Ghostbuster Issue Thread

this is exactly right. In this hobby there is no such thing as perfection. That's why it's important you guys learn how to tweak and fix your own shit. Stuff gets banged around a bunch in shipping. They can't test every game for hours on end. They hit slimer a couple of times. he registers, they move on. It's the way it works. Otherwise they will be shipping games as fast as JJP.

since your new. You havn't seen every manufacturer, for every decade had problems out of the box. EVERYONE. when you have items with 100's of moving parts and complex circuitry, things will get overlooked. B/W had plenty of problems with new games right out of the box. Gottlieb had grounding issues for a decade, DE, Sega, JJP...EVERYONE has it.

Cars have been made longer than pinball machines. You would think they have their shit together. But how many factory recalls happen? quite a few and they make a hell of a lot more per model, than pinball does.

it would be more like. your fan for your heat and A/C goes in and out. WHich has happened in new cars.

If you forgot to install a mirror, would be like if slimer was completely missing. Then that's a major fuckup. that's a different story. but if your defrost on your mirror doesn't work. Only the cold states would ever notice and when it's winter time.

actually, the downvotes is what gets you in the cool kid club. The more you get the better.

i pull metal wire rails like this at least 4 times a month. Usually there are spot on the underside of the playfield where you can see the wire peeking through. all you have to do, is take an AWL and a hammer and pound out the wire guides from the back. Raise them up to where you like. That's all there is to it.

yea but the playfield will have to be drilled to handle the thicker gauge wire. It should be the size they use for the outlanes.

LE's always get the design shafts. Problems are figured out, and corrected on premiums. You see. LE's are sold and you guys line up for them before they are even made. What incentive do they have to worry about fixing anything? That's already money in the bank. It's the premiums that will sell and keep on selling. Those are the ones that need to have attention paid to them, so they can keep selling them, release after release. But don't worry. LE buyers have that nifty plaque.

yes it sucks. Pinball is just one of those hobbies where you do NOT want the first ones. I always want as close to the last one made of any game. Those usually have all the fixes worked out.

WE all just saw LE footage being played. So they must be on the line or you wouldn't have seen it.

and yet, they didn't fix the one major problem they had. Overheating and causing cold solder joints on the graphics and processor chip. SO people had problems down the line. Not everything is fixable right away. some things need to be fixed later on.

It's not just as easy as stopping the line. You don't magically have the new part sitting there. You have to have a metal stamper or whoever, have the parts made, and get them to you. Short run metal stampers take about a month to 2 months to even get a rush job through. So the line is suppose to sit in limbo with half completed machines sitting there for a wire that bends? This is something they can correct and send out a fix later. I see why stern isn't stopping production, but I can see them fixing it down the road.

sorry, i don't have the ability to remove tagged games.

hummm an imposter in the works. Time to do some internet tag location hunting and see where it's coming from.

Edit: looks like the culprit has already been blocked and banned.

BDK doesn't have problems with hits on the crane. Why don't they use a similar system with Slimer?

sounds like it could be fixed with a cap on that switch to draw out the single length so quick hits acknowledge. If that's the case.

that sucks. Guess it's not just JJP that has lighting issues.

I think the center post is an awesome idea. personally I love it. I think all of you should do it. Because years from now, when real players buy your machines. They will need those playfields restored and fixed. It's a win win situation for me. 5 years from now, I can see a flood of GB playfields heading my way. You would be surprised how many TZ and BSD fields i've had to fix for people with surprise center post "mods".

One of my favorites was a TZ with posts added to the middle of the outlanes as well. That guy probably thought he was the best pinball player on the planet.

exactly. Plus there were tons of blemishes in the cabinets and playfields. ops didn't give a shit. Collectors these days would have a cow, if they saw the mismatched marker touchups we used to get in the B/W 90's days. Pinball is no place for the anal collector.

game only have increased in price because you guys line up for games you never played. As long as your wallets keep coming out, the price will keep going up. Has nothing to do with build quality. Never will be. It's how much you guys are willing to pay. Flaws remain consistent over the decades.

i've said this like 100's of times, and I think people don't know what the hell i'm talking about. They would rather throw money at mods, since mods is all they know.

but how do you know how much wire you have? Have you looked under there? I've seen factory wire guides sticking out the bottom 1/4" before. You really only need to go halfway into the playfield to be effective. Anything more is overkill. If they are already only half way into the playfield, and there isn't any more room. Then yes, Stern Fawked up, and needs to make them 1/2" longer.

they have a rig system to install those. If the rig was made wrong and allowed them to go in farther than they should, it could happen. I've seen it on B/W games.

I had an issue last night after about game 3 since the unboxing. GI sections 2 and 3 (middle and top) went dim to a flicker. And matrix panels top left, middle and right also went dim to a flicker. Stayed like that for about 4 games, then worked normal for about 4 games, and then went out again. Also have an issue where the flashers for the Mag slings stays on for awhile.

the more I play this, the more I think it's software related instead of hardware. I set my flashers to low (which still is too fawking bright). I still get the glitch where the mag sling flashers stay lit at certain times. Ball launches by itself sometimes. Top and middle GI's still go out from time to time. But I noticed certain modes do it as well. It's almost as if the software is doing it.

anyone else think the LE software for 1.05 is glitchy?

see, i had the opposite effect. The game plays much smoother in a natural flipper alignment for me anyway. I'm sure each game needs to be tweeked and adjusted so how everything lines up.

no, it sucked worse in factory. It was the way the right side guard followed the wall of the ramp. Combining that, with lowering the wire form section, made the downward slope better. Now instead of getting a 90% failure on shots, i'm getting about 70% successful.

Ok, here is a pic of the metal guide. Still not completely tight, but way better than it was. Before it would extend out and the curve started to late. Left a 1/8" gap between the metal and the ramp.

ghostbusters modifications (1) (resized).JPG

and here is my flipper alignment. I found that this setup makes all the shots much smoother and more natural ball control. I can hit all shots off the tip and backhand the left saucer and ramp. I can backhand the, ok, who brought the dog shot from the right side as well.

ghostbusters modifications (4) (resized).JPG

ghostbusters modifications (5) (resized).JPG

i've had it bounce off the reflector, roll between the reflector, bounce off the top of the plastic housing. Flies right past it into the shooter lane at least 40 times now. I wanted to protect it, because i've seen the reflector get cracked and the LCD split inside the unit from airballs.

how the hell are you getting to stay puft so easy? I have yet to reach him once. But I do not have a center post and set to about 7degree pitch. Factory side posts and standard stock everything.

I guess that's the problem. the first mode is easy. Sure. Second mode is easy until I have to do the far right shot. It's so exact on mine, that 10% it makes it and goes through all the way. Even with my modifications. Before it wouldn't go through at all from a shot, it would have to be some off the wall weird bounce hit off the flipper to make it all the way up.

I've made it to gozar several times, but again you have a far right shot that has to be made again. Getting it the one time was difficult enough, to try and do it twice in the same game is damn near impossible on my machine.

I have found I can backhand it sometimes with the right flipper. THen it flies up there fast as shit. But the shot is precision.

there is a setting in game adjustments. Left saucer power. Set it to 20 and it will be perfect every time.

I did the same thing to my stand ups. Helped a ton. Even a softer weather stripping doesn't allow the target to snap back fast enough for the ball to get lift.

i still have no chipping or ghosting. I'm about 500 games in.

who the hell cares about the drain hole edge? Unless you stick your forehead against the glass and look backwards under the apron you will not see it. Every B/W, DE, Sega, Stern has ware at this edge. Even with my restorations people don't care about that spot and don't pay to even have it fixed. Nobody really gives a shit. You guys are worrying about shit that really doesn't matter.

did you listen to me and pound your wire rails up 1/4"? Cuts down on side drains by 30%. Yes 30% just from raising the rails to where they are suppose to be.

Root cause= stand ups

Solution= Add thick foam padding behind the standup. Remove current padding. As a bonus if you take the target out and use pliers, you can add a slight bend to the top part. So when the ball hits the target, the top of the target stays out more, adding downward force to the ball instead of making it a ramp. Cuts down airballs about 85%.

I think they are the same but I think they were bent back a little in ratio to the angle that screws it into the playfield. giving it about a 45 degree pitch when the target is leaning back from a hit. Which makes it airborne.

ummmm, why did you need to do this, when you could have just pounded the ones that are there up 1/4". Does the same thing. I went into lengthy discussions about it on numerous threads, talking about how it eliminated bounce overs, and side drains by 30%.

With your rail out that far, you closed the side gaps way to much. basically it's a cheat. Just moving the existing rails up, already closed the gap by 1/16" more than it did at the factory. Now you are closing the gap about 1/4" by adding this other wire. Might as well just put fat rubber on it at this point.

and for $0 you can just pound up the existing rails. no damage to your playfield. 5 min fix and you are done.

Really? Did you just sign up for pinside today? You are watching a group that is complaining about the edge getting worn under the apron where the ball drains and nobody ever sees. A place where people complain about dimples that are suppose to happen, and the clear lifting in shooter lanes, that has been happening for 30 years, but now all of a sudden, it's catastrophic. All those things that people shouldn't even be giving a shit about, becomes a bitch session, and you don't think THIS won't effect resale value? Welcome to pinball, glad to have you here and enjoy the hobby.

I wasn't getting worked up. You can do what you want. Just saying, to say that it doesn't effect the resale value. Means you really underestimate the anal retentive nature of this group. It's not that easy of a fix. I fix stuff all the time like this for games over the years. Lots of center posts on games that don't have them. Even had posts put in the middle of the side drains. Even had a post on TZ block the orbit, because the gumball machine broke, so they blocked the shot so you couldn't make it in the gumball machine. Funny stuff.

For me personally. Drill away. that's just job security for me. Whoever buys your game down the road will probably send it to one of us playfield restorers to fix. Win Win situation.

that's nothing. you have the playfield up and your face in it. With the glass on you should barely be able to hear that. You think that's loud, you should hear how loud the gearbox is on TAF when thing comes out.

I wouldn't be.

I call those spider cracks. I think they get those when they are pressed tightly into the hole, or from the grinding machine when all inserts are inserted...then the grinder goes down the field and shaves everything flat. Happens in a lot of games. B/W games have them from time to time as well. Just part of the process.

Keep in mind that some right orbit shots will not activate unless you make it all the way around to the left side. So you try backhanding it up and only makes it to the pops, does not count, is not a switch problem. It's the way certain shots are programmed.

also what code are you running? The orbit acts differently during different revisions.

i have the newest code and a couple shots are still needed to have full orbit. Like to start spook central, it has to go all the way around.

I had the exact same issue. Here's how I made mine work 95% better

Lowered the hex about 1/4"
Moved the end of that wire ball trail under all the plastics on the other end to lower it's angle.
Loosened the ramp so I could aim it more to the left flipper for a smoother transition
cut 3/16" off the blue rubber to widen the gap
Bent the metal wall that hugs the right side of the ramp entrance. If you look down from the top, there is a gap between it and the plastic ramp. Took a pliers and bent it so it's formed to the ramp. This also widened the entrance another 1/8"

combo of all of these has improved the shot.

why do you have those plastic leg pieces of crap on your game, when the game comes with the standoff kind already installed?

angling the targets and adding thicker denser foam behind them is a better alternative to the protector. Protector allows the airball to still happen and fly back with some air. Tho, lower profile trajectory. Where keeping the target angled differently, keeps the airball from happening at all. Adding thicker foam, helps cushion the blow more so and eliminates the airball almost entirely.

that's not a broken wire. the pin is still on there. Just put it back in so the top tab snaps into the slot and you are good to go. just make sure you know which one it goes back into. if it doesn't lock in. Take a tiny screwdriver, and pull up the tab ever so slightly. Then it will slide in and lock into the molex.

yup, I concur. just bend the top up more, problem solved. Take you 2 sec to do with your fingers.

You have your wedge installed upside down. You want to the target aimed more towards the playfield, not leaning back. Leaning back is why the ball flies in the air. If it's aimed more towards the ground, it keeps it on the field when being hit.

i'm looking at it correct. The fat part of the wedge should be closest to the plastic face of the target. So it's spaced thinner at the bottom most section. Tilting the target forward towards the mounting screw holes. Actually the wedge should be on the front between the target and the mounting screws. So it leans it forward. This way, it's only leaning the back bracer forward. That isn't going to do much.

yea, I worded it wrong. I ment it should stay in that position, but should be in front of the switch not in back. In back doesn't do anything.

I had a lot of stuck balls in that area. The best way to fix that from happening is ..... Take out both screws that hold that sign on. Move the bottom hole of the sign to the top hole of the bracket. Use just one screw and put the sign back on. Now the sign is high enough that the ball can roll out of there when it goes up there (it will happen a lot). No more stuck balls

Btw, Stern has changed the flipper alignment to normal.

I said it over and over that the flippers are droopy and doesn't play correctly to the design of the field. People here kept saying that's the way it was ment to be because it came from the factory that way. I fixed my flippers so they are setup like all other new sterns. Shots were smoother and cleaner.

NOW:::: fresh from the stern factory. The flippers are coming out, aligned correctly. no more droopy flippers. Friend just bought a new premium and the flippers were setup like mine were.

The marker holes are still in the droopy spot, but they were installed so the holes were aligned with the bottom of the flipper plastic. Stern realized they screwed up and changed it.

I posted a pic before on how I aligned my flippers. That is the way they are coming out of the factory now as well. All shot patterns are exactly like mine. you can backhand the left ramp with ease. Same with the "who brought the dog" loop.

flipper alignment 3 (resized).jpg

I saw it first hand from the new Premium off the line from one of our guys in our league. Don't know if he ever posts on here. I know he reads it, but don't know if he has an account. Anyone in our league that was there when he hosted this last weekend can confirm it.

confirmation that it changes the shot geometry? that would be a dumb ass question, as every fraction those flippers are set up or down completely changes the geometry on every game.

it's not that crazy. because of the alignment holes are in the playfield wrong. Production is used to aligning the flippers based upon that. Also takes awhile for word to get around, then to get production to compensate for it, it's going to take awhile for that to happen. They had more pressing issues to resolve. Flipper alignment wasn't top priority, as it's something people can fix at home without much effort.

making normal alignment, it you can backhand with power. Hell, if i'm fast enough I can backhand the librarian scoop. that's a great feeling.

I never noticed this. MY GB feels like my AC/DC. did you try increasing the flipper strength?

so the back of the through shouldn't all be lit up on the other side? Looks like only 1 led is lit.

thought the LEDs were added as monitor items. So if a transmitter or receiver went out, the LED would go out letting you know what the faulty component is. Because OPTO leds you can't visually see working.

I remember a setting for coil power settings. I think there was one for flippers.

my left scoop shoots to my left flipper, no problems, never down the middle. I set my power to 15.

why do you think it's designed to do that? I don't know of many games where the scoop is suppose to launch the ball to the opposite side flipper.

would look better with carrot bats and regular green rubber.

seems the tip is up so that the bottom edge of the flipper, aligns with the top of the alignment hole. Seems like a subtle difference, but makes a big difference in gameplay.

I don't see anything wrong with this except a little slight ghosting on one of your inserts. Nothing major. if you can't handle ghosting, you better get out of pinball now, because any game with clearcoat on the field can ghost.

the gate inside isn't opening all the way and blocking the ball. Shine a light down there, make the shots and see what's going on.

yes, it's not going all the way back and part of it is sticking out. So when the ball is coming through, it hits that tip and stops it enough so it can't make it up and out. So it just halfpipes back and forth in there until settling into the kickout hole.

a lot of the education around here is very wrong. least you saw the parts where you know not to freak out from dimpling as it's the natural order of pinball.

raise your drop target up. The ball is hitting that corner, and going to chip it out. No matter how good the clear is.

if that's an upgrade kit, it looks like they cut off the entire bottom of slimer. Guess that's one way not to get drag.

you can stop that from happening, by moving the sewer sign to the top screw hole with the bottom hole. Ball will roll out every time it goes up there.

i've seen sopranos drop and transformers drop do the exact same thing. It's not just GB that brick on the drops. hell, my pinball magic used to brick on direct hits too. It's a drop target thing, not a GB thing. If it pisses you off when it happens. Either don't buy games with drops, or learn how to graze them from the edges or backhand.

I think you just have to give it some time. I've had plenty of old games that brick all the time as well. Let them break in a bit and I think it will get better over time. As the plastic wears, the metal lip wears, it won't regrab so easy anymore and should drop more and more consistent.

perfect example. Capcom games do it too.