case it's a good thing!

Normally i would say that Pinball Life is a cheaper option than Marco's but it appears that right now they only have the left one in stock

Just the front?

Do you have to trim oversized decals to fit properly? Is trimming hard to get perfect?

Looking like its not on square, but rotated clockwise a bit.be sure to put leg protectors that are SMALLER than the leg (like new staern. OTherwise you screw up the decals soon.

Actually, yesterday I was just comparing the hidden leg protectors on my new Stern GZ with the oversized protectors on my Getaway. Stern protects the decals by spacing the legs 1/16" away from the decals with a hidden plastic spacer. My Getaway's oversized protectors are necessary because the cabinet & decals are scarred from abuse (probably when the game was at a commercial establishment) which is visible (and ugly) and is easily seen w/o the oversized protectors. I've had my Getaway for about 14-mos. and the previous owner for over 10-yrs and I'm pretty sure that this owner put the oversized protectors on, or it may even have been previous to that. I don't see any problem with the decals caused by oversized protectors - they are probably orig. decals.

IMG_3514 (resized).jpg

ORiginal means silkscreeened if you are lucky - and that cannot be pushed around on the surface. A printed decal will and it will wrinkle around those areas. Up to you.

In home use I don't think the protectors will make much difference. In an arcade people will/would shake the machine and over time things get loose and abused causing the decals to wrinkle. My EATPM decals are beautiful but cut away from the legs because of that wrinkling. I don't see the need to replace the decals because, even though they are cut away, the colors are amazing and original. So I use the large plastic protectors just for the color and a little pop...

cabinet front (resized).jpg

pinball row new f (resized).jpg

Best to use the metal Mantis protectors and do away with the plastic style entirely TBH.

Probably right, but those screw into the cabinet and, in theory, you could do the same with the plastic ones if you like the color. I've never had an issue but I take it easy on my machines...

All you need is one lunatic to FK UP your game... don't ask me how I know

Oh... well that sucks, sorry

The best thing about the metal Mantis protectors (and there are other brands similar) is the fact they are hidden behind the legs. The one thing i always disliked about the plastic style is the excess showing around the leg and they are also well known to damage the artwork by the edges digging in. If the edges around the metal style do damage the artwork (and i've not seen much evidence supporting this as yet) it's within the boundaries of the legs so still out of sight. All that benefit against some extra screw holes in the cab (that are also well out of sight)?? I've used both methods over 13 years and my vote is for the hidden metal style.

well this seems to be the problem but I'm having a hard time fixing it. when I jiggle the wires the switch vacillates between open and close, but every time I think I have it, and reassemble, it goes back to "open." Maybe I need to cut the fastener that bundles all the wires leading in to the superhcharger? Maybe the wires need to be replaced? :-/ This might be beyond me... time to call a pro?

I didn't even screw mine down. There leg bolts hold it inn place just fine

I don't know how often opto switches themselves cause trouble. I wonder if installing a new opto switch would be advisable? I've checked a few of the online pb parts suppliers and I couldn't find opto switches for The Getaway. I was thinking that I might want to have a new one as a spare. DOES ANYONE ON THIS FORUM KNOW WHERE REPLACEMENT OPTO SWITCHES CAN BE OBTAINED? ALSO, HAS ANYONE EXPERIENCED AN OPTO SWITCH THAT WENT BAD?

Before calling a pro, I would try disconnecting (unsolder) the wire you suspect as causing a short, and run a jumper wire (with alligator clips) from where the suspected troublesome wire terminates (at the other end), to the opto switch. You will then have temporarily replaced the suspected bad wire, with a new wire, and see if the same problem exists.

In a previous post of yours, you mentioned that your SC speed test averaged 190. P. 1-17 of the operations manual states that if it's higher than 145 you may have a bad opto (among other possible problems).

is this not it? https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/A-14231-2

The pic of Marco's opto switch doesn't look like the actual part in our Getaway pb. Marco's part # doesn't match what's in the operations manual either. I'm hoping that someone else on this forum with more experience (and knowledge) with opto switches can tell us where to get one.

This pic is the correct opto set for your game. This is just the circuit board portion, there is a plastic mounting bracket also. The part # you maybe referring to is the complete assembly.

https://www.pinballlife.com/mm5/graphics/00000001/LED%20Receiver%20and%20Emitter%20board%20set_250x177.jpg

https://www.pinballlife.com/williamsbally-infared-led-opto-assembly-set.html

You can also get them separately.

https://www.pinballlife.com/williamsbally-infared-led-opto-assembly-transmitter.html

https://www.pinballlife.com/williamsbally-infared-led-opto-assembly-receiver.html

Hi All,
I just got done , we’ll mostly done,
Putting everything back together after installing a new pin sound board, speakers and lit back panel.
Turned it on and nothing started smoking, so far so good.
The only issue is my DMD is crapping out. Actually, it’s been in a slow death spiral. It has been taking a WHILE for it to “warm up” to where I can actually see some letters…

I was thinking of replacing it with a color DMD however, they are out of production- They need chips from China….

Quick Question, I just noticed that there’s a missing pin where the ribbon cable plugs in. Is it soupy to be missing?
Thank you in advance..

723F828D-8FDF-49E1-BB37-6756B8E4553C (resized).jpeg

Opto switches go bad over time as they darken with age and environment (at least the ones used back in the early 90's), so the light is either not transmitted or received well enough.

I've replaced all opto pairs on my Getaway and have not had a single opto issue since. The easiest way is to purchase the pairs already mounted on the circuit boards then it is simple unsoldering wires from the old optos and soldering to the two pads on the new ones.

FYI, I used the set from Pinball Life: https://www.pinballlife.com/williamsbally-led-and-pcb-board-set.html

Off the top of my head, I believe Getaway uses 5 pairs of opto switches (1 per each of the three supercharger magnets, 1 at the SC ramp entrance, and 1 at the right side of the SC loop). Do yourself a favor and spend the $40 to replace all of them even if only one seems to be the issue.

------------------------------

Regarding SC loop times. I went through the process of testing my Opto Driver board, resoldering parts on it, and even purchasing a brand new certified board. None of this made a difference. I also polished my loop, removed the magnets and cleaned as best as I could only to realize minimal gains. What finally significantly improved my SC loop speed was a very light coating of silicon oil along the bottom and inside walls of the loop. Numerous people warned me not to use oil for this and that it would gum over time and/or make for dirty pinballs and playfield. In short, they were wrong. The silicon oil has proved to last for months and has not transfered to the balls or playfield parts.

Here is my post about it: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/getaway-club-dispatch-run-a-make-on-license-plate-kingpin/page/233#post-6575990

Regarding comments from Grumpy and Mr_T on the opto switches:
I think I've figured it out. The A-14231_A-14232 part # is for the opto switch board set, and the A-16908_A-16909 is for the whole opto switch assembly set @ PinballLife. I would say that only the boards are req'd because the white & black plastic housings that the boards are mounted to (and together with the boards make up the assy) can be reused. These part nos., however, don't match the nos. in the Getaway Operation Manual, but if you guys have successfully used these opto switches in your Getaway pb, then they must be ok. I think I'll take Mr_T's advice and replace all 5 of my Opto's. I found that PBResource sells the individual boards (transmitter & receiver) for $2.50 each (Their parts #WLL-A16908G and #WLL-A16909G). Go to
http://www.pbresource.com/boards.html#wms
and they're the 6th item from the bottom of the page. It appears that both Pinball Life and PBResource have better prices than Marco.

JakeFAttie - according to Mr_Tantrum, it sounds like the optos slowly go bad with time, and maybe that's the cause of your problem, so I suggest you change them (as I will with mine).

Sometimes you need to replace the housings too because the plastic mounting holes strip out from people over tightening the mounting screws.

Sometimes they just need a bloody good clean too!!

My housings were all okay, so I did not replace them. If yours are cracked or stripped then you should replace them.

Initially, I cleaned all of my optos thoroughly but still had intermittent issues.

Like I said, spend the $40, replace them all, and most likely you'll never have to deal with failing opto issues again. I've helped others replace optos to fix issues in their early 90's era pins. LEDs dim over time, the plastic ages, and other degradation occurs that impacts performance. If these 30 year old components didn't go bad then all of the pinball parts suppliers wouldn't be stocking and selling them.

$40??? I use these... $5.48
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09QKX8JL1/

Great link.

My estimated math was basically $7 price from PBL for a pair of optos mounted on PCBs x 5 units + a little for shipping. However, if you want to reuse your current PCBs then your $6 solution is great. Comes down to cost vs. convenience. I admit that it's not too much effort to dessolder the existing LEDs, clean the holes, solder the new ones it, clip the wires, etc. but it is a little more intricate work than just melting a couple of wires off solder pads and melting them onto the new ones. Probably just depends on how comfortable someone is with a soldering iron.

Regardless, those needing to replace their optos have a couple of options ranging from cheap to extremely cheap, and really no excuse not to do them all if they are having issues.

So all you have to do is remove the existing LED's from the boards and solder in the new ones - is that correct? And, these are the correct LED's to accomplish that ???

Yes, they are through hole components. Remove the old (I assume you need to pay attention to polarity, but others may confirm), clean out the hole with solder sucker, solder new components on board and clip wires on underside.

Thanks to everyone who helped me out with answering some questions about the opto switches. I think I'll be replacing my opto boards with the ones from PBResource for 2.50 each (to skip one soldering step if I obtained the LED's only as per TheOnlyest's suggestion). I hope this discussion helps JakeFAttie solve his opto switch problem.

Hey guys
I have a problem with the optos 2 and 3 on the supercharger.
In test mode the ball trigged them only half of the times.
I changed both the transmitters and receivers. No success.
I can trigged them with a pen easily. Every new optos have good and new solder points.

Anyone had to deal with this?
Thanks!