You have to take the right ramp and the large plastic under the right ramp to access the where you make the adjustment to the lane guide.
Pretty sure you know but just in case thought I’d say something.

Hey have an issue with the ramp. Its almost like it wont stay up when a mode starts then it goes down but not all the way down as it hits the little metal side coil piece (i assume for keeping it down?). So i cant go into the scoop or start any modes. Anyone have this issue? Not sure if this other piece is in the way or why the coil wont keep the ramp up. Does anyone elses prem or le look like this under the hood? *note some photos have the metal piece in the way but not all*
20180612_210428 (resized).jpg20180612_210440 (resized).jpg20180612_210452 (resized).jpg

Thanks for the tip, for me it’s not the post. Other than that I can’t tell..I re-leveled it and that’s done more than anything. Exit opto on left ramp quit at some point.. not sure when exactly but I thought it wasn’t working at least now I know.. I kinda wish they would have just continued using the old busted switches... is there a fix for the optos? Edit: I unplugged the receiver and plugged it back in and poof it works now

Is this two reported issues, or one? Switch #14 is UP Right Flipper Button and Shooter Lane is Switch #22.

5A821F43-52F0-46DF-A1D7-6BBEF1C795FC (resized).jpeg

When you press the shooter lane switch manually in switch test mode, does it light up switch 14 or switch 22 on the diag screen?

No issues with my LE #233 .
You should be thrilled!

22 I believe.

7C679712-30D4-4035-ABC7-3130EE8775CD (resized).jpeg

Check those lockdown bars, just noticed this today from lockdown being too tight from factory. Fixed the problem but wrinkles are there.

Will see if distributor will send out a front cab decal.

20180614_070657 (resized).jpg

I actually do hold it up for staging and emailed Stern wondering if when Trooper auto loads the code is ignoring the coil power setting.

I’ve gotten the ball stuck there too, but only once. If you’re getting a ton of air balls it may explain why you’re getting it stuck there more... that does look like a legit ball trap though, probably worth a call to stern tech support to see if they have a fix.

Reported this as a bug in the 1.00 bug thread.

Wonder if this is what is sometimes (1 in 10 times) causing auto-plunge at the beginning of a new ball without letting me choose song.

. delete

Unlikely. Slo-mo film the ball eject with your phone and watch. You likely are ejecting the ball too hard and it is bouncing (hitting the switch, then rolling forward, then settling onto the switch again). That second switch hit will select the song and cause the auto launch. Turn your trough eject power down so it barely ejects the ball and you'll be fine.

When this happened to me it was because my left flipper was triggering the orb shot sensor.

Anyone having an issue with a ball still on the table and the machine goes dead, then starts totaling up the score? This isn't being caused by an overload of switch hits, either. Maybe a trough issue--thinks it has 6 balls when it only has 5?

The left flipper? Or the left spinner?

This has happened to me as well a few times now.

This can occur if your captive ball hit switch isn't registering in the sarcophagus lock trough (LE or Premium). Basically when you hit the locked ball out of the lock the game doesn't realize it and then assumes your ball is over when you still have a ball in play.

See https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/iron-maiden-issues/page/5#post-4432426

Yep, and it also happens if the front rollover switch of the mech isn't recognizing.

That's a lot of not recognizing--I'll take a look (again) at both of these.

A medium to hard hit off the left flipper button (during song selection for example) was enough vibration/movement on the table for it to trigger the sensor on the orb and make it think a ball was in play, and thus fire the auto-plunge.

This is due to the rear switch in the sarcophagus mech. Replaced mine with a rollerball switch, fixed 100%.

This is a relatively easy fix, check out the rollerball switch mentioned earlier in this thread. Kind of a pain to replace, but works perfectly.

Which switch# is this?

I think it's #41. I replaced mine with this:
http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/5647-12693-06

882f9578dd0d4aa4c13ac6877f965a1a218e83d9.jpeg (resized).jpg

I really dig this and want to do it, but am a little worried about warranty voiding. Maybe I will shoot Stern an email asking about this?

Go ahead. I’m very curious to hear what they say. They’ve always been good to me. I’d be shocked if they took a stand against members of the community trying to improve their game.

Warranty doesn't officially cover almost anything anyway. You're always dealing with Stern's goodwill. They appear to be quite generous.

WOW - crazy how non-existent the quality control is at Stern that almost everyone has the same issues. After spending an entire day on these maybe I can help some people with theirs.....

- Manual plunger shoots ball at upper left flipper.
FIX: Unscrewed manual plunger and moved to the right which centered the plunger. Your direction may vary.

- Auto plunger shoots ball at upper flipper.
FIX: I tried all sorts of leveling, had the back legs as high as they go, etc. Nothing worked. I unscrewed the screw holding the shooter lane ball guide in place (under the plastic) got plyers and bent the curve of the shooter lane further left (use a cloth with the plyers so you don't scratch the ball guide), and then re-screwed it. You could try simply unscrewing, forcing it left and then re-screwing, but I doubt this will hold up over time.

- Clarvoyant/Mummy newton balls register on flipper press/pop bumper hits.
FIX: This is just an awful, awful design. A 2" hex bolt is screwed into a pinball, that connects to a pop bumper skirt. The hex bolt is likely not tight on your machine, either due to poor assembly or because Stern actually thought it could be used as an "adjustment screw". Except that every hit to the newton ball loosens the hex bolt, which forces the switch closed, and the ball stops registering. The -only- permanent solution is to fully tighten the bolt, Loctite it so it never unscrews, and then carefully adjust the switch gap to about half a millimeter. Seriously though Stern, WTF with this design.

- Grime on many metal pieces.
FIX: I have no idea how this happens, but my sarchophogus and left inlane ball guide have this black grime crap on the edges. Had to clean it off with a Q-tip and alcohol. Checks yours.

- Top left pop bumper has no light.
FIX: Well actually it does but they used a flasher there for some reason. Another odd design choice. So the other two pops have a normal pop light, and this one has only a flasher. Makes OCD people think either one of the pop lights is out, or two of the pop flashers are out.

I thought the Top left pop bumper light was an odd decision as well. In general, the GI light when playing in the dark is poor. I've never purchased Pinstadium lighting, but might break down for this title.

It's really disappointing that a company with Stern's resources can't design a better, more robust newton ball. It will likely be a maintenance issue, which effects location games particularly hard. For home use, probably not such a big deal.

My game actually arrived fairly dialed in...only some minor tweaks to the flipper locations that were slightly off.

Unfortunately, my PF has major/visiable "grain". The picture shows the worst angle for viewing the wood grain. When the lights are off, the grain is also visible from the players position. The clear is smooth, so the grain doesn't effect play at all. Just effects the beauty of the artwork. You'd think that for over 7k on the Premium, you'd get a "Gold quality" PF/clearcoat. My AS Pro and SWLE look much better...no visible grain.

I'm told that grainy PF's are the "new normal". If so, major bummer.

snaroff

IMG_9634 (1) (resized).jpg

Mines like that too. My as pro however is beautiful!

Both my SW Pro and IMDN Premium has some of that visible "grain" as well. I can only see it when I'm actually looking for it, but it still sucks knowing it's there. At least it's better than ghosting inserts that will actually crack the clear and cause some real problems.

snaroff Man, between our Dialed In and this, it's like they're screaming STOP BUYING NIB FROM US!

Glad your IMDN was overall better than your DILE but that grain is BS. I'd call your disty and discuss it. Good distys can make stuff happen. Visible wood grain is not normal. Don't let them gaslight you on that crap.

lol. Seems like visible word grain has become much more prevalent recently...I've seen a GOTG LE with awful wood grain. It sucks, but it isn't simply gas lighting...it's becoming the new normal, unfortunately.

All about time-to-market and pushing PF manufacturers hard to deliver. Sucks, and will effect my future purchases. I've been a loyal NIB customer of Stern since 2004 when I purchased LOTR & TSPP NIB. Man, the quality rocked back then!

snaroff

dood you don't have much luck. I wouldn't give up so easy and I'd press for a replacement.

This is the first thing I did. Secure the hex post from moving then adjust the switch gap. It was obvious that any movement in the post defeats whatever switch gap you have dialed in. This is a very weak design. Loctite, or a thin nut adjacent to the ball tightened against the hex post should have been factory installed. ( I would have done the latter but that meant moving the switch stack)

I have a better than 90% success rate when the game auto loads balls for Trooper multiball. I expect this won't last (I've seen pics of bent auto launch mechs on another thread)

I swore off JJP after the Dialed In disaster. This was my first Stern NIB on the Spike system and yeah, probably my last seeing how unreliable it is, coupled with the QC issues. My prior NIB to these was MMR and the design quality was excellent (granted they copied a design from 1997) while there were a couple of small QC assembly issues (Stern did build it, so....). I have a TNA on order, so that will give me a NIB sampling of basically the top 4 pinball mfgs right now. CGC seems to have the lead so far.

On the contrary, I'm very fortunate! When you've been in the hobby as long as I have, you learn not to sweat the small stuff.

Stern has taken care of me in the past...definitely not giving up, but also need to understand the likelihood of this issue moving forward. If 20% of the PF's are suffering from this, it will influence future purchases.

If Stern absolutely needs to use PF's with this grain, they should be reserved for Pro's. Paying the extra money for a Premium/LE to get an inferior PF isn't cool. CPR have bronze/silver/gold PF levels. Stern should use the same metrics if it isn't possible to achieve more consistent PF yields. From my perspective, the PF is MUCH more important than the cabinet issues (which have been discussed in other threads).

snaroff

My CGC experience with AFMr was a disaster. Blew 2 boards in the first 20 or so games (which led to the v2.0 chip they sent to everyone), shooter lane problems, topper board problems, etc. Aesthetically, it rocked, however it played like crap due to issues associated with dialing down the flippers. Fortunately, I own a HEP AFM and had something to compare it with. Sounds like they worked out the issues, but AFMr was my low-point for NIB (by a lot). My distributor was very supportive and took back the machine and gave me a full refund.

snaroff

Thanks for this. I'm still waiting on mine to come in and needed a good checklist.

Oh boy. I was going to buy a pro, now I am scared. Hmmm

Man, that is bad luck.

It's like doing the lottery buying these games.

My p/f is excellent but I got unlucky on the cabinet..... at least Stern are good for sorting out issues if it is a clear manufacturing fault.

IMG_3230 (resized).jpg

That little grain that you can only see with just the right angle in just the right light doesn’t bother me.

#woodgraingate

Forgive my ignorance but how would they implement this? Aren't the Pro and Prem/LE playfields different? I bet they sell more Pros than any other models, maybe not with IMDN, but I would think if they applied those standards sales may drop off.

Maybe what they should do is offer those machines with compromised playfields at a discounted price applying those standards you mentioned. If I knew what I was getting I may buy a machine that may have some flaws if I could save some money.

The PF differences are usually really minor, but you are correct they typically differ. For IMDN, I think it's primarily the captive ball's that are different?

In any event, I've owned several CPR PF's and they are very critical of the PF's they produce. In many instances, stuff I would never notice they've pointed out as reasons one of their PF's is Gold vs. Silver vs. Bronze (http://www.classicplayfields.com/standards.html).

I've been buying NIB games from Stern for ~15 years now. The wavy grain on my IMDN Premium is the first game I've received with this "characteristic". With all the pins being churned out, I'm concerned this might be more common moving forward. When the artwork looks wavy, it detracts from the beauty of the PF. Not a big deal in an arcade environment, however for collectors that consider these works of art, it's a bummer.

Just to be clear, the problem is the randomness. PF defects like the AC/DC "cloudy window" actually effect a pin's value amongst collectors, so it's hard to ignore. I had a collectors recently inquire about buying my SWLE and he asked if it had any ghosting (which I guess is yet another quality issue that is coming up more frequently). Fortunately, my SWLE PF is stunning...0 insert ghosting.

snaroff

There's also the subway/scoop on the Prem/Le that differentiates the playfield from the Pro.

Stern was bragging about the "innovative" design before release. Oops.

It's even more of a head scratcher given that X-Men has a multi-mode light on the magneto spotlight that functions as a light AND a flasher. They pulse it for a light and turn it on fully for a flasher. Could have easily done that here, and likely still can in software. I'm adding it to the bugs/wishlist thread, in fact!

So far so good on my premium that was just delivered. Everything seems fine except for that back pop bumper. Fires on random left flipper presses. Sometimes every 2 or 3, sometimes 10-20 between firing. Seeing all the mechanics working back there made me really appreciate getting the premium instead of pro.