Game of Thrones Battering Ram fix

You read my mind. I looked closely last night and was thinking this is exactly what needs to be done. I am never going to believe I'm cheating either. It is a fix imo. Way too many missed shots imo the way it arrives from the factory. Thanks.

My ram still works pretty well. Thanks for the info.

I wonder if the battering ram is designed to be as easy as a simple target switch hit or perhaps the design of the ram is to require solid hits and not register everytime a ball hits it.

My battering ram seems to be registering regularly. I would say 1 of 5 doesn't register but I like the fact being that its an easy target right up front to hit that it doesn't register 100% of the time. Plus in your last picture do you now have to worry about the ball hitting the metal on the sides of the battering ram entrance? Its hard to tell but looks like now that metal is exposed for the ball to hit.

Cheating!

So you're shortening the distance the battering ram has to travel? Why not just remove the battering ram and replace it with a standup target if you want to cheat

I took a slo-mo of the ram reject. Hard to tell where the energy is being directed but it certainly wasn't up!

I really don't see this as a cheat at all. The ram simply doesn't make it to the target enough. In a good game it could cost you everything. It takes a perfect hard hit to make it. Mine hits the target about 10% of the time. That's not fair at all.

I am going to keep playing mine as it stands though to see if it works itself out.

I would call Stern Tech support about the issue. Maybe it's on wrong or something is too tight, or whatever. 10% of the time is not right and that does seem to be a problem and that is not normal operation. I would say mine hits 80-90% of the time. Mine seems like its operating normal.

I may ask but it seems to be in good working order. MY pro worked fine.

Maybe 25%. Probably not 10%. That's was a little harsh. Lol

It was a bad shot that was way off center. You need solid shots in the middle of the battering ram preferably from the right flipper.

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Really don't think it was designed to only work dead center from the right flipper. If it was it may be the most un-fun toy out there.

I played a pro this weekend and thought it seemed really stiff. Not much movement at all and I had to rely on the inserts to know if it had moved/registered.

I don't believe it is designed to require a dead on shot from the right flipper but a shot from the left flipper to the right edge I would not expect to register for that shot. I do like the fix/modification idea. From the GOT's I've played it does seem as though that shot is inconsistent as some games are pretty easy to register and others will take a dead on power shot and still not register. Good idea for how to improve on those that may not work as well as they should.

Play better!

(j/k, couldn't pass up my only chance to say that to KME)

3 out of 6 on mine register from direct shots from either flipper... It is not cheating by making it work better . I will try it with a little less distance as it seems the adjustment is warranted

This is exactly how mine was behaving. I don't think that the ram should register a hit every single time a ball touches it, but a straight shot from the left or right flipper should do the trick. The adjustments I made to mine did not reduce the travel of the ram at all, they just allowed the ram to move more freely with various different type of hits to it.

It's still a better idea to attack mine from the right, but it also will register 95% of the time from the left if you hit it square or just about square.

I would be interested to hear from Ritchie as to his thoughts on how this ram was intended to behave.

Yeah my impression is if you hit the black pad it's a hit. Shots to the side of that that still hit the ram no. Speaking of which mine was already chewed up on the sides after only 1 day of play so I added felt to the edges where the black pad wasn't covering.

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Weird....mine worked right out the box....if I hit it solid enough it registers every time (with either flipper).

Cheating... Pfff, Not a fair comment .. functioning properly I'd call it. Do what you need you still have to aim for the thing.

Before I made sure mine was sliding enough I had never managed to get a single double multiplier, yet made it to HOTK .. The switch itself was also catching on the ramp opto, didnt help matters either.

Now that I'm "cheating" I can actually get things multiplied !

It's not cheating because everyone is playing the same game. If one has this adjustment it doesn't matter except scores would probably be higher on average with this set up.

I don't think the game was designed to have the ram's travel reduced though. I also don't this it was intended to brick fairly clean shots to it, so however someone remedies that, is up to them.

Maybe someone can get Steve Ritchie to approve this like the STTNG lane extenders

imo setting the ram back like that will destroy your metal 'ball guides' that contain the ram area, as well as increase impact abuse to your surrounding 2 stand up targets. This is obviously because now the ram isn't 'extended' away from these pf components as it was meant to be to absorb impact from the ball(s), but hey as long as you are happy with it I suppose. I would also assume it is now harder to hit the ram, especially during MBs, as you really do need a straight shot, no longer partial 'side' shots will register, as balls will hit targets and those metal 'guides'.

enjoy you game!

Also, I would suggest a little lubricant (just a little) this helped a lot.

as long as it works out for you, I will post pics of my 'standard' ram setup when the arcade opens up tomorrow and show the you damage that has already been done to both the metal guides and the standups, without an offset ram. it's you machine, you can try to fix it however you feel best accommodates the issues, and I will just lube up my track.

go broncos.

Me too. I'm seeing like 90%+ hit rate.

Man, all these fixes required to get GOT operating smoothly....

Once the dust has settled, I hope someone creates a thread which compiles them all

Getting my Premium in a week or so hopefully, first few games should be interesting!

I look at it like I want the ram to operate similarly to the bell on ACDC. Does the bell on ACDC act like a standup that registers every time the ball hits it? No. it needs to be hit pretty square to register a bell hit. That is how the ram should behave IMO.

Ok, quick easy fix. Stuck a piece of adhesive felt pad on top of the rubber black pad. Now working 100 percent!

Interesting. Got a pic?

It is a battering ram. ..not a knock on the door lol! Should require a bit of a solid hit I'd say

Nice simple idea. Seems like it would be a bit more tolerant of off-axis hits.

I don't see any reason to start a whole thread about how to cut felt adhesive. lol
It should not take over your thread and sounds like a good addition to your fix to me.

All I'm saying is that your shot to the ram is a shot that should not register. A shot like that up a ramp will not make it up a ramp. A shot like that into an orbit, will not make it around the orbit.

I register ram shots from both flippers but they have to be good shots.

Shitty shots get knocked back with the game silently telling me to make it a better shot next time.

I can't tell that to my customers lol

Ok, I guess I am imagining it. You're clearly right. I will never 2nd guess your pinball engineering background again!

Time to sell some 3d printed ram extenders for 45 dollars.

If you can't tell the truth to your customers then you need to find a different line of work. LOL...

Bitchin! Nice find.