Well... I got my Holy Grail pin on Wednesday. A really nice Getaway. Soooo many memories of playing this as a kid. Love this game.

I bought it from fellow Pinside member here PinballJAH (Jim). He took really good care of it and really, really went out of his way to make sure I was taken care of too. Wrapped it all up super well so that when I got to his place to pick it up, it was ready to go. The machine has a PIN2DMD colour display, Flipper Fidelity speakers up top, pretty much perfect backglass, tons of little cool decals in places around the playfield, good quality bright LED's everywhere, a toy car up on the side along with a Donut Heaven mod.

The game plays as it should. A couple little things I'm working on. The right slingshot plunger had the little plastic linkage break off, so a new one of those will go in. I'll freshen up all three flippers with the standard rebuild kit as well.

There is one issue I wanted to ask the group though. A portion of the shifter assembly needs attention. It was working ok, and still does (electrically), but the little plastic/rubber shift boot (shoulder) thingy that slides over the shaft of the shifter and is what the shaft pivots on has one side crumbled away. I took some pics after I got it apart.

You can see how this part, which isn't hard plastic, but isn't soft rubber either (almost like the material they make hockey pucks out of?... hey, I'm Canadian, where do you expect my comparisons to come from??? lol). The little round extensions on each side are meant to exactly fit in the corresponding holes on the sides of the metal bracket, and then once it's all tightened back together, when you pull up or push down on the shifter handle, the opposite end of the shaft clicks the upper or lower switch.

It won't do this if it can't pivot. The DMD said Shifter Error initially, as I think when it starts up, if one of those switches is closed, it knows something is wrong.

So, two questions:

- Does anyone offer replacements for this little part?

- Has anyone MacGyver'ed a solution of their own to fix what is there without replacing everything?

I am thinking it could be any number of ideas that basically just allow it to pivot again. That collar thing just slides on, and I could drill a small hole through the broken side so that a washer or bolt or portion of a coil sleeve maybe could go in it's place. Just wondering what you all think?

IMG_2376 (resized).JPG

IMG_2389 (resized).JPG

IMG_2390 (resized).JPG

IMG_2391 (resized).JPG

IMG_2392 (resized).JPG

Thanks Jim. Might be that 13 years of experience taking apart the DeLorean. Pinballs are a joy to work on compared to some of the old car stuff, lying on cold concrete out in the garage with a 3,000 pound oily car a few inches over your head. I can sit comfortably at my dining room table and take apart Getaway shifter assemblies all day long!!! haha

Can someone humor me as to the part number for the little rubber bulb "condoms" like the two on the supercharger ramp entrance? Nothing comes up in a search on the Marco parts page for bulb condom. Go figure!? lol I'd like to replace the yellow one as it's missing on my machine.

29 (resized).jpg

I did find them ironically. Lamp covers they go by. I found about 20 of them rolling around in the bottom of my Lethal Weapon 3 when I first got it.

Hadn't realized that's how they made the colour differences originally. Guess I never thought about it. On the Party Zone, there is an all red effect with one of the GI strings. For multiball and the "Big Bang" jackpot... would that red effect been also done by these rubber bulb covers back in the day? I am meaning to replace all those GI lights with LEDs and wondered which ones should be which colour. Might end up finding more of these rubber covers once I go in there.

I'm troubleshooting an intermittent beacon light and need some help. The light bulb itself always comes on, but the motor making the disc spin doesn't always come to life. Inevitably, if I reach up and tap firmly to the side of the light on top of the backbox, it starts rotating. Kind of seems to me like it's caught on something.

I've taken it off and looked and it doesn't seem to be catching on anything obvious. There's decent clearance all the way around. No obvious loose wires or connectors inside the cabinet going to the boards up top either.

I see on the Marco website that you can buy a replacement, heavy duty upgraded motor. Here: https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/14-7971

You can see though how it says it might not be your motor and to check these other things. The one that caught my eye is where it says the "o-ring belt may be too tight."

What are they talking about with this? Is there a belt inside the motor? I have not taken my motor apart. Anyone have pics of the inside of a motor or can tell me what this o-ring belt reference means?

Thanks.

Awesome. Thank you very much. Good explanation. And simple too. I'll definitely open up the motor I have and see what the condition of the grease is. Cheers.

I've been working on my flippers a little bit. I have done the flipper rebuild kits on all three. I still feel like the lower right flipper is a bit weak, especially as it gets right out to the tip of the flipper. I think it might be an adjustment of some kind needed on the EOS switches, but not really sure. I also think there's too much slop in the bushing on the right side, but I don't know how or what to adjust that out. These were new bushings too with the rebuild kits.

The flipper buttons are also a little suspect. I have new ones coming, but the ones in there don't have much of a spring out resistance, and I like feeling that on the buttons. This is usually from the internal spring in the button or from the tip of the button plunger resting on the top of the leaf spring metal tab. The thing is though, with the Getaway, it seems like there isn't enough room on that right flipper leaf switch to move things around or in and out because the stacked base of the switch is right snug up with the bracket on the shifter.

You guys have this scenario on your machines too? Where the leaf switch is wedged in there under that angled top bracket part of the shifter mechanism? This is I guess necessary because the right switch has the dual acting blades for the top flipper. I think that's what is going on there anyway.

Here's a pic of what I mean. Early pic when I got the game. A few things have changed, but that geometry is still the same for the switch base and the shifter bracket.

IMG_2357 (resized).JPG

I had a way of getting this EB to pop-up fairly consistently once upon a time. I used to do it by hugging one side or the other. Like go to the left and keep pressing the left button while you're there. It seemed like that was daring the logic to throw the EB sign up on the far side. And it often would. You would need to dart over and get it (by driving through it, as mentioned). I only ever did this in the lowest gear... meaning, I never changed gears and so the car moved much slower. If you get to the end of the race, you're only looking at about 12 mil, but if you get the extra ball along with that, it's well worth it.

I tried it right after I posted that and it didn't work. It might need a longer video mode drive time than the default as it felt like it used to come towards the end of the run. Can't remember what the default is, like 14 seconds or something. It might need to go out to 20. I'll try it a few more times and see if I can get it to happen.

Otherwise, I bet I have played 300 games in the one month I've had my Getaway and I don't recall seeing the EB in video mode a single time. Might also be related to the EB percentage it's set to in settings or it could possibly be related to which version of the code the game is running. My machine is on L2.

The shifter looks complete also. Nothing obvious missing in that photo.

You can still buy this bracket, part number 01-10904: https://www.marcospecialties.com/control/keywordsearch?SEARCH_STRING=01-10904

It is mentioned under service bulletin 43 included on pages 16 and 17 of this 38 page PDF file: http://howtopinball.com/files/pinball/paperwork/williams/service-bulletins/williams-service-bulletin-book-1992-fall.pdf

(Originally found on the PinWiki page for Williams here: https://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Williams_WPC#Service_Bulletins)

You can get that and many more Getaway decals for this bracket and others from Mr. Tantrum, Pinside member:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/getaway-club-dispatch-run-a-make-on-license-plate-kingpin/page/129#post-3868238

http://thezumwaltfamily.com/pinball/

My Red Light Mania bulb on the ramp entrance sign will come on dimly anytime the 2nd gear light on the playfield below it is on. Anyone else have this happen on their machine?

I haven't measured the voltage, but I think it is a lot less than full as it is pretty dim compared to when it is on for real. It's consistent though, anytime you're in 2nd gear, that red light mania bulb also lights up dimly.

This happens at the beginning of every game as you're going through the gears and you can also see it when you change gears to start the video mode. Wasn't sure if I've got some kind of wiring crossover going on underneath that I need to figure out?

It sounds like this is what it must be. My game does have LED's, and I thought I had bought the non-ghosting ones, but it's entirely possible I didn't really know what I was choosing when I got them. Or it could be that a couple odd bulbs here and there got into my swap out pile.

This ghosting concept is basically where an LED will light up with just a small amount of power getting to it? And then the non-ghosting bulbs don't change the power coming to the socket, but simply don't come on unless a certain minimum power level is reached? Is that about how it is?

I ordered white rubber rings with my kit and it annoyingly continues to leave white smudges on the balls. So much so that the ball starts to play like it's got English on it like on a pool table. Terribly irritating and I think it's happening on account of the rubber quality in that kit. I take the balls out every few days and clean them off and reinstall and it's not my favorite thing at the moment!!

I actually thought perhaps that yellow post would have been meant for the one directly under the traffic light. My kit came with 8 black posts and 1 yellow and there are only 8 spots so I think the idea was you could use the yellow if you wanted to or go with all black instead.

I noticed that inconsistency on the flipper colours depending on which flyer photo you are looking at too.

I would also agree with the comment about the manual not necessarily being correct for rubber quantities and types. They flat out miss locations on their little diagram. My game came to me with the rubber ring placement all wrong as many of the locations up top by the pop bumpers are doubled up and for whatever reason, mine had only a single ring on each location. I also think there is some variation in the way you can do the posts and rings right at the bottom edge of the left pop bumper and this can have a big impact on how easy or hard it is for you to shoot the ball around that loop and then up the lock ramp.

I would look over as many of the playfield shopped out images as you can and see what you might like to do on your own game. Or if you click on images in this thread, you can page through tons of different pictures and see plenty of them that will show you such variations.

Are you talking about this?

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/01-10136

If the seller can provide pictures, they can provide video too.

Ask for two videos: one of gameplay and another of the game running through all the test modes. Easy to video record the game getting powered on, showing the code versions and whether there are any errors. Then go into utilities menu and do the lamp, flashers and coil tests. Something else you can ask for is for the seller to show you the supercharger test times. This is also in the utilities menu and requires the glass off to do. It will give you some reassurance that the supercharger is working correctly. It's the biggest challenge on a Getaway keeping working. Most everything else is pretty standard pinball machine components.

Other than that, pictures should show the backbox circuit boards clearly as well as various angles of underneath the playfield and inside the cabinet. Post the pics here if you want help, or send them directly for review if you're worried about someone else coming along and buying it out from under you.

Post a pic up of what yours look like underneath and we can see if anything else is amiss. The machines can get some MacGyver'ed fixes over the years. Like said above, the coils for the lower flippers are a little different than the upper right one. The lower ones are the same physical size, just slightly more powerful to get to those long ramp shots.

The kits "should" have what you need, but don't always come that way. Games can have some variation on how the springs were used or attached. And you might want to replace the bushing that the flipper stem goes through. Generally if they got worn down you'll feel some slop in the movement and they won't work quite as well as they should.

Adjust the EOS switches while you're doing flipper work too. That's kind of a common rule of thumb on any flippers to adjust those last before finishing.

It may depend on who you got your rebuild kit from. They aren't all the same I've noticed. I think most every kit has the springs, but some come with bushings for example and some do not. New coil stops and sleeves are key plus the linkages. Springs as well especially if they've gotten stretched loose over time.

Mine look like this underneath:

IMG_2925 (resized).JPG

For anyone struggling to make that long shot up the ramp using the right lower flipper and left orbit, in addition to flipper bat alignment and coil strength/condition, keep in mind that the diverter coil and associated wiring for the supercharger magnets is bunched right at that corner and is hard to see when things are back together. You might have a portion of that wiring hanging down just enough to impede the ball a little bit. You can see it reasonably well if you remove the glass, keep the playfield down in its normal position, and with your head down as low as you can get it right above the flippers, peer through that orbit with a flashlight. It might be obvious what's slowing the ball down. That shot is not all that hard nor relying on a perfect shot to get to make that ramp if things are set-up well. If you can't hit it reliably, it's probably not your pinballing ability, it's probably something about the way the machine is set-up.

I bought a set recently from Absolute Pinball in Saskatchewan and the orange pinstripe is good. It doesn't look pink at all to me.

IMG_3047 (resized).JPG

My F105 fuse is blowing. And so coils 1 to 8 aren’t working. This includes the divertor arm, ramp up/down, both slingshots and locker coil. If I replace the fuse and turn the game on, it gives me two errors. Check divertor and check ramp up/down. I don’t know which thing is causing which. If the fuse is blown, none of those features work, but if one of those features has a short somehow, it would perhaps show as having failed and blow the fuse?

Is there a methodical way to test for shorts on that fuse and the solenoids 1-8 it powers? I can open things up for a visual inspection of either the divertor coil or ramp coil or both but wanted to see if there was a way to narrow things down across all of those 8 coils first on fuse F105?

Thanks.

Generally speaking, you don't put the lug end of the coil next to the coil stop. It is meant to be turned around and facing the other way. The coil should have a little nub that then sits perfectly in that small cut-out portion of the bracket. This is what keeps it from rotating or moving excessively.

I just replaced my left flipper coil with a new one. Pics from the other day.

I can't see super well which wires are terminated on which lug for your right flipper coil. The ORANGE-GREEN looks to be correct, but confirm the middle lug has the BLUE-VIOLET and the third lug has the BLUE-YELLOW wire.

IMG_3352 (resized).JPG

Thank you for this. I'm not sure my own games have this orientation at every coil. I may not have known to check for this when replacing sleeves.

A new question though for anyone out there in Getaway land or similar... my balls have gotten magnetized.

It became crystal clear to me when the balls wouldn't come down out of the lock area to start multiball. I shut the game off and had a look with the glass off and playfield up on horizontal working height and sure enough the balls were not only sticking to each other a little, but the lead ball was sticking to the end of the plunger on that locker coil.

Is there a solution for this? On Getaway at least? The Supercharger is a key feature of the game and the magnets are necessary to make it go. But can we load special balls that are less prone to getting magnetized? Is that even a thing? How can you tell looking at balls on the workbench to tell which ones are which? Or is there something going on with my game that should be dialed down some to help lessen this magnetizing effect? Thanks!

Not sure how they would have been labelled when new, but they are pretty shiny. I replaced the balls in the game when I got it and maybe that wasn't a good idea. I still have the old balls that came with it and I'll see about putting those back in. They weren't banged up or pitted or rusted or anything like that. I just thought new and shiny/spiffy/fancy would be better. Apparently not for the balls though, lol.

Do most of the main parts vendors sell balls that are non-shiny or dull? Is that how I should be shopping for them? Just on the Getaway that is. My other games I don't think have the same issue.

I would be interested in seeing if there are potential ball magnetizing differences between shooting a ball into the Supercharger and shooting two balls into the Supercharger so they’re looping around together. I do this quite a bit in multiball when relighting the jackpot, 10 loops at a time. If you shoot the first ball in and then the second right after it at the same time you have the third ball in the kickout hole while it plays the “he went in the tunnel” animation, you can have those two balls going around the Supercharger I would estimate at least 30 times before they divert out. That’s the most strenuous test I can think of to put it through while in normal gameplay mode.

Thanks for the explanation. I tested the balls like you suggested and they are definitely magnetized. They can pull each other like a little train. In fact, one of the balls I got to pick up a small washer. So I'll definitely be getting some plain old fashioned carbon steel balls in the near future for my Getaway.

There were times when I was playing and the balls acted like they had "English" on them. And I mean like a pool ball or cue ball does when you hit it with your cue a little off centre. I have been seeing a little bit of smudging on the balls ever since I put in new white rubber rings. I got thinking that somehow one or more of those new rubbers was getting hit hard enough to smear the ball a little and that's what was showing up on them. Although since it's continued to happen long after I would have thought the rubber surface would have cleaned itself off, it got me wondering if there is some little dob of cleaner or wax that I can't find and every so often a ball goes into it and gets a little on it. Between the smudges and the magnetizing, the ball can do some crazy things at times. Sure has made it fast and unpredictable.

Anyone think of a spot or two on the game where they've had cleaner or wax hide and smudge up the balls because you didn't realize it was there? I've looked all over and can't find anything obvious.

Just to clarify, it is the metallic properties that lead to balls getting magnetized and not how shiny they are, right? Like carbon steel, even when super shiny, won't get magnetized? Yet the chrome ones are more prone to getting magnetized? Just trying to understand how it happens to help me figure out what I need to do or change on the game if it isn't just my ball choice.

Right on, thanks. I just found and read through a good thread on balls and magnetism from a few years ago. User BlackKnight wrote most of the technical and it explained a lot. Will definitely get some carbon steel balls for my Getaway.

Something else I've noticed on my Getaway... it feels like there is a lot less power on the upper flipper when you hit it the second time going for loops. Like if I flip at the ball to shoot it up into the ramp, it goes really quite firmly and can even slam into the locker area. Not the same feeling at all when I am flipping for loops. For whatever reason, the second time I go to hit the ball on the way by, it feels weaker. Almost like it would be the equivalent of the hold power and not the full power.

Any idea how or what could be affecting that on the upper flipper? EOS switch positioning perhaps? Bad connection or component on the Fliptronics board? Does the upper flipper even have that two mode power for hit and hold like the lower flippers do? You obviously can't cradle a ball with the upper flipper.

Like I said, it's a feel thing so more difficult to measure or describe accurately. But you know it's a different amount of force on that second time around just by playing it.

I believe that is what this product is for:

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/shops/1014-pinsound/04622-no-more-reset

Anyone know if this anti-mag ball trough shim will fit in the Getaway? It's not listed under product compatibility.

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/03-16809

Cleaned, waxed or shiny new balls make a big difference in the supercharger times too.

Nice to see the forum back up and running

Got thinking about something else to check or adjust for those having difficulty making the long ramp shot using the lower right flipper and passing around that left orbit.

Check to see that your rest position for that lower right flipper isn't too high up. Reason being, if the flipper is too "strong" to the right, which it will be if set that way, you will need to let the ball travel a little farther down the flipper bat before hitting it to try and get the angle you need for that left orbit. And when you need to wait that extra bit, the power won't be there the same way it will be if you have the flipper adjusted lower.

Use the alignment dots underneath the end of each lower flipper bat and try and centre the tip right over that dot. Tighten it up well underneath and then play some games. I think you'll notice the difference.

Just a little problem resolved post...

I was intermittently having a second ball jump out into the shooter lane before the first one was launched. Then it would launch both of them, and you could play with both of them, but the game got pretty confused if you drained one and kept playing the other. The flippers and features still worked usually, but the music stopped.

It happened a lot on ball three, but sometimes on earlier balls too. I thought maybe it was a grounding issue or static electricity build-up even on me or the game. I couldn't find a lot of consistency until I started to realize it only ever happened when three balls were in the trough to start (i.e. no balls were locked).

I then read something on either here or one of the Facebook groups about checking out the trough switches. Sure enough, the trough switch for the 3rd ball (well, the one farthest away from the shooter lane) was occasionally sticking. I got looking underneath with the playfield pulled up and out and the apron cover removed. While slowly and quietly moving either a ball or my finger across the top of the switch, I noticed it would at times get over to the side and be touching the side of the groove it was sticking out through. And every so often it wouldn't go back up all the way to release the little plunger in the switch itself.

So I took it off the game and gently bent the wire portion at the spot that it looked like it had gotten bent out of shape slightly to begin with. And good to go. Haven't had it stick again and there hasn't been a second ball get shot out into the shooter lane since.

It seems like when that switch is still down, the game is being told all the balls are still in the trough, so tries to move one of them along. When it did this, either that switch freed itself up from the coil movement or it now got the signal from the second trough switch that it was open and figured the ball had made it there. Either way, it fixed the issue by adjusting that switch.

For the supercharger opto errors, you can check the connections on the accelerator board which is mounted under the playfield at the back. Agreed on those errors at times resetting themselves once you shoot a ball through the supercharger. I got the set of errors while having a U20 blowing issue thanks to my divertor arm coil lugs shorting against something under the ramp. I fixed the orientation and positioning of the divertor arm coil and it has been good ever since.

At one point while I was not quite in the clear, I had fuse 105 blow, which powers coils 1-8. This is both left and right slings, the divertor arm, locker coil and a couple others. Before I knew that fuse was blown, I tried to start a new game and all it did was make the sound of the engine trying to turn over. But it wouldn't start. On a side note, I thought that was pretty cool hearing the engine trying to start while the game has a blown fuse. You could have a fuse blown. Agreed also on the opto errors potentially being a different issue.

This is on my Getaway but it could be on any game...

I have the flipper button protectors and they’ve developed a sticky feel to them. Not on the back, I mean where your fingers rest that aren’t on the button.

It feels tacky almost like finger grease or oil or lotion. It’s distracting enough I want to clean them up or remove them. Any suggestions? Cleaning them somehow? I don’t know what it is that’s on them or coming out of them or if it’s just my imagination. I would rather have it feel a little more rough as these feel sticky and rubbery. Smooth yes but sticky smooth if you know what I mean?

Here's another picture of the ball launcher assembly. I had my apron off putting in a Cliffy protector. I also replaced the armature recently and the tip on the replacement is black. Same one as the link just shared (A-15709). I don't believe there is an A-15673. Where did you find that reference?

IMG_3709 (resized).JPG

Weird. I have a different image in my manual for that kicker assembly.

Kicker assembly in manual page 2-27 (resized).JPG

The adjustment is to lower the rest position of the flipper. Look at the alignment dot underneath the tip of the flipper for reference.

It will still only just get over to the right flipper. And you’ll need to “one time” it with that right flipper to go back up the ramp. It won’t dribble far enough to cradle it first. Sometimes it will come over just right and you flip precisely when it lands and other times you pause momentarily before flipping. It is very particular and specific to each time the ball comes down the return. It won’t be the exact same time after time. Similar but you have to make a very quick judgement. If you get the hang of it, you can net 100 million in that 20 second supercharger round.

I replaced my shooter lane (kicker) armature recently too. My original was the white tip and the replacement was the black tip. It was working fine before, but since I have been chasing some mystery source of smudges or smears getting on the balls from time to time, I thought it might have been the culprit.

You can see the new black tipped replacement in the photo. Beside it is the kickback armature (plunger). It is quite a bit narrower at the end. I also put in a new disappear post for the spot where the balls lock as mine was a little rough on the end and I noticed it was holding some magnetism.

I have the same decal on the shooter coil cover. It came with my game though when I bought it. I did put in a Cliffy protector on that eject spot and you can see the tip of the plunger and the cover in the same pic.

IMG_3655 (resized).JPG

IMG_3711 (resized).JPG

IMG_3712 (resized).JPG

I won’t comment on the pin sound thing, but those other two are simple…

The shifter error will be because the game was played for at least 100 balls or 30 games and pressing shift down was never used. Meaning, your cousin always went with shift up.

If you play a game and go shift down, it will resolve the error.

Having said that, using the flipper buttons to launch the ball is an option in the adjustments menu. I don’t recall which number but it’s there. You can put it back to using the shifter and not the flippers and you’ll be good on both of those issues.

Check the ribbon cables again. For condition but also to see that they are clipped in correctly and no pins are sticking out the side or pushed over.

What volume setting is the game on? What happens when you press up or down on the volume buttons? Do you see the volume bars change on the DMD when you do this?

I turned my Getaway on earlier today and it showed a message saying the factory settings had been restored.

I didn't knowingly do this and wondered what might have caused this?

I turn the games off when I'm not using them. Getaway might have been off for 1-2 days max. I have it plugged into the same power bar as a Funhouse I just got. I have turned off the power bar several times recently as I have been working on things with the Funhouse. My batteries are still fine and the game kept the date and time settings, which to me is the weird part. It went back to the factory set-up, like losing the free play for example, but it didn't lose the date or time.

Any idea what might have caused this or things I should check to see if there is something else going on?

Giving it the benefit of the doubt, I changed the batteries today, but I don't think that was it.

And here's why... when I turned the game on and saw the factory settings restored message, it hadn't erased the time and date. Or the high scores. All of that was still in there.

I took the batteries out today and tested them with a battery tester. They showed fine, but I put fresh ones in anyway. Now, I did this with the game still plugged in, but not turned on. After replacing the batteries and turning it back on, not only did I go back to the factory settings again, but it gave me the bookkeeping audits erased message as well. And this time all the high scores were gone.

So... what do you think is going on here? First off, is that the recommended way to change batteries in order to normally keep your settings? (keep the game power plugged in but not turned on?) And what or why would the game factory reset itself but the time and date and other things weren't reset?

Curious behavior....

Good to know, thanks. Best be watching where your fingers go and not electrocute yourself while you're doing that then...

I'll check mine, thanks. I replaced all the ribbon cables soon after I got it. Proactively. Sometimes that backfires...

They might just have gotten installed backwards. Left is right and right is left. Normally left side is supercharger yellow and right side is redline mania red.

Take a couple pictures of the backside showing the wiring colours.

EDIT: actually, on second thought, go into test mode and do the single lamp test and see what comes on for each of those.

Holy cow! That's one crazy nice and new looking machine. Time capsule almost. And the reds are still red on the cabinet and the edges of the cabinet like under the lockdown bar aren't worn at all. Gorgeous. Nice find.

Nicely done. Looks good. And I noticed one thing on your game that piqued my interest...

The way the star post or rings are arranged on the leftside of the left pop bumper. And specifically near the opening to the loop shot.

Mine has always been arranged differently. Not sure what is right or what is wrong or even if there is a right or wrong. Lots of variety here. What I do know is that when I removed the star post from where it was, which was impeding somewhat the shot to the loop area, it made the shot much easier to hit. And I intend to leave it out for now, but my question is actually for what to do with the screw hole(s) that were under that star post?

There are actually two small screw holes. Not sure why. The second, smaller one wasn't used, but was covered by the star post. The top edge around those screw holes is a little frayed and I would like to do something with that to ensure it doesn't get pulled on or peeled more than it is with the ball going over it or near it.

Any suggestions? I was thinking of placing a small, custom sized piece of Mylar directly over it and just sealing it down flat that way. Any other ideas?

IMG_5282 (resized).JPG

IMG_5283 (resized).JPG

IMG_5284 (resized).JPG

IMG_5287 (resized).JPG

I don't mind that actually. Glad to hear it was put in by Williams going back to the early days. I put up a 964 million point game with that star post in... I don't think I'm someone that needs the game to be any easier Thanks.

Well, I’m gonna see how brilliant of a Getaway player I really am. I just put the post back where it was. Then moved the right outlane post all the way out. That’s the only one I see on the game that is adjustable. I then put the settings all to extra hard and lowered the tilt warnings down to one. Let’s see how hard really hard really is…

I made all the changes. Widening out the right outlane makes the biggest difference by far. And the kickback not relighting as easily as it used to is a close second. Totally different game set up this way.

Not a known bug to my knowledge.

I would be looking closer at the "disappear post" and coil that drives it. Maybe that coil is trying to release the balls for you but is stuck or impeded somehow?

On the DMD, what side is the red line on for the ribbon cable? In that last photo, it is on the left. It should follow down and also be on the left in the connection on the back of the display.

Just a quick thank you to those that mentioned putting in an LED in the beacon light on top to replace the high watt incandescent that was in there.

My rotating assembly would occasionally stick and you had to tap the top of the back box to get it to go. Not every time, but maybe once every ten times or so. The bulb always came on but the rotating portion only worked most of the time.

It hasn't stuck a single time since putting in an LED bulb. And as a bonus I had some of those large size LED's leftover from doing an LED swap on my taillights on the car. So free and easy. Can't beat that!!

Don't worry, you shouldn't be expected to. Search functionality isn't good once threads get so many pages to them. Yet dedicated threads per issue isn't the norm here it seems.

That post is factory, or at least soon after the first few machines got out there. Made that loop too easy without it. Lots of variation on post placement as well as how the rubber rings are in on the game. It makes it your own though so do as you wish. There's no originality police coming to your door anytime soon.

Can you post a picture of that area looking down to give us a better idea of how close things are to one another?

You can put the yellow rubber post under the traffic light... so that it's all yellow.

Which direction are you pushing the sleeve into the coil from? Flanged end should be up against the coil stop. Soldering lugs on the coil should (normally) be on the end opposite to the coil stop.

Costs aside for shipping one to Germany, your 3D printed product saved the day for me when I needed it. My game had that same kind of wear on the "shoulders" of the mount and it too would slip out of the bracket and render it unuseable.

The one you made for me worked perfectly from the moment it went in and has since for all of the gazillion games I've played on my Getaway. Thank you very much for that, super(charger) appreciated!

IMG_2391 (resized).JPG

IMG_2587 (resized).JPG

IMG_2590 (resized).JPG

Looks really sharp. What decals did you go with? Link to where you bought them?

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/getaway-check-f114-amp-f115-error-troubleshooting

You can read up on troubleshooting the F114 and F115 fuse error here. Lots of good advice and approaches to figuring out where exactly the problem is.

Mine ultimately was related to the coil for the supercharger diverter arm being in backwards and shorting out to another component next to it.

Time to remove it and have a closer look. I would bet on it being the plastic shoulder mount piece that has one or both sides worn down or broken off. You can buy a 3D printed replacement from one of the Pinside members here if so.

IMG_2389 (resized).JPG

IMG_2391 (resized).JPG

IMG_2587 (resized).JPG

IMG_2589 (resized).JPG

I don’t know. That’s why I suggested you take it apart and look. Intermittent is just that. Intermittent.

Personally I think there is an end point to adding things. I don’t like playing games where visibility of the ball is reduced or blocked. The mountain mod is one of those things. I like to be able to see the ball going around that back right corner to judge how quickly it’s coming out. Too many extras on the game is just clutter in my opinion. But then that’s all the discussion really is. An opinion.

I like keeping GI bulbs on the playfield white too. Same goes for in the backbox. I think they come out looking a little off when you go with the blue or purple trying to match the plastics or artwork. I think I did red behind the words GETAWAY in the backbox, but that's about it.

I usually go with cool white with the frosted dome for my bulbs. I've even gone back to white underneath some coloured inserts after realizing the insert colour comes through cleaner with a white bulb than trying to match yellow or orange or whatever. I saw this difference most significantly on my Lethal Weapon 3 pin.

Side note, Party Zone has a multiball/Big Bang jackpot feature where all the GI goes red. They originally did this by having some of those GI bulbs dedicated to this red mode and put those rubber bulb condoms on them. I have red frosted dome LEDs in all those spots now.

And on the subject of toys or others mods and add-ons, I don't like having my view blocked or impeded. That goes for the mountain mod in Getaway, but also as simple as playing games with plastic return ramps that are cloudy with age and have GI bulbs out. Found this on a Creature from the Black Lagoon onsite and it was pretty much unplayable because you couldn't see where the ball was half the time. This isn't DE Tommy with the flipper covers, lol.

oh... and photos turn out terrible with the playfield glass in place for the most part.

IMG_6387 (resized).JPG

IMG_6389 (resized).JPG

IMG_6394 (resized).JPG

IMG_6397 (resized).JPG

IMG_6406 (resized).JPG

Don't know. Can't think of a time I played a machine that had the mountain so no idea if it would block the view. Who knows, maybe if it had come with the game originally, I wouldn't have enjoyed it as much. Not sure, don't really care at this point.

Good to know, thanks. I'll have to find a game with the mountain mod installed and give it a whirl.

Switches show up as being in error if they haven't been triggered in either 30 games or 100 balls played. It is always keeping track while you play. It figures that if you haven't hit every switch in that many games or balls, then something must be wrong.

This happens on the shifter on Getaway, or at least it does for me. I pretty much never shift down on the lever when I play. Not to launch balls and not to shift down during video mode. So if I don't shift down once in a while just because, it will give me the credit dot. Shifting down just once eliminates the error dot as it sees the switch is working again (i.e. being used again).

I'm not certain about those rollover switches and exactly what the function of each one is, but I thought it had to do with the game knowing which direction your ball is travelling. Meaning, lower then upper versus upper then lower. And I still think it is tied to the ramp operation. Maybe it's somewhat redundant and unnecessary to have both or issues happen so infrequently you haven't noticed yet. Perhaps in multiball it's needed more? Or it also activates the freeways? Keep playing and see what you notice.

If you’re still having trouble figuring out the F114 & F115 fuse blowing issue, quite a bit of helpful troubleshooting was written here:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/getaway-check-f114-amp-f115-error-troubleshooting#post-6049831

That left side return trail coming off the supercharger has a switch that's mounted next to the ramp entrance sign. The wires seem to get pulled pretty tight and it's bare metal on the edge of the pathway it's next too. Check those wires for insulation damage too.

Every so often my Getaway resets itself to factory settings (i.e. when I power it on it gives me the factory settings restored message). It did it tonight and the only thing I did was move it out of the way a little while I worked on the game beside it.

What I am wondering is what might be in the backbox among the connections and circuit boards that could cause this? A loose wire or connector or cable? Power supply or batteries issue? Something susceptible to physical movement of the cabinet?

Tonight when I went back into the settings after getting this message, it hadn't lost the time setting nor the high scores. The only thing that was back to defaults was it wasn't on free play anymore and my minimum volume override selection was back to default. That's it, so not everything, just some basic settings.

Any ideas?

Game was powered off most of the day but still plugged into the power bar. No power surges or anything else noticed in the house today.

Thanks.

The reason I mentioned the game being off versus on is just because I was describing the circumstances I found it in. I leave my games off at the power switch underneath the cabinet when I'm not using them. I turn them on when I'm playing but otherwise they are off.

And I got the factory settings restored issue to occur again today. Same, only settings and pricing adjustments affected.

So when looking in the manual, it talks about what voltage is necessary on the RAM chip. It says you can check voltage at pins 26 and 28 and you should get 5+ volts when the game is on and at least 4 volts when it is off.

Can someone confirm which pins these are on the RAM chip? I think the number is starting at 1 to the left of the half circle mark and continues down counter clockwise to 14 and then 15 on the other side and up to 28. So 26 would be the 3rd last pin and 28 the last. And are these two pins where I should measure the voltage across? Or is that meant to read 26 or 28 against a known ground point? Wasn't sure if 26 or 28 was the ground on this chip or not?

I had my batteries moved off board soon after I got it and the off board battery holder isn't very good quality. They don't maintain full contact with the batteries all the time. This is why I was losing my game settings.

There is a similar setting in the menu for shifting gears with the flippers instead of using the shifter as well. Not sure how that works exactly in video mode though come to think of it...

Bulb # Description Bulb type Colour
24-8768 Freeway 1 555 Yellow
24-8768 Freeway 2 555 Yellow
24-8768 Freeway 3 555 Yellow
24-8768 Freeway 4 555 Yellow
24-8768 Freeway 5 555 Yellow
24-8768 Speed (x2) 555 Red
24-8768 Left freeway 555 Yellow
24-8768 Lock (x2) 555 Green
24-6549 2X 44 Green
24-8768 4X 555 Green
24-8768 Hold bonus 555 Yellow
24-8768 6X 555 Green
24-6549 8X 44 Green
24-8768 Getaway 555 Red
24-8768 Speed millions 555 Yellow
24-6549 Super jackpot 44 White
24-8768 Top red 555 Red
24-8768 Top yellow 555 Yellow
24-8768 Top green 555 Green
24-8768 Right freeway 555 Yellow
24-8768 Special (x2) 555 Red
24-8768 Video mode 555 Red
24-8768 Random lamp 555 Yellow
24-8768 Extra ball 555 Orange
24-6549 Tach 1 44 White
24-8768 Tach 2 555 White
24-8768 Tach 3 555 White
24-8768 Tach 4 555 White
24-8768 Tach 5 555 White
24-8768 Bottom red 555 Red
24-8768 Bottom yellow 555 Yellow
24-8768 Bottom green 555 Green
24-6549 Shoot again 44 Orange
24-8768 Kickback 555 Yellow
24-8768 Tach 11 555 Yellow
24-8768 Tach 12 555 Red
24-8768 Tach 13 555 Red
24-8768 Tach 14 555 Red
24-6549 Tach 15 44 Red
24-6549 Shift 44 Orange
24-8768 Right return lane 555 White
24-8768 Left return lane 555 White
24-8768 Six bank bottom (x2) 555 Yellow
24-8768 Six bank middle (x2) 555 Yellow
24-8768 Six bank top (x2) 555 Yellow
24-8768 Supercharger 555 Yellow
24-8768 Red line mania 555 Red
24-6549 Start button 44
24-8768 4th gear 555 Red
24-8768 5th gear 555 Red
24-8768 Stop light red 555 Red
24-8768 Stop light yellow 555 Yellow
24-8768 Stop light green 555 Green
24-8768 1st gear 555 Red
24-8768 2nd gear 555 Red
24-8768 3rd gear 555 Red
24-8768 Tach 9 555 White
24-8768 Tach 10 555 Yellow
24-8768 Middle red 555 Red
24-8768 Middle yellow 555 Yellow
24-8768 Middle green 555 Green
24-8768 Tach 6 555 White
24-8768 Tach 7 555 White
24-8768 Tach 8 555 White

GI string 1 24-6549 Playfield 44
GI string 2 24-6549 Playfield 44
GI string 3 24-8768 Insert 555
GI string 4 24-8768 Insert 555
GI string 5 24-8768 Insert 555

Backbox 555 White
Coin door Should be orange not red 44 Red

Flashers
24-8704 Right bank flasher 89
24-8802 Supercharger flasher 906
24-8802 Insert flasher 906
24-8704 Left slingshot flasher 89
24-8802 Insert flasher 906
24-8802 Free ride flasher 906
24-8704 Left ramp flasher 89
24-8802 Left ramp flasher 906
24-8802 Insert flasher 906
24-8704 Left bank flasher 89
24-8704 Flipper flasher 89
24-8802 Flipper flasher 906
24-8802 Insert flasher 906
24-8704 Right slingshot flasher 89
24-8802 Insert flasher 906

Hey, you also had asked about the pop bumper lights...

Those are just LED discs that should pull out without anything needing to be changed or modified before putting a regular bulb back in the receptacle.

I think the ones you have are these: https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/05-PBR555-B

Wedge or bayonet ends, and colours you can choose too. There are also different styles that will sit in the middle of the pop bumper body, plus some that have as many lights underneath the surface as on top and you can use those with clear pop bumper bodies.

I have these on my Getaway and don't mind them. Most all of the mods on my game came to me like that. I'm with you though on that I do like games to be as original as possible without getting too jazzed up. I like to see when I'm playing though so every bulb in every game I own is LED. Personal preference but hey, that's how I like em

Saturday night. A good night for pinball. Finally rolled the scoreboard on my Getaway!!

4A0BC99A-832B-425C-877E-5826A24F5730 (resized).jpeg

Could someone with a PIN2DMD in their Getaway post a short video of what their attract mode screens look like? I put a colour display in my game recently with the newest colorization files that I could find but it does a couple of unusual things. The most obvious one is that while on the "Free Play Press Start" screen, the lower half flashes between saying Press Start and some full width residual grab from some other screen. Just wondering if that is "normal" or a problem with the display? The display came to me in a World Cup Soccer game and was having issues with not always powering on, so I had swapped it over to the Getaway to see if maybe it was the game or power board and not the display. Thanks.

First thing to do when you get the game is run the supercharger test. Basically it will give you a number representing the speed the ball goes around the loop. Smaller number equals faster. Not everyone has the same definition of what is fast or what is slow. The number gives you specifics. Then go from there.

That down shift switch can be an occasional source of credit dot too. If you tend to never use it, after enough time (~30 games or ~100 balls) where the game doesn't see the switch made at least once, it will throw up the error code. Use it just once and the error will reset itself and go away.

Most people new to the game or that haven't played it in so long to remember seem to do that anyway. SHIFT GEARS!!!!! lol

I took some pictures of my game last night running the GI strings one at a time. Not sure how much help this will be as it is tough to see which bulb is on with the plastics covering them.

The order I tried to do them in was All Lamps (1st four pics), then the first GI string test (next six pics), then the second GI string test (next three pics), then the fourth GI string test (next four pics). After those, I did the three backbox GI string tests and finally the all illumination test.

IMG_8689 (resized).JPG

IMG_8690 (resized).JPG

IMG_8691 (resized).JPG

IMG_8692 (resized).JPG

IMG_8693 (resized).JPG

IMG_8694 (resized).JPG

IMG_8695 (resized).JPG

IMG_8696 (resized).JPG

IMG_8697 (resized).JPG

IMG_8698 (resized).JPG

IMG_8699 (resized).JPG

IMG_8700 (resized).JPG

IMG_8701 (resized).JPG

IMG_8702 (resized).JPG

IMG_8703 (resized).JPG

IMG_8704 (resized).JPG

IMG_8705 (resized).JPG

IMG_8707 (resized).JPG

IMG_8709 (resized).JPG

IMG_8710 (resized).JPG

IMG_8711 (resized).JPG

IMG_8712 (resized).JPG

In case that isn't a typo, the magnets are on fuse F103 not F106, so check F103 to make sure it is still good. Does your rotating light on top work still? That is on the same fuse.

You can also double check that the supercharger didn't get turned off in the settings menu. It can be disabled there via the diverter being disabled. That's adjustment 15 on the features section. Make sure it isn't disabled.

Go with what was meant to be in there. Blue label FL-11629 for both lower flippers and red label FL-11630 for upper right.

I don't often go for direct shots at those middle red-yellow-green targets. Too unpredictable where the ball goes afterwards, air balls or otherwise. First time through the gears, a shot up the ramp or into the mountain saucer will spot you a target. That's the strategy for getting multiball the first time. After that, I'll purposely miss hit a shot with the upper flipper at the loop and intentionally catch the lower bank of targets that will careen into the middle bank. The top bank becomes a little more luck by throwing it into the pop bumpers and waiting for it to hit the one you need.

Here's another if you need it.

IMG_3169 (resized).JPG

I think the 5 bulbs for GI (2 for #44s and 3 for #555s) is a reference to the number of GI strings and not an individual bulb count. I don't recall how many bulbs are on each string. It's usually somewhere between 5 and 10.

I made a pretty lengthy bulb list complete with colours and bulb type when I did my Getaway. Looking at it now I'm not so sure I still understand my own notes, lol. I was originally of the mindset to colour match inserts and backbox bulbs, but have since changed my mind. I like how it looks with just cool white frosted domes everywhere. I believe I kept a few of the bulbs in the backbox as red, where the flashing lights are behind the artwork.

That being said, the parts list calls for:

Quantity 52 round base #44s Williams part number 24-6549
Quantity 98 wedge base #555s Williams part number 24-8768

Quantity 11 round base #89s Williams part number 24-8704 (flashers, larger base)
Quantity 10 round base #906s Williams part number 24-8802 (flashers, smaller base)

Quantity 1 round base #1156s Williams part number 24-8826 (this is the mini-bulb for the rotating beacon light on top of the backbox. https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/04-1156 Be sure to use this exact bulb or your motor will tend to stick as it can't get over the start-up current of an over-sized bulb AND the rotating part. If you have to give the top of your game a love tap to get it going, it's sticking because it has the wrong bulb in it).

Wow, no kidding. Great job. And no commercials!!

Remind me why the "run the red light" text got removed/changed?

Decided my Getaway deserved some love... and a cleaning. Went with red for the rubber rings and post sleeves. I also had a new plastics set that I hadn't fully installed, so put those in too. Replaced some of the foam padding behind the stand-up targets too. The middle set of traffic light ones I find are prone to producing airballs when that foam has worn down or isn't there. It was pretty filthy back in the corners. She's playing quick now!!

IMG_9506 (resized).JPG

IMG_9528 (resized).JPG

IMG_9532 (resized).JPG

IMG_9535 (resized).JPG

IMG_9540 (resized).JPG

IMG_9549 (resized).JPG

IMG_9552 (resized).JPG

IMG_9554 (resized).JPG

IMG_9557 (resized).JPG

I'd love to hear whether it helped or not on your own game. I happened upon the idea with my Theatre of Magic actually. A couple of similar stand-up targets on either side of the ramp entrance. And the ball would often go bonkers if you hit them just so. I put a new piece of foam padding back there and it helped a lot. I think if anything it helps to keep the ball in contact with the playfield and not at a slight angle up as it hits a target. Once it hits and rebounds back, that slight angle grows and catches air. That's my theory anyway, lol.

I used these: https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/23-6534-9

One piece of advice is to make sure the metal surface you're sticking these to is good and clean. The adhesive on the back of these is not super strong and if there are bits of the previous foam piece still on there, the new piece will fall right off.

Oddly enough I find your thumb to be the best thing to clean the surface with. You can pull that target down through the playfield without needing to unrivet or desolder anything. Just undo the two screws holding the bracket to the playfield. Once you have good access to it, I just rubbed the old adhesive with my thumb on the surface until it all comes off. It will roll together like any other glue would and then just pick it off. No need to antiseptically clean the surface. Just get the old adhesive off and you're good.

Does the light work?

Enable 1, 2, 3 are the three magnets in the supercharger. Does the supercharger work? You can do the supercharger test with the glass off and you feeding a ball into it by hand to find out.

Looking for some ideas on figuring out an intermittent issue I'm having.

I did a topside tear down of my Getaway recently. Rubber rings and post sleeves, a few new plastics and overall cleaning. It is all back together and working well, except now my ball launching will sometimes clunk into the redlight target of the leftside bank of 3.

And it isn't every time. Most ball one games starting don't do it, but then it often does later in that game either on a second ball or after you've locked some. It basically will come out of the shooter lane and instead of going around the loop, it will hit right into that red target. Which is quite a bit off from making the loop. It isn't just grazing that post sleeve beside the red target, it's a full ball width or more lower.

And since it isn't all the time, it's got me stumped on what is causing it?

If my shooter coil was underpowered some of the time I could see it doing this perhaps. Not sure why it would do it fine some of the time and clunk other times?

I got thinking perhaps my shooter lane exit flap was sticking or hanging up and causing the ball to veer off course. It seems to move freely when you try it with your finger though. That also might explain the intermittent aspect if a locked ball getting released by the disappear post moving was rattling the flap. When a ball gets released from the locking area, you can see the flap jump slightly. It has always done that though. It also doesn't appear to be catching either of the post sleeves beside the flap on it's way out.

Playfield and / or cabinet alignment is a possibility too. Yet wouldn't explain why it doesn't happen all the time. I didn't adjust the leg heights when I was doing my work on the game, but I for sure had the playfield up and down many times and it's position or alignment could have changed slightly.

Cleaning the game made it faster too, yet that's another thing that doesn't make sense when it doesn't happen everytime.

Magnetized balls? I don't think that's an issue or why it would do this.

Could there be an issue with the power supply or boards that would cause varying power to coils mid-game like this? I swear the game has done some weird things since putting it back together, like it gets confused as to which mode it is in. Hard to explain and not sure it isn't just my imagination. Like it gave me two consecutive multiball awards for Burn Rubber shots, which is very unusual. I'm running L-2 for code.

Thank you for the suggestion. I did look closely after you said that and found that while the coil wires looked ok, it did not have the correct coil sleeve. Meaning, no flange and I think it was moving around a little. Intermittently and affecting launcher power. I have the correct sleeve with the flange and I’ll put that in and see how it goes.

Thanks. I see in the manual the coil is listed as A-14789. I'll have to double-check mine. I know it isn't new as the paper wrap label is pretty worn looking.

The Marco image for the assembly shows the lugs on the coil in the middle of the assembly, whereas mine or oriented out at the end (the end closest to the plunger tip and the ball). How is yours oriented?

Thanks. I believe you are right that something is physically off kilter. I'm going to focus on exactly where the ball sits waiting to be struck and how the tip of the armature makes contact. Since the end of the armature is cupped, if it doesn't exactly meet the centre of the ball each time, I think it would result in the inconsistent ball launching I am seeing.

I did want to mention this issue though too:

When I reversed my launcher coil so that the lugs were in the middle of the assembly and not out at the end, I realized they were in contact with the top of the leaf switch for the flipper button on that side of the cabinet. Important to note that you won't see these in contact with each other when the playfield is up, only when it is down, so you'll need to look through the coin door while the playfield is down in it's regular position.

When I started the first game after reversing the launcher coil, it must have blown the F102 fuse because that's when the launcher wouldn't fire. But something else starting happening at that exact moment... the ramp starting trying to move even though it was already in the correct position.

So somehow this shorting of the launcher coil lug to the tip of the right flipper button switch was causing havoc with the ramp up/down.

I went through the diagnostics, checking solenoids and switches and all was fine except the launcher wouldn't fire. I replaced the F102 fuse with a new 3A slow blow and everything came back to life. No transistors damaged on the power driver board, nothing wrong with the small high power board underneath the apron, nothing other than fuse 102. And the ramp is fine and not doing that same glitchy thing that was described previously here.

Just wanted to share in case anyone else is having this ramp movement going on and might not realize their launcher coil lugs are touching their flipper button switch tips.

I think I have a new theory. I thought it was only one of the three balls doing this misaligned launch. Like one specific ball that might have been scuffed or worn or magnetized or something. So I put new balls in and now I've noticed some other pattern. It does the mislaunch each and every time there is a ball locked. Doesn't do it when there are no balls launched. So I think somehow when the ball is locked, it's pushing back on something physically to impede the ball path. Need to look closer at this. Stay tuned...

Check to see that the lugs of the ball launcher coil are not touching the ends of the flipper button switch on the right side when the playfield is down. Look through the open coin door to see. I replicated the odd ramp up / down behavior by doing this inadvertently the other day.

Wow, impressive. I got over 1 billion once and thought that was pretty good. 3 billion? Yikes.

Hitting the supercharger in 4th gear mode 20 or 30 times... may I ask how long your timer is on that mode? Mine seems way too short to hit it more than about 6-7 times. I have gotten to 35 million on the last shot up just as the timer runs out, but that's about it.