Genuinely no issues with my LE other than me bricking the right orbit it’s conpletely smooth.

Good catch @bocce. I didn't even see that, even though it was staring me in the face. Apparently my shooter launch ramp was mounted too far forward at the factory, and this was pushing on the BP orbit.

@thomas3184, yes I did not add a nut to that post you mentioned.

Attached are before-after photos of the orbit. I didn't take a photo of the ramp before I moved it down, but it was a good 1/2 inch up beyond where it should be.

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https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/new-aiq-pym-labs-vuk-cover-mod

I feel this is ready to go finally

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toddmann - here is a pic of mine. Looks like ours were mounted the same. Before I move mine down, did you slide yours down and mount it by piloting new holes? I may not be as brave as you unless I know for sure this was mounted in error. Anyone else’s ramps look different?

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Sharing some new Mods I installed from Mezel Mods today. The Sanctum is a game changer and the ramp lights add some much needed depth in the backside of the machine.

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Do you find the lighting is still ok after replacing the Sanctum? I hate that I cant see when extra ball or add a ball is lit...

Soon to be member, waiting for word of when our pro will be shipped but I can tell you I had to do the exact same adjustment on our Metallica when it came out of the box. It was an enormous improvement and I wouldn’t hesitate to do it to my A:IQ if necessary.

Mine looks like that too, but my BP shots are smooth. I am hesitant to drill new holes too unless there is an issue.

Is it just some led flashers? Or does the mod container a little bit more on the ramp illumination. Looks nice!

It’s simple LED flashers that get mounted to the back or the backboard. Need to connect to one of the bulbs but super simple.

The spinner area is a little darker but not really noticeable. The game play with the new Sanctum is great. You can tell when Add a Ball and Extra Ball are lit finally. Highly recommend.

Quick update- the Upper Sanctum light is always lit and is now pointed directly at you at all times and is slightly distracting so I added the blue filter that came w it to tone it down. Looks even better now and doesn’t blind you when you glance up. Picture to follow soon.

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If you look closely, you will notice I haven’t drilled & screwed the ramp yet. It is held securely by the ball guide at the top (the ramp has a lip that goes underneath the ball guide). I was waiting for some feedback on the forum here and also to get some test games in before I drill & screw.

So far, after about 5 games, there are absolutely no negative effects. Ball launching is the same, and the BP shot is even smoother.

Mine are at the bottom. We still drain out the sides far more than the center (other than the SDTM from the tower). We still get a lot of ball rolling up the inlane and walking out due to the middle post being higher than the outer. Before the posts I was at a solid 50m per game, usually starting 2 gem modes and sometimes a Soul Gem mode. Now, my 12 year-old averages in the 20m range most games, is usually able to start Thor and a gem mode. I am hitting around 100m per game and will get Soul Gem almost every time. My cousin put GC up in the 300m range and I'll be chasing that for a while.

Long way to say, it's working for us and letting us experience more of the game, and give us that feeling that we were just a shot or two away from Black Order or some other big score opportunity. Not standing there like "wtf that's it??", and also not standing there flipping away with the lanes closed. Good balance, for us.

Looking at your picture @ryancaseystudio, the position of your Upost/staple looks pretty good actually (at least positioned better than mine, further away from the lane). It’s hard to tell if it is causing you problems unless you take some slow-motion vids of your BP shot.

For my machine, the narrowness of the lane was often forcing the ball into the Upost/staple which was causing my air balls. Now my BP orbit is fixed on both sides and I believe the orbit is performing as KME intended.

I guess this is all considered part of ‘Dialing In’ the machine, albeit a rather extreme version. I’m wondering how many new pinball enthusiasts get a NIB machine, have a hard time making their shots and think they just stink at pinball.

I used to... Now I'm just going to say that I'm an awesome player, I just suck at dialing in a machine...

Regarding the CM-Ramp, I'm still getting alot of rejects now.
My game is leveled and I'm at a pitch from 6.8 to 7°.
Flipper cooling kit is on the way but IMO that ramp should work with a clean shot without a cooling kit.
Look how the ball travels, its not touching the rails, and suddenly it turns to the left-
this would result in a hard reject if the plastic wouldn't be there.
However the ball beginns to rattle from there on and isn't able to make the whole ramp.
I will keep on testing with pitch but it looks like i have to call Stern for professional support.

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My wife getting fancy with her new Cricut.

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I have had an LE since November and love it. I think the game is great and am not a hater. But I’ve spent a few days exploring the callouts via pinball browser just to learn more about how all this stuff works. Since day one, the callouts have never made me chuckle, other than a few Hulk lines. But to listen to them all at once, in a row, it’s really bad. So much opportunity. I guess maybe licensing prevented them from just copying lines from the movies, but wow.

CM - “I can fly through the vastness of space at incredible speeds!”
Cap - “Team, we all know what we need to do, so let’s do it!”

I hope further code updates bring the standard code more personality and originality.

I cant stress enough how much this plex fix works. I have attached a video at 1/16 speed where you can actually see the lexan flexing to guide the ball.

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I bought a sheet of Lexan and am going to make myself one of these this evening. I noticed that yours stops below the end of the short metal rail, and I've seen others that extend further up. Curious how that may affect this and if the length affects the performance at all.

I have enough Lexan that I might try both.

So you have installed my fix, not knowing its me, commenting on my next post where I say that I still have rejects with the plastic in place, recommending me my fix. Thats kind of funny

Your fix? Seems like an obvious flaw with an obvious fix. Sorry for trying to lend a hand. Good luck with your ramp

ABE_FLIPS That change in direction as the ball goes up the ramp is really odd. Does that happen always? Almost looks like it might be ball spin related. I assume you've checked the ramp to make sure it is uniform. I'll see if I can take some before/after videos of mine when I work on it this evening.

Could your added plastic be too rigid?
I looks like your plastic comes all the way up over the rail? Hard to see.

Several of us have implemented the lexan/plexi "fix"... not sure "who's" fix it is, I saw it originally from Prodoshi / @abe_flips. (edit: Guess that's you...)

If you have already added this piece you may have other issues as this helped "smooth" my Captain Marvel ramp shot quite a bit!

Honestly, it looks like it was a bit sloppy of a shot (too far left), and it is bouncing off of your added plastic and thrown to the right. I think at least on this shot, you would have been better off without the fix. Hard to say for sure though. I definitely find that a shot a bit further right, so it hugs the right side of the ramp, is more successful.

I love the CM ramp. Mine is stock, and I would say 90% of SOLID shots make it. Almost all misses or rejects are my own fault. Yes, there is an occasional reject, but they were either bad shots, or an on the fly shot that really rocketed in, and I can't blame the machine there either. I have thought about trying to add a plastic to see if it helps that last 10%, but so far I'm pretty happy with it as-is. It is definitely not a gimme shot like most modern ramps. It feels much more "old school" when a ramp was meant to be a tough shot.

Just to clarify - adding the lexan piece didn't make the shot any easier per-se, you still need a good shot, but my "strong" shots were getting rejected more than not and I would get some shots that fell out the side/back through the hole.

I do get some "weak" shots that still roll back down the ramp... but the consistency of the ramp has increased with the lexan piece.

Look at the Stern website - and the shot video during attract mode - the CM ramp is completely enclosed with wireforms, but not in the production Premium/LE systems.

Another thing that helps quite a bit on my machine with the Captain Marvel ramp and the ball launch is to keep the machine very clean... I use "Wizards mist and shine" and it helps keep the playfield fast and shots flowing! I usually give my machine a wipedown once a week or so, usually in the 150 - 200 game interval.

Here is a slow mo video of a ball rattling through and getting some air. I’m assuming it’s pretty natural but if you see something that looks wonky @toddmann, let me know. Thanks all.

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Youtube and add the link here...

Or convert to gif

I asked before but I will ask again.
Has anybody reached out to Stern about this... is this causing a gameplay issue or are we just being fuzzy about it.... has anybody considered that the ramp might have been designed like this so it makes the shot more difficult...

There must be some logic behind this design vs a totally enclosed ramp.

Well this kinda sucks - I've not had my premium for long, only maybe 30 plays or so and the CM ramp opto has stopped working. It doesn't register at all, and there's no led light on the sensor, which i guess means either no power getting to it, or the opto itself is screwed?

I've checked under the playfield, nothings worked itself loose or come undone - it was definitely working before so it's not any sort of initial build mistake. I have notified my distro who are in the process of sending me a replacement, but just wondered if anyone here knows of anything else I could check for an easy fix?

I've absolutely loved the game up to now - just can't wait to get it back up and running 100% again! Also just to say I've had 3 NIB Sterns in the last 12 months and this is the first time I've had any "serious" problem I couldn't fix immediately, so I'm still very happy with the NIB quality in general.

I spent a little time learning how my phone works so here is a better video of how satisfying the Captain Marvel ramp is when its shooting smoothly.

I just post videos through Youtube. How do i convert something to a gif so i dont always have to upload to Youtube?

Ive had luck on other Stern games re-soldering the wires that connect directly to the optos if you could be bothered.

It's a brilliant game - congrats.

I second this, my ramp shoots great when I'm playing, when friends and family are playing they get a lot more rejects. This game forces you to play better, just like JP, I think this is intentional. Either way I will not be modding my CM ramp until Elwin comes out and says it shall be done!

Every game is different but it was the clean shots on mine that would reject (as does the Black Widow ramp but ive yet to raise the plastic)
My game is only played by my gf and myself and both of us have noticed a marked improvement since the change. I reiterate what awesome1 was saying about a rattler is still rattler and will come back at you. This only fixes those dead stop clean shots i was getting. Maybe you were just more fortunate with your machine.

I just downloaded a GIF maker app and converted my video to it. Worked slick. Just have to make sure to change the “resolution” to GIF/PDF from Med-Res in the attachment box.

Yup, that’s the exact area and very similar behavior mine had previously. The narrowing of the lane on the right side is shifting the ball into the Upost/staple on the left side causing air balls. It doesn’t look natural to me. I would recommend implementing the fixes for at least one of the two sides.

I haven't asked anyone at Stern, but you can clearly see from the images on their website that the CM ramp "original" design was completely enclosed by the wireforms. I'm not sure why they would "want" strong shots rejected or others to fall through the opening. The CM ramp is possibly the most satisfying shot in the game, why intentionally make it potentially frustrating? The outlanes are frustrating enough...

I used 2-sided tape to mount my piece of lexan, so I could literally remove it in less than 30 seconds if I wanted to, but it does make the game more enjoyable to me, try it and see what you think.

Picture is from Sterns AIQ premium on their website.

CM Ramp Original.pdf

So I found my opto issue i think. I opened up the machine to take out the opto switch in readiness for the new one (the distributor AMD were amazing - have already sent a new one via overnight TNT).

I noticed that the opto wire was pinched really tight against the CM ramp and i needed pliers to free it. On taking out the wire it seems to have been half sheared - probably as a result of being pinched so tight, then the ramp movement probably ground it away a bit.

Hopefully the new switch works out - fingers crossed!

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I understand we are trying to get the best out of our games and this forum has provided lots of feedback to report and fix other issues (that affect gameplay) but if this is a defect or design flaw, should not the ramp and wire be replaced by stern???

Why do I have to go out of my way to add a piece of plastic to a $8000 dollar brand new game??? I simply can't understand this logic

This is what I mean, if they made that design and now the games are shipping with different wire forms... that is red flag for me.... I suspect Stern is going to be replacing all these ramps soon.
but not if nobody reports this to them.... maybe it is a production issue that was not caught due to these being made during covid? which affects most production lines, assembly lines, etc...

You don't have to like it but games with moving parts need tweaking. Check any other owners thread and its the same story.

If some people are getting misses they don't like and this fix helps it so shots that might otherwise not make it can go through, then I don't think it's an instant leap to start thinking there's an inherent design flaw. I recall Keith or someone else saying it's not designed as an easy shot to make.

It could be in some cases that putting the acrylic in is an equivalent to using bumpers when bowling. It's going to still let the good shots go through and now some shots that wouldn't have made it before will go through. There's nothing wrong at all with anyone putting the acrylic there for any reason, but just because putting it there has the ability to improve people's success rate on the ramp doesn't mean there's a design flaw. It could be in some cases that it just makes the shot easier than it was designed (and there's nothing wrong with doing that on your machine).

And yes, of course there can be and probably are cases of machines that for whatever reason are getting a higher percentage of true rejects (due to things like game pitch, wire guide needs slight adjusting, etc.) and the acrylic will help get a better result without having to troubleshoot those things. On mine I had pitch up to about 6.8-6.9 when I first got it. After I lowered it a bit I had better success with that ramp, and that was a side benefit because it wasn't the reason I lowered the pitch. Each machine is going to be slightly different in setup and those differences can impact that shot.

I think the real test is whether or not you're getting clean shots through it frequently (and that's a relative term). There will still be many good looking shots that seem "rejected" though just because of the ramp design. On a traditional ramp a shot that looks pretty good can still make it up the ramp. A shot like that on this ramp usually isn't going to go through.

On mine I feel like the good shots I hit go through cleanly and I also get some slightly less than optimal shots that still make it around. Do I get shots that look like "rejects"? Yes, of course. But then I often immediately shoot right back at it just to test it and there are a ton of times the ball sails cleanly right through on the next attempt right after getting a rough "reject" on a shot that seemed pretty good. I interpret that as meaning the shot that seemed pretty good and got "rejected" in reality just wasn't good enough, because otherwise how to explain another shot within 15-20 seconds flying through it easily? Spin, shaker motor, and other things could have an effect also. But I'd be very surprised if this is really a design flaw.

Totally agree with this ^^^. These machines have so many moving parts/variables and an infinite number of possibilities with regard to ball movement and physics. Broken parts or uniformly bad mechanisms that affect every owners is one thing but tweaks here and there for a minority of owners can't really be that surprising?

Perhaps I'm being too forgiving - but I wouldn't be that put out by having to make these sorts of adjustments.

In my opinion it is more accurate to describe this as a production flaw or rather change, look at the reference design from Stern themselves, it has the wireform all the way down. Most likely got changed to make assembly easier and allows for more slight variances in the ramp and the wireform itself. Maybe Keith will clear it up at some point in a future podcast, who knows?

Yeah, I'm not trying to make the game "easier", just more consistent.

If there's a lasting mod to get the auto plunger to consistently launch a ball all the way around to the right flipper I would try that out as well. My manual plunger also only makes it about 80% of the time. I've centered both and for about 15-20 games after a "waxing" both will make it about 99% of the time. Once the game slows down a little, inconsistent on making it around. 6.8° pitch, but I've tried others.

BTW... I have also added flipper coil fans (my only pin I've ever done that on) and I do think they help with consistency with long play sessions. Does that make the game "easier" or have a "design flaw"??? I would say no to both, but could make an argument either way...

Thanks for all the advices on the CM ramp.
I checked if the ramp is standing straight on the PF- everything is ok there.
It apears to me, that my shot was maybe touching the entrance to the right super slightly which could have lead to the rattling.
I will have to test that ramp more.

KnockerPTSD I have changed my name so that might be the reason you did not notice- so sorry.
Try to see it fom my perspective, I wrote in my post that i have installed the plastic and you are telling me i have to install it.
Regarding your video, it looks like it wasn't a clean shot and still made it up the ramp, but maybe that was your point?
Here is the initial post about the plastic, even with a testing video.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/official-avengers-infinity-quest-owners-thread-pinsiders-assemble/page/75#post-6025889

you can only link youtube videos here, but upload GIFs. You can cut them with an app, but make sure not to go over 9MB.

EaglePin
I agree mostly. There are shots which seems to be clean, but in slow motion you can see they are not- leading to misinterpretation.
There might be shots with an extreme spin or angle which can be rejected too which is ok, because its very rare.
But a clean shot from a cradle should go up the ramp at least for 95%.
You should not get punished for a perfect shot.