Hi, everyone, I joined the club a few weeks ago and have been really enjoying the game. Thanks for all of the helpful posts in this thread!

I had an issue where the spinning disc became loose on the rod, so the plastic disc was wobbly and didn’t always turn the rod when it spun. In order to fix this I removed the disc assembly (using the steps described in Stern’s “Avengers IQ Premium/LE Disc Leveling Bushing” instructions: https://o.pinside.com/f/f6/22/ff622811a56579c315112da0ea11441c518ca2a5.pdf), took the disc apart, and tightened the screw holding the disc to the rod (#8 in the diagram).

After this fix, the disc is nice and tight on the rod (with no wobble), but I noticed that solid hits to the disc no longer resulted in many spins. Instead, the ball hitting the disc makes a sort of buzzing sound, and this vibration seems to suck away all of the energy of the shot. See video below:

You can see that the disc (usually) spins freely when I spin it by hand, but this vibration/buzzing seems to cause the disc to not spin well when actually hit by the ball. I also get this buzzing when spinning the disc in the “UP” position, so it is not interference between the disc and ring/playfield. Has anyone seen this before? Any ideas for things to check? Are there things that I might have done wrong in removing/disassembling the disk?

I’m not very mechanically inclined, so please feel free to recommend obvious things to check! Thanks in advance!

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Thanks everyone for your responses!

I did set the gap after reinstalling the disc assembly, and I had an FS reading in the 400’s in all positions. I had a look, and the proper gap is still there, so I don’t think the magnet is rubbing on the sensor.

I had a look at this washer, and it seems to have plenty of clearance as the disc rotates. I also removed the nut, washer, and clamp, and I still sometimes hear the buzzing when I spin the disc, so it doesn’t seem to be any of those components interfering. It’s almost like the rod itself is buzzing against the brass bushing under the jam nut?

Or, maybe this is what is going on. Just curious; do others with a factory disk hear this “buzzing”/vibration when they hit the disc post with a pinball with the glass off? For an example, see the video in my previous post. If so, maybe this is normal.

Thanks for the suggestion; your mod looks great, and I would consider investing in one even if I get my plastic disc fixed!

Thanks again for the responses!

Those interfaces, the shaft, and bushings look and feel ok, from what I can tell. Maybe there is a little bit of extra clearance between the rod and bushing, as I can move the disk a very tiny bit from side to side while it is in place? Or maybe this is normal…

My machine is new from Cointaker with 1.02 code, so I assume it would already have this Stern upgrade?

The bushing is fortunately still in place. I don’t see any obvious issues with the bushings.

This advice seems to be universal. Rather than continuing to tinker with it, I have ordered both the disc mod and bearing carrier mod. I’m looking forward to putting them in and seeing how the disc performs!