Machine setup
Navigate with Begin Test → Enter, Up/Down to scroll, Enter to change and save, Escape to back out. Presets overwrite individual adjustments, so take them first and adjust afterwards.
0 of 47 settings done
Avoid U.8 Factory Reset. It clears everything on this page, including the custom message and the high score table.
1 Presets
0 of 2Install the presets first; every later step adjusts on top of them.
- U.9 02 Install EasySuggested Install
Gentler for people who play now and then: more extra balls, easier locks, and Million Plus carries over between balls.
For a harder game take U.9 03 Install Medium, the factory setting.
- U.9 08 Install Add-A-BallSuggested Install
Replays and specials award an extra ball instead of a credit, which means nothing on free play. Also turns match off and sets the high score credits to 00.
U.9 10 Install Novelty removes the replay awards altogether and makes specials worth points: shorter, more even games when there is a queue.
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2 Free play
0 of 1No coins in the office.
- A.3 17 Free PlaySuggested YES
Starts a game on the Start button without credits.
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3 Standard adjustments
0 of 20Check each one; Add-A-Ball already sets some of them.
- A.1 01 Balls Per GameSuggested 3
Standard, right for a queue.
- A.1 02 Tilt WarningsSuggested 3
Forgiving without being limitless.
- A.1 03 Maximum Extra BallsSuggested 3
Caps how many extra balls one game can collect, from the playfield and the replay awards together, so a good game stays a reasonable length when people wait.
Raise it if nobody has to queue.
- A.1 05 Replay SystemSuggested Auto%
The replay score moves every 50 games so that about the chosen share of games earn the extra ball, whatever the colleagues score.
Fixed, with the score in A.1 09 Replay Level 1, if you would rather set it by hand.
- A.1 06 Replay PercentSuggested 15%
About one game in seven earns the extra ball from score. Lower it if games grow too long, raise it if nobody ever gets there.
- A.1 08 Replay LevelsSuggested 1
One extra ball from score per game; the playfield gives the rest.
- A.1 14 Replay AwardSuggested Extra Ball
Add-A-Ball sets this; confirm it.
- A.1 15 Special AwardSuggested Extra Ball
Add-A-Ball sets this; confirm it.
- A.1 19 Match FeatureSuggested OFF
Add-A-Ball sets this; confirm it.
- A.1 20 Custom MessageSuggested YES
Shows the message set in U.5.
- A.1 24 Show Date and TimeSuggested NO
This machine has an NVRAM module at U8 and no batteries (observed 2026-09-24, photo), so the clock only runs while the game is on and lags after every power-off. Shown, it would be wrong.
- A.1 25 Allow Dim IlluminationSuggested NO
The machine has an LED kit. WPC dims the GI by chopping the mains half-waves, and LEDs flicker at the dim levels. NO keeps the GI steady.
With incandescent bulbs YES keeps the GI lighting effects.
- A.1 26 Tournament PlaySuggested YES
Fair when several people play against each other: multiball and jackpots do not carry over to the next player.
- A.1 27 Euro. Scr. FormatSuggested YES
1.000.000 with dots.
- A.1 28 Minimum Volume ControlSuggested YES
Lets the sound be turned all the way off, useful during meetings.
- A.1 29 GI Power SaverSuggested 15 minutes
Dims the lamps when nobody has played for a while.
With LEDs the saving is small and the dimmed GI may flicker. OFF is fine if it bothers anyone.
- A.1 30 Power Saver LevelSuggested 5–6
How far it dims (4–7).
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4 High score table
0 of 5Make the table reachable for colleagues, then reset it so it starts from your backup scores.
- A.4 03 Champion H.S.T.D.Suggested ON
Grand Champion is shown in attract mode.
- A.4 04 Credits for high scores (A.4 04–08)Suggested 00
Add-A-Ball sets these; confirm all five.
- A.4 09 High Score Reset EverySuggested OFF
OFF for an eternal table, or e.g. 2 000 games if the list should start over now and then.
- A.4 10 Backup scores (A.4 10–14)Suggested Lower than standard
Set them lower than the defaults so colleagues stand a chance. Adjust after a few weeks when you see what people score.
Then run U.3 Reset H.S.T.D. so the table starts from your backup scores.
5 H-4 ROM adjustments
0 of 6This machine runs L-4 on an ST M27C2001 (256 KB) at U6 until the H-4 swap (observed 2026-09-24, photo); the jumpers W1 in / W2 out stay as they are for the 27C040. The manual lists A.2 01–26 for an older ROM. H-4 has six more, found in the ROM string table; their numbers are not printed anywhere, so look them up on the display after A.2 26 and note the number you find in the field.
- A-MODE SOUNDSuggested OFF
Otherwise the game makes noise while standing unused. There is no low setting for attract sound, only on or off; the volume buttons apply to play and attract alike.
- A-MODE MUSICSuggested OFF
Same reason as A-MODE SOUND.
- FREEPLAY MESSAGESuggested ON
Shows FREE PLAY in attract mode.
- GAMEOVER KICKOUTSuggested Try it
Probably about kicking locked balls out after the game. Test how it behaves.
- A.2 20 Disable THINGSuggested NO
Set YES only temporarily if the Thing hand misbehaves; the game stays playable.
- A.2 21 Disable BOOKCASESuggested NO
Set YES only temporarily if the bookcase misbehaves; the game stays playable.
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6 Utilities after the move
0 of 7Clock, message and the Thing Flips calibration.
- U.5 Custom MessageSuggested EDUCATION FIRST / PINBALL SECOND
Two rows of 16 characters per frame, several frames. Frame 1: EDUCATION FIRST over PINBALL SECOND, with two leading spaces on the second row so the D ends at the right edge. Frame 2: BROUGHT 2 LIFE over BY LEO, one and five leading spaces so both rows sit centred. Up/Down picks letters, Start punctuation, Enter locks a character; the back-arrow after 9 erases. Hold Enter until Message Stored.
- U.12 New LocationSuggested Run once
Resets the Thing Flips calibration after the move.
- Thing Flips: remove the glass
The game learns by itself over time; these steps speed it up.
- Thing Flips: send the ball up the side ramp (Super Jackpot) 4 times
- Thing Flips: press the left return lane rollover (Lite Thing Flips), then send the ball up the centre ramp. Thing tries to shoot for the swamp.
- Thing Flips: repeat the previous step at least 30 times
It should hit around 40 %, and 50–60 % after several hundred tries.
7 Upgrades and upkeep
0 of 6Not menu settings, but the same kind of note: tick when done and the date is kept on this device. The first round of parts was ordered in September 2026.
- LED kit fitted, playfield and backbox
Then set A.1 25 Allow Dim Illumination to NO in step 3 so the GI does not flicker. With LEDs, a faint glow on lamps that should be off is matrix ghosting: fit the ghost-busting ROM for this game or non-ghosting LEDs, and leave the flashers as #906 bulbs unless the LED flashers are rated for 20 V.
- Flipper plungers and links replaced, A-10656 × 4
One per flipper: lower left, lower right, upper left, upper right. Check the coil stops and bushings while the flippers are open. Rebuild order: coil stop, plunger and link, sleeve, bushing, then set the EOS gap to 1/16 inch at rest and the flipper bat against the alignment mark. A worn coil stop lets the plunger travel too far and cracks the link again.
Flipper plungers and links replaced, A-10656 × 4 in the handbook
- Thing Knocker coil AE-23-800 fitted (missing on this machine)Suggested AE-23-800
With Add-A-Ball the knocker marks every replay and special; without the coil the extra ball only shows on the display and the game plays fine, so this is optional. The A-15267 bracket and the rubber pad are in the cabinet, the coil is not. If you want the knock, buy an AE-23-800 with its sleeve and a 1N4004 diode. Fit the diode across the lugs with the band toward the 50 V lug (the one without the violet-red driver wire), or the driver Q80 dies on the first fire. The violet-red wire from J132-2 goes to the other lug. Then T.4 Solenoid Test, coil 02, with the glass off and the coin door open: one clean knock. The Thing Kickout uses the same coil and measured 4.7–4.8 Ω across the lugs on this machine (4.9 on the meter, leads subtracted), so a new one should read about that.
Thing Knocker coil AE-23-800 fitted (missing on this machine) in the handbook
- Rubber kit fitted, red flipper rubbers and black rings
- Ramp covers, bookcase decals and Thing decal fitted
The ramp covers protect the plastic flaps at the ramp entrances, which crack first on this game.
- CPU board memory checked: NVRAM at U8, no batteries fitted
This machine has an anyPin NVRAM Battery Eliminator at U8 (observed 2026-09-24, photo), so no batteries are needed and none should be fitted. Tick when you have confirmed that no old cells remain in or under the holder below the module and looked once at the board around it for leakage from before the swap. Settings survive without a battery; only the clock stops when the game is off, so A.1 24 Show Date and Time is NO in step 3.
CPU board memory checked: NVRAM at U8, no batteries fitted in the handbook
Later, only if needed: pinballs (a six-pack is about 300 kr; the four magnets magnetise them and they pick up grit), hole protectors at the Chair and Swamp kickouts if the wear there grows.
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Values and ticks stay on this device and go into the backup on the Shopping list page. The full option lists are in the handbook under Adjustments, Utilities and Difficulty and presets.