Could we ah, keep the washer/postgate talk in the dedicated thread pretty please?

Bump

Bump

I just figured out that the map and other things that obscure the screen aren't actually chewing up the gold timer. You can still collect gold even if you can't see them on the screen. In that mode, when you hit the gold button and COLLECT gold the flashers on the playfield will flash white until you collect the last piece when they will flash RED. Pretty nifty. Only took me a month to make the connection.

Got the email, my game ships tomorrow!

Nice! I wondered about this, I would just hit the button because why not.. maybe it works, but I never paid enough attention. Good to know!

Lol, I think Joe must be kinda tired:

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Excellent ! Glad for you !

LTG : )

Mine shipped yesterday. It's scheduled to arrive tomorrow.

Very happy for the waiters who are finally getting their machines, show us your unboxing pics!

I even bought an appliance dolly to get her down my six steps. I call it the tank.

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Here is an updated post which brings together all the information I know (which others have posted) about the sling post cracking/dimpling: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/potc-who-has-playfield-dimples-cracking-wear-around-star-posts-/page/7#post-4996369

You will absolutely not regret that!

What time should I be there with cash? You really should not open it with all these problems that have been talked about soooooo much.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/potc-who-has-playfield-dimples-cracking-wear-around-star-posts-/page/7#post-4996369

I got the call today also! My last house had a wide sidewalk you could back the truck right up to the front door and slide a pin right in... now we have 6 concrete steps to deal with - I hate this friggen house!

Anyone know how far behind Cliffy is running right now for orders? I ordered mine late march.

Is it this set in particular? He shipped out my set of JP protectors a few days ago, like the same day I paid.

Can you please PM me any info on this. Never seen that one.

If he has them already made in stock he ships right away. JJP he has to make.

2 or so months last time I talked to him in March, you should be getting close. Drop him an email, make his day. :!

Ahh.. dang.

So, while I was inspecting my game for other post damage I came upon some disappointing news. Looks like the ramp protector isn't doing a good enough job

... I mean... common... after 8 months? sigh. It's also a bit disappointing that these ramps are hella thin compared to repros I just bought for my TOM. Guess I'm emailing Shannan now asking for some prices.

Gonna ask about a decal set too... because, ugh.
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Looks like the decal set is $29 and the plastics are $79, not bad actually. Going to order both. Hopefully the ramp isn't too bad.

Has anyone noticed (I mentioned this before) a ball with a good amount of speed going around the left orbit getting air and coming over the starmap? I think a related situation that others may have noticed (and I did as well) is the right loop or right orbit shot sometimes getting pushed into the BP when there isn't a reason for it to. I believe the issue are the cutouts in the ball guides for the optos. Does that make sense? It sure looks like the ball could easily make contact with them and they seem large enough that the "footprint" of the ball on the guide could make contact with the hole and redirect the ball.

Anyone care to comment?

I wonder if mylar could be used to cover them, will that affect the function of the opto? Maybe that isn't clear enough.

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Yeah, the ramps are very thin plastic. Noticed that right off the bat.

Yikes! Putting a cutout in the guide at ball height is a fail of pinball 101! Have you run a ball over it by hand to see if it connects?

Zoom in and you can see the marks on the rail. The ball is extremely close. I think only when it gets enough speed does it ride up the rail just a bit so it can come in contact.

Wonder if this is what might have dinged up some of the balls posted here versus the t-nut in the map hole.

In fact, you can definitely see where the trail on the rail goes over the hole. That can't be good.

That orbit works great for me, consistently. Maybe it is the angle of attack on your shooter lane? I had to play with that a bit to get it where I wanted it.’

I can take you an overhead pic tomorrow that you can use for aiming and see if it improves things.

Also make sure the coil strength on the autoplunge is default.

There are two opto cutouts, left and right. The issue happens in different locations (left and right) completely unrelated to shooting the ball. Only happens with flipper shots. Left opto cutout seems to send the ball over the chapter select plastic and right seems to kick it into the BP. Look at your loop.

Thanks EaglePin! I feel a bit embarrassed I posted this. I went back to the manual and you can indeed see it can divert from the Devil’s Triangle half loop to the depths, and yes that scoop is bigger under the maelstrom to accomodate. I asked because I saw it move after I got a bullseye. And I thought “what’s that moving for”. Too much going on and I’m lazy. It is such a cool game. It’s like when I walk up to it I think “what will I try for now?”. And other times you can just follow the flow of the game. So good.

I don’t have this happen, but it has jumped the maelstrom over towards the map hole. Last time I got a hole in 1!!! Gave me an award just to cap it off.

Check your flipper coil power. I had the same issues when my flippers were up too high.

What settings do you have for them?

Couldn't tell you now, too late here. I think at, or below, stock.

I thought the flasher next to the mystery hole flashed
White - No gold to collect
Yellow- gold available to collect
Red - time running out for gold to collect

I use that as an indicator of gold available rather than have to look up at the screen

I have some partial pics from when I took the Pearl off. You can see the right opto cutout and the trails.

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I'll send more info tomorrow when I pick it up. It's a unique dolly and is great for pins in particular

I ordered 2 sets (AFMr and MMr) March 11 and still waiting. Though I did change my order (from MMr to Pirates) April 24.

Default values are in green.

The ramp is the perfect size for Freeplay40 to reproduce

Thanks, I saw that when I was adjusting slings.

Thanks Harry on advice about flippers. I was hesitating to dial them down because of misses to the star map and the chest. I took them both down by 3 and I can still make every shot. A lot less air balls. Could have saved myself a lot of dimpling if I’d turned it down sooner!

Had a look under the chest and realised it funnels in, anything but a perfect shot can rattle around in there. Also was getting quite a lot of balls into star map without quite hitting the stand up targets. Was confused because I thought it detected the ball was in there since the magnet moved it around but no gate goes up. I realise I have to hit the targets for the gate to trap it, but it seems the magnet is always active??

Correct on both counts. The chest takes a good solid dead on shot to work, and the map similarly needs enough power to hit the back.
You will find Devil's Triangle also takes a very solid shot to launch the Dead Men multiball.

All this is part of the challenge and I have not adjusted my flipper power at all to stay inline with it.

Just called to check on the status of mine, it's supposed to ship tomorrow!

You might have to turn down your flippers. My orbits are always smooth, never any air balls.

Already turned down, going to check what they are set at. It's hard enough to make the chest now as it is. The airballs seem to be caused by something the ball is hitting... think about the trajectory that has to happen for a ball going around the left orbit to be shot over the chapter select plastic. Something has to greatly impact the direction of the ball for that to happen. They are definitely clean shots. I'll check the settings for sure, but I doubt it is related to power.. it happens with right flipper and upper left going in either direction, it seems.

I am going to add mylar over the holes to see if the optos still work and see how that affects the ball. I am just a shadetree tinkerer but I think there is definitely some validity to this especially when you see how the ball trail overlaps the opto cutout.

Getting ready to install the cliffy's, Any pics around of the correct install for the outlane switches? And pics of the other installed protectors are helpful.

thanks

Check that the "helper" post that pops out of the playfield to the left of the chest is level with the playfield when in the donw position. On mine after a lot of play the screw that adjusts the post height tends to move a bit causing that area to not be even at which point the balls can catch air as they go over it.

Thanks, both posts are below playfield height.... BUT I could see that divot in the playfield where the post sinks in causing the ball to skip, riding up on the rail and hitting the opto cutout. I am almost 100% sure that the cutout is doing it.. I need a slowmo camera to catch it really. Considering it happens on both sides (is what I'm suggesting) it really makes a lot of sense, but I have almost no proof since I can't see it happen. But I inspected the area so much thinking I'd find a little "blip" in the playfield or ball guide that is causing it. It's quite telling when the ball shoots right out over the chapter select plastic.

You can sort of see in this shot the post is below the playfield. I mean, maybe I raise it up to be flush with the playfield...

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Check the height of the left orbit post and make sure it's flush.

I've heard the installing the switch protectors is best like an "n" rather than a "u" due to more coverage of the slot up top that way.