Just joined the club this weekend.
What a smooth shooter!
Looking forward to understanding the rules and working my way through it.
Two quick questions:
Auto plunger doesn’t fire. This makes multiball a little challenging. Any suggestions on an easy way to test?
And, one of the little LED lights in the apron (1 of 4) doesn’t light at all. Does a guy remove the small screw and replace?
Thanks in advance!

It sounds like you’re claiming that lawlors design is flawed. It’s not. The shot was designed without a protector.

Nope, not claiming that at all. Just pointing out why it is difficult compared to the camera shot, which is much wider and angled straight towards the upper flipper in TZ.

Tests - Switches - Matrixed - does the shooter lane switch work ?

Tests - Coils - high power interlock switch pulled out. Does it work then ?

Anything loose ?

LTG : )

From my perspective, the implementation of the hole is flawed. The angle/no-bevel on the right side leads to very nasty damage if not protected (https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/dialed-in-owners-and-fans-club/page/33#post-4080509). So...everyone adds protection and the shot isn't nearly as fun as Pat designed it. The hole could have been cut differently by adding a bevel of some kind.

One day, it would be amazing to see cliffy style "recessed" protection (by working with the PF manufacturer), where the metal/wood are completely level.

I know I am going to kick the hornet nest here but here it goes.
My Cliffy kept warping after a good clean hit to the point it was raised and making the shot increadibly frustrating. The ball seemed to bounce off the rear metal forward onto the cliffy, pushing the front of the Cliffy up making it raised to the pf. I removed it several times and straightened it out but after a few good clean hits it was bent again.
I took the plung and removed the Cliffy, installing Mylar around the hole. The game is much more enjoyable to play and after a few hundred games, no sign of any damage at all.
I have taken the attitude that if I have a problem, I can put the Cliffy back on and not see the damage. Given I wouldn’t do that until I sell the game, who cares, I can’t see it during play and I enjoy the game way more.

I wonder if that is one of the root causes. Might see if I can slow mo record that.

Did you also remove the cliffy for the phone scoop? I am getting A LOT of rejects and roll-outs from the phone scoop and it drives me crazy.

I have a mantis. Still get a few rejects but I think it’s a better solution.

No, i didn’t remove it but it is flat still. I still get rejects but that’s just me not centering the hit.

Lloyd. Thanks for jumping on. Apologize for highjacking this thread but thought others might have the same issues.
First, in the coil test, the auto plunge fires nicely. And, it is set at 20 in the settings. Yet, it never auto plunges in the game. I presume ball save and multiball should had the auto plunger firing?
And, secondly, the far left LED board in my apron must be bad. Here is a picture. Does a guy replace just the one? Not sure how to do that. Thanks!

DA3CE9CA-D9E9-4137-982A-AAE093714A11 (resized).jpeg

Call JJP or open a ticket. Probably need to replace the whole thing.

Try a factory reset, a setting was likely changed and it's turned off.

LTG : )

Finally made my way thought this entire thread - lots of good stuff! Wrote down all the key posts for me. Also just updated from 1.52 to 1.57 thanks to Panzefreak's help! E-mailed Kristin and had her add me to the Topper request list. Friggen love this game!!! For the first time ever I am considering the possibly selling TZ down the road after a couple on here did that - not there yet as I love TZ (still my favorite mainly b/c of theme) but quickly running out of real estate so we'll see when I am forced into a sell for a new pin. Down to 3-4 spaces so still have some time - right now DI & TZ are Bolted #1 and Bolted #2.

Does a factory reset lose all my high scores? I’d hate to do that. Got a really solid selfie on there

Yes.

LTG : )

Just bought my first pin, a slightly used DI, and set it up last night. The kids love it and I love shooting it (in fact I hear it flipping in our basement). Only really paid attention about pinball as a hobby for the last couple months and thought, If your going through the trouble of putting a pin in the basement, get one that rocks so the family will approve of another....maybe JJP POTC. Anyhow thanks for all the great advice and tips that this thread offers.

Go UNI Panthers!!!

I too brought home a very slightly used Dialed In yesterday. Playfield is amazing with very smooth ramps. Game just shoots so well.
Enjoying the heck out of it... Has that one more game vibe.

I finally got a chance to tip my theater down a little so I can better see the lower portion of the animations. Its not perfect but its better than it was, anymore and would start to lose the top portion. I ended up raising the rear almost 3/8".

I changed out the plunger for my trap door a few weeks ago. I ended up using a flipper plunger which is a little longer. This shortens the stroke of the trap door opening so it does not hit the wireform above it. I changed out the linkage to an arrow head type.

One thing I didn't see mentioned anywhere (or I missed it somewhere) was the lower pop bumper grinding on the neighboring ball guide. The same issue WOZ had. I needed to grind off some to give a little clearance. Unfortunately I didn't notice this until I had metal shavings all over the playfield. The ball moves fast in the game so it spread pretty quickly. A little late but hopefully this will save someone some trouble.

I looks like we have enough interest. Mezel is moving forward with the toppers. If you are on the fence contact them now. Thanks guys!

Gerry

Oooh...nice about the plunger. So...which plunger did you end up using? Was it hard to switch out the linkage? (like...requiring a rivet gun or something) or did you just disassemble and reassemble with the new plunger link on. Pics? Also.....lengthening the plunger will definitely lower the "upper limit" of trapdoor travel...but can also lower the resting position of the trapdoor. Basically...are you having issues with the opening now not being large enough so a slow moving ball can't easily roll in?

I'll also have to take a look at the lower pop bumper and see if any grinding is happening. Thanks for the headsup.

just joined the club. was wondering if all the drones are supposed to spin or just one of them. only got one working.

depends on when. go to test mode. see if they spin then.

Much talk about the drones failing in this thread. There are two possible reasons why, in my view as a life long RC hobbyist, they're failing with such frequency:

1) The drone motors are "coreless" DC motors that contain very small permanent magnets inside. I think the 5 industrial strength magnets in DI, in proximity pulsing on/off constantly might be a major culprit to the efficiency & life of the little drone motors. This might depend on the North-South orientation of the game magnets mounted in the table, and the N-S orientation of the drone motor magnets. *if* these poles happen to be aligned the wrong way, I think its possible the game magnets might actually be acting as demagnetizers to the permanent magnets in the drone motors, which would fail the drone motors.
2) The drone motors are reportedly wired in series inside each drone body. DC motors can be run in series, and in *theory* they'll equally proportion the voltage among themselves but in practice this doesn't work well at all. What will happen is due to variations in each motor's efficiency and the load its running under, in time the motors will develop current draw imbalances leading to imbalances in how voltage drops across each motor in a series circuit. The result is that in time, as the motors change, the circuit goes so far out of balance it results in one or more motors failing to run at all.

In all the years I've flown RC airplanes, heli's and drones (over 40) I've never had a DC motor failure outright (one did catch on fire in flight, but that was my fault for running it on 150% of design voltage with insufficient cooling). Yes, it does happen, but its very unusual. Certainly, these micro drone motors aren't the best in quality but in actual drone use they're amazingly reliable. So I think its related to the pinball installation, not the motors per se.

Sorry I'm not offering a fix here, but just thought I'd add my .02 based on experience as to possible sources of trouble.

Really REALLY looking forward to taking delivery @ TPF! Cheers ...

I bet one or more of the drone motors/cold solder joints are bad. The drones are not a good design. What was JJP thinking have 12 little motors to go bad? There is a discussion on this earlier in this tread. I disabled them on mine...just to save them. They don't add much to the game anyway...and maybe the new code minimizes their use. I thought a better design that would look cool, would have been to have the drones rotate around each other using a bigger more reliable motor/gear set. Spinning up the props just makes the prop disappear...the sound effect alone creates that effect.

Hoping for some ideas. My new dialed in LE has less than 100 plays. Last week it started shutting off, no power, in the middle of a game. Would have to shut if off and restart, sometimes have to wait a bit until would repower. Now it won’t turn on at all. When I flip switch a few lights come on for a split second then nothing. I have emailed Jersey jack 3 times and have not gotten a response. Any ideas???

Reseat everything - all the USB cables, everything, see if it boots. If not, unplug the USB cables from the motherboard (leave the vga cables and the security dongle)and see if it will boot that way. If it does, power off, plug one usb in, power up and see, then lather, rinse, repeat. If it won’t boot with no usb cables, unplug the aux graphics card from the board, see if it will boot that way.

Also check any mods that may have had their electrical connections come loose or fail. I worked on a pin last night that powered down in the middle of a game and then wouldn’t power on. Turned out it was a lighted topper that had been installed with a couple of alligator clips to connect to power and ground. One of the clips had come loose and was shorting a nearby connection.
Always check mod connections - especially if they are new or recent mods.

Who ever EVER thought that a game mode called "EMP Strike" would ACTUALLY do damage to the machine? Might it be that JJP/Lawlor - with this theme and tech - has actually (accidentally) reached out beyond the realm of fantasy into reality?

And how is all this EMP affecting the phone in the game? Any electrical engineers out there? Maybe we just need a topper that has drones in it that can take off and fly around when needed.

Lol... its time for a beer.

This is one of the more interesting things I've ever read on Pinside, and it's not even about pinball! I love reading about something from someone who knows their stuff. Thank you for this.

Are you new to the hobby?

Is the pin on its own dedicated circuit? I'm inclined to believe that the game isn't to blame, but your home's wiring. For what it's worth, mine did that too when I was running a space heater, which I did not know was on the same circuit. A little trial and error and I figured it out.

Don't do anything crazy just yet.

wont be enough... drink 2 or 3 more

I used a standard Williams flipper plunger. You will need a hammer and a punch to remove the linkage and switch it to an arrow head type. Lengthening the plunger will not change anything on the return stroke, so the trap door will still close the same, only the opening of the door will be less. No problems with clearance for the ball to drop in.

Is there any word on drone replacements yet? I bought NIB for the warranty on my favorite game and just want to know it hasn't been abandoned. All 3 of mine are out and the ticket service informed me they aren't doing replacements right now.

Just a couple notes I wanted to add to the thread.

1. I was having issues with balls sticking together in the ball trough. I'm using Ninja Chrome balls from Ball Baron as they hold up very well. The Bally / Williams plastic trough shim so far has fixed the issue.

2. Setting the upper flipper power to 14 results in the SIM card shot being a bit easier to hit (my game has a Cliffy at the SIM card shot installed), can still hit side ramp shot just fine.

Check to make sure that the power cord did not come loose on the back of the game. This sounds like that symptom - easy check.

I keep getting balls stick here on the wire. Is there supposed to be a clear protector here? There's a hole with nothing in it.

20190319_112447 (resized).jpg

Nothing goes there but its a common trap that probably should have been dealt with at the factory, its pretty glaring. Shit happens kinda thing deal with it or make something on your own.

That sucks. Paging modders for $$$'s....

There's no reason to give someone money, spend $2 and stick a piece of plastic there.

I’ve never trapped there. BUT... I’ve gotten to chaos in quantum city twice in the last two days and what a cool experience. The twilight zone 2.0 takes on a new meaning for me.

I wonder for all the haters who hate on this game would have the same perspective when they get the game humming like this.

Super dark.

The wires there was what was catching the ball there on mine. I repositioned the wires in that notch in the plastic and haven't had a ball trap there in a year (several hundred plays)

This thread used to be on fire daily. I had a hard time keeping up with it. Now-a-days, this thread could go 1-2 days without a post. Maybe soon it'll go even longer without one... but I'll tell ya this:

It's an AMAZING game! I have the choice of about 18 games to play every week, and maybe DI doesn't appeal to me as much as it used to, but after I hit that start button once, I know for a fact I'll be hitting it 5-6 more times in a row. It draws you in and keeps you around. I can't stop playing it once I start. It's still the hardest game to play, and when it comes to league, only the top 4-5 players can do well on it. It's not a game that someone will ever get lucky on and have a good game.

It's not leaving my lineup any time soon.

i understand, and surelly we're a large number to understand

i'm still thinking DI is the best pinball i'd ever played

Nothing to add!

I've had my DI for a couple weeks. One thing that is really bothering me is that during an EMP strike for example is that if the magnet holds the ball in the theatre and then it lets it go it goes SDTM. Now I'm fine with that if that is how it was designed but I've been messing with the theatre magnet (set to -100 now) to maybe change the behavior. I'm not afraid of wiggling the machine to avoid SDTM but JJPs are a tank! I've leveled the machine as perfect as I can get it.

During EMP strike it is supposed to behave that way (which is why many players try to avoid starting that mode); at other times it is supposed to throw the ball around the top loop ala Shadow.

raise the back right leg a few turns and this will toss your ball to the left flipper.

Yea I was thinking about that but maybe it's just one of the many "charms" of DI. I've noticed I so much of a better player on other games but DI...not so much.

I feel your pain, DI is one I cannot do well on either for some reason.