Ghostbuster Issue Thread

Interesting fix. Please keep us posted.

I wonder if changing the plunger spring to one with less tension would also be a potential fix for this issue. Is this occurring on all games?

No.

No to the issue is occurring on all games?

Yeah sorry. I've played at least 4 different premiums and none have had this issue.

All have had the right orbit switch register issue though on strong shots to the right orbit.

That's good, and also a bit concerning, to know. Thanks. I'm surprised Stern hasn't fixed the issue this long into production...

Is there a fix for the right orbit switch not registering?

This sounds good, for the plunge .
But what about right orbit shots going through that gate ? It must rattle , no ?

I think some people have had success adjusting the switch so it sits above the PF higher. Not sure though. Nothing definitive yet I don't think.

I changed mine to green and still have the issue. Sometimes a full plunge is smooth and sometimes it smacks the corner of the gate.

It does seem like my shooter is not quite centered but I don't know how to adjust it. I see that I can take all the screws out to remove it, but I don't see how to adjust it so when I put it back together it sits in a different position to the ball.

The shooter rod is actually "held in place" by clamp action inside plate, outside housing. There are some wood screws in there but they only serve to hold parts in place while you clamp the 2 halves together. I took mine apart and was able to align it before tightening the bolts.

as mentioned in post #2727 (page 55) my scoop bracket on the lhs broke after about 2 months (450 plays) and clear that the spot welds did not penetrate well.

I removed and thought to post here as a guide for others if there game falls out of warranty.

tools needed
- I used a 4.2mm drill (for 4mm bolts)
- a cordless drill
- 2 x M4 x 10 bolts
- 2 x M4 nyloc nuts

remove the mech from the game - post #2727 explains to take the top plastic off first and then remove 2 of the allen headed bolts top side, then lift the playfield up and remove one screw and disconnect the solenoid and switch at a plug (no soldering to worried about).
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for safety remove the switches and solenoid and good to go for drilling.

the top scoop bracket has 2 holes already in it - simply drill these out to 4.2mm or the equivalent imperial and the with the solenoid bracket will be 2 small pressed indents as on the other side these indents locate into the top scoop part. Drill out the indents from the recessed side right through with the same drill size as above. Since the design already has indents and holes, everything lines up well though when drilling the indents out pre-drill with a 2mm (half the final size) and clamp or vice your job and take it easy as stainless can grab your drill. Some people can may want to get it welded but the drill and bolt is super strong and won't warp the bracket.

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then I used stainless 4mm button allen headed screws on the ball side and then nyloc nuts on the backside - this way no ball interference's.

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then re-assemble the switch and solenoid and it is now rock solid and will never break and the modification took all of 10 minutes once the mech was removed from the game - hope this helps a few people that get the same issue in the future.

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Is the angle on the pro the same as the premium for the right ramp? I know prem is curved which makes it the hard shot but in theory if you hit it straight on, it should go through regardless of pro or prem so would you guys consider it the same shot or b/c of the prem curve and the fix that needs to be applied, they should be treated diff?

That right ramp on the Premium is sooooo hard for me to hit sometimes............but damn....when I DO....it feels SOOOO GOOD.

I love hitting that right ramp and I actually think I'm getting better at it. I also love it more now that I have the ramp dialed in. No more spinoff to the left drain. Man that really erkked me. 90% of the time the ball would spin to the drain. Now it lands smooth as butter. Solution... 1-3/4" hex post with a slight 1/8" reform of the ramps output that drops the ball a bit deeper in the lane.

Supposedly, the problem is the mylar Stern added to the right orbit, right before the switch. Earlier Premiums didn't have the mylar, and based on talking to a couple of people without it, they don't have the issue.

I have mylar on my right orbit, and I have the problem.

I am still having difficulties with the subway/storage. If I have understood correctly, when the storage-light
is lit and the display tells that ball is locked, the ball should stay in the storage and wait for the multiball to
accumulate. However, in my game it may very well happen that ball search kicks in and the subway/storage
kicks the ball back to playfield. Today it in fact kicked both the balls that were supposedly locked in the storage
back to the playfield as a result of the ball search.

I read that the metal wireform should be in the middle of the ramp and I think mine is (I tried to adjust it a bit
by loosening the nut, but with no luck). I have to say I am intimidated by the amount of optos in the subway/
storage - how in earth could one test that beast? In any case, I took some pics, should you notice for example
that something is totally not in its right place or something would be missing etc.

Any further help to solve the matter would be much appreciated. My playfield is at about 6.7 degrees, so a bit steep.

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Has anyone tied additional LEDs in with one of the SMDs? How did you do it?

I see three ways:
1. Splice in to the acutral wires
2. Solder on to circuit board going to SMD
3. Splice in at the molex connector by pulling pin, cutting wire, adding new wire + old wire and crimp new pin and install in connector.

Ive tied in with some self tapping T's, for Single Board tapping.

Kinda like this, there are different kinds out there.

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Can you post a pic what the updated ramp looks like? Maybe focus on the changes bc I keep on hearing about this but would like to see the after product.

Honestly, there's nothing to see.
Replace the 2" hex post under the ramp plastic with a 1-3/4" or 1-5/8" hex post.
The slight bend I made to the wire habitrail is so small you cannot see it, but it did make a difference. (see image)
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Great tech support thread! Luckily, I've never seen any of the issues posted here. Nice to know if I ever needed it, the answers are here.

I was testing the storage / Ball lock today. This is a bit different than the OP, but you can get a ball kicked out of the subway when it says ball locked on the DMD. If you already have 2 balls in there and its not time for multi-ball, a 3rd ball will fire up the flashing red light on the play field and click a ball out. For me, the game was over as I was on the last ball & lost it. The game followed by clearing the locked balls by shooting out 2 balls after game over so I know there were 2 still in there.
So there can be times when ball lock displays yet kicks a ball out, but it won't be doing a ball-search. That's an issue.
The ball kickout is announced via playfield flashers or the train in the DMD so you if the ball is kicked out you know it was supposed to.
There's one more situation where the ball passes straight through the subway and Ernie says " You're up Kid".

The ball search and ball stuck in the subway is typically related to the ball rocking back and forth in the subway and no where it should be. Alignment of the subway and checking sensors is the best place to start. Some people have modified the plastic under the playfield to resolve the issue. ( modified as in reshaped it with heat as I recall. ) There are posts about it in early on in this topic.

Thanks for the great follow-up - that cleared many of the things that I thought were issues. The plan is to try to test this with a friend during weekend. I am thinking of setting up a camera inside the cabinet to see, what is the problem there vis a vis the ball search kicking in.

This thread should be renamed the "Ghostbusters Tech Support Thread" because we don't just sit around crying about problems, we fix them. So yeah... Issues thread makes it sound like Ghostbusters is hopeless when it certainly is not.
In fact I think its awesome ! It just needs a little love where stern stopped, this thread takes over.

Well said Chuck!
I've been thinking about rating GB, but struggle to, since I believe the game is fantastic, but only because of threads like this and the adjustments I have made.
Out of the box or on route, I can see where people don't like it.

Avengers is the same way. I have spent a lot of time dialing it in and people are always shocked at how fun it can be when it plays good.

amen

Anyone have an out of focus ecto goggle display?

Ok I've got a question for all that have installed lighting mods.

I've heard some GB owners have damaged node boards with too many light mods.
I understand mods such as under cab lighting and even GI lighting can be powered off its own power source, but...
How about mods like Mezel-Mods green scoop flashers?
These type of mods rely on node bd logic to do their thing.
How many of such mods crosses the line and becomes risky?
Disclaimer: This is not a criticism of mezel-mod or any seller.
Its about thinking big picture: How many of these light-mods becomes a hazard to the spike system.
If you have more than 2 light mods running off the spike node bds, please post your results.

Examples..
Right Scoop light mod by Mezel Mod
Left scoop light mod by Mezel Mod
PKE skill shot display by Mezel Mod
Ghost Trap by Mezel Mod

I've never heard of this happening, Please take a picture so we can see how bad it is.
I can say that its not a super HD display, but when a ghost is in the display it should be plenty sharp enough.
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I have 3 7smd Strips running off of the Center City Bulb under the playfield, Another 7 SMD strip off of the firehouse, and assorted pads, as well.....so far no issues.....

The scoop mods tie into the spotlights. They are always on when the GI is on.

**CONFIRMED** It's the damn Mylar. I removed it today and the shot worked perfectly 100% of the time, no matter how hard the flip.

If you have problems with the Ecto lane shot not registering 100% of the time, especially with harder shots, and you have Mylar in the lane, remove it.

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Maybe that's what is causing the ball to rattle through that back gate behind staypuft as well. Interesting.

How hard was the mylar to peel off? I can't really see why it would be needed so much in that area can you?

It was easy. First time I ever did it too. Peeled up a little corner, then sprayed some compressed air upside down to freeze it. Pulled up with some pliers a little. Spray, pull, repeat until it comes off. Soaked some of my wife's nail polish remover in a paper towel, then wiped off the glue. Did a final polish with Novus 1. Whole thing took 10 minutes, tops.

I don't see why it would be needed there.

I may be doing the same thing this weekend because it pisses me off when that shot doesn't register

I think it is there to protect PF wear from balls coming off the ramp from the ball launch. Not sure what impact it would have in a home enviroment, likely little. However for operators, I would not want to remove it.

Yeah, but who's going to see if back there? It's not like in front of the scoops.

Also, if it's to save the PF from the ball launch, it only need to cover the little area where the ball drops. That alone would probably not cause the airlift. But it's long and stretches back down the lane.

It pissed me off one too many times!

I was wondering why mine wasnt registering.

I got a few airballs after about 40 plays and I have dimples in my PF already. Is that supposed to happen or is it due to a low quality clearcoat on these things?

I dont want what else to do to limit the airballs. I already have the airball plastic,

Can someone post a picture with arrows pointing to the 'gap' and what I am supposed to clean for this?

TIA.

Dimples are normal.

George Gomez said on a recent Kaneda interview that the clearcoat could be either thick, hard, glossy but at risk of cracking or thinner with a more flexible nature to stretch with movement (dimples)..... apparently went with the second

may have to switch out to plastic balls.

This is the EOS Switch
Clean the copper contacts at the arrow point
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We did some testing during weekend. At first we put electric tape in the upper rail (where it reads "14th street") [before the rings leading to subway] and this helped for a while, but then the ball-search kicked in again when the ball went to the subway/storage.

I also noticed one occasion when the ball drained that the pin started to look for the pinball and existed one from the subway. This got me thinking that perhaps there is something wrong actually with the ball-through instead of the storage and that is why it would be launching the balls from the subway when it does not find one in the ballthough?

It seems that usually the machine goes into ball search when the ball is in the subway/storage and "who brought the dog" animation with the running man is displaying.

Difficult to pinpoint the culprit for sure!

Can someone tell me what 7 Degrees include is on this machine. I trying using my digital angle finder on my PF and I get different readings from the top of the PF vs the bottom. What is the bubble level on the machine supposed to look like at 7 degrees?

There are some great level apps for smart phones that you can try. I use one that goes top/bottom and side to side. Ideally a digital level if you want precision.

I only use the built in level for quick reference because you can not move it, it can be on a warped or flawed spot, and I had a bad level on an older machine that was off by a few degrees due to the holder it was in.