You da man, cap gun!

You should license your design to Stern!

capgun,

Not sure if you have already mentioned - I found that mounting your bracket too far to the right (right edge near the ball guide stud - within ~1/4") - does not provide as effective result as with the bracket positioned more like ~1/2-3/4" to the left of the ball guide stud. Re-watching your video, I mimicked your positioning. I does make a difference.

- by the way, did I mention I am now very proficient removing and replacing the upper playfield and ramps!

Thanks for providing a very workable and effective solution.

You do not need to remove the throne on order to install the fix

With the throne attached you can also get at the first rollover bumper, if you want to swap that out. The other two bumpers do require removing the throne to reach.

I first tried JUST the bracket and first rollover bumper. Results were not great. Ball seemed to get hung-up on the 2nd bumper. Once I swapped out all 3 bumpers with the coil sleeve approach - left orbits are awesome.

Hmm. No rotation here. I simply swapped out the rubbers for a 1in piece of coil sleeve, w/heatshrink applied.

1.23 here. Just a few games in. I have noticed 2 instances where balls got "stuck" behind the sword on the ramp. A coils is firing, but the sword does not actuate and the balls do not move forward. The machine initiates a ball search without result. Last several plays I noticed no issues. Chalked-up as a glitch for the moment...

About to go back to play a few more. Will be keeping an eye on this.

Found the issue. The sword is ever so slightly misaligned, getting hung-up on the front edge of the receiving slot at the bottom of its stroke. The sword is showing a bit of scoring where it rubs in the slot, which I have noticed before.

Fix: A slight bend of the sword permits free motion in the slot. Good to go.

On my Premium, left orbits would rarely if ever make it all the way around without dropping into the pops - in live play, or via manual handball trials.

Since installing cap's diverter mod, adding washers to the orbit lane guide screws and implementing the coil sleeve "rubber" idea, the vast majority of clean shots (mostly left-flipper backhands) into the left lane emerge from the right hand side, avoiding the pops. Manual handball trials make it thru 100%, just as in cap's video.

I'd call this a successful solution to the issue.

Played a few games tonite on my Premium. Got to WIC and immediately hit the left orbit - perfectly - all the way around and straight thru to the right flipper. This was followed without pause right back to and perfectly thru the left orbit again, grabbing full WIC value. It was glorious!

Just after this I hit like 5 center loops in a row under House Stark.

Felt like I was hitting the Spider-Man loops.

An anonymous GoT owner was kind enough to offer the following slow-motion video of a ball navigating the left orbit diverter and guide.

It is very clear the curved shape of the diverter and subsequent harsh transition angle with the guide is causing a loss of momentum, dropping ball into the bumpers and thru to the pops. The ball seems to barely ride along the diverter arm, catching "air" early on.

Capgun's diverter mod smooths this clumsy transition. However, a better fix would be for Stern to rework the diverter's shape, to deliver the ball into the guide at a more reasonable angle, maintaining momentum thru the transition. This video shows the issue very clearly.

Looking at the video again, maybe the left orbit guide is the cause. Seems like the guide itself is sending the ball onto that trajectory -over- the diverter arm.

Maybe if the guide had a shallower curve right near the end, the ball might actually ride along the diverter arm as intended? There's not too much wiggle room for guide adjustments, but maybe deforming the very end of the guide, ever so slightly toward the back, might help.

I may give this a try next time I have the upper playfield off.

Thanks! Good to know in advance.

dog, your result is pretty similar to what I get with capgun's diverter mod. The mod may provide an ever so slightly more unimpeded loop thru the orbit, but this is result is very close.

Yep, mine seemed a bit stiff to push back down at first, but has relaxed a bit since.

I think your problem migrated to me. 199 plays, I had my first elevator issue tonite. Only took a 2nd try, but had not seen the issue before.

Thanks!

I'd guess you'd have to contact Stern, maybe via your distributor?

I too have great/smooth left orbits, but miss mystery & extra ball way too often. I had not considered this to be related to the diverter mod, seems to be upstream from there. Dunno, but would love a solution - kills me to miss-register extra ball shots!

When the gate is open, my right orbit shots are smooth and FAST.

I get very smooth and fast left and right orbits - which I very much enjoy!

I am, unfortunately, consistently not registering lit Mystery and Extra ball shots on the right ramp. I should keep some sort of record, but I'd guess is LESS THAN 50%, possibly 25%/30%. Grrr. With glass off switch tests - I never miss. Odd.

Does anyone know what switch/opto registers these shots. Might be some other issue?

Tweaked the switch, seems to be more sensitive. Nailed 100% of the lit right orbit shots on the first game back. Thanks!

I played a few game on my Premium today. Left orbit shots were quite smooth all the way thru! - using capgun's diverter mod & coil sleeves on the in-lane bumpers.

Quite happy with Premium's gameplay lately!

Follow-up, cross-posting from the Club thread - thought it might better belong here:

The Problem:

With capgun's diverter mod installed, I was hitting consistently fast & smooth left orbits on my Premium (which made me happy), but was only registering about 25% of Mystery & EB shots to the right orbit (which made me crazy). Adjusted rollover switch sensitivity to no avail.

The Fix:

1. Removed the diverter mod as suggested by a couple others, but kept the coil sleeve bumper rubber replacements
2. Enlarged the mtg holes to permit a slightly forward positioning of the diverter arm assy
3. Removed a small burr that was forming on leading edge of the orbit lane guide where it meets the diverter arm. Smoothed with my dremel tool. Ball bounces due to the burr are now eliminated. Glad I noticed this issue early.

The Result:

1. Still getting perfectly smooth and consistent left orbit shots, all the way thru, without the diverter mod.
2. Hitting 100% of the Mystery and EB shots to the right orbit. From 25% to 100% - a very nice improvement, I must say!
3. This adjustment made me a very happy camper, and lowered my frustration level several notches!

No doubt its related to position. I did tweak the bracket's placement originally to maximize the left orbit results. I was concerned re-tweaking to fix the right orbit issue would undo my left orbit success. So, I thought I'd first give the bracket-less approach a try.

Just now I played several games. I actually made 3 left orbits in quick succession - left-left-left from the right flipper. Loved it! First time I have seen that on my Premium.

I wonder how long that burr had been there on the left orbit guide rail? Even though the burr was small, the ball clearly bounced off that thing travelling in both directions. That would certainly muck-up an already tight left orbit shot.

Glad I noticed as I was playing around with ball travel with the upper playfield off. Only barely noticeable visually or by touch - but plainly visible seeing the ball bounce while travelling over it.

rockrand, congrats on your "orbit greatness"!

Same here; like a new game to see that left orbit shot emerge so cleanly. Hitting Mystery and Extra Ball 100% is a nice side-bonus!

I reamed the 4 mounting holes in the diverter arm assy beneath the playfield. I used a stepper drill bit to increase the hole diameter to the next larger size, vs simply elongating them. Just now I inserted a drill bit into the mtg hole to determine the actual diameter. It is now just a shade larger than a 3/16" drill bit, but not quite 13/64". No need to go any larger than this as the diverter arm collar bumps into the cutout in the playfield and gives no additional slack.

The picture below shows the resulting gap. I must admit looking at it now - not a huge change in position, but a definite change in result. Maybe a net ~1/16" - 3/16" adjustment forward.

5-4-2016_5-28-20_PM_(resized).png

Yes, moved foward toward the flippers. The gap you see at the red arrow (between the mtg bracket & edge of the playfield) was much smaller before I enlarged the holes. The bracket edge was ~almost flush with the playfield edge - maybe ~1/32" exposed.

The diverter arm collar is mashed-up tight against the playfield cutout - all the way forward. No more slack.

Altering the mounting hole diameters was initially a concern for me; I did not want to interfere with whatever (if ever) Stern decides as their recommended fix.

In the end, the impact of slightly enlarged mounting holes (vs elongated) should be negligible to whatever fix we ultimately arrive at. I can still accommodate the original/stock condition by simply repositioning the diverter arm assy. The enlarged holes are nice and clean and in no way look like a hack job; the next owner would likely never know I made this very slight alteration.

I was just down in the cave playing a few games. I managed another 3 left orbits shots in a row, in quick succession from the right flipper, then nailed the center ramp to beat house Martell. I beat that house with just 4 shots - quite amazing for me!! Awesome!

Are you kidding me! By design? ...but we do have easter eggs!

Yes! It's very easy. I used a stepper drill bit. I have this one (1/8" to 1/2" in 1/32" increments) - the resulting holes are perfectly clean:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Milwaukee-1-1-8-in-1-2-in-x-1-32-in-Step-Drill-Bit-48-89-9201/204312636
(I got mine at Harbor Freight).

The mounting bracket is very soft steel - It took almost no effort at all to enlarge to 3/16" - cut like butter. I would avoid elongating the hole - tricky to get the enlongation in the correct orientation on the bracket, plus looks terrible.

I found the bracket had no more slack when attempting to re-position the diverter's collar snug against the playfield cut out. No need to go larger than 3/16" diameter (at least on my machine).

5-5-2016_5-02-31_PM_(resized).png

Hints:

I did not fully remove the diverter arm assy from the machine, I simply removed the 4 screws and backed the assy out of position to gain access to the mounting holes. I also needed to remove a wire harness support pillar. I just removed the 2 screws and temporarily moved it out of the way.

Place a towel in the bottom of the cabinet - to catch the metal shavings.

Finally:

Remove the rubbers from the upper inlane bumpers. As suggested by capguntrooper: use coil sleeves, add heat shrink tubing, cut to 1" length. I made 4 of these for my machine in just a few minutes. (!!) This modification is every bit as important and the mtg hole adjustment (!!).

Hah, good to know! Thanks.

swampfire - It seems to be mode dependent. Example: v1.26, Martell 1st & 2nd Left (& Right) Orbits, gates ore open, closed for 3rd Orbit. I did also notice gates are open for some Greyjoy shots, I'm sure there are many others, just never made note.

.

Cross-posted from the other thread:

I installed v1.29 on my GoT Premium just now to play around.

Here are my findings:

1. Left Orbit is disabled - by default, as expected
2. Default: Service > Adj > GoT > #6 - Disable Left Orbit = YES
3. With glass off, tossing ball by hand - in Martell mode - LEFT Orbit balls do go directly to the pop bumpers.
4. Interestingly enough, a few LEFT Orbit balls did get past the gate and reached the right flipper (~10%-20%).
5. With "Disable Left Orbit = NO", the LEFT Orbits behave same as in v1.26

Average Martell Score Test:

I compared Martell (only) scoring in both v1.26 & v1.29, with glass off -

Setup:

1. Spinner propped out of the way for convenience
2. Started a fresh 4 player game, each player selects Martell
3. Hit "Choose Your Battle" immediately, then select Martell
4. Hit 3 consecutive LEFT Orbits
5. Hit Center Ramp to complete the mode
6. Drain the ball

Results:

1. v1.26: 172M
2. v1.29: 187M - (Left Orbits Disabled)
3. v1.29: 172M - (Left Orbits Enabled)

I guess it makes sense that disabling the LEFT Orbit would increase the scoring as the POPS will provide additional scoring opportunities. I am happy to see scoring remains the same with left orbits enabled in v1.29 compared to v1.26.

Observations:

1. In both versions, the left orbit appears to be intentionally disabled for the 3rd Martell LEFT Orbit (i.e., gate closed)
2. I know for certain I have hit LEFT-LEFT-LEFT-CENTER to beat Martell in four quick shots, but I could only reproduce the 3rd LEFT Orbit few times manually just now
3. There may be some margin in my machine that permit a a nice solid shot to pass thru a closed gate! Guessing this is not "by design",

I'm gonna keep v1.29 installed, LEFT Orbits enabled!

There is a pair of phillips head screws on the underside of the playfield. I did not fully remove the throne on mine, just moved out of the way to give me access to the inlane bumpers.

ronald, did you try to jumper the left gate directly to the right gate? (disconnect the right gate wires first)

This might help differentiate a broken wire to the right gate vs the gate itself.

Success!