After rereading your post this may not be this issue.

I think I’ve sorted it thanks - I put the power up to +50%. I thought this would make them too powerful but they seem perfect and the flop down issue has stopped.
Setting the left saucer kick out to -35% as someone here suggested has also made its feed much better.

I think there was a post early on about some coils missing the "key" that keeps them centered on the coils stop and the coil was "rotating" in the coils stop and shorting?? maybe this is issue?

longer.. checked last night.

Just received my game and I have the same issue. And the flippers in general move freely but are very weak at default settings. I cranked the left, right and upper right flippers to 150% and that made the game playable. I measured at the coil lugs and I have 48VDC at unenergized and a net 10VDC or so when energized and in the up position (didn't examine PWM wave).

I opened a ticket with PB. Hoping there's another adjustment somewhere. Or maybe wrong coils, springs, etc were installed at factory.

Do your games left and upper right flippers fade for you now too? Hyper sleep lock and right orbit shots still get a bit dicey for me after playing for maybe 5-10 mins.

This is not the case for the flipper coils only the other coils. The drop target reset is the main one that was shorting, this was supposed to be addressed at the factory , would be interested to know if they actually did.

Cato told me there is a bulletin coming out.

I have dead slings to.

He said it will be to rotate coils 180 degrees and turn them upside down or something.

Was not for my unit, 8/2021 build. I just insulated the coil and zipped it steady.

almost all of my coils are missing this (not flippers though) - one thing I noted early on questioning why this was like this - but it's never caused a problem.

I just received mine on Thursday. I’ve played about 50 games and not one issue.

I've been keeping my flippers at default strength and not had any knockdown issues. Are your games all on firmware 0.56?

Has anyone figured out how to wire in beacons as a topper? The gentlemen doing the apron/beacon combo is not offering to sell just the beacons alone. For budget reasons, I’d like to just get some interactive beacons. Thanks!

Mine is 0.56

Is this meant to address flipper weakness as well? Or just the 'othet' coils?

Just got mine last week. I have previously owned a Heighway version so it's just human nature to compare the two. Overall I love this game! The theme, layout, design, art and sound are all top notch in my view! Hence my decision to get another one.

The PB version is fairly good out of the box (at least mine was). Some great improvements since Heighway. The extra magnet to slow the ball down is wonderful. The screen in the backbox is fine. I thought I would miss the pf screen from the Heighway, but honestly I don't. The added bonus is that it's just one less thing to have to screw around with as the pf screen was never quite flush and I was always worried about chipping. The lockdown bar and pf glass are also improvements. The Heighway lockdown bar had a more pronounced corner that dug into your hand. This is more comfortable.

However, several issues some of which have already been discussed:
1. Muthur eject is terrible. It was not a problem with the Heighway pin. PB must have done something to screw this up. Hopefully the foam trick will work.

2. Initially game would not start. Had to mess around with start button switch before my buddy discovered the switch was wired incorrectly. Going to PB tech page there is a bulletin about this so they are aware of it. Doesn't say much about PB quality control. Kind of like Ford selling a truck without starting it up to make sure it at least runs before leaving the factory.

3.Xeno is way worse at "catching" the ball than my Heighway was. I'm running 2.2 at the moment. Hopefully an upgrade to 2.4 will improve that.

4. Upper R flipper is weak. I increased the strength, but it almost seems as if it needs a stronger coil. On good shots, ie, clean enough that they should get to the ball lock, mine seem to make it about a third of the time. Very frustrating. If anyone has a way to add more power in the existing configuration, please let me know.

5. Finally, I've had the ball get caught in the ramp several times as shown in the picture. Upon examination I discovered the metal flap has a slight hump to it that creates a depression for the ball to sit in if it's kinetic energy is not strong enough to roll back out. Does anyone else have this problem? If so, did you do anything to fix it?
Thanks

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Weak upper right flip could be a rough bushing, support had us sand ours down as it was binding/causing friction on the bottom where it meets the pawl. Yes there should be a credit card sized gap there, but there was remnant plastic all up on the bushing screwing that up. The flip mech hardware is kinda riddled with issues, very finicky. Also sanded the link on the shaft joint at their reco. Hopefully can just swap this flipper stuff all out for Williams-style parts.

Thanks Danger. I'll take a look at that. It does seem kind of "draggy" when I move it manually. Hopefully that's all it is.

sorry to be a newb.. but how can i tell what version? is it in a log file?

Go to service menu and hang tight on screen that shows software rev. It will start scrolling through additional info including firmware version.

I think the +/- buttons will let you scroll through the info too iirc

He said drop target bank and slings.

I cut 1\8 off my coil sleeves, no issue since.

for the price, better off buying an LE that comes with warranty and a dozen other things. no offence.

Sleeve or bushing? If former, what problem were you solving? Reducing friction? I don't feel any binding/rubbing in mine.

Still waiting on any word. 3 days now. Completely bricked machine

I'm in the boat. Have the beacons and the will. Not sure where to start probing, hoping someone already done the grunt work

if the sleeve is getting damaged. cut it. it worked for me

Thanks. Could you feel any resistance when manually moving the flipper? Or anything else that tipped you off on this?

Just to reiterate... My understanding is that there is no completed code for beacon triggering at this time. Anything relating to beacon triggering would need to be done in some unofficial way. If anyone wants to correct my understanding on this, I would be very interested in any alternate information.

I did make a board to trigger the beacons (I posted a PCB diagram in an earlier message), but that project has become much bigger, so it has been delayed... but it will be awesome.

So my Alien is having several issues. First and foremost is the lower left flipper. It is “draggy” and it gets stuck in the up position. The coil sleeve is “ribbed” inside, which may be a factor, but there are other issues with this flipper. At first it wouldn’t always respond when pushing the flipper button. I reflowed the solder and that appears to have solved that issue. I completely disassembled the flipper mech and can’t find a reason for it being draggy. I put a Stern coil sleeve in which didn’t quite fit correctly, but the issue persisted. I ensured that there was adequate up and down play with the bat (credit-card template). When I slightly lift the bat the drag disappears, but when I let it rest in it’s normal position it seems to be dragging on something. I’ve checked the bottom of the bat surface and the top of the bushing in which it sits for extra or rough plastic but can find none. When disassembled there seems to be no catching, but when everything is tight it is dragging again. I hooked the spring 1/3 shorter to give it more pull, but no luck. Very frustrating. I sanded the bushing flat and smooth but it it still just as grabby.
Also, from the factory the Hypersleep ramp was too tight at the “U” to allow the ball to pass. It doesn’t fit past the U. (See picture). I wedged a washer in between the wall and the floor of the ramp to create more space at the U which seems to have helped.
Also 4 of the target lights are out. (See pictures). I guess it’s time to open a ticket.
I had such high hopes. . . .

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Was just a visual, I cut 1\8 on all of the coil sleeve's, sanded... done, been working perfect since. took me 15 minutes.

Being on the LV pre-order, I'm concerned about all these issues which should have been resolved with the latest batch of games. Yes, most new games need adjustments but these issues are much more than that. Sorry to all who received their games and are in this situation. Not so excited right now which sucks for a large $ purchase. PB, get your act together with the quality control or your not gonna have much repeat business.

That's normal iirc. It used to be that all 5 weren't coded, now just that one is.

To be fair, I feel like mine is playing pretty well right now, and it took way (waaaaay) less tinkering than, e.g., my Stranger Things Premium.

I'm pleasantly surprised with how fun the game is...Really cool atmosphere and rules, shoots well. Definitely feels "different" from most games.

I agree. You think they would have checked these games more since the first couple of batches. Can’t be cheap to keep sending care packages over seas for a lot of these machines. Glad mine has been playing well.

Keep in mind you are seeing what? 5 people with issues? Also these have been sitting boxed and ready to ship for months.

The ramp issues are concerning though because I don't think any of the early games had any of that.

You won't regret buying this game, a few issues...yes. But I always said this from the beginning, if you get a great playfield...the rest is easy to fix. This playfield is the best in the business. stunning! And here's a bold statement, I will die with this game still in my possession. "period". So ya, there is no other game that I would trade this for, ever!

How did you cut the coil sleeve?

I used a dremel, cutting blade. Shave off a dime, it worked for me. hope it does the same for you. Cheers!

The small weapons target lights are not supposed to work.. not coded to light, as per Cato yesterday.

I wonder why one of the target lights on one side of the scoop works and another doesn’t? A weird choice if it’s intentional.

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I think I finally got the trough issue fixed. The eject would occassionally just keep chucking balls into it without launching, so would have to shut off the game, pull the glass and remove them. I took off the coil, carefully cut back the heat shrink to expose the solder. It wasn't soldered very well. I resoldered the wire and made sure it bridged to the coil wire. Cross your fingers, but it seems to work now

Same thing on mine.. cato emailed me lsat night on it.. yep it's intentional.. I think it may be an LV feature who knows.

To lock lights that are already on the playfield for a higher model doesn't make sense though.

If that's intentional, that's an odd design decision. It looks strange with half the lights not functioning.

Mine doesn't do that. Can you take a pic of what the cables to that switch look like and it's placement? Are there other small ones that do that?

Note that when it's counting your scores/bonuses between balls, it does some funky asymmetrical lighting to simulate 'computer lights blinking' where some lights come on and their partners do not. However, this doesn't light the little targets, but it does light the big targets.

Curious if they plugged that target into the wrong connector meant for the LV.

I can’t begin to tell you how disappointed I am that my Alien is unplayable due to malfunctioning flippers. I’ve tried smoothing the bushing which didn’t help, and just about any other thing that I can do. I’m a very competent pinball tech and this one has me baffled. I’m thinking that it may be the nylon piece below the flipper that the shaft pivots on when the coil fires. Not really a serviceable part unfortunately.
Does anyone know if the flipper assembly is unique to Pinball brothers or could it be a Bally/Williams part? I’d love to do a complete flipper rebuild but all I have on hand are Stern rebuild kits.