It’s a shame vikingerik and awesome1 are on opposite coasts. Would love to see you guys play in a tournament. Two of the best players on pinside.

Heh, yeah I've had it in mind to visit him if I'm ever in CA for some reason.

And yeah awesome1 I'm not intending to criticize at all, it's your machine and you do it how you like, and I really do mean that, and of course I set up my own machines favorably too. I just want the information known, so that for anyone who is thinking about also getting such scores and competing on the leaderboards, that they know what to look for and set up for themselves. The difference in your disc is a lot - watching your videos, you get close to double the spins per hit compared to any other AIQ I've ever played myself, and that means close to double the shot/jackpot values in the modes that use it.

Cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater!

By the way, what is the disc mod and where can I get it?

lots of "actually...." posts coming in after a huge score is posted. not surprising

This is one of those mods that does make scoring easier but its a lot of fun and really satisfying to get that disc ripping.
In some ways its similar to comparing some scores of spinner heavy scoring machines with super lubed spinners vs standard spinners.
I'd rather make the machine harder in other areas and keep the fun of ripping those spinners/discs.

Oh, I also like that it has a resting spot which solves my pet peeve of the disc where it's really hard to spin when the post is in the top position where i'm just clunking multiple shots off of the disc post to finally move the post into a spot where i can spin it from a bottom or upper flipper shot.

https://pinside.com/pinball/shops/shop/1341-precision-pinball-prod/05285-dr-strange-disc-mod-kit

Precision Pinball Products makes the aluminum disc. The owner John, 1956PINHEAD is a great guy to deal with as well!

Definitely hit me up if you are ever in Northern California. I’m sure we would get along great and have fun playing!

I have family in Maryland (I’m originally from there) and get back to visit from time to time. Maybe we can work something out sometime there as well.

I’ve been know to put up big scores on location as well. At least on machines I’m familiar with!

Golden State Pinball Festival is coming up...

If you guys want to meet up for a AIQ lovers play session/contest, count me in.

Hey, yeah definitely let me know when you come there. I drive up to the DMV area at least a few times a year for various things. Plenty of great locations to play at in the area too.

I’ve been to a couple Golden State’s with my adult son joining me last year.

Also been to a few Pin-A-Go-Go’s. Always fun!

Not sure yet if we’re going this year as we may be playing in a table tennis tournament that weekend. One of my other hobbies…

Would be fun for any of us in this group to meet and play a little if it works out.

I'd be happy to host as a mid-point between DC and Williamsburg. We'll get a few more pinsiders (Pinbolls, MadMike, etc.) together and make it a tournament.

The page says it's compatible with Pro and Premium, but the picture seems to show a Premium assembly. Is it indeed compatible with AIQ Pro?

The only real problematic aspect of the spinning disc is that it stops in the top positions way, way too often and that makes hitting the disc really challenging. If this mod alleviates that and is compatible with my Pro, I'm all in.

Yes, i had it on my Pro.

Yes, but i do have to say that on mine it had a resting position in the lower left which made the sanctum shot hard from the bottom flippers.
Sometimes i would shoot the sanctum target from the upper flipper.
But you can play a little bit with the setup of the disc to see what works for you.

It was much less aggravating than the disc being in the topmost hard to move position

OK, all this talk of the strange disc mod has made me reconsider whether or not my machine needs this. Pretty much the only one I’ve held off doing from reccos on this board.

It does seem to be universally loved and sounds to me like one of the biggest draws is the fact that it keeps that post from just being stuck up top, which is probably the most frustrating aspect of this game when it happens and takes like 3 risky brick shots to move. I don’t know if that was a design intention or not, lol.

I know his precision flippers are clearly amazing, my friend installed them recently on his GNR.

Congrats on all these great scores! I’m just happy to be like #40 or whatever I am right now as the month ticks away. I’ll break that 1B barrier someday.

I’d also welcome anyone’s take on the Aluminum Disc Mod vs just the Thrust Bearing mod and keeping the existing plastic disc (I have a pro).

Thanks all!

Yes, the disc is hard to move sometimes and that's definitely design intention. These guys are expert mechanical engineers and they could easily have put a weight or spring to return it to the bottom if they wanted.

My $.02 (Cdn) on the disc mod…..

I agree with both Vikingerik and Awesome1. I’ve had it on my prem for quite a while, including the sleeve thingy with the bearings. The disc spins crazy fast and long now….BUT it does change gameplay quite bit. I’m keeping it in, because it makes me smile.

Pros
More spins, higher scores on super disc, mind gem, etc

Easier to open the portal to start gem modes

Just feels and operates more solidly than the stock disc

Cons
Can feel like cheating, compared to machines with the stock disc

Now the post always comes to rest in the lower position, blocking the Sanctum shot……so many mind gems lost because of this

Sometimes during mind gem I need to trap up just to let the disc stop spinning so the attack will register

I've had the aluminum disc for a couple years now, so I'm used to it.

It can spin longer, though I can't say it spins faster because my RPM record is still with the original plastic disc.

It does tend to block the Sanctum shot which can be problematic.

I've only played a couple handful of games of AIQ on location, but the difference or game difficulty with the factory disc didn't stand out to me at all.

I’ve never employed a disk spinning strategy to increase my score before - because didn’t even know the disk had a big effect on score, LoL.
… still so much to learn about this game.

I believe it’s huge in victory laps for sure, and key points during certain gems. During Reality Gem cranking that thing all the way up before making a lit shot is a big point getter, especially if you have portal locks going. During Power Gem the spinning disk and Hulk shot increase your scoring but don’t continue to progress the mode until the final hulk shot, etc.

Yes, this is it. I'd wager that at least a billion of awesome1's 3 billion total in Super Victory Laps wouldn't have happened with the standard disc. Just look at the timing - awesome1's machine can set it spinning for ten full seconds with a solid hit, where an unmodded machine will go for maybe five. And because it always settles to the bottom, it's easier to hit again and never stops in the tough position.

The extra spins don't change game progression (easier to open the portal to start a quest, but that's easy anyway.) But for the modes that build scores with disc spins, it can blow up those scores tremendously. This is both kinds of victory laps (including regular victory laps feeding into the soul gem jackpot, Iron Man MB, the Power and Mind gem quests, and Trophy Mania.

Just imagine what I could have scored if I didn't have a tilt bob hooked up and did slide saves!

Touche Well, I do have the tilt bob in, at the lowest point that's still within the ring. Slide saves do incur a warning unless it's really soft.

Touché indeed. You may be masochist playing AIQ on carpet without sliders…

Congrats again on that insane score!

that's how I have all of my machines. I hate sliders on carpet. Down side is it causes me to throw machines around on location unintentionally lol

Recently picked up a used pro. Just noticed a couple bare posts, should there be a rubber around them? Thanks.

IMG_7070 (resized).jpeg

Found the rubber map. Looks like I need a 3/4” id.

IMG_7071 (resized).jpeg

Confirmed, you are missing a couple there.

IMG_2855 (resized).jpeg

Just a quick PSA for any new owners. If you haven’t tried Spider’s vid/sound mod yet, give it a shot. Just takes a single extra SD card and a spare USB drive. I held out for a long while and now I’m pretty sure I won’t go back. The game feels the same, but better.

Thank you. Would those not be 3/4” od rubbers on your game? Does the rubber map not make it look like it should be the same rubber as the one right next to the “mystery” insert that is in your picture? Those posts do look a bit closer together so not sure the same rubber would fit. Can anyone else confirm those are correct? Thanks again.

zoom in on this it looks like a single rubber going between both post , 1 in or maybe 1 1/2 in

pasted_image (resized).jpeg

My AIQ Premium has (2) rubbers like the Premium Rubber chart.

I only have played a handful of games on AIQ pro, so I don't remember if it had 2 like my Premium or one larger rubber, which is what the Pro rubber chart shows.

AIQ Premium Rubber Chart (resized).png

Yes, the pro has 1 rubber around the 2 posts like shown in the picture.

Appreciate the info, thanks guys. @luch, funny you chimed in, did you take this rubber off to keep as a backup before you sold me this game?

My drop targets are super hard to knock down, is there a post that shows how to adjust? I will hit them dead on and they just laugh at me. Now they will go down occasionally but not nearly enough.

The problem is that the target rebounds too quickly, it hits the rubber behind it and bounces all the way back to its forward position too fast before it can drop. If you have a protector in the opening, that will contribute to this.

The solution is to get the entire assembly to tilt forward (to the player's right) so that the back of the drop target is farther from the rubber behind it. Unmount the assembly from the playfield underneath, and put a couple washers on the screws at its front (player's right) between the assembly and the playfield wood. That way the drop targets will lean forward slightly and be less prone to the rebounding problem. I did this on mine and the failure rate went from ~25% to under 5%.

Drop target “bricking” is common on JB007 machines. The solution most adopted is to either cut about 20% off the springs that pull on each drop target to make them higher tension or replace with higher tension springs.
Adding the washers per vikingerik ’s suggestion is another remedy. Give that a try first. But if it doesn’t work, increase spring tension.

For the record - my 75th ranked score (and dropping....) is on carpet without sliders... Stern should add a few hundred million to my score.

Where should the ball drop to from the tower? It can’t possibly be sdtm like mine is doing.

With superbands on the upper flipper, my playfield at a 6.7 angle, level left to right, and my upper flipper moved slightly player right in relation to the dot. All non-flips dropped from the tower will hit the right flipper. When I don’t flip after hitting the gem ramp the ball will hit the bottom of the right flipper giving me a chance to save the ball most of the time.
Summary: I moved the position of the upper flipper just a little. Look at the pic to see my new position.

IMG_5045 (resized).jpeg

If the flipper isn’t activated, the ball goes SDTM on mine at least 50% of the time. What remedies are available?

You can play with the left to right pitch a bit or cock the flipper up a bit so it should roll to the bottom right flipper better.

Anyone have any suggestions why the disc would stop registering?! Worked fine yesterday but today for some reason nothing is registering no matter if it’s in game or in test mode. Super strange.

Give these linked posts a read, it sounds like this may be your problem. If it is and you don’t want to deal with a distro pinball life has a replacement here:

https://www.pinballlife.com/avengers-infinity-quest-magnetic-angle-sensor.html

This happened to me a few months ago. It resolved itself after repositioning the sensor board at the bottom of the assembly, and tightening its mount screws.

You could try, well, flipping the flipper...

I think this is very sensitive to the specific conditions (pitch, leveling especially). Ideally, the ball should roll down the length of the upper flipper, and if not flipped, graze the right flipper (or sometimes go sdtm, like Vikingerik says, flip away!).

If I don’t want to flip for whatever reason (eg I’m in soul gem) then I try to nudge right off the upper flipper to ensure it bounces off the right flipper.

Note, I believe recent code gives you one short ball save from a tower release, after that you are at risk!

Try micro leveling adjustments, ie lowering the back left leg slightly or as others have suggested adjust the upper flipper angle.

I do have a superband on that upper flipper (only). If you don’t you must either be replacing it often, or you are much better than me at hitting the hulk spinner and NOT slamming right into the tip.

I just noticed last night that my upper flipper is actually a bit on the left side of the indicator mark. So I don’t think the ball is actually rolling off the flipper at all. I’ll start there with some adjustments. Thanks for the input.