I don't think so. There's the airball protector that stops balls from landing on his feet, but I don't think there's a way to stop the ball from hitting his feet directly.

It's possible that the shock of a ball strike is activating the snake switch. I would try tapping on different nearby parts, knocking on the playfield, etc. to see whether the problem can be provoked without hitting some other switch. If so, look at adjusting or replacing that switch which is currently too sensitive.

Well well well....it's fixed.

Seems the coil that controlled the jaw of the snake was around the wrong way. I guess the impact of hitting the stand-ups was causing it to activate.

I only know the coil was on the wrong way because it had a tech alert that I missed that was not allowing the jaw to close properly. Had to check that out so by way of playing around, cleaning a sleeve and blah blah blah....its back together and no issues now.

I have not taken Sparky apart yet (waiting on all my mods to get here first) to see if there is anything we can do to prevent a cracked foot. This is also the first time I have seen this so it may not be a common problem. I offer the air ball protector (with slings and return lanes plastics) in my Pinside shop if interested.

Sparky’s foot broke off mine too. I used jb weld and attached a flat metal bracket to the piece that broke and his heel to fix it and it’s been fine ever since. Surprised more haven’t broken off, area takes a beating.

Which type did you use? Looks like there are quite a few that are similar. https://www.amazon.com/s

I use the quick set.

Those with subs. You go into speaker-level or line-level inputs?

I found speaker-level too quiet...

I played Metallica last night and hit 7 combos in a row to start the game! I started tensing at 5, and completely bricked my 8th attempt.... and the next two balls. /sigh. It was a nice rush while it lasted!

A couple quick questions for the group.

1) I just got done cleaning up Metallica and I have this black spacer left over. I remember seeing when I took it apart but forgot where it went and my before pics dont show it.

2) Where can I get the Stern replacement LED (blue), I need two of them. I know I can just get any Blue LED but I would like to have them match all the others without replacing all the others. Marco and pinball life dont show them (#112-5033-05)

3) Sparky magnet ware: I have a new magnet core and I want to stop the art for waring any further. I was thinking to just touch up the paint and use fingernail polish (clear) to protect it. I have read threads on playfiled repair and have done some many years ago but nothing this modern. It was a routed game now in home use and I dont see it getting worse. Any pointers would be great. Also its not flat enough for a cliffy ring.

4) Game Play, why does the post behind sparky pop up when shooting the right or left orbits! This drives me nuts and the only thing I dont like about the game. I got the Premium because I love shooting the spinners and orbits. What am I missing here....

IMG_0947 (resized).JPG

I'll go through my pics later and see if I can find the plastic spacer. That LED has "CT" on it. I believe that is Cointaker. Reach out to them.

As you advance through the game, the post does not always pop up.

The bulbs are Coin Taker bulbs, you can tell by the CT on them. Replacement bulb is here - https://cointaker.com/products/555-2led

Post behind sparky pops up as long as you arent shooting a combo. Intent is to allow the ball into the pops. Theres no real way to shoot into the pops otherwise. If you are in combo the post stays down i think to allow you to get that ball screaming back at ya.

Thanks for the pic and the info guys! Spacer back on game and bulbs ordered Now to figure out what is the simplest solution for my sparky magnet ware...

I would put a carbon fiber ring from Cliffy around the magnets

Still my #1 fav game to play . And I love The Roadcase Premium The Best , Such a Rare Bird it is, I have only seen 2 others ever , Wish i knew how many were out there

Hey Guys, I have recently picked up a Met pro from 2013, probably routed at one point, but in good condition overall.

The shooter / plunger is having trouble getting the ball to the top of the playfield for the skill shot. It seems like spring is weak or maybe the bushing for the rod is worn out. Has anyone had this problem before and can you suggest a fix?

The auto plunger solenoid shots the ball all the way around the orbit shot

Thanks

Make sure the shooter tip is intact.
Make sure the ball is not hanging up on the rollover switch.
Make sure the shooter tip is centered on the ball, there is some adjustment in the housing.

I had a loose screw on my autoplunger at one point. I don't think that is your issue, but it's worth checking.

The springs are cheap as well, it wouldn't hurt to replace them.

I've tried the washers, stiffer spring, and adjusting shooter. I don't think the shooter can be adjusted since it's firmly mounted in place. The other stuff kind of helps. It will work sometimes but most of the time not. This game is really starting to frustrate me. Not sure it's even possible to get this game to play right.

you can easily adjust the position of the shooter by loosening the four nuts inside the cabinet that hold the shooter housing in place and nudging it slightly in the direction needed so it is centered on the ball.

Pull plunger out and check for clear easy movement in the housing. I got a burr in acdc, ran a drill thru it just to clean, not enlarge . DONT MAKE IT BIGGER

I pushed twisted drill bit pretty much by hand, not using drill motor much at all.

Not sure how a burr would end up in there, but maybe a round file would be less violent?

You can absolutely adjust the entire assembly. It may be stuck on the cabinet so persuade it a bit. It’s either that or you have the wrong length shooter rod or spring. Here’s some pics for reference.

336D4CAA-5EB6-4AA0-80B5-6CA2206AB4D9 (resized).jpeg

D88B5B57-1EFF-4B8D-9D66-A9EAF5F87EE8 (resized).jpeg

I put a little citrus degreaser on a cloth and wipe down the shooter rod every now and again when it starts to get a little “tight”.

I dont know either, brass burr fell out. I put bit in chuck and turned by hand. Exact size so was easy to do. 2 years ago, hasn't been out since.

I've always cleaned/lubed shooter rods with a silicone spray like this: https://www.walmart.com/ip/CRC-Heavy-Duty-Silicone-Lubricant-11-Wt-Oz/16817419
If it looks particularly nasty when I get a game, I'll take the rod out and polish it first (metal polish on a rag, spin it with a drill).

Problems getting a good manual launch are almost always due to the rod not being centered on the ball. Seen this a lot on newer Stern machines... right out of the box. Seems their assembly needs a little better QC. Moving the shooter housing is not always easy either.

My shooter rod was occasionally hitting the auto plunger. Auto plunger had a lot of play in it (side to side). I opened it up a bit to give plunger more room.

To update this, my rubber plunger tip was too short (must have been aftermarket replacement). I removed the rubber tip, added a spacer into it and reinstalled. I also added some sillicon spray lube to the plunger rod and its like new! In fact its too good now.

I am now having troubles with the grave markers not dropping on direct hits. I did some reading and the previous owner already did the spring mod. Does anyone else have some suggestions to fix the direct hits no dropping targets?

I have this issue after cleaning and waxing the playfield. After a handful of games, it gets better for me. Not sure if you're in the same boat there or not.

The only thing you can do is shorten the springs a bit.

Correct! Slightly increasing the pitch can also help. I just reset my Metallica to 6.7/6.8 because it felt way too floaty at 6.5.

Rob

Thanks guys, you have been very helpful.
Ill try these out tonight!

Going through my parts, I have an extra coindoor keychain , $10 shipped anywhere US except AI, HI.

PM me if you want it.

IMG_3979 (resized).JPG

Wonder if I can get some help. Playing today my premium and I notice the sound fading in and out and maybe a bit of crackling noise. Is there any particular connectors I should look at etc. It also affected the speech side as well as music

So I have never played Ironman, but I do like the theme. I have an opportunity to sell my Metallica pro to buy a new Ironman vault edition. I am on the fence about what I should do.
I like the look (art) of Metallica better, but I am not sure about everything else. They both have the same amount of toys, 3 each including 1 bash toy each. Metallica has 3 drop targets while Ironman has none, but Ironman has 3 spinners and Metallica has none.
As for rules, I know Metallica and the crank it up modes are great, but I don’t really know Ironman rules enough to compare?
As for game play , Metallica shots are tight, but not having played Ironman I don’t know how it shoots?
In the end I would put a lot of emphasis on is it “fun” ? Some people say Metallica is like chopping wood, is Ironman like this?
So if any of you have both of these games or are familiar with both of these machines I would appreciate some feedback. My window of opportunity to sell my Metallica is small so I have to make a decision very soon.
Thanks
Mike

I would keep MET. Iron Man is fast and fun, but the scoring seems off to me when I played on location, and it just wasn't as deep as MET. Plus the pixels kinda sucked, but maybe they're better on vault? I wouldn't mind having in Iron Man to play with MET, but I wouldn't trade my MET for it.

Iron man is fast and brutal. Metallica is much deeper to play and still fast.

I love Ironman but wouldn't trade metallica for one.

Sparky pic

A86D7900-A308-456E-B22E-04FB3AA23B2B (resized).jpeg

Metallica is kinda basic. Iron Man is VERY basic. No way I'd part with Met for IM.

Hi Mike. I own both MET and IM, so I’ll give my opinion. First, the easy part, I love both games. But they are very different animals.

IM is a spectacular “quick hit”. You can play 3 games in 10 minutes and reach the depths and the heights of pinball satisfaction or anger. It is amazing how quickly it can suck you in, because it is just a fight. IM provides pinball satisfaction, but needs other games around it. It’s not a great standalone game. It’s shallow, but oh, so fun.

MET is a great “all around” game because it’s got a LOT to do. There are tons of different ways to play it. Some days I do “Sparky all day”. Other days it’s all about CIU. Sometimes it’s Snake Multiball, or Seek And Destroy, or Lady Justice. It’s got a lot going on. And the best part of that is that I can approach he game differently any time I want to. It’s a basher, it’s a shooter, it can play whatever type of thing your in the mood for.

So overall, I think MET is the better game. That’s not selling IM short, but MET has much more variety. I tend to follow a path on IM that is a bit too locked in. I’m qualifying drones, raising Monger, starting Warmachine, starting Monger. It’s wonderful to “do the thing”, and collecting DoD hurryup Right into Jericho is a blast. But if I could only have one of those two games, it would be MET. YMMV.

Changed my T moulding to prepare for green powdercoating. Noticed that the slot on this game was wider than any other pin I have, so used electrical tape on the T to give it some bite.

26B0DDC7-5F55-464C-88C7-E848392719B5 (resized).jpeg48CE7DA0-05CD-4B07-97A8-D32B30052F91 (resized).jpeg7C672B64-A51E-4B3F-BD8D-3616BA8CFCFE (resized).jpegCDF69862-D22A-47F7-B262-5C962A537736 (resized).jpegF3D6F189-0AE9-4F28-9344-B2AE94FCF38A (resized).jpeg

Is it that hard to sell a game in Canada? When I list a game it almost always sells in a day or 2.

6.5 years of ownership, game still rocks!

The scoring is a mess in iron man, extremely unbalanced. The game shoots well, but unless you get to Jericho or the DoD hurry up, your scores will never break much above 30 mil. It’s more about progression, but parts of the game are not attainable on 3 ball, at least not by a mere mortal. Metallica is a much more balanced and fun game.

Hi Dave, you mentioned that Ironman is oh so fun, would you say you have more “fun” playing it than Metallica? I have fun playing Metallica, but would I have more fun playing Ironman I don’t know.

I only have just the 1 machine so nothing to compare it to. I bought my Metallica new in box 2 years ago, but perhaps no matter which game you have in a 1 machine collection the “freshness wears off “

I know for art, hands down Metallica. As for the stock lighting and sounds, which is better?

Thanks
Mike

Hey all,

Hopefully one of you fellow Metallica family members can help me with my newly acquired Metallica Le. I am unable to update my game code, after multiple USB attempts (fat32 format) bin files from stern, it doesn’t seem to get recognised as per pics. I have recently purchased a new epprom just in case that was the issue. Any tips? Thank you in advanced!!

023AF4BA-8E90-4689-BCA3-291818013919 (resized).jpeg

CF1AF728-E0B9-4236-966A-8CA90E58CFB2 (resized).jpeg

DD62E0C0-5E35-44AC-8427-14D94C9BDDC8 (resized).jpeg

What's up with Sparky's head?