Stupid question(s) for the week. I purchased the merlin hole protector from pinbits. It says it is compatible with the mantis hole protector. I've read about issues installing the mantis so I was going to hold off on doing that. Is there any requirement that the mantis be installed first or can you install it at a later time? Second question, I was surprised to see a piece of mylar the same shape as the protector. Is that typical for these types of protectors? I assume installation is simply remove the one post, put down the mylar, put the protector on top of the mylar positioned such that the post screw goes through the hole in the protector, replace the post and viola. Am I missing a step? Finally, I got the mylar protection pack at the same time. Lots of pieces of mylar in it. What are the top recommended spots to put it down?
Thanks

My strategy is to keep pounding the black posts beside the ramps. I can hit these 10-15 times in a row, this is followed by shots to the yellow troll target while trying to hit the castle (either entrance). This allows me to light the troll target, bounce out of the merlin hole at least 4 times in a row (no foam for me!) before landing in the merlin hole, starting trolls, hitting one troll 3 times, one troll twice and STDM. (I swear if they awarded points for those black posts, I'd have 100mm on every ball)

When I'm not employing the above, here is what I have been trying lately. Get one madness. Then try to get multiple madnesses to increase the value of the castle hurry up before aiming for the castle. When it works, it is a great strategy. When it doesn't my wife gives me hell for leaving all those points on the table.

Good idea, except the mic part...at least in our house, the commentary would be a tad salty

Good point

Yes, my wife and I are also very good at hitting the ramp to save the damsel and watching the ball go up and up, slower and slower until the ball is at the very precipice of dropping down to save her.."c'mon, just a bit more".. "it's almost there" ..."you got this"..."F@$KIN GRAVITY" (On the other hand, I swear the ball sometimes defies gravity when it is 3/4 down the inlane and magically rises up and over the post into the outlane)

Strategy question. First, do you go for the skill shot? If so, what is your approach to hit a loop to get the hurry up? Do you try to time your shot as it comes racing around or do you try to catch/control the ball first? If you try to control it, what is your approach? Seems like the best strategy is skill shot, control the ball then go for a ramp but it comes around so fast I can't come up with an effective method to control the ball.

Yeah, if I don't go for the skill shot, I am able to control the ball coming out of the jets. I'm referring to the skill shot where you hold down a flipper button while hitting ball launch and the ball comes flying across the top at 100 MPH to the left flipper.

Little known fact...the callout "Get the extra ball!" you hear when you light the extra ball had to be shortened from the originally planned callout. It was actually supposed to be "Get the extra ball, so when you play the extra ball I can immediately throw that ball STDM or through the outlane destroying your dreams of a good game as I rip your effing heart out!"

As am I; but believe me, I still hear it as it was intended to be

Looked at the video and thought your game played slower, my slope is 7+ degrees. As far as the side drains, I saw nothing noteworthy there. I can't tell you how many times I've had a ball go 2/3 down the inlane only to have some magical power spin it up and over the divider into the outlane.

As far as slope, it should be consistent; however, finding an instrument that is long enough and precise enough and then place it exactly parallel to the playfield sides is darn near impossible. Add to that the impact of any side to side out-of-level condition and I suspect variation is more likely due to measurement than the playfield itself.

It's interesting. I had this exact same issue. Out of nowhere, the right flipper started hanging up. Couldn't find any rubbing anywhere. So, I cleaned it up, replaced the coil sleeve, re-positioned and tightened things up, adjusted the flipper, etc. None of these actions seemed to be addressing any noticeable problem; however, in the aggregate, viola, everything was fine. I'm confident that 90% of what I did was of no benefit. If you figure out the exact cause, let me know. I always hate it when something that was broken starts working but you have no idea why.

Yeah, pretty familiar with that situation. I keep a number of different coil stops and will replace if I have any concerns. Can't remember if I did that this time.

I've thought about doing this but I was always afraid that it would require some other adjustment and you get in that situation where you are adjusting a ton of things to get everything back to where it needs to be. (My trepidation stems from working on an old jukebox...there are about 300 different things that need to be properly aligned and as soon as you mess with one, the dominoes start falling)

So, can you safely file the bottom without needing to change things like EOS?