Supercharger not working on The Getaway

thoughtcontrol

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Hi! I'm completely new to pinball ownership and need lots of guidance. I have a Williams The Getaway pin that has a busted supercharger. I have run tests and the first thing failing is the Opto 1 sensor. It is "stuck" in the open position. From my basic tests it seems like the LED may be burnt out (is that possible?). I am also very confused by how the whole supercharger assembly in general is supposed to work. From the manual and tests I know there is supposed to be a Diverter Low solenoid. I think that is supposed to activate the magnets. Where is this solenoid? The manual says under the ramp, but I only see the solenoid for the Divertor gate. Right now, I am not getting any magnetic charge when I test the Diverter Low solenoid. I also am not seeing anything happen when I test the Enable 1, Enable 2, and Enable 3 solenoids. I don't know if the failing Opto has anything to do with the magnets not working.

Thanks in advance for your help!
 
I've got an idea, how about you send the table up here to Alberta, and I'll just fix it up and keep it hmmmm? The Getaway is my Holy Grail of pins. If I could own just one, it would be that one. *JEALOUS*

Welcome to the site! Tons of great people around here, and Burt6666. ;)

As for your issue, if it's IR LED (clear LED, can't see the light) point your digital camera at it, and you'll be able to tell if it lights up (purple) or not on the screen. As for the supercharger mechanism itself, I'm pretty sure it's just driven by opto-magnetics. Optical sensors see the ball, and turn magnets on and off. I don't think there's actually any moving parts involved. Then again, I've never played inside one of those tables, so I couldn't tell ya.
 
Thanks for the advice. I'll take a look and see what the digital camera shows. I did take the initiative to put my DMM on the sender and reciever for that opto and they were hot. I also grabbed the emitter from Opto 2 and directed it at the Opto 1 receiver and that was fine. If it is just the LED that is the problem, do I just get a new bulb? Also, I am concerned that I can't get any test to cause the magnets to turn on. Does anyone know if this is a separate problem? I read another post that said that the Divertor Low solenoid was supposed to control those magnets, but I couldn't find that solenoid when I looked.
 
Tom, thanks for the advice. I read through several postings and gleaned some useful information.

Based on what I had read, I decided to look through the fuses and found that F103 had partially burned out. I say partially because the Mars Lamp still worked, but the magnets did not. Weird. Anyways, I replaced the fuse and started testing again. With the new fuse the supercharger will now kick balls around, just not at full speed. I noticed that the display does not flash the "1 million", "2 million", etc. as the ball goes around. Maybe this is because Opto 1 is out. Also, the Red Line mania wouldn't engage. The ball went around once, but then dropped out. Once again, might be due to Opto 1 or lack of speed.

I thought I'd move things around to get Opto 1 working and that ended up bad. I moved the Opto 2 emitter to the Opto 1 location. When Opto 1 started working and engaged the first magnet, the fuse blew again. I'm guessing that the first magnet is the culprit for the original fuse blow. Not sure what exactly to do with that. I'm definitely not experienced with circuit boards or wiring.

I'll continue to look at the forums for advice and tips.

Thanks all!
 
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