I have changed both slingshot switches on the m/c and the leftside is working good however the switches on the lideright are dead.I HAVE DESOLDERED THE DIODE and this is good.I have traced wires and switches all over the m/c till i am blue in the face..I am sure i have coupleed wires up ok as i transfered the wires directly from the old switch .Typically the old switches were not that bad.ANY body got any clue what to do next?yours billy butler
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getaway pinball slingshot woes
- Thread starter william butler
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Hi Billy when you say not working do you mean the solenoid is not firing ,or do you mean not working when you put the machine into switch edges test ?
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Put it in switch test, and just short together the two wires to the slingshot switch. This will elicit a response on the test and tell you if you have good connectivity. If not then you’re looking for a break in the daisy chained wiring back to the cpu. Look up the switch in the manual switch matrix chart, and then test and inspect the wiring of all other switches in the same row and then the same column as the non working switch.
Hello, Billy,
Firstly, may I dispel your notion that Getaway has separate 'kick' and 'score' switches for the slingshots?. It does not; the 'special switch' caper died out during the System 11 era*. High Speed had them, High Speed II doesn't. The right side slingshot has two switches touching the rubber band, these are both 'score' switches in terms of the old method, and are connected in parallel, so each of them should show the same name and number in a switch test, Right Slingshot, No. 32.
As pinballmania says, there's no harm in connecting the switch Column and Row wires together directly for test purposes, without benefit of diode. It wouldn't be done for normal use, but in this case it's okay.
Since the two switches are in parallel, the playfield switch matrix wiring attaches to one of them, and uses jumper wires to connect the other. Looking closely, the switch should have three solder tabs. Two of these are sandwiched in contact with the switch blades themselves, and the third is simply a connecting point or 'dead lug'. The switch Row wire(s), White-red for Row 2, attach to the dead lug, along with the plain end of the diode.
The striped end of the diode connects to the most convenient of the other lugs, with a jumper wire to the other switch. The switch Column wire(s), Green-orange for Column 3, attach to the remaining lug, also with a jumper wire to the other switch. So that either switch closing when a ball touches the rubber band makes a connection between Column 3 and Row 2, via the diode.
* and not before time, many would say
Firstly, may I dispel your notion that Getaway has separate 'kick' and 'score' switches for the slingshots?. It does not; the 'special switch' caper died out during the System 11 era*. High Speed had them, High Speed II doesn't. The right side slingshot has two switches touching the rubber band, these are both 'score' switches in terms of the old method, and are connected in parallel, so each of them should show the same name and number in a switch test, Right Slingshot, No. 32.
As pinballmania says, there's no harm in connecting the switch Column and Row wires together directly for test purposes, without benefit of diode. It wouldn't be done for normal use, but in this case it's okay.
Since the two switches are in parallel, the playfield switch matrix wiring attaches to one of them, and uses jumper wires to connect the other. Looking closely, the switch should have three solder tabs. Two of these are sandwiched in contact with the switch blades themselves, and the third is simply a connecting point or 'dead lug'. The switch Row wire(s), White-red for Row 2, attach to the dead lug, along with the plain end of the diode.
The striped end of the diode connects to the most convenient of the other lugs, with a jumper wire to the other switch. The switch Column wire(s), Green-orange for Column 3, attach to the remaining lug, also with a jumper wire to the other switch. So that either switch closing when a ball touches the rubber band makes a connection between Column 3 and Row 2, via the diode.
* and not before time, many would say
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Thanks for info.The colils are firing on coil test but the rt side sling shot switches do not work .I will endeavour to follow advice given and many thanks Yours billy butler.
Hve checked wiring to 3 tabbed switch and it is done correctly.I have checked all switches in rows and columns associated to the slingshot switches and these are good . I am wary of shorting a switch as over the years i have a history of blowing things up.I once worked as a colliery shotfirer a long time ago/ Cheers for your help Billy .
As others have said, no issue shorting column and row together for testing. If that doesn’t elicit a response in switch test your wires are broken upstream. You can identify other switches in the same row/column to see where the break is. Cables a looped from back to front generally.
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You also need to thoroughly ccheck the wiring at the working switches. The wires go from one switch to the next, so if a switch is good, if the wire attached to it is astray, then switches downstream wont work. Tug the wires at each switch to make sure they are elctrically attached, not just hanging on by the insulation.
Shorted the slingshot switch on non functioning side and got no reading on the dmd.If i have power to the left side switch then surely the break must be in the connection between left and right switches ?eft sling row white brown right sling rowwhite red .Colomngreen orange.White brown j209~1 cabinetj212~4.Green /orange j206/3 caninet j 212~3 White#red j209~2 cabinetj 212~6.What does cabinet refer to?Is the return or what?CHEERS billy.
Billy as Andy said you need to find the break ,that sling shot wont be the only switch in that row .You need to look in the manual and find all the switches on that row ,then go to the switch above and see what it says (ie it could be lane exit or anything) , Then put the machine in switch edges test and see if that switch works if not go to the next switch on that row and so on until you find the break
Billy been looking at the switch matrix on the internet and i see both left and right slings are on the same row connected via a Green/orange wire . You need to test this has continuity from the left sling to the right. to make sure there is no break . If that bells / buzzes out on your meter then the other wire to test on your Right Sling is a Red/White wire and this goes to connector J209-2 on the CPU board . You need to bell/buzz out this wire from the slingshot back to the connector J209 on the cpu board its pin 2 on that connector. All this with the machine "Switched Off" (obviously there will be 2xgreen/orange wires on the left sling and these should be soldered together and not on seperate connections)
Checked continuity of green orange wire between switches and beeped ok.Checked contiuity of red /white wire from rt switch to cpu board connector j 209 and again a healthy beep.Been over all switches in relevant rows and columns and can find no problems.Got me flummoxed Yours billy
Just to ask again: the gn/or is on the same tab of the switch on the sling where it is daisy chained? Please try to buzz between the actual tabs on the switch (NOT the cable itself) or the switch blades if soldered direct. Is it possible that you have row and column switched? Is the diode the right way round? And have you tried shorting the cables directly on the right sling?
Billy as Dr Hex says are the green/orange wires definatly together on the same tab of the left sling switch, if they are you have tested all the wiring and now its a cpu board fault, you need to send this to Andy at pinball mania to sort out for you
Can't be a CPU fault as either row or column would be out which would affect other switches. Also, appeared after changing the switches... My money is on row/column being reversed, e.g. the diode being the wrong way round. Could be easily debugged by shorting the wires directly but it seems Billy doesn't want to try that :-D.
I think he said he has already shorted the switch and still nothing?
I have shorted the rt side switch and no reading on the dmd I have checked the diode and it is on correctly.I will now take the laptop out to the m/c and check everthing again.Once again for help.BILLY;Collywobles lives 100 yds from me and probably could sort it out in no time but i like to sort it out for myself/
Just saw this thread so popped up to sort with a little help from ChrisB via a pic.
Billy had a wire in wrong place so while I was there I reworked all his solder joints as they were not the best and also fixed a small GI problem that was blowing fuses due to similar issue with wire in wrong place.
All done so had a few games while there. I just love the simplicity of this game it really hits the spot and just missed out on a redline on last ball. Looks gorgeous will all my plastics on too
Billy had a wire in wrong place so while I was there I reworked all his solder joints as they were not the best and also fixed a small GI problem that was blowing fuses due to similar issue with wire in wrong place.
All done so had a few games while there. I just love the simplicity of this game it really hits the spot and just missed out on a redline on last ball. Looks gorgeous will all my plastics on too
Well done Col, Billy was positive he had all the wires correct ,but goes to show an experianced eye would sort it ,
I wouldn’t say that! it was like the bloody chuckle brothers as I’m colourblind so when something like this crops up and has 5 wires attached and filthy black and I know one is wrong it’s a challenge at the best of times 
Been fixing pinballs for years but it goes to show it’s always something simple and usually just after you have worked on it so I’ve told Billy to stick to digging holes as he an ex miner using tools from his last job inc solder as thick as a shoelace and bear in mind he retired 20 odd years ago or summit
All for the love of pinball guvnor.
a col said sending for the cavalry worked for me.I still cannot understand i how i got wires wrong but i did .Give myself a lot of chew for nowt but another lesson learned if its not broke dont fix itMany thanks for all help offered by forum members much appreciated and I must stop using plumbers solder/ CHEERS Billy till the next time.