you need to add 5 lbs ! lol just kiddin , is the game level side to side ?

Did you put a straight edge on it?
How far out is it from side to side?

That won’t work.
The only real way would be to strip it
Mist the open face (underside) lightly with water and reverse the bow under tension where you actually bow it the opposite direction for a period of time. If you could put it in a sauna under reverse tension that would be even better but trying to get wood perfectly flat is hard to do for the manufacturers or even yourself. It’s really unpredictable.
If you ever watch the process where they try make wooden wagon wheels you can get a good appreciation of what it takes to alter the properties of wood in this way.

Contact your distributor to see if you can get a replacement playfield.

If you know who the original owner bought it from, ask anyway.

My brand new Led Zeppelin has the same issue...its really bad. Stern will not replace it (already got shot down)

Wow, I can't believe they won't replace. That's bad business decision. I'd keep trying because that's an unacceptable product

distributor needs to make right then.

It has to be a warranty issue right? Defective product

You went direct to Stern with the question or your distributor?

The distributor? How do they fit into a defective product or manufacturing problem? Not the distributor's issue and if you think that's the answer for a problem, nobody would be a distributor if they were liable for the product they sell. Has to be the manufacturer who corrects this.

I know DeadFlip was reading a script from Stern's Marketing dept. during the V-expo tour, but there were certainly some head scratchers in there.

I mean we had ghosting inserts, cracking cabinets, pitted balls, chipping clear, pooling, poor art printing, and now warped playfields. Perhaps some of what we saw in the tour has rectified some of those issues, but some are still very prevalent. You can't say "all 3500 parts are inspected by hand, to make sure you get the quality you expect out of a Stern pinball machine" and then have these persistent and repeating issues". Straight up Marketing fluff.

Keep going up the chain of command untill you get a replacement. This seems like such a simple warranty issue, crazy that they don't want to help you

damn straight. I know of at least one distributor that takes back defective games and then he deals with Stern. This is the way it should be.

How in the hell do you not think a distributor should not be involved? You can't buy direct from Stern. I purchased a very expensive espresso machine from best buy around Christmas and it started acting crazy a week later. I took the thing back to best buy (the distributor) and let them deal with Breville.

I see you got it second hand now. I wonder if the original buyer new about it? pretty crappy if he did

Distributor is involved. He's really good and I trust him 100%.

If you’re hoping for some remediation assistance from Stern some objective data would help you make your case. Put the straight edge on the table. Have your assistant hold it down on the far left or right. Measure the distance from the pf to the bottom of the other end of the straight edge. Then switch sides with your assistant and measure the other end.

An electronic level might give you the same information. In a perfect world the pf would be perfectly level L-R. As a practical exercise that’s fairly hard to measure since any deviation from horizontal puts one end of the level lower than the other so you’re measuring part of the normal downward slope.

HEP is correct about steam bending wood, I've bent many a rail during wooden boat restoration. The problem is this material is plywood which may respond differently when wet heat is applied (not in a good way.)
Dry heat must be of sufficient temperature to soften the glue but not melt anything, a difficult prospect.
When I fastened flat ply to a bow cap it eventually formed to the curve, taking off the old 50 year old bow cap it had a permanent bend.
So what you need is a jig, holding it in perfect position after forcing it flat. Then leaving it awhile. Could be done if you are handy.

Hey if it means anything, I still adore you. Stern helps me, I help Stern.
I also help all the other manufacturers as well.

Side note, if there is anything I can reasonably help with (and this goes for anyone), my DMs are always open if you need a last resort.

The usual warped playfield is with old wide body playfields with the opposite warp, a sag in the middle. An aluminum angle screwed the bottom of the playfield was used to flatten out the problem. Finding clear real estate under the playfield is a problem resulting in angular placement of the angle brace. Severe warps were pulled flat over a period of time.

Here is this guys solution.

5227773F-467F-4E4D-BF2F-3B79D5899186 (resized).jpeg

He had to have known about the issue. Even a first time pinball machine owner would notice that.

Its only stupid if it doesnt work...

Could humidity or lack of have anything to do with it? Plastic inserts do not shrink but wood does. Find out how humid your environment is.

wow crazy! that's what keeps me from from buying new in box, it wouldn't take a few seconds to run a straight edge over a playfield before you start populating it, I would have a hard time believing it warped that much sitting in the box.

Also, based on this thread, definitely check when buying second hand as well.

How much is it out when you put a straight edge over it?

It may be a common problem unfortunately, overlooked by some. Here is a photo from a Metallica i had, doesn't seem like much but it was certainly enough to not get the side to side level set correctly, it would always be out at the flippers

209 (resized).JPG

226 (resized).JPG

great. something else we have to take a picture of when posting ads now.

Maybe this is why when playing two games of the same title, one plays better than another.
A pitch in favor of the player, or a pitch against the player.

I wonder how many people checked their playfields with straight edges after reading this thread! I know I had to resist the urge myself...

Same. Looking for a reason besides I suck for all the outlane drains on my new Avengers pin. Must be bowed! =D

I will not, but I get so many STDM shots I don't have to worry about outlanes. Sorry OP for your situation.

People have laughed at me as I have seen this and really light planking many times on games. Both old and new. It depends on the environment of the game in its lifetime. I believe when stern installed it was correct. It warped after. If one has a high humidity house or really low humidity like we have in Colorado it happens. I have seen two months to two years. Storing in garage or storage space is the worst. No different than the sound board on a high end piano. Winter months are the worst. I did a high end steam humidifier trying to keep it constant all year long on my furnaces. Most humidifiers freeze if running with A/c. Many houses the humidity levels can be low single digits instead at times and in the summer the high humidity. 95 percent of time they warp low in the center. High in center usually low humidity newer in the games life. If you start putting a straight on games many will be discouraged. Just be careful on the Enviroment of the life of the game as it is a wood product. Wood burning stoves or fireplaces kill the humidity levels quickly. When you put kiln dryed wood floors in a new house the gold standard in dry climates is to put in new house and wait 6 months in that enviroment prior to install. Most skip the step as you can’t wait. I really try to only buy games from a dry climate anymore which I am. Even with a humidifier I am running it in the 34 per cent level but constant all year round. That is still low. A a/c unit removes humidity so in the summer I am flat also inside. Key is to avoid wide humidity movements. Warning don’t start measuring games or you will be disappointing.

I wasn’t aware they were still building Star Trek in 2020. Interesting.