Since Williams no longer exists, what is being used is copies of Williams springs.

I don't believe the spring is the issue. On flippers and drop targets, the hole the spring hooks into seems sharper and scores the spring and it snaps off at that point.

Soon the spring smooths the hole over and it doesn't happen again.

LTG : )

There is a Dialed In for sale on CL and here is the description:

"... Includes mini-monitor (in the "cell phone") adjustment board that is NOT included with new ones anymore. "

Anyone know anything about this special adjustment board? Is it possible that this board kept the monitor from having issues?

Even the 2.0 version that doesn't go into the hole, but stops on the bevel? I had very few rejects with that one. Maybe one in 20? It's about as close to perfect as you can get for an add-on. Maybe one day they'll let Cliff advise on the actual hole shape for maximum protection. The guy knows about a LOT of technical stuff beyond protectors.

No, it's just a plug-in circuit board that lets you adjust the mini-monitor for the phone. You just plug it into the phone monitor board when you want to adjust it. The buttons on it are MENU, VOL +/-, SOURCE, and POWER. The MENU lets you adjust the monitor brightness/contrast, alignment, etc. The board was only included with the very early machines shipped.

Here's a picture of it:
Control-Board-sml (resized).jpg

That’s a fairly standard VGA control board; they are about $8 on eBay, nice little extra thing to have for troubleshooting the phone I suppose

Interesting. I'm on my second phone as well for this very issue. I've reseated my video card with no results, but I didn't consider supporting it. Post back if your issue occurs again.

JJP is sending me a new video card in hopes that it will fix the wonky color issue. Mine didn't start happening until immediately after my update to 1.50, but I was experiencing blanking on the phone. Now my phone is always yellow or blue cast and will fix if I unplug the VGA cable at the back of the phone and reseat it. It still goes black once in a while too. : (

Sorry if this has already been discussed, but I am finally having better results with hitting my phone scoop and SIM card hole (I have authentic Cliffy's on them).

The phone scoop was all about flipper strength. I think my left flipper was way too strong from the factory. I've dialed it back several notches (I think I am at about 15 or 16 now). I can still hit the right ramp easily, but I get far fewer rejects when shooting the phone scoop. I intend to reduce the strength further to see where the sweet spot is.

For the SIM shot, I did the same thing - I reduced the upper flipper strength. It is still hard to hit directly from the upper flipper - but I've hit it directly a couple times which is better than before. I also found a new personal strategy that has worked quite well. I shoot very early off the upper flipper, and it deflects off the left "Ticket" stand up and goes in the SIM hole. Again, a tough shot, but I am making it more than ever now.

Prior to doing these tweaks a good score for me was a million points. The last two games I played were 1.4 and 1.9 million (with 3 and 4 SIMs collected).

I loved the game before, but now that I am getting it dialed in my love is growing stronger

Just thought I would share my experience. Thanks!

Brief subject change to functioning DIs, is it worthwhile going for the multiballs you start with QED, drones or spider ? I have the feeling the points are small in comparison to the normal modes started with the phone scoop.

The other night I played DI with the express intention of not starting any phone scoop modes, but only going for the other multiballs. Unfortunately I was not able to start one single multiball so I haven't been able to answer my own question yet. When trying this I also seemed to get a rather large number of participation awards.

I know you can also activate the Sim Card hole this way too, but it would only seem to make sense if you need another Sim Card and have already played too many phone scoop modes.

I am soooo excited. I just bought my first pin, and it's a NIB Dialed In SE. It should be shipping out today! If there is one thing I should do to this machine before I start playing, what should it be? (Assuming I've read the manual and set up as recommended already)

I was planning on getting some cliffy protectors, but I do not see them on the cliffy website (passionforpinball). Are they not being made anymore?

They are installing the real deal Cliffy protectors from Cliffy at the factory last I heard. You would only need the Cliffys that the factor doesn't install. The Sim card hole and phone hole should have Cliffys pre-installed.

Mine was built on Jan 30, 2018 and includes both real-deal Cliffys

Great news, thanks for the quick reply. I'm crossing my fingers that this one is not 'old stock' at the distributor. I just got confirmation that it should be picked up today! I can not think about anything else, so excited.

For me the multiballs are an annoyance on Dialed In. Dunno why. They just break up the pursuit of each disaster and aren't especially fun to play. If they had more in-multiball objectives and something more than "you're under attack", maybe I could like them. Maybe it's more a commentary on how addictive the disaster modes are...

It's weird, too, because I generally like Multiball modes.

I doubt it's old stock, but if it is, you can contact JJP and they will send you the "good" actual Cliffy protectors.

What he said^^
I do like the Quantum Chaos and the Armageddon multiballs but the shoot two ramps and lock the balls generic multiballs are not awesome.

Right. I was talking about the "generic" multiballs with "your under attack" happening. Boring/annoying.

I do like the way you can postpone the multiball, that feature makes it more fun. I like to postpone multiball, start another mode then start multiball and try to cap it off with a Big Bang before running out of time or draining.

Yes, the delaying makes it better, but only a little. They need more purpose in the story besides avoiding "you're under attack" rays. Like I said, it's weird because usually I'm into Multiball and especially stacking, but Dialed In regular ones are just annoying.

Buy Ninja balls and use them instead of the stock ones which get rough early and scratch the playfield.

If you do that, watch out for them becoming magnetized.

Yeah I tried ninja balls. 60 games in they were clinging together and causing jams. Back to the stock.

As others have said, your phone hole and SIM hole are already protected. But I STRONGLY recommend you (and everyone else!) order a pair of Cliffy's UNIVERSAL SWITCH SLOT PROTECTORS for the inlanes. The left & right ramp inlane returns drop down right over those switch slots, and I started to see very minor wear/cracking/denting after only a few hundred games. Would've hated to see it get any worse. Get those slots covered! Literally a 5 minute install.

http://www.passionforpinball.com/switchslot.htm

Is there a way to rectify this? I have purchased a lot of them not knowing there were problems like that but am waiting for a new DI so haven't encountered problems yet.

I would highly recommend removing the Mylar from the magnet core on both magnets.

These are the issues I'm having as well. First the phone would only boot to lower third of screen, and if I fiddled with the VGA cord it would come on in full (this started for on my 2nd day of NIB)-- I noticed that it's been blanking out completely- and the colors come back on wrong. I'm in agreement it's got to be the video card.

I'm still waiting on a new video card and phone. I was told both are back ordered. I only got 1 full day (day I opened the box) of no issues and I've only had the machine for coming on 2 weeks now. JJP has been great as offering up the parts- I just need to wait for them to come.

Hoping that the video card is the issue that's an easy fix.

how come?

Is the only problem that they stick together or is there a bigger issue it creates?

Nope. Just don't use them in games with magnet action.

It can magnetize other metal in the game, and then you have ongoing problems.

Just so everybody is aware, JJP is only installing the fluffy protectors on the scoops (as far as I'm aware). Cliff doesn't have the protector kit in his website, but you can still get the additional pieces you need from him if you email him directly. I also got some universal slot protectors for the inlanes

So what high quality balls should I buy? I thought Ninja balls were the best ones, but apparently I was wrong

Best for shiny appearance and durability, but not good for a machine with a lot of magnets.

You want the carbon steel balls in a machine with magnets. Something like:
https://ballbaron.com/product/pinball-carbon/

You can buy the carbon steel balls from Ball Baron. They are about as shiny as you can get for a carbon core ball. But they aren't nearly as shiny or as durable as the Ninja. What I do is just use the Ninja balls on Dialed In and when they become slightly magnetized (enough to notice but not really affecting much) - usually after 100 games, I toss them in a game with no magnets. Impacts destroy magnetism so after 25 games or so in the non-magnet machine the balls no longer have any magnetism.

I decided to go with ninjas. Mainly because I've seen a lot of feedback that says Dialed In is rough on balls and causes scratches and dings very quickly with carbon balls, which turns into a scratched playfield. The thing is that carbon balls get magnetized too, just slower. I've got some magnetism gauges and degaussing equipment at work, so I'm going to run some controlled experiments on the ninja balls and try to document a cheap procedure to demagnetize them. I know there has to be a way, but it might be difficult finding the orientation of the magnetic field.

I'll post if I figure out anything useful. I'd rather swap balls out every 100 games or so than scratch up the playfield in the same amount of time, if what ppl are saying is true.

This sounds like really good advice if you have another game. A tumbler might work as well if you only have the one machine.

"People" are exaggerating. Keep your playfield waxed and carbon balls are just fine.

So excited, I’m getting my nib Dialed In LE tomorrow!!! After a few delays due to snow, it’s finally time to pick it up!!

Thats cool, I'm also waiting for my new LE which should arrive in a couple of weeks (hopefully sooner).

My man, do you think it's fair to claim people are making up stories that Dialed In is rough on carbon balls (as are many machines), but at the same time promote conjecture that magnetized balls make the metal parts of the game magnetic - which to my knowledge has never been documented?

Dialed In is rough on balls. It has a lot more metal areas to hit (eg. upper right flipper to QED guy is a solid thud into a narrow metal bracket) and very active pops so it's reasonable as to why this happens.

If you don’t remove the Mylar on the magnet, it gets destroyed by the ball and eventually you will have to replace it.

Congrats! I've got a SE on the way. It arrived at the final distribution warehouse this morning, and I'm just waiting for the phone call to schedule the delivery! Nothing yet, so I'm afraid it won't be coming tomorrow

I did not say this. I said that it being rough on balls leading to scratch playfields is an exaggeration. If you keep your playfield waxed well, there's no problem with carbon balls, rough machine or not. THAT is what I said.

I’ve never ordered a Cliffy. The link takes me to the product, but it takes me to email. How do I purchase these?

Email him directly and tell him what you need. - Contact info.

[email protected] with a list and quantity of the products you are looking for.

Yeah he'll get to ya. Poor bastard was almost worked to death by this DI situation!

I ordered Cliffy's and they took about two months to arrive. But they're worth it. Cliff is super busy and it may take some time for him to reply to your email. You'll also have to get in the DI protector queue so it may take some time before he can get to your order. But don't give up.

I've got five sets of brand new Ninjas and two sets of carbon. Think I'm gonna start with the Ninjas until the game is broken in and eventually switch to carbon.

IMHO the Mylar has a purpose and should be left on. Yes you will have to replace it from time to time, but it still serves a purpose. JJP could have saved money and left it off but they think that it is necessary. I buy new shoes from time to time. I could walk around barefoot, but I find the shoes necessary.