On my game the shooter ramp was loose. The ball would hit a transition from ramp to ball guide. I had to take the ramp off and built it up (basically stuffed some packing material under the ramp. This raised the ramp a bit so it would clear the ball guide. My balls now launch perfectly from the shooter lane. Sucks when you have to do this on nib but it was driving me crazy.
Others have stated shooter rod was the problem not being straight but this was not the problem for me.

Second I believe you can disable the post in diagnostics. So you may want to do so.

Hopes this helps. Thanks, Mike

The post is designed to feed all orbit shots into the roll-over lanes. You can disable the post in the menu if you want. Many others have said to replace the plastic post with a steel one to stop most of the bounce backs. I have not done this yet, but will when I make my next order from PBL.

I disabled the orbit post in mine.

The Post is a key part of the game. If you hold left flipper down at start of ball post will go down for a couple of secs.(skill shot) If you hit the ramp orbit post will stay down until combo time runs out. Post up feeds the pops when hit from right side, this allows you to blow the Pistons when the three inserts are lit. Hit behind the fuel targets. The post was annoying at first but once you learn the shots, I think it's cool.
My shooter lane works fine, not sure how to fix your prob..hope you get it sorted soon. Hang in there!
Btw I did have some initial probs which I was able to work through with local dist. and PP at stern. Works 100% now, still enjoy playing it after 2 years.

I adjusted the post to sit a little lower and this fixed the problem I was having with the left orbit shot coming straight back down. It now feeds the pop bumpers like it should

Good idea I was going to buy the metal but will try this .I was thinking of adding some rubber rings on bottom of the plunger to stop it from going as high. How did u go about it?

You're starting to regret your game because of the way the orbits work?

trying to remember right, the post itself screws or there's a stopper that screws to adjust how high it sits. can't remember exactly but it was pretty easy to do

I just bought a metal post for mine, so I will try to install it today. The post blocking the orbit isn't really fun, but I think it does make the combo shots more fun since that is the only time you can really orbit.

Make sure the playfield is sitting right. I had some weird launches at first, and the playfield wasn't sitting quite right, causing the launcher to it the ball wrong. I have never lowered the playfield wrong since, so I am not sure what happened, but it works great now that it is lined up right.

You wont regret your purchase its the best stern pin in my opinion once dialed in and some mods added

Metal post is a must. It makes the game play the way it was designed. Disabling the post is sabatoge to the way the game is supposed to play.

Can you post a link to the metal posts... can't find them on pinball lifes website.
Thanks

http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=3591

Im gonna try lowering the original post first be for changing to metal

thanks for the link

Let us know how it turned out....maybe i'll do this instead of switching out for metal post.

I don't really get how the metal post would play differently than the plastic post? It is only designed to stop the ball from either the left or the right orbit and it does that just fine.

U get bounce backs sometimes especially from the left

Plastic post has a little flex to it when hit with speed causing the ball to spring backward down the orbit. Happens mostly on the left side. On mine, a well struck left orbit will get rejected probably 80% of the time.

Edit: beat me by seconds..........

Got ya. So a left orbit shot with the post up should still feed the pops? Mine does not and figured it was designed that way. Now it makes sense.

Any orbit shot with the post up should fall into the pops. The post doesn't kill the flow. Shooting the orbit while it's not lit up kills the flow. Don't shoot it when it's not lit and you won't have that problem. It's back to basics shoot lit shots. Shooting it while it's not lit is just poor ball control and I know all about poor ball control.

Dissabling the post completely changes the game. Might as well remove anything else from the playfeild you dont like hitting.

I think you took his comment the wrong way...sounded like he was comiserating with you by implying he too has the same problem with ball control. I think you are going to have a harder time getting advice if you bite people's heads off who try to help

Does the metal post completely stop the bounce back . If so i will definately order

Thanks! I'm going to adjust this on my pro tonight.

Well, if it's any consolation, my plastic post sheared off where the plastic meets the metal last week. I'd have to go see how many plays are on the game, but I'm guessing around 1200-1500 total. So eventually, you'd HAVE to replace it with something, might as well go metal.

The metal post did not help my game. I got just as many bounce backs with it, PLUS it buzzed like crazy. I had it in there on two different occasions, and it did the same thing both times. Maybe my game is an oddball.

There is an adjustable stopper, but that only changes the height when it is in the down position. I'm not sure how that would help when it's stopping the ball. I'd love if that was the answer, though.

I've offered my unused metal post to jints56, but if he doesn't take it, you can have it. Give me a reason to drive up there, and delivery will be free as well.

I went from 90%+ bounce backs to 0% since I installed the metal post. I can't remember it ever bouncing back unless I was in multiball or something funky happened.

It probably is level, but it might not be sitting right in relation to the shooter rod. I think mine autofired fine as well, but that uses a different mechanism that hits the ball a little differently.

The shooter rod is attached to the cabinet. If the playfield isn't sitting exactly right, the rod will not hit the ball centered. The auto fire mechanism hits the ball differently, and isn't as affected by position. Look at the ball and shooter rod together. I am guessing that it is off in one direction. Then lift the playfield up and and reposition it a bit when you set it back down. Mine was sitting weird on one of the stops at the side of the cabinet. It only did that one time though, so now I just make sure that the rod is centered in the ball groove when I set it down.

Spyder, I can't comment on Stern as I haven't had to adjust on the only 2 Sterns I've owned, but on Williams machines, there are three Phillips screws that hold a flat plate from the inside of the cabinet to the ball shooter assembly to the machine. Picture of the shooter but unfortunately nothing showing the inside of it: http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=527

If you just loosen these screws, you can move the shooter up, down, left and right. There is usually a "V" notch in the cabinet that allows adjustment. If after checking what the others suggested, maybe worth a try.

As for the orbit, like the others mentioned, the metal post has helped mine (Got one a week after I got the machine), but I still get some shots that come back down. It made a difference on mine, but not major.

I finally got around to installing the metal post tonight, and it is a big improvement so far. Out of the first 10 shots to the left orbit, only one bounced back. The rest fell to the pops like they should. The one bounce back was a pretty hard shot, and the metal post is quite a bit thinner than the plastic one, so there is a little room for it to flex.

I also had to lower the rubber stop quite a bit so the new post sits low enough. If it is too high, the ball will just sit next to it and not roll down to the pops.

Definitely worth 20 minutes and a few dollars.

Just setup my Met Pro LED today and I have to say everything is 100% QC wise on it that I see so far. I did check the game against all concerns posted in other threads that some have came forward with. Many thanks to them for reporting NIB issues for others like myself just getting the game.

Will go over those threads again to see if missed anything and report back if anything found and is a new concern.

Especially in CIU mode with FTB. Loop to pops is a fast way to collect the switch hits.

Sounds good to me. If you dont like hitting something and it can be removed and removing it makes the game more fun, you absolutely should do that.

I do have a question regarding the right ramp entrance area. If a shot rattles and ball comes back down ramp it always hits the back of the right side target support on the way down. Any suggestions on how to remedy that oversight in design?

I can think of a couple things that might make that not happen.
1. Make a ramp protector that comes out from the ramp wall enough so ball misses the back edge of the target and support on the way down.
2. Put some heat shrink tubing on the target support to soften the ball hit.
3. Bend ramp so it curves the ball away from the target support.
4. Add a metal post with rubber ring to the right side entrance of the ramp behind the target.

That rattle and hit on that target support worries me as I'm sure it's causing ball wear and target support damage.

Also of note is the bare metal post in the right outlane and the metal left outlane/inlane guide. Have these concerns been addressed anywhere? If so please link, thanks.

I always figured that hit on the standup was preventing a sdtm so why mess with it

The possible ball damage and target support damage irk me damageinc55 as the ramp entrance area could have been designed to eliminate it.

Quit crying you damn n00b the game plays fine the way it is

Yea the ball hits metal all the time as the ramps are metal , wire forms, pop bumper rings , metal guides , scoops and so on . Just play the crap out of it and u will be fine .

Also check that your shooter rods C-clip that holds the spring on is not hitting the auto plunger mech.

My IM VE was like this out of the box.

I just had to loosen the screws on the plunger inside the cab. And shift it slightly. Then tighten it back up. It plunges fine after that.

Before doing this, the ball would bounce all over the place when plunging.