Have you waxed those areas? Are you using decent balls?

Also, the lane guide doesn't look polished.

Still might want to run some polish where the ball rolls. Polish usually leaves a protective coating behind that is slippery as hell. Does it feel rough if you run your finger over it?

Have you checked pitch with a good tool? (not the factory bubble)

Adjust the switches so they sit a little lower and little more slope on the front. Had to do this on my Getaway.

In the video, it looks like the ball is reacting to something on the wall, coming off the wall, and hitting the post. In the picture , the wall doesn't look smooth. It looks bent at the point the ball hits it and bounces off. Perhaps it's just the lighting. But the ball should hug the wall due to centrifugal force. For it to come off and hit the post, something has to cause that. Be looking for some protrusion. How is it if you roll it slowly instead?

its looks like the ball is running up the guide and hitting the screw head is the guide perpendicular to the playfield, is it slightly leaned back?

It almost looks like the ball guide has a stress line in it. has it been bowed and bent back. The ball is defiantly coming off of it in that area. It could be because it's bent somehow...or it could be like calvin12 said and riding up on the guide and hitting that screw head.

HS2TG.jpg

It does look like it is hitting the screw. It is the exact point where the ball goes awry. But normally the ball can't hit those. Could it be jumping a little off the switch wire, just high enough to hit the screw? You could remove the switch and see if it still happens.

That's what I was thinking. It even seems like the ball mark on the orbit is raising, er, rising towards the screw...but that might be imagined or the angle I'm looking at.

Just reread what you replied earlier...

You shouldn't have to adjust it more than 1 degree if you got it close. Have you checked the pitch with a digital level?

You're measuring too high on the playfield. Measure between the flippers and jack it up to at least 6.5 degrees there.

Why would where you measure the pitch of your playfield matter? Isn't it flat?

The fact that it was fine when you removed the screw tells me that it's the curve of the guide that is the problem. Removing the screw takes some of the pinch out of the curve. You could mess around with the curve shape of the guide and try to get it so there isn't such a tight bend right before the screw — let the curve ease more into that point.

Looking again at your photos, you may not be able to achieve this because you've got screws at each end of the problematic curve which are dictating how much length needs to fit between them and thus the sharpness of the curve.

It looks to me like you'd have a smoother curve if the guide followed the edge of the road, not allowing any of the red edging to be visible until meets that second screw.

So if the screws removed seems to solve the issue, why not place a thin shim between the guide and the back of the game? Guide will be solid, and should stop the issue.

That view shows that the curve isn't quite uniform. It sort of goes a bit flat just past the hole and sharp again before the screw at the point the ball goes out of control. Can you remove the guide and bend it to try to make the curve nice and uniform?

Try another ball guide , the radius on yours in the pic doesn't look right. ( possibly distorted when you reground it )

I am wondering if you ever found out why this happens, I have the same problem on mine. I was convinced it was the switch until you said you removed your switch and still have the same problem. There is definitely evidence of the ball riding up on the guide on my machine, you can see the wear lines in the guide. I think the ball is just traveling so fast it is climbing the guide. I wonder if the guide can be tipped in to keep the ball down.

The last pic you posted shows the upper lane guide is clearly bent. Looking at it full size, the bend near the screw hole is significant. Below that, you can see where the black art gets bigger, then narrows down again. With a newly cleared playfield and new balls, you're going to need a perfectly curved lane guide.

You just need to change that outside guide. If your new one is straighter, start with that.

Same problem here, it is fine at lower speeds, just the perfect clean fast balls have an issue. In the curve of my guide there is definitely marks from the ball climbing up the guide and judging by the marks made, it looks like the ball has been doing that for a very very long time. I'll have to check the right side. I have the problem on the right also but nowhere near as bad as the left. Maybe one in 30 or more on the right is rejected.

I do see the bend in yours he is talking about. I guess it is possible that is what is causing it. I have my doubts though considering the ball trails I can clearly see on my guide. They start well before that bend on yours. I've played around with my switch mostly, thinking that was the issue. When I get to it again I'll do some testing and see if I can figure it out. If I do I will post the results.

Something I thought about is you could remove your switch again and put a piece of tape over the slot for the switch just to rule out the ball becoming airborne rolling over that slot. Just a thought....

It's not a flipper coil strength problem.

Probably not. So what do you think it is Mark?

I'd take the guide off and drag it around a large wooden dowel to reshape it.

I'll never tell

That's funny. Not bad, it would be nicer if it were clear. I'm going to be replacing a magnet and some optos on mine and when I do I'll have the supercharger off and I'll run some tests. If I come up with anything, I'll dig this thread up and post.

I think Vid is onto something though, I'm pretty sure it has to do with the shape of the guide. Only problem is there is not much room if any for adjustment. Not with out serious adjustment involving moving a few screws, I'd hate to have to drill new holes if I don't have to.

I've cleared many of those playfields, so there has to be something else out of alignment.

Nothing wrong with that.

Sometimes you come back fresh to a problem after a few weeks and bang, the solution is right in front of you.

I've having the same problem. Any updates to this issue? Is that added plastic piece still working? How thick is that plastic?

Follow up: I removed the screw holding the metal wall in the back, under the supercharger. It was easy to get to with a screwdriver so no disassembly. I left the one in the left lane, closer to the front, in place. That one is harder to get to.

After several days and many plays, I had no issues with the ball jamming back there. I am very happy that such a simple fix seems to have solved the issue. It's so much more enjoyable playing with all shots going through the orbit. I don't know how but the ball must of been getting airborne and hitting that screw head. I don't think the screw is needed but if needed it could be installed more to the right and higher up where it is out of the way.

You could perhaps use a small #4 flathead screw (instead of the round head) to pull the head flusher with the meal ball guide?

I thought about that but I don't think anything will be completely flush without some work on the ball guide. A better solution would be to make a new screw location up and over, completely out of the ball's path. Game is playing great so I don't think a screw is really necessary in that location.