My first pin

[MartyJ]

Good work!  Agreed Getaway is a fun game and I miss mine.

Now - I take it you know the 'cheat' for this game?  From memory when you see on the DMD animation 3 Police cars at the doughnut shop, up / down / up on the shifter (ball launch).....
 

[Gorgonzola]

Thanks guys. Marty, I didn't know about that, but I do now! :)

I might as well keep going with detailing my repairs in this thread. Hopefully it helps others that are inexperienced like myself and gives them the confidence to have a go themselves.

One other issue I've had but ignored up until now was that the lower right flipper was a bit sloppy if you were holding it up and the ball hit it at high speed. The impact would cause the flipper to sag down (often causing you to lose the ball) and then it would swing back up again.

I spent some time reading up on the Fliptronics 2 board and how it works but ultimately the problem was very simple once I actually got into troubleshooting it. Lucky for me it was just another simple broken connection as opposed to a faulty component.

- First I went into the single switches test mode from the test menu and tested the End of Stroke (EoS) switches. The lower right flipper EoS was not registering as closed when the flipper button was pressed. I did a quick continuity test on the EoS switch itself just to make sure that it was making a good connection when activated, which it was.

- The flipper circuit diagram shows that all three flipper EoS switches are dependent on the same ground connection. As the left flipper and the upper right flipper EoS switches were working correctly, I tested continuity from the ground tab of the lower right flipper EoS switch to a grounded part of the machine. This test failed.

- I then visually traced the ground connection for the lower right flipper and found that it attaches directly to the left flipper EoS switch ground tab and then shares the same wire back to the Fliptronics 2 board. Looking closely I could see that the wire wasn't making any connection at all and the only reason the wire was still sitting there is because the insulation was melted to the insulation of the lower left flipper ground wire.

- I desoldered both wires from the left flipper EoS switch ground tab, cut and stripped them, and then soldered them back onto the tab (after winding them together).

- I re-ran the single switch test for the upper right flipper EoS switch and it now showed the switch as closed when the flipper button was pressed. It now works as intended and I can no longer use it as an excuse when I lose a ball.

Apologies for another long post! :)

[Gorgonzola]

with regards to my post above, this was the first time I have soldered anything on the bottom of the playfield. Do you guys have any tips on how to do this easily? Given that the flippers are right up the top (when the playfield is raised vertically), I ended up using the short stand on the right hand side of the cabinet to prop the playfield up at approximately a 45degree angle. This way I could comfortably reach the area required while standing in front of the machine. I recall reading elsewhere that using this stand isn't really recommended as it puts stress on the playfield (as it sags diagonally under its own weight when on the stand).

What are your thoughts and/or tips?

[goodolddays]

with regards to my post above, this was the first time I have soldered anything on the bottom of the playfield. Do you guys have any tips on how to do this easily? Given that the flippers are right up the top (when the playfield is raised vertically), I ended up using the short stand on the right hand side of the cabinet to prop the playfield up at approximately a 45degree angle. This way I could comfortably reach the area required while standing in front of the machine. I recall reading elsewhere that using this stand isn't really recommended as it puts stress on the playfield (as it sags diagonally under its own weight when on the stand).

What are your thoughts and/or tips?

I've found the best way to work on the underside of the playfield is to take it out of the game and turn it upside down .

[Gorgonzola]

I've found the best way to work on the underside of the playfield is to take it out of the game and turn it upside down .

goodolddays, do you do that for any repair on the underside of the playfield, or only for ones that prove difficult to reach?

[Boots]

Jaycar didn't have the exact same fuse holder. It's the right rating however it doesn't physically fit through the hole in the line filter box so I've had to mount it temporarily until I can track down something more suitable as a permanent fix. I replaced the power cord at the same time and as well as being safer it looks a lot less ratty on the living room floor too.

Best thing to do is file the hole out to suit the new holder, it will be a standard size then, the old original fuse holders are really dodgy.

- I (nervously) desoldered the dodgy solder surrounding the pin and then applied fresh solder.
- Finally, I did one last continuity test across the pin and confirmed that it was all OK prior to re-installing the PCB in the machine, plugging it in and having a game with working lights.

You need to do all the pins, from the photo they all look dodgy

[Gorgonzola]

Thanks for the tips Boots. After I've had it for a while longer I'm going to pull the whole thing apart for a proper clean up so I'll give all the pins a once over then.

[MartyJ]

I've found the best way to work on the underside of the playfield is to take it out of the game and turn it upside down .

goodolddays, do you do that for any repair on the underside of the playfield, or only for ones that prove difficult to reach?

Whilst your still learning there is nothing wrong as long as:
(a) its safe and game is always off and unplugged when working on it.
(b) always remove balls as they smash plastics if you lift the playfield

Once you get into the swing of it more, you will find its 100 x quicker with the playfield out.  You can give the cab a nice tidy up and clean, but the playfield is soooo much easier to work on (both sides).
Although at first its a little daunting to remove the whole playfield, its only around 10 or so plugs to remove from CPU board / driver board etc.  Just take lots a photos and label them with a texta or masking tape.  Also double check before you switch the machine back on as they may have been wrong when you got it..

Here's an idea I stole from Nino years ago that I still use to this very day.

http://aussiepinball.com/index.php?topic=67.0

Now the new and improved version (adapted from a fellow on Pinside)



This bad boy is the Bugatti of playfield stands.