Well I’m now an owner of Batman 66. We love the game but we were told by the pinside seller that there was a software bug that occasionally caused the multi ball to fail to kick off when you locked three balls. It looks to me that every single time I lock three balls it never kicks off multi ball. Does that mean it’s probably a hardware problem and not a software glitch as he said? Also found some chipping in the playfield down to the wood that I’m not super happy about and I didn’t notice until I got at home. He said it had no playfield issues. My bad. My lesson.

Machine seems to notice when it’s locked two balls but as soon as you like the third ball it just sits there and then eventually it starts looking for the balls and turning the carousel and after quite a bit it eventually dumped them all out and you just lose the multiball.

It sounds like the last switch in the lock is not activating. If you look where the balls lock, there are three switches the balls rollover. I'd put the game in a switch test and roll a ball into the lock to see if they're triggering.

EDIT - I've never heard of this type of software bug on this game. Are you on the latest code?

There is no “software bug” on the lock and never has been. Think your seller was somewhat giving you a line, since he most likely knew there was a mechanical issue he didn’t want to fix, imo. Should be easily fixed by checking and fixing the 3rd rollover switch on the ball lock mechanism. Use diagnostic’s to determine, then check visually what needs to be done on the 3rd switch.

Sorry you had to deal with a deadbeat seller (there is no software bug, and not disclosing deep chips is not cool), but welcome to the club! Hopefully the multiball problem is just the third lock switch needing adjusting, or maybe a wire to said switch came loose, and hopefully the chip can be touched up or is somewhere it will not bug you too much. Hope you love the game though! Such a fun theme integrated perfectly!

Congrats...and agree with the others (and have seen it on a friend's BM66) it definitely sounds like you have a switch out of whack.. It' either not activating because of a bent arm, its mount is lose, a wire broke, etc. Use the pin's diagnostics to test the switch, and be sure to use a ball to test it to best simulate what you are experiencing.

Its on the latest code and man what a fun game even with the lock thing not working. I can tell this is one we are going to love having in the home.

I will try the switch test... time to get more comfortable with troubleshooting.

I’m curious what the consensus is with something like this and leaving feedback. I haven’t contacted the seller yet despite his promises this was a bug and that the play field was without issues because I feel like it’s also on me for picking up a game at night, being in a rush, etc. He’s invited me to leave feedback. Would you reach out to him about these issues? I mean really what would I get from it? At the same time I don’t think he was very honest about it and I would want others to know. It’s not a hack job or anything. Just curious what others think about this subject.

My assumption is that you’re running current code. If not, do so. Or reinstall the software, reset it to factory.

But I doubt that it.

It sounds like switch 70 (ball 3 lock) which is a rollover and not registering. Rollovers sometimes just need to be bent one way or the other.

Page 16 on your manual.

There is a diverter setting (on vs. off) which probably isn’t blocking that switch.

You’re going to have to look under it and check for loose wires. It happens.

The chipping is where? Did you remove the balls before you took it home?

Don’t leave negative feedback unless you got hosed. Transporting a machine usually breaks one little thing.

I bet you can bend the switch to a decent position and it’ll register fine.

You’ll forget about the cosmetics once you get that set up right. I recommend white rubbers on the outlines.

Fun game. Congrats. I’ve played them all. This one rocks.

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I saw your post, added them to my cart this morning, got called into a meeting, came back and they were showing Out of Stock.

https://www.pinballlife.com/batman-66-art-blades.html

I wouldn't worry that much about a switch (if that's what it was). Minor adjustment - done. Heck, it can likely be adjusted quicker than updating software. Not long ago I was selling an EM and the buyer (a friend) said "The 'ones' position on the score wheel wasn't working. LOL, I owned it for years and never noticed. Loose wire. Solder and done. Egg on face.

The PF might be a little trickier to judge. A picture might help comments.

Did you get a decent price on the pin? That's also a factor in the overall picture.

I tend to beat myself up more than the seller if I miss something I should have caught eyeballing it better. Plus my definition of 'prefect' might be different that someone else's opinion of 'perfect.

Congrats on getting the pin!

The unfortunate part isn't the switch needing adjustment. That's normal and should be 100% expected whenever a machine is moved. The unfortunate part is the seller knew that it had an issue, and blatantly lied that it was a known software bug. Had he just said the last lock isn't always recognized, don't know why but I do not feel like fixing it, then fine...no problem. Or if it was not a previous issue and happened during transport...again no problem. I just get really annoyed by sellers that are knowingly deceptive. Maybe I should give him the benefit of the doubt though, and assume the guy didn't know any better and maybe read somewhere about a bug he incorrectly assumed was causing this issue. Who knows.

I also agree a picture of the pf defect would help. As you mentioned, I have found that people have WILDLY different versions of what "mint" and "perfect" mean. That's another pet peeve of mine. If you are going to say it's perfect, it better be perfect. I get that some people aren't bothered by minor issues, but just because it doesn't bother you doesn't mean it's mint. Words are important.

MASSIVE THANKS to docquest for going out of his way to get me the 2020 Hallmark Penguin & Batmobile, and sending it across to the UK.

docquest you make Pinside a better Place!

Thanks again

Your welcome! Next time I need something from the UK I'll be putting you on the hook.

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Unfortunately, they aren't the same ones, but thanks for the link. I want the ones from Stern that have the characters.

My understanding was that those were very limited. The ones in the link are Stern's "regular" blades. It might be tough to find the limited ones now. Good luck!

Spyder, are you thinking of these? Link: https://www.tiltgraphicsinc.com/batman66

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I ordered those directly from stern and, post shipment, got a voice mail that the online image was wrong.

Weird, huh?

In retrospect I think more images of the characters would have been redundant and overkill.

Honestly I wish I had gotten these:

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Mine had this problem, just order a new switch the last one bends a bit low over time. You can try to bend it however it's quit thick and I ended up snapping mine. If you take the assembly apart it is easiest just to loosen the screw and wedge it up a bit and tighten.

Stern standard blades:
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Stern Limited Edition blades:
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I doubt you will still find the limited blades for sale, but I hope you can. They are beautiful!

I'll attack the 'bug' part of it. The hardest part of any kind of litigation is intent or knowing the state of the person. Was the statement made with the intent to deceive and did he know better or did he seriously think it is a software bug? Without knowing that it's hard to fault the seller. We can make the assumption he knew but it's also very possible he's just uninformed. If you repeatedly restart the game, like I do if ball one doesn't get through multiple minor villains the game can get a little flighty with balls locked inside, the loop then awards locks and it's gotten better with code updates but a few codes ago it was terrible.

The playfield part of it that's fairly subjective. One mans gold is another mans blown out, that's why you look at them.

I've had dishonest sellers and dishonest buyers in the past and way too may buyers that show up with less than what we agreed on with the intent to find something wrong even if there's nothing there.

Idk, I'd be hesitant to jump directly to deadbeat seller and I'd start at more uninformed...if you take the machine apart and he's obviously tried to fix the switch that'd be a different story. Mine also worked intermittently, especially if you shook it for a while so it never registered a switch error in the 20 or so games it was broken. In the case of my game I thought it was software related.

Yeah, that's the direction of my post earlier. I'm an electrical engineer and I have to constantly remind myself some people just buy a pin, play it, and don't have a clue what's under the hood. Wouldn't know what a resistor was if they were holding it in their hands, never looked at a schematic. And that's fine - I can't fix my car, so I leave it to the pros kinda thing. Granted, in the big scheme of things, whether it's a switch of software bug...sort of small issue. PF or a node board - OK, that would be a problem.

To the seller's credit, he did at least mention something about it rather than completely ignore it. I had a buyer recently that actually went into the service menu and checked all the switches and lighting. Glad they did it, benefits both the seller and buyer.

It sucks that I have to post this again, but.....

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I was looking for the limited edition ones. Perhaps they threw up the wrong image on the Stern site and I wouldn't have gotten the limited edition ones?

I ordered the limited edition blades from LSOG
When they arrived they were the standard ones.

Apparently they got them shipped direct from
stern

It’s in an odd place but I think you can see here it’s a large chip on the side of the joker scoop (name?). I removed the balls before moving it. I’m ordering a cliffy but it won’t cover it all. What are my options to make sure it doesn’t get worse or to repair?

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There are some great people on Pinside and a little gratitude goes a long way. This is just another great example of how good people can be.

Every time we have an issue and I cannot resolve it myself, I go to Manufacturer, Distro then Pinside. Pinside outperforms the other two every time. Most times Pinside has put me well on the way to resolution before anyone else (except Chas RIP) even bothers to respond. Help on here is outstanding.

I will help any fellow pinsider out, if I can. More than happy to help get parts over from Europe if they don’t send to US themselves.

I think Cliffy can send you some of the carbon fiber looking material and you could trim it to suit your needs, but it might stick out like a sore thumb.

Maybe printing the correct pattern on some Mylar might do the trick, then a little clear coat. Doesn't look like it would get much, if any, wear from the ball. There's some PF threads that might guide you to a better solution, plus a lot of people that are much more experienced than me.

Why stern doesn't leave a gap on the metal pieces so they don't chew into the PF is beyond me. I've seen pics where the apron is doing the same thing on a new pin, right out of the box if I'm not mistaken.

Im waiting to see pictures of people mounting the new Penguin figure that just came out. Anyone? I haven't taken the time to find a spot for mine yet.

That for sure comes from trying to install the cliffy protector without having taken the ramp all the way out. Same exact thing happened to a friend of mine that didn’t take the time on his.

Thanks I think I will look into the Mylar thing. I’m happy to hear it shouldn’t spread. Still a bummer I didn’t see it first or I would have hit him up on the price a bit more. I can’t imagine he didn’t know it was there. Still love the game though, I can tell its one we will hold on to. It seems like it has a ton of content and stuff to do and man what cool artwork. Thanks again!

Was the seller a forum member here? I’m sure I’ve seen that chip posted about in this thread!

Sorry to hear that you didn't see that before buying. Mine has the same chunk missing, along with missing pieces in other places.

Anyway, I'm wondering if a small amount of clear over the area might lock it in? I haven't done anything with mine, so I'm curious to know the answer as well.

While we're on Cliffys. Anyone else have a problem with the Penguin scoop Cliffy, lifting at the entrance? Looks like it was where the double sided tape was.

oops, wrong reply.

I've used 'removeable' Mylar in the shooter lanes for temporary protection. Perhaps you can do that to keep things in check until you figure out a more permanent solution. Bought on Amazon, seems to work well but it does move around a bit. I'll post a link if you are interested.

oops, wrong reply.
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yes a pinside sale

I actually just found a post from the seller where he was having trouble removing the crane. I’m better this is when he damaged it. Which makes me more irritated that he told me no issues with the play field.

This is a common problem on BM66. It’s caused by the ball striking the metal scoop, digging into the clear and chipping the paint/clear. Removing the crane likely didn’t cause that.

If you want to prevent further damage, lay a small strip of Mylar over the chip and install a Cliffy. If you want to repair, you could lay a water slide decal and cover with clear nail polish. Either way, top with Mylar and install a Cliffy.

Cool. I’m going to let this go and work on this plan of a water decal and nail polish or some sort of clear coat. Better to just fix it.

Here’s a picture of mine. Small portion of art lifted, but I was able to repair with clear nail polish, Mylar and cover with a Cliffy. Good luck!
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If you want temporary protection while you think about the best path forward, try this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002J6CO9I/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00

I even use it for cabinet protection around the flipper buttons. Comes right off when not needed.

I actually might have some extra. If you want a small piece, PM me - I'll drop some in the mail.
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Just installed the ones I got from TiltGraphics, thought I would share.

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Cool Glad I grabbed the limited Catwoman ones right away..

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Those def look good too!

Just a heads up that I am going bring my collection down to 5 games. I am going to be listing games next week and one of the games I am going to be selling is a very modded BMLE 66. I love the game but don't really play it much. It have all the mod couple mods, playfield protector, bat signal and more. I have a gameroom in my loft and my air-conditioned garage. I am going just with my loft gameroom only now.