Stern didn't do a good job engineering this game. Was it 1,500 posts bad, no. Did the early buyers have it a lot worse than the late buyers, yes.

Still, all this launch stuff is not a big deal.

Ya. The shim mod kicks ass. After 100 games, and having the playfield lifted/lowered about 6 times, this is still working 100% for me.
God bless the guy who came up with that one.

I have more trouble with the manual plunge, the auto plunge works 9 times out of 10 from factory.

All right, team: I’m having the Orb issue. Could someone please point me to a post with the fix? I know I’ve read it, but want familiar enough with the game at the time.

It just won’t register - if I manually move the captive ball back and forth, yes it works, but it never triggers during a game. So... ?

I was starting to have the same problem. Took a look today and the rubber tip on the plunger wasn't straight. It was a little crooked and would not hit the ball dead center all the time. Adjusted the rubber tip to be straight, and now it works again.

My rubber tip is straight but i think the assembly needs a shufty to the left, waiting on some Cliffys yet so i can do all at once.
Merry Maiden Christmas ALL!!
A quick story.... My bro and i have been playing all the pins and also some pool in between most of the afternoon...first press of the button on the Maiden and the machine comes out with DIRTY POOOLLLL. Well played machine, well played

Have a browse through the topic gallery, or key posts at the top of page, this will quickly point you the the numerous posts about the crud mech.

It also says Showtime!!

honestly there is no fix. its just a turd. you have to fiddle adjust the thing until you get it working - blue thread lock helps.

Geez, I could have sworn I did that. Must have been in the Owner's thread. Thanks!!

Hey all! My friend has a IM premium. The biggest issue we are having is the left flipper getting stuck in the upwards position. Weve checked the eos switch and it seems to be gapped ok. Once the flipper got stuck we powered off the machine, and the flipper remained in the stuck position. So this means its mechanical? Has anyone else experienced this or maybe can point us in the right direction?

Take the flipper apart. The sleeve, coil stop or plunger is causing binding. Just need to make sure it moves smoothly like the right flipper.

New coil stops can crap out quick.

I just noticed that both my left flippers seem to be firing at the same time and are not staggered as I would expect. Anyone else experience this? Best way to adjust if this is not the preferred method of operation? Thanks.

They should fire together

Not sure if two switches are used, but adjust them to your liking. They should stage like other double flipper setups.

Same, although my manual used to work. It now hits the post. What is the shim mod? Is that for the manual plunge? Could my spring have just gotten a bit worn?

Uh oh, I got two different opinions on the left flippers firing together. Anyone have a tie-breaking opinion based on how their game is set up? I'm not sure if mine was like this the entire time I've had it, or if it something that changed over time.

Hey Billy,

Correct staging should be same a right,
There are 2 leafs, compare how they are set.

Light press lower flippers only, full press upper flippers and lower flippers.

See key posts at top of page

I kinda like it, Makes sense , the new metal guides are way thin, too much flex, Thanks Hank. I will be trying this when I get a new kicker.

Can someone share how to do this? I am not exactly sure how to get to it and what exactly to look for. Any help appreciated.

Thanjs
Pat

I’m not at the game right now but I’ll do my best to explain. Pull your playfield up and out to where the rails are resting on the front of the cabinet. There should be two rubber round mounts where the rails sit on the lock bar receiver. Next behind the backstop, where the handle is to pickup on the back of the playfield on the left side where the ball goes behind the backstop is a big white oval bubble attached to the back of the backstop with 6 1/4 inch nut driver screws. Remove those and the bubble can be removed giving you access to the inside where the switch arm sticks up and that’s where the ball rolls over it. The problem most likely is the switch arm is sticking up too high in the bubble allowing the ball to have a hard time pushing it down to get past and arrive at the gate. With a small pair of needle nose pliers I grip the part of the switch that bends up to the highest point and I give it a slight bend down so that the point of the switch in the bubble isn’t so high, but high enough that the switch registers and you hear the click of the switch when you roll a ball over it. Also make sure when you push down on the switch arm that it pushes down very easily. If not the screws that hold the switch on could be too tight and cause the switch not to be as featherlike to operate. Hopefully my description will help you

Thanks, I'll get it adjusted correctly!

Thanks for sharing all your experience with this issue. My shooter was working well until the 150th play or so and then started to misbehave "big time". Given all the MB's that depend on auto-launch working, this is a pretty major problem for this particular game layout.

Here's what I did that seems to improve the auto-launch behavior for me:

- The shooter guide screw closest to the gate has "play" to dial it in. After loosening the nut under the PF, I was able to move it away from the post ~1/8". I then tightened both screws.

- My left loop ball guide was loose. I tightened all 3 screws which had the effect of moving the guide 1/8" closer to the post in back of it (which gives the ball more room to roam).

- I dialed the Auto Plunger Power down from 255 (the max) => 245.

From my perspective, any approach that avoids tightening screws isn't optimal. Since my auto-launch worked nearly flawlessly for 150 games, it's clear that screws/nuts loosening up led to my game regressing in this regard.

I still have some issues with manual launch, however that's undoubtedly different and related to where the plunger is striking the ball (which seems off ever so slightly).

snaroff
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I can concur that adding the plastic shim makes the auto plunge a lot more consistent!

My game went from approx. 70% accurate to 95% by adding the shim.

Well done!

Thanks! I’ll check it out!

I don't understand why you'd add a shim if there's an adjustment built into the shooter lane guide...see my post above.

Nothing against adding a shim, but less-is-more when it comes to tweaking stuff like this (especially if it allows you to fully tighten the screws).

In any event, I'm hoping that Stern folks will be able to advise me on further tweaks. On this title, getting auto-launch to work close to 100% is important (with all the MB's, etc.).

snaroff

I think every machine is different. On my pro, I tried the shim fix figuring it would keep the guide in place and not let it move, but it actually made it worse. It would not fire correctly 100% of the time. Took the shim out and did the washer fix. Put the washer under the end of the shooter guide where the screw is, I actually put 2 washers there, and now it works 99%. Manual was shooting off, but it was because of where the rubber tip was hitting the ball. Adjusted that to hit center, and now it works 100%.

Experience has shown that simply adjusting the screws doesn't work. On the other hand, adding the shim seems to.

I can only guess that the metal guiderail is too thin or doesn't have enought support posts and flexes a bit which may prevent the ball from "sticking" to it in a manner that always for a consistent exit off of it. With the shim the ball contacts the guiderail "early" and hugs it until the exit. Without it it's either not contacting the rail until a bit further down the lane or possibly bouncing off of it slightly causing "turbulence". Just a hypothetical on my part but enough people have tried enough difference things and this is the first one I've tried personally that really seems to make a difference.

Do you have a photo or link to a post? I'd like to see what you did here...

snaroff

Could someone explain the shim and washer mods to me, or hit me with a link, thanks

Shim mod here:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/iron-maiden-issues/page/30#post-4726439

My solution above. Waiting for a link to the washer mod...

snaroff

Here is the washer mod

Thanks guys

My experience with adjusting the *adjustable* screw in my photo works really well for me or I wouldn't have posted it! My ONLY problem with the shim solution is it relies on not tightening screws, which makes no sense to me (since my game worked flawlessly for 150 games before regressing). For me, a long-term solution needs to depend on screws that are fully fastened.

snaroff

Didn't post correctly?

Got it...sorry.

Just click on the quoted section and it will take you right to the post.

I messed around with the adding a washer (my rail seemed straight anyway), adjusting the guide position, and a bunch with the auto launch mech itself (as I posted earlier in this thread) and nothing really helped until I added the shim. Previously to that the ball would sometimes hit the lower post or the upper flipper tip, so it wasn't failing in a reliable way that I could adjust for.

My guide posts are snug but not cranked down. I suspect that over-tighening them tilts the rail a bit that causes issues. They do have lock nuts on them so it's not like they are going to fall off, but only longer term testing will show if there is an issue due to the snug-but-not-tight nuts.

I see. I appreciate the background. Wow...can't believe how subtle this one is. Seems like some folks got new guides from Stern that helped? If so, variance in parts might explain why all of us are seeing slightly different behavior. I've fiddled with a lot of games and don't recall a tweak being so elusive...

snaroff

Has anyone had their flippers go dead in a game? It happened twice last night. On ball one and three, ultimately ending both balls. I didn’t tilt the game or at least it didn’t say tilt and I had no tilt warnings.
I am still running original cod as I can’t load new code onto a flash drive, not sure if it’s my computer or flash drive, I need to figure that out

Reseat the connectors on the ball trough

Key post index at the top of every page has a link to the shim method.

Your ball trough connectors to the opto(s) are flaky. You may need to take the connector off and widen the prongs so the connector stays on more snugly.

Yeah it’s finicky. Though on most games the tolerances for auto launch consistency are much higher. It’s really sweet having a working auto launch on this game.

Thx guys I’ll try that

I’m sure this has been talked about in this thread, but does anyone have issues when they make the sarcophagus shot, and then when it’s wrapping behind the game, it gets stuck in that subway? Do I have to take the whole damn thing apart and adjust something?
And my auto plunge is like 98% without ever doing anything to it, so I won’t be playing with that anytime soon, so I guess I totally lucked out.

Taking the subway off isn't that big a deal...just a little awkward (https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stern-maiden-sarcophagus#post-4685240).

My auto plunge was great until I hit ~150 plays and then regressed...you aren't out of the woods!

snaroff

Six things you can guarantee in life. Death, taxes, auto plunge issues, orb captive ball issues, mummy captive ball issues, sarcophagus issues. If you haven’t had them you will.

I reset the entire guide and auto-plunge seems dialed in now with the following gap/orientation relative to the post. My manual plunge is still wonky...I've tried to adjust the manual plunge before without any success. Is the manual plunger adjustable? Any tips would be appreciated.

snaroff

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