So my biggest complaint with Metallica LE over the pro has been the square plate vs the captive ball. So I decided to just order a newton ball and swap it out. The results are great.

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The sparky shot is slightly easier to hit from the right flipper now. The snake is way easier to hit now that I can reliably bank off the captive ball into the snake mouth. As for locking balls into the coffin, I notice it being no harder. The captive ball sits slightly further back. And shots to the plate weren't always a lock anyway. It feels about the same as it did before with the plate for ball locks.

In short, I see no downside to this change. Only upside.

For anyone that wants to do the same thing, you can get the newton ball from pinballlife. http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=697. To install it, you just lift the playfield and remove the 2 11/32" nuts that hold the plate rear corners in. Then remove the 1/4" screw and pull the old square block out. Insert the captive ball in the front hole. Now you need a 3/8" nut and a lock washer. I couldn't get a nylon but to tighten so I used a washer (one I removed from the block), lock washer, and regular 3/8" nut to secure the ball in place. Lower the playfield and enjoy

The plate/block has three holes. One where the newton ball attaches. The two behind it reinforce the block so they don't move.

I think the flattened surface might work against us if we end up hitting the edge of the flattened surface. It seemed that at least on my game, I was never able to lock a ball by shooting the plate at lock. Instead, the ball seems to catch when rolling over that area. I find now that a shot towards the right of the captive ball tends to move towards the snake and if it bounces out of the snake, it often rolls over the magnet and gets captured. I also lowered the number of hits required to lock balls to make up for extra shots to capture them.

You guys might just order a captive ball and try it out. Very cheap experiment and very easy to undo.

Are we talking about the same thing? This is about Metallica LE where you remove the metal block under the hammer. Once its out you just stick the newton ball in the middle hole and attach a nut. I promise you won't need pictures if you take a look you'll see how easy it is

The hammer works fine. The phantom hits are gone and the hammer is well synced with the sound. The issue is just in the nature of the game. In order to lock a ball you have to get the ball to roll over the magnet, which seems to have a sensor in it, somewhat slowly. The discussion here isn't about improving the hammer. It's about how to replace the fun-sucking square block with a fun to shoot captive ball while not adversely affecting the hammer behavior.

Everything functions correctly. None of this has anything to do with correct function of the game. This thread is about a captive ball vs a plate not about hammer problems. The hammer locks balls when the ball rolls over the magnet. There are several ways to make that happen. The easiest on my machine is a captive ball shot that bounces towards the snake and back over the magnet.

Thera is a hole in the playfield. The newton ball comes with a stud that fits into the hole and that's it. You'll find the hole when you remove the block. A real ball sits behind the newton ball resting on it. When a shot hits the newton ball,energy is transferred to the real ball behind it causing it to move into a switch. Right me you have a newton cube. This post is about replacing it with a newton ball like in the pro.

I lowered the lock requirements to the minimum allowed in settings and now my coffin mb starts as often as it did on the pro. The captive ball is always a good shot. It progresses you towards two extra balls, and it progresses you towards crank it up. And it locks in lanes. Coffins multiball has become somewhat insignificant now I think.

You rotate that post so it's pointing down not back and push it through the hole that the block used.

I agree. The plate had 3 holes for this reason.

Set the number of hits required to light lock way lower and you'll see coffin mb often. I see it 1-3 times per game. The best Sw change in my opinion is to make it so lock 2 progress is eligible whether you locked ball 1 or not. There's no reason locks 1, 2, and 3 couldn't all be lit at the same time and ready to go.

The captive ball mod I posted isn't about shooting for the locked ball shot. It's about all the other times you might shoot that shot and want it not to slowly come back your way. And you are shooting it often to complete light crank it up, complete hurry ups, etc.

Filing a ball might make the ball come towards the magnet more. But to me, that's not really the goal. I'd rather use the snake bounce to lock a ball than the block anyway. The filed ball will turn over time. The block is held in by 3 studs. The captive ball 1. I don't care how tight you get it, it'll turn by constant force of balls hitting it.

These aren't in the game. It would be a feature request. All we can do now is set the numbers lower.

I think people need to ditch the idea of shooting the block to capture the ball. Deadening that shot makes it even more unfun. The shot that seems to lock a ball is between snake and captive ball and it rolls over the magnet. With the latest rules, I'm never aiming for multiballs. I shoot the captive ball often for other things. The multiball seems to just happen as a side effect.

Yea. I wouldn't have realized if I don't have a pro in my house side by side with an LE to see how much worse shooting the block was than shooting the captive ball. The game is a lot more fun with captive ball for sure.

I don't think so. Newton balls have been used in pinballs for ages.

What is exposed? The area around the captive ball looks just like it does on the pro

Oh interesting. Thank you. But the exposure seems about the same with cube or captive ball - at least in the photos. And the photo of the bracket with the cube and wear supports that claim I think.

I believe the same front hole exists on the pro and LE. They added two more holes to prevent the cube from spinning. A newton ball spinning is not noticeable. It see a to be in the exact same place as on my old pro.

I guess you didn't bother to read my original post in this thread. The concept has nothing to do with ball locks or software updates. Since it's all well explained there I won't bother to write all those paragraphs again.

I'm sorry but this is not the reason. Directly from the game designer: "The block was designed to bring the ball back over the magnet. The captive ball allows the ball to deflect left or right away from the magnet.
It works fine if you hit it dead on with the captive ball there. I would imagine in the future people will replace the block with a ball. The ball doeasn't show damage."

The block didn't do its job so well anyway and zapped all the fun out of the shot. So I recommend the captive ball.

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Right but this had nothing at all to do with phantom hammers.

I also need to point out that this is nonsense about the ball becoming magnetized. The stern captive ball mechs are actual pinballs and metal cages. You can put in any pinball you want - for example you can use the same non magnetizing balls you run in the game. If you're talking about a brief period of time where this only occurs while the magnet is energized, if like to point out that the magnet is only energized when the ball rolls on the magnet. So in a properly working game, none of this is possible.

So are you saying the ball sticks to the captive ball only when the lock magnet is energized? Can you describe a bit more the symptoms? Also did you install the single newton ball or the pinballlife stern captive ball mech that comes with a loose ball and cage?

Perhaps the loose pinball ball that ships with the captive ball cage is the type that magnetized. Try swapping with a ball type that doesn't. The game ball doesn't make contact with the cage - only the captive ball inside it. So if there's a stick point I would start with replacing the internal ball. Some pinballs are known to magnetize while others do not.

Is your magnet flush in front of the captive ball? I have never had an air ball from this or any captive ball mech. The pro also doesn't produce air balls. It should behave the same. It sounds like you're making contact with the captive slightly above center. Something is wrong if so. Again , you should expect zero air balls.