Thinking about just ordering a hologram sticker I can use to cover the current spinner decal until someone can make me a holographic Icarus one. I do not know why but that decal they used for a Electric Magic Spinner is not giving off that magic feeling? Need a holographic decal for sure, that basic black and white album art seems out of place to me?

Mine had same problem again. After a few plays out of box the arms got bent on spinner. Removed top. Bent back into place worked fine. Next day same issue. With all this bending back in place I’m worried the arms will break soon. Contacting stern today to request new spinner to have on hand. Least they can do is abide.

Any idea what is causing it to get bent? Is it rubbing on a post or some other part of the mech so that when ball hits it with force it just mashes the ends of spinner?

Point of impact on the spinner
My guess is as magic is raising and lowering the ball still get inside. I feel the balls are hitting and bending the spinner. One other thing I noticed is no real protection on the top edges of magic. I’ve nailed the plastic a few times. Only a matter of time before that gets broken. Been trying to be careful with shots as it moves up and down.

Probably should have had a metal trim or protector around the edge.

It is super thick plastic and sits on a metal plate underneath that goes all the way to the edges. So it shouldn't be able to be bent upward to break like a normal plastic can. Perhaps in a perfect end blow, but even then PTFE is pretty darn tough especially when it is that thick. I won't say that it can't break, but it shouldn't. That said, I'll be buying a replacement plastic or two just in case haha. The hole it comes out of in the playfield is also completely lined with thick metal, so there should be no issues with playfield damage either.

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Didn’t realize it was that thick, hoping my game comes by end of week.

Look back at post #1279 for spinner fix

At end of game, The Electric Magic mech goes to the raised position, So it will be in the raised position as long as you do not have a game started

I had to bend mine again after the initial fix, because i did not bend it far enough to the 45 degree angle. As I mentioned , don't be scared to bend it. Now mine seems good and have played about 8 hours since fixed with no problems

I think you are right about that plastic, Good idea to have a spare just in case. Where would we buy that from? Link?

You need a shooter lane protector, immediately!

I've read all the posts and saw the photos, but I'm still not quite sure how this bend works. Anyone have before and after photos? My LE didn't arrive yet. Maybe I'll figure it out on my own.

Hey guys, just got word my Premium is shipping this afternoon.

The plastic on the spinner is an issue, I have a game and the spinner mech did not go all the way down, it stopped exactly where the bottom of the plastic and the playfield meet on the way down and I did not notice until I flipped. I did not see this and launched a ball, as I did it chipped the front edge of the plastic. This happened on game number TWO..... I reset the game by turning it off, tested the mech many times and could not repeat the situation. I am not sure why it would stop short of going all the way down. the top plate should be metal NOT PLASTIC this absolutely will be an issue so I will buy a few to replace. FYI when the ball was sent north and it hit the plastic launching it up so that is also hit the glass so hard that I was startled by it, I have had so many glass strikes I cant remember them all but this one made me think "Damn if that hits any harder it might break". I love Stern and everything they make but I have a feeling this will be an issue and a fix is needed. Also the glass is shockingly tight, it is a real struggle to remove, I mean I need to really pull hard to get it to slide and I am not sure why, I have never seen this on a game before. good luck and happy flipping

I do agree with that but not sure what the fix is for this. game number two it chips.. I am not blasting Stern I love the product but this sucks to get an LE and it breaks 15 min after I start flipping. I hope they offer a solution but the game is great.

So you don’t think some sort of leading edge type cliffy would work?

Back when Beatles launched a couple years ago I reported a serious Airball issue with the first week or two of games being shipped. They were already aware of the issue and they made a airball fix kit right away.

Everyone needs to report this to Stern and I’m sure they will get on a fix.

Steve Ritchie post on Facebook today;

It is great to see so many positive responses to Led Zeppelin Pinball. It has been a labor of love. I have wanted this license since the early 70's when I worked at Atari. Everyone on our team is a Zep fan, young or old. It was a bit difficult making it happen from home, but we are used to the conditions we face now.

I see that some people are finding their Electric Magic spinners stuck or not turning smoothly. Don't take the cover off the EM unit! No Need! Grab a pair of needle nose pliers and spread the 2 side brackets apart. Put a tiny drop of oil on the spinner wires where they go through the holes in the brackets. They may have to be readjusted from time to time, but spread the side brackets apart and it will stay in adjustment for a long time.

The top plastic is made of polycarbonate, a very durable material, and just underneath is a stainless steel bracket/protector. No additional protection is necessary. More later!
-Steve

the arm where i have the circles is what must bend to the 45 degree angle. As you can see, they are rubbing against the holder, causing friction, so that it gets stuck. After bend it will NOT

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Steve R said to bend the holder or bracket and not the arm.

yes he did. Im trying to get clarification on that from Stern. That does NOT make sense to me. Mine worked fine. Then 10 games in stopped. I believe my ball was BASHING the wire spinner, and bending it. I could visually see the bend! My ball was certainly not bending the hard metal bracket! I have played many many games now after bending it with no problems. He is right that you do NOT have to take off the top! The second time I bent it. I did not disassemble!

I’m wondering if since the spinner was jammed on the brackets that caused the spinner arm to bend, weakest link.

If by slightly bending the brackets creating a bit more wiggle room then spinner arm can’t bend or get jammed up.

Distro just called, my LE getting delivered today! Photos later...

You got Steve's attention, Mark! Here's what he said on FB:

MORE INFO ON LED ZEPPELIN PINBALL

I see that Mark on Pinside posted about his Electric Magic unit rising just slightly above the playfield level, and it caused some airball trouble. Here's how to prevent it for now:

When starting a game for the first time, look carefully to see that the EM is flush with the playfield before launching a ball. If it not flush, slide the playfield glass back enough so that you can hit the LED and ZEP targets with your fingers. The EM unit will rise to full height. Close the glass, and resume normal play. The EM unit will now be synched up to work correctly.

We are working on a software fix for this problem.

To clarify an EM spinner adjustment, I use a pair of needle nose pliers to spread the side brackets right above where the spinner wires go through the bracket. I adjusted mine long ago on the game I have been testing, and the spinner has caused no further problems. Yours can be adjusted just like mine.

-Steve

OK seems like only on the very first game; probably got dislodged while moving or something. I will note that I had a friend with an Ironman and his Iron Monger would not always close properly which caused all kinds of havoc including air balls. I never had any problems with either of the two Ironman games that I have had, but this is worth keeping an eye on for LZ. This type of air ball is particularly bad because it is more of a Dukes of Hazard launch than a harmless rebound like a normal airball off a target or post.

I have a few games with very tight glass. I use one of those orange heavy duty suction cups and I use that to slide off glass on games where it's very tight.

Haven’t seen the expression lighting and how the panels are mounted but could this be having a impact on the tight glass fitment?

Yeah, not Sure how Stern does things at factory. Seems they sit with glass off for the build, test it and shove the glass on and box it up. If the glass goes in better for some reason they may not catch it.

Your lucky that glass didn’t break. Several years ago my glass on a machine barely and I mean barely touched the side armor/rail while taking out and boom. Million pieces. Must have just nicked it the wrong way.

If the plastic glass guides under the side rails are installed a little off kilter, the glass will be tight.

It's right on his page. His posts may not be accessible to people who aren't on his friends list; I don't know how he has his page set for privacy. But he saw that we copied his posts here and put a thank you post up. I love that guy...

Hey all, regarding the EM spinner, in my post from last Thursday evening, I had written…

“The Electric Magic spinner stopped spinning. After 2 needle nose pliers repairs, it's working again. Seemed like it needed to be slightly bent inward as the arms were rubbing on the brackets and preventing it from spinning….”

I know there are a few “cooks in the kitchen” here with this issue, but I wanted to give an update and try to detail specifically what I did.

Update: After the 2 needle nose plier repairs on Thursday, the spinner stopped spinning again after about 10-15 games on Friday, so I went in a 3rd time with the needle nose pliers and made the adjustment again. In addition, during that fix, I put some 3-in-1 oil on a Q-tip and dabbed it where the spinner wires go through the bracket holes. 3rd time was a charm – I put an estimated 8-10 hours on it since that 3rd fix attempt and it has worked flawlessly. In fact, I’m pretty sure that last adjustment, with oil, has allowed me to hit 70 spins with 1 shot (I pick that goal now for my first tour mode – ha).

What is happening (as myself and others have already pointed out) is the spinner wire is too close to the bracket where it enters the bracket hole – it rubs on the bracket. What I did is take the needle nose pliers and grab the vertical part of the spinner and twist. I twisted my hand in the direction where it will appear that you are pulling the wire out of the bracket hole (this hand direction twist will vary, clockwise or counterclockwise depending on what side of the spinner you are on and in what position you have the spinner). As an example, on the right wire, if the vertical portion of the wire is below the bracket hole, you will twist your hand counterclockwise.

I did this on both sides until the wire almost came out of the hole in the bracket (but not out). After reading what Steve Ritchie wrote, it’s possible this had the effect of both bending the wire slightly AND spreading out the bracket, because that’s kind of what happened – the pliers are obviously much thicker than the gap between the wire and the bracket so I had to use the bracket for leverage to bend the wire and I did notice some flex on the bracket. How much of my fix was bending the wire vs. bending the bracket – who knows, but it works. I actually did this TWICE to each wire side during the 3rd attempt – I was on a mission to never pull the glass again to fix this. Please note I did not have to disassemble the EM in any manner. I just turned the machine off when the spinner was raised – it stays up.

Keep in mind that metal actually has spring back properties (think of a paperclip) so it has to be tweaked enough so the spring back (wire and bracket) don't put it back in the rubbing situation. If you are wondering why, after 10 initial games, it would suddenly start rubbing – well, not sure on that one. I’ll chalk it up to machine break-in and the wire and bracket finding it’s “resting” position after some banging the ball around. Is it possible that hitting the spinner causes some movement of the wire and bracket enough to create the issue – certainly possible. But it looks like if you create enough gap, the issue will be fixed, hopefully permanently. But, don’t worry so much about that…..and don’t fret – if a noob like me can diagnose and fix this all on my own, all of you will be golden.

DISCLAIMER: Not claiming this is the only way to fix this. It’s just the method that worked well for me.

Questions? Let me know.

One last thing…..this game is awesome. I’m hooked. New AIQ code came out and I haven’t even plugged in my USB stick to update it (no offense to Mr. Elwin – AIQ is awesome). But I’m too busy trying to complete a 2nd tour mode. Also, almost all of these songs are timeless – I simply don’t tire of them. Kashmir on a pinball machine? Come on now – what could be better? Maybe if Steve Ritchie is reading this, he could talk to Tim Sexton and ask for those first 2 shots on Kashmir to be a little easier? Pretty Please?

Today's the day - mine got delivered to Game Exchange in Denver and I picked up about 1/2 hour later. Have only played once but love it so far!

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Now that's news for us Australians patiently waiting for LZ. I've got a premium on order and am told it will be manufactured in February and hopefully shipped and in my home in April.

Does this mean the run of 500 LEs is complete?

I appreciate the fact that Steve saw this but this happened during game play, it was after I had drained out the first ball and finished the magnet multi ball. immediately after the multi ball finished the spinner mech did not go all the way back down. I tried to repeat this with the glass off and a switch test but was unsuccessful after three attempts so I gave up. just a heads up it could be a mech issue or code I'm not sure but if it happens again i will know more. As you can see I am a big fan of Steve, I do all maintenance on my games and am very familiar with these games and believe this will happen again.
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Just want to say thank you...
I did what you pointed out worked great. Stern sent me an email today telling me to bend the side rails...thanks again.

So I followed Steve’s advice and moved the brackets to the left and right slightly. This did solve the problem of the arms hitting bracket. However. The arms were twisted sister and spinner would not stop in a vertical position. I removed the spinner and straighten arms trying to get them both in a nice 90. I got it looking good now. About to play some games and see what happens.

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#417 showed up today and it's glorious!

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Amazing. Incredibly fun game. Metal ramps are not hard to hit, silky smooth and oh so satisfying!

That blue looks so good in a line-up with other pins. Really stands out.

Yep. (Not that I would know...I haven't gotten mine yet.)

I'm almost embarrassed that I was one of the people that found it atrocious when the pictures were first released.