Stupid question here, but I take it that you just cut the wires for the diode and removed it?

Thanks Neil.
We are picking up a Maiden Pro at TPF.
If our game is off on this shot when we get it home, I think I already have a spare 22-600 Stern coil laying around.

Great choice it’s a fantastic game and I’ll see you at TPF - really looking forward to it!

Neil

Anyone had any issues with the manual plunge getting into the right area, but only going 50% of the way round?

on the one in Chief and the one in Stockholm I played (both pros) had a similar problem although not as bad as only half way.

Me too... do u just cut the wires from the original solenoid and just resolder the new one in its place? Or is there something else i should be doing?
Thx

That's all I did (yesterday) and it worked great. Have my auto plunge power set to 245...the original was set to 255 (the max).

What about the diode that comes on the solenoid? Saw it said to remove it. Just cut the wires to it I take it?

Correct.

Thanks for the response Snaroff!

Everybody I know has the game in Aus has the same issue. It bothers some (like me) others not so much.

I will email Stern when I get some time for some info and see what they say. I think this is a great solution and cannot see anything wrong with it.

I go to order one, and there are none left!

I have a feeling a very large % have shooter issues. Unfortunately, most folks don't bother to contact Stern (some don't notice/care, others just try and fix it themselves). This leads to Stern thinking everything is "ok". I think this issue deserves a bulletin, however Stern reps have told me their decision to release bulletins is driven by how many folks contact them with the problem.

I've played several Pro's in my area and they all have the problem.

I’m glad I passed on getting this game. The shooter and auto launch is complete BS. My MET is actually acting up a little too and it’s because the ball contact of both the auto plunge and manual plunger are not hitting center of the ball. I’m gonna have to adjust the mech AGAIN. If I want to play it I’ll just play it on location and save me the money and headache.

Little Shop of Games has them in stock for $10.

https://littleshopofgames.com/shop/stern-parts/090-5023-ot-data-east-sega-stern-coil/

Bay Area Amusements has them as a special order item for only $6 if you can wait...

Thanks very much PinMonk ! I am happy to wait for now.

Yes, mine does this -- if I fully plunge, it doesn't go all the way around the loop. I thought that's how it was supposed to be, but apparently not....

Somebody earlier mentioned using a different spring to fix it. I have a green, and they recommended switching to an orange. I haven't tried that yet. https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/iron-maiden-issues/page/8#post-4440532

Regarding auto-launch, mine was consistently around 95% successful until I cleaned and waxed the playfield. Now I'm down to 50%. :/

If you want an amazing game I would reconsider.
IMDN is a TOP 5 of all time.

Yes it is frustrating and time consuming to sort out some hardware flaws.
But everything can be fixed, and for this title it is totally worth it.

The support from our distributor has been fantastic
I have a higher power coil on the way.

IMDN is the best of my 3 pin lineup.

20181215_210738 (resized).jpg

I agree with RA77

Maiden is one of the ALL TIME greats. The code balance is stellar. The game is just so interesting from a geometry stand point. The game forces you to shoot the whole layout if you want to advance. It's really brilliant.

Yup, there are a few mech issues that are a drag. Dealing with the switch in the Sarcophagus lock is no joke... but SO worth it.

I think if I only had one game... this would be it. It has supplanted TWD as my fav of all time.

As an added perk, iron maiden is also beautiful instead of brown splattered with red.
Twd plays great but is so damned ugly

Edit: if they vault Twd, they should ask Tony Moore to do original art for it and give it the Munsters premium look. (Or re use the layout in an original game)

I posted this once before months ago but am still having problems on my Premium:

At the end of a game if there is a ball in the sarcophagus lock, the game drains the ball into the VUK. The problem is, the ball doesn't get to the sensor, it's getting stuck on the wire gate (I think) that is on the path to the VUK sensor and coil. I have to shake my game side to side to get the ball to eject after this happens otherwise I will be greeted with a "Locating pinballs" when starting the next game.

1) Can I just remove this wire gate entirely?
2) Someone else had a similar problem but the lower of the two pieces forming the small ramp was higher than the other causing a 'lip' it was getting caught on. My game does not have this issue.

Any other advice how to fix? It really only happens after a game ends since normally mummy multiball gets the ball out of the lock out the back. Thanks.

I've fixed a bunch of issues, but this isn't one of them. If you don't get a response, I suggest you call Stern support. They will help you diagnose it. This is a great support forum, but if Stern never gets any support calls, they aren't aware of the issues people are having. The support guys are busy and don't have time to monitor Pinside.

What's your playfield pitch?

Standard 6.5

And you've checked that it's level left to right at the top and bottom?

I used PinGuy's leveling app for iOS to do it and have had pretty good luck with my other machines. I can recheck. But I have to shake the machine pretty hard to get it to end up in the VUK and eject so I assume it's not just a leveling issue.

I'd check with a real level. I don't trust the apps for this.

Does the gate move freely by hand with even light pressure? Maybe it's binding on something slightly. I would NOT remove the gate.

Is the gate to prevent a rollback the wrong direction from the VUK? And I'll check with a real level. The gate seems to move freely. I think I'm going to setup my phone inside the cabinet pointed at that spot to see what it's really doing. Hard to diagnose with the playfield up/etc.

So has the auto launch and other issues been corrected on current production games?

Autolaunch, not that I've heard from the factory, but the new coil fix takes care of it 100%, so for $6 + shipping it's fixed permanently. Checked off my list as fixed.

If anyone has a game with a 2019 manufacturing date on it I’d love to see the ball guide. There was a rumour that stern had a new one but when I asked about it they had no knowledge of it.

Stern could easily deploy the coil fix in new builds given the coil price is the same! Release a service bulletin And then just release reduced power option on code 1.07 (with the power jackpot initials updated lol).

Neil.

Honestly mate I hate Iron Maiden the band, but this game is epic, dial it in with the fixes here and you won’t stop playing it.

I replaced the coil to 22-600 on two machines now. One of them went to almost 100% autolaunch after adjusting ballguide, power at 230.
Mine is about 75%-80% and i still need power at max (255), could have use for even more power....

Problem is not the launchmech i've tried with a brand new autolaunch assembly, and rebuit one with other nylonbushing to take out play in all direction, same result.

I've seen that on early machines the ball guide is a little diffrent. The metall goes all the way down to the playfield down the shooter lane towards the launcher. Later one has a gap around 2-3mm and the taps that goes in playfield are visible and has play in the holes. Perhaps it could be the the black metall rails that goes along the sides of playfield that is higher, haven't measured.

I was in Stockholm couple of weeks ago playing pinball a Soder Biljardin! great pinball scene in Stockholm.

check how the playfield is in the holders, there is a lot of variance here. Also is your game one of the early pros where he ball got stuck on the far left side? I think this is related to the playfield not being square? There definitely was a change from the earliest built games on how the playfield sits in the game.

Neil.

My game is from mid July and i have the clear plastic on the left and the post on the right back to prevent stuck balls
Playfeild sits square i cab and has no play side to side.

I think it comes down to the ball guide i my case. Since it moves all way down to the launcher when i adjust the top with a wedge/shims, the ball goes into the side of the guide early and lose power.
Maybe some balls rattle a little, it feels risky to take it out and bend it on freehand.

I could use some help getting my auto plunger to be more accurate. I did some adjustments last weekend by adding a shim as suggested in this thread and adjusted the ball guide. With these adjustments I was able to get my manual plunge to about 95% or better accuracy. I can't get my auto plunge to do the same thing. I've tried bending the "forks" on the auto plunger so they both touch the ball at full extension and at rest. I also played around with the coil power. Sometimes it will go 7 or so in a row then miss the next 4 in a row. Is there anything else I should be looking at or adjusting?

Does anyone have an IMDN that was produced in the last 60 days, I am curious if anything changed? I believe that all new production games will have the upgraded cabinet brackets, would be nice if they have addressed the auto plunge issue on games being made now.

I doubt they have addressed the auto plunge issue. Based on conversations with several other Pinsiders, it doesn't seem like Stern is fully acknowledging the problem.

The best way of getting Sterns attention is for every owner to contact Stern regarding this (or any) problem. If folks don't speak up, Stern assumes there is no need to invest resources in a bulletin/fix.

Did you put the slightly stronger coil on it? $6 from Bay Area amusements. Kills auto-plunge issues dead.

Vic, what coil would that be? Is it 090-5023-OT?

Not yet, I wanted to try and exhaust all of the adjustment options before switching the coil. My thought was that it worked a lot better when the game was fresh out of the box and now it only has a couple hundred plays so I really don't see the coil losing power. I am willing to step up to the stronger coil if that will fix the problem. Might be the only option I have left at this point.

Yes. Neil posted it a couple weeks ago. It's in the topic index at the top of every page "fix autolaunch forever".

The coil didn't lose power, the machine loosened up and the coil was always underpowered for the job. Changing the coil fixes it. Not worth the hassle to try all the other roads when the coil change fixes the issue and frees you up to just enjoy the machine.

Thanks . . . I looked above and searched for “coil” (but not in the topic index) and found the part number, but just wanted to confirm.

Topic index is the best-kept, least-remembered secret on Pinside. Really helps cut through the crap when you're looking for something specific.

Now this make sense. Sad that the game has already loosened up enough to screw up the auto launch after just a couple hundred games. I'm going to go ahead order the coil. Since I'm placing an order I wonder if anyone sells the metal Stern corner braces or if I will have to get them direct from Stern?

Just get the Bally/Williams ones like the ones shown here:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/reinforcing-stern-cabinet-legs-step-by-step

Better anyway, but BAA with the cheap coils is out of stock on the leg plates:
http://bayareaamusements.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=PL-114001

Pinball Life has the leg plates:
https://www.pinballlife.com/williamsbally-new-style-leg-bracket.html

But the coil is 2x as expensive:
https://www.pinballlife.com/stern-090-5023-ot22-600-coil.html

My ramp is working ok, but it's not registering when I hit the underworld. Ball search pops it back out. What do I need to do?

Test the switch in switch test mode to make sure it's actually working. If it's working in switch test, adjust the switch.

yeah, that, the newton balls (premium/LE) & the mini loop optos not registering 100%, were the biggest issues this game had - NIB.
the ball guide kept moving as well, I held it down with a lock washer and the regular sheet metal screw they used. Forget what coil I used, but that coupled with a few other things seemed to solve the issue for the most part. Awesome what they were trying to do, but frustrating to get it to work.