Rubbers: I don't know what rubbers I have. They're black. They were on the machine when I got it. I'm guessing they're the Stern OEM, given the young age of the game. It had 2 previous owners, so I can't say for sure.

Coil power: Already moved it down to the lowest setting. I didn't see any difference between the 3 settings.

Slingshots: Capital idea. I put some fatty thick washers under 2 of the star posts for each sling (no point in shimming the post that's not involved in the slingshot action). Played a couple of games. No airballs--I'll keep an eye on it. During gameplay, one of the left sling's leaf switches slipped out & was in front of the rubber...which reminds me that those slingshot leaf switches (on both sides, I think) have snuck out a few times. Weird.

Flippers: Another capital idea. Raised the flipper bands a little. I think they scooched back down after a few plays. Perhaps I'll instead loosen the bat shafts, shim them up a tad high, & then reclamp them.

Wax: Probably a good idea. It's super clean & already too fast for my meager skills, but a waxing is always a good idea.

Other: Come to think of it, I get many other bounces pretty frequently. I watched the Captain America pop bumpers in action more closely last night, & the ball definitely hops around between them, but it never got out or over into another part of the PF. Also, on a good plunge, sometimes the ball falls out of the shooter lane above the rollover lanes & then hops right over them & into the pops, skipping the rollover lane switches altogether.

-J

Does anyone have an extra set of Captain America shield pop covers I can buy or some they want to sell me? The ones done by Hooked, I believe.

http://www.pinballdecals.com/Avengers_PopBumperCapKitPage.html

Thanks!

If they are OEM, I would swap them out no matter how old they are. The OEM units that came on my machine were very soft to the point where the ball hitting them would bend the switches back to the point where they no longer worked. Couple that with the fact that your switches are popping in front of the rubbers makes it a cheap thing to try to see if it improves your situation.

I'd also regap the slingshot switches. They are probably bent way out of shape due to the loose, poor quality rubber.

Isnt there a helicarrier that will fit in this machine ? I didnt like the Cheap Looking plastics

If anyone near Memphis is interested in a trade, I have a pimped out Original IM I'd love to trade for your AVLE. Hit me up.

Thanks for the input.

I replaced the rubbers on the 2 slings (a little extra work required to thread the flasher wiring out in the process).

I also replaced the rubber that separates Hulk from the Captain America pop bumpers (again, requiring extra disassembly--had to pull apart much of the Hulk bridge). Oddly, this area had 2 rubbers stretched around it, though the posts had but 1 rubber groove each. This was another location where I was getting lots of ball hops, either from the pops or from the plunge.

Indeed, the rubbers that I pulled off were rather squishy & stretchy compared to fresh ones.

I played a few games & it was better behaved. I didn't get a whole lot of games in because...

...the wife came by to talk, so I captured & cradled the ball in the left flipper (b/c I had a good game going), & after a minute or two, the flipper dropped.
- Blew a fuse.
- Replaced the fuse.
- Powered up, flipper popped up, blew that fuse in a few seconds.
- Replaced the fuse again & also the power transistor at Q15. I didn't have any 22NE10Ls on hand, but I did have 1 leftover 20N10L from my old pinball 2000 machine.
- Installed it, powered up, flipper behaved! Oh wait, flipper *almost* behaved. If I've got the flipper up & the ball comes down & hits it, the flipper twitches & kicks the ball, rather than staying put & having the ball bounce.
- Putting together a Pinball Life order that includes lots of these: http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=190 . I'll probably proactively swap them for all flippers on my Avengers & Tron, given that this is a common problem & that PL claims that this transistor is "a more durable replacement"...and in my last few games of Tron, with multiball going strong, I was scared to cradle the ball...my pinball game lately has been poor enough already--I don't need any extra handicapping...

Thanks,
-Jason

Hello all,

I'm a noob to pinballs. We got our first used machine a few months ago and I've enjoyed doing various minor fixes and tweaks to it.

I figured it would be awhile before I would ever get a NiB machine but an opportunity came up and I was able to order a blue AV LE. It arrived today and I was surprised to see it was #9. Sort of cool but I'm a little worried it will have ALL of the various issues reported for the AV LEs.

I haven't had a chance to set it up and play yet - hopefully tomorrow!

AVLE009.jpg

I have One Problem left:

During the Hulk multiball there is One Moment where the Targets reset very quick. If the ball is now in the hole and it is unlock it Hits the h from the Hulk Targets. This reset so fast that the ball jumps back to the hole Again. That will go on and on... And on...

Is there a Resolution for that Problem ??

Thanks

No resolution, long standing issue. You can try to adjust the angle the coil strikes the ball, that's about it. I think it needs a software fix where h goes down when ball hits saucer, same as it does in tspp. Not sure if it's possible, though. It's my only remaining issue too.

Thats a shame! I try to change the angle, but it doesnt work. The Problem Happens very often.
Maybe we Should contact stern, that they bring out a Software fix. As it is, its unplayable

I think if many People contact stern about this issue they will do something, i send them a Mail.

Will See what Happens...

Sorry for being sarcastic but good luck with that. There are a number of relatively straightforward things they could do to improve AV but it seems like they've moved on.

Raise PF's pitch to 7 degrees, stack some thin washers (if needed), put the clear PF rubbers on and just let the game punish you until the Hulk runs out of quotes.
Code is the last checkbox on worries for Avengers.
Take the time to do ALL the physical tweaks/adjustments first- and you'll sleep better knowing you now have a pin that can take your seasoned pinhead friends that visit to TASK, each and every time...

Yup, waited tooooo long for a polished update.
Sold it not long ago.

UPS sent some Stern love my way. A little slow on the e-mail responses, but good communication & a nice little package of items for which I asked, in addition to some more:

1 - L-shaped -36 plastic behind Hulk. Mine was cracked at its thinnest point. They sent me a new one. This new one also has 2 more Phillips screws & cone things pointing downward on its right side. I guess they limit the deflection of the rubber stretched around 3 posts, by Hulk's left elbow. I'm not yet sure what purpose they serve. Perhaps they ensure that the rubber stays away from the moving bridge lift arm?

2 - Drop guide for Hulk saucer. Got the extra piece of plastic & a nice exploded view of how to install it. At first, I tried to out-clever Stern by not placing this extra piece right under the existing lowest piece in the stack. This just brought the screw heads too close to the PF so that they'd interfere w/ normal rolling (and slightly hopping) ball flow around the saucer. Also, I got pop-outs about 1 out of 5 times when testing by hand. So, I installed it properly. It does slow down the ball nicely as it drops. 0 pop-outs in 10 or so hand tests. Hot dog indeed!

3 - Stern bonus #1. Sticker to cover 2 screw heads holding Loki Lock PCB under Loki Lock ramp. I'd previously wasted an hour fussing w/ screws & washers & such before finding a pic on Pinside showing this sticker. Reverted to normal fasteners. Installed sticker. Love it. Was never a problem getting ball sticks here, but now that my 1-year-old boy knows how to power up my Avengers, pull up a stroller, start the game, plunge weakly, & randomly thrash w/ the flippers, he somehow managed to frequently plunge just right to get the ball stuck here.

4 - Stern bonus #2. Extra star post & screw & rubber. They must have been psychic. This is exactly what I wanted to close out the short dead end above the right outlane that I created when I moved the outlane post to the wussy position. Sorry for pic reflection--I'd already buttoned up Avengers & started on some Tron mod fun. You can see both posts right around the middle of the pic.

Thanks,
-Jason

1 - 36 Hulk Plastic.jpg

2a - Drop into Hulk Saucer.jpg

2b - Drop into Hulk Saucer.jpg

3a - Loki Lock sticker.jpg

3b - Loki Lock sticker.jpg

4 - Extra star post & rubber for right outlane.jpg

I have the game. Have the sticker (for the Loki lock) and I still don't know where it's supposed to go. I've never been able to notice it in any picture of the area. What the hell is it for? My game doesn't need it, but still, would love to know!

Look at my 4th & 5th pictures of my post just above. It's a blue rectangle w/ one slot cutout on the left. It covers 2 small sunken screw heads in the stack of plastic above the 3 Loki Lock ball sensors.

-Jason

Ahh. Swear my sticker was in the same shape as the arrow that outlines the optos. As if it was supposed to go there. Maybe I'm remembering wrong.

Yea, mine doesn't need the Loki sticker either.

Mine doesn't need it either.

My previous fix: shim up the 2 of the 3 star posts on the slings. That pretty much stopped the slingshot air balls. However, the rubber was just a little too high, & the sling leaf switches often slipped under the rubber & ended up on the outside of the rubber.

Current fix: I went with something like this: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stern-slingshots-suck#post-404811 I used little domed clear-ish self-adhesive rubber cabinet bumpers on the coil stops. After a couple days of playing, only 1 impressive air ball after a bit of back-and-forth sling action (left sling launched the ball into the shooter lane).

-Jason

I should be joining the club this Friday. Very excited. I've got some mods all ready to get put in.

image-216.jpg

a fix from stern for this would be nice. It can be fixed in software, but that is about it, I do not know any physical fix for this.

Enjoy!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=tmeOjFno6Do

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/avengers-le-known-issues

Would love to hear yall's thoughts ... and vote.

Hey Avengers owners, is there an easy way to install Hooked's left plastic sling mod? Looks like a major pain in the butt

image-623.jpg

image-142.jpg

image-513.jpg

Also, how do I get the Hawkeye arrow cross ramp to come into play? I've uploaded the newest code and went into the menu options and moved the right ramp diverter from weighted to weighted + override. Is this right?? I've tried to hit the flipper buttons when I hit the Hawkeye shot but it never goes to the cross ramp. Any help guys?

Never goes across the arrow? Even when Loki Lock lights are NOT lit?

Mine will always go to the Loki Lock if they are lit and almost always go across the arrow when they are not lit.

Have you tested the diverter in solenoid test to make sure it works?

Grind. You gotta take that whole left side apart to replace the inlane plastics. Best plan to replace black sling rubber with colored or the transparent stuff when you do.

You use the flippers to choose where the HE shots wind up. Hope your game is working right.

Ugh I will test it in a second.

Ok the ramp control gate (right) #42 does indeed drop the diverter but I can't get it to do it during the game....

So frustrated. Got my Hawkeye ramp all ready to go and can't figure this thing out. Diverter tests fine in the coil test but doesn't work during the game. I've tried one or both buttons held down at the same time. Nothing

image-125.jpg

For the left orbit shot, test the optos that are located at the top of the ramp. If the optos are not recognizing the ball has come over the top of the ramp then the diverter likely would never divert the ball to the Hawkeye crossover.

Also, to do the user controlled crossover, you have to press the left flipper button before the ball gets to the top of the ramp.

It wouldn't be a NIB AVLE if you didn't have to f*<k with it! Don't worry, once it's dialed it'll be one of your favorite games ever. It's that good. Of course you coulda just bought mine and been playing it error free right now!

Oh yea, it's a blast to play alright. I lowered the difficulty and put it at five ball to see some more of the game and got some insane bonuses and extra balls and scored 91 million. Still tweaking this and that but I loving the call outs and tight shots.

The optos appear to working fine at the top of the ramp. I'm sure it's something small that I'm missing regarding the Hawkeye ramp.

I lowered the difficulty when I first got my Hulk and got 113 million on three ball in my first game and I'm not even a very good player. Everything I had read was that the game is really difficult, but there seems to be a big difference between the difficulty levels. I have had it on normal difficulty since and have not passed 50 mil.

I think, but am not entirely sure, the difficulty relates to the bonus structure, and progress through the vs modes. When you complete an avenger, bonus starts to rise when you hit them. So, if you have it on easy settings, you'll progress on bonus faster...I think. I have mine set on medium to difficult, 3 ball. High score 350 mil. Bonuses amounted to 50 mil on two of the balls.

Had my best game ever this weekend. Finally got to the Hellicarrier mode for the first time.

Then, a stuck ball. I tilted when trying to dislodge it--should have pulled the glass, I know...

Anyway, I've undone one of the popular tweaks, as it didn't seem to be a problem for me before but has resulted in 2 stuck balls now.

I had shimmed up the BW spinner at the bottom of the ramp for supposed better ball flow. Twice, though, the ball ended up in an unlikely position, stuck on the ramp, wedged tightly by the spinner body.

I've removed 2 thin metal washers from the stack (which had 2 thin metal washers & 2 thick black plastic washers--I don't recall what it originally had from the factory, but that's the stackup that I had after...after doing something other with the stackup). We'll see if I get any more jams.

Thanks,
-Jason

How tough is it to get the EL wire around the arrow?

Not hard at all. The wire is very flexible. Had a more difficult time deciding how I wanted to wrap the arrow. Easy enough install as well.

I'm toying with joining the club. Just sold a pin and have money to spend. Very nice, dialed-in Hulk available. I've only put a few games on AVLE...was at Buddy's place last spring...but I was pressed for time and didn't know what I was doing and basically didn't play enough to know whether I like it or not.

From what I've read, Avengers is a lot of fun, though brutal, when you get it 'dialed-in'. Once it is dialed-in, does it stay that way pretty much?

Is this assessment pretty correct?

Read this: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/avengers-le-known-issues

:]

Yes, that has been my experience. I spent a couple weeks tweaking mine when I got it 9 months ago and have not touched it since except for cleaning...

You called it. Pinsider came over. We tested it and decided the lift the playfield and lo and behold, the opto for the diverter wasn't plugged in. Plugged it in and BOOM, Hawkeye ramp is kicking ass. Very F ing cool.

Good deal. Congrats.

Noob!