(Topic ID: 232933)

Primus Pinball Woes, Sadness, Disappointment

By Acupuncture

5 years ago


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There are 313 posts in this topic. You are on page 1 of 7.
#1 5 years ago

As a long-time fan of Primus, we decided to purchase this little majestic piece of fan service to put inside our Arcade bar that rests in the sunny, coastal town of Dunedin Florida. Currently we have a Ghostbusters LE, Star Wars LE, and a modded out Tron that everyone enjoys. Needless to say we were very excited to add this machine to our collection, and to our absolute amazement the machine was going to arrive in time for our New Year Eve extravaganza! We paid the exorbitant "White Glove" service fee of nearly $900, and promoted the heck out of having the machine in time for our party. I've put together these machines before, and while it isn't difficult, I simply didn't have the time to assemble it since we were scrambling in preparation for our event.

The delivery company arrived, and while they were very cordial and nice, I noticed immediately that they weren't adept at putting these things together. It took them about 2 hours to assemble the machine and plug everything in, but to their dismay they simply could not fire up the machine. I inspected to make sure everything was plugged in, re-read over the manual, and began the trouble shooting process. "Did something shake loose?" I thought, so I began tightening everything. The delivery guys sat confused, unplugged and plugged the RJ45 jacks out a couple of times, and said "stern will probably just send you a new one." The noted it on their delivery form, told their superiors about the issue, and said "sorry" and left. Upon them leaving I noticed the back box was leaning to the side and did not sit flush. They ratcheted the back box down on top of a molex power connecter, so I had to take it off, fix the cord and it sat flush.

At this point we are about to open and people are at the door ready to come play this thing. After checking all the leads once again, plugging them in and out, and in and out again, I thought "maybe the spark plug is bad." Upon opening the socket I noticed it was fairly loose. I pulled it out adjusted it, and boom, it worked! All pleased I scurried to assemble the machine, level it, and gently placed it against the wall in preparation for play time. However customers started noticing that the mini-display at the bottom left of the machine didn't work. They didn't mind and started playing. After a few hours when the machine got a break I checked the display leads from the bottom left circuit board, the ribbon and molex, and plugged them in and out on the bottom and back box. Nothing worked, so at this time I can only assume the cables are faulty. I don't have a voltmeter in my proximity to test whether the circuit boards are bad, but at this point I'm just happy it's working for New Year's. A few hours later, the left flipper starts loosely moving up and down. I open up the machine and the flipper is totally loose, and just pops right off. However it was held, whether by glue or solder, was done so in a very shoddy manner. I then turn off the machine and put place a "sorry, out of order" sign.

Needless to say this has been a pretty disappointing experience. The machine shows no signs of damage, and it seemed to travel well. At this time I can only attribute all of this to shoddy Stern quality control. I'm certain I can jury-rig the flipper with an adhesive but I really don't want to do anything until Stern hears about this tomorrow (they are closed today). I'll keep you updated

Tl;dr New Primus pinball machine has a broken display, left flipper popped up, and white glove technicians are a disappointment

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#2 5 years ago

That sucks for sure.

#3 5 years ago
Quoted from Acupuncture:

The delivery company arrived, and while they were very cordial and nice, I noticed immediately that they weren't adept at putting these things together.

I'm curious as to "who"these distant white glove service were.. (farmed out, if not in the service area of the dealer).

I know a standard freight company that does these "special services" for people that need install/assembly of ANYTHING. These guys are just everyday city delivery truck drivers that are sent out to assemble anything from treadmills to bookcases. They have absolutely no special training other then what they have learned in their own life experiences...yet they are typically sent out as a team to read and follow standard directions that come with whatever they are supposed to put together. It is done at the best "they" can do, Those guys didn't sign up for this , but it is now a service that is now a part of their city delivery job now.
Big $$ for the company.

If, this has happened to you....I feel your pain.

If, it was a company that is "supposed to" be experienced with arcade assembly..no excuses there.

#4 5 years ago

The flippers are total crap. Someone else's broke off.

Read from here - https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/here-they-come-primus-pinball/page/13#post-4748219

Someone else replaced them with WMS 2.25" flippers. It's probably a good idea, as judging by what has been said in the thread, and the design of the flippers, they force the ball down into the playfield and will likely cause much more pf wear.

#5 5 years ago
Quoted from rubberducks:

The flippers are total crap. Someone else's broke off.
Read from here - https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/here-they-come-primus-pinball/page/13#post-4748219
Someone else replaced them with WMS 2.25" flippers. It's probably a good idea, as judging by what has been said in the thread, and the design of the flippers, they force the ball down into the playfield and will likely cause much more pf wear.

Operators have been addressing that problem for about 65 years by putting an extra rubber underneath the top one on these small flippers.

As far as them breaking? Yeah sounds like they are crappy.

#6 5 years ago
Quoted from rubberducks:

The flippers are total crap. Someone else's broke off.
Read from here - https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/here-they-come-primus-pinball/page/13#post-4748219
Someone else replaced them with WMS 2.25" flippers. It's probably a good idea, as judging by what has been said in the thread, and the design of the flippers, they force the ball down into the playfield and will likely cause much more pf wear.

Thanks for the information. So what should basically be the course of action here? I plan on giving Stern an earful for having an $8K+ machine break down after only a couple of uses. I have no idea what they plan to do, but I'm certain they'll have to make it right. Even with a flipper mod I'm curious why the display isn't working.

#7 5 years ago
Quoted from Acupuncture:

Thanks for the information. So what should basically be the course of action here?

Welcome to Pinside!

Ask for your $900 'white glove fee' back. Not sure what that will get you, but you will have their attention. If nobody complains, they will just keep collecting the fee. Maybe they will say the $900 is for them doing the heavy work of moving it inside, unboxing it, and getting the legs on, but that should have been clear up front.

Realistically, things don't always go smoothly shipping and turning on a new pin, so you did have pretty big expectations to be ready for the party. Stern was really getting beat up for bad QA the last few years, but that seems to have improved somewhat.

Talk with your distributer and Stern support and they will help get things fixed.

#8 5 years ago

Thanks Neal. I'll do that first thing tomorrow morning.

14
#9 5 years ago

Six games

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#10 5 years ago
Quoted from Monster_Bash:

Six games
[quoted image]

I seriously would replace with those flipper with lightning flippers (jackbar) did it to theirs.

#11 5 years ago
Quoted from Monster_Bash:

Six games
[quoted image]

lol ...

I don't recall this happening with WNBJM and PCC straight away. Presumably they've cheapened the flippers / mechs since then, to the point of being useless.

#12 5 years ago

I don't remember anyone posting about flipper problems with Woah Nellie or Can Crusher, is this a new problem or an old one?

#13 5 years ago
Quoted from Monster_Bash:

Six games
[quoted image]

If that's accurate and by no means am I doubting you, Stern need a big kick in the arse for letting these games out of the factory with substandard parts installed. They wouldn't even last a minute in a test bed and they'd know that if all the flipper bats they are receiving are equal. If they don't lift their quality control soon their games are going to be inoperable straight from the box and this has got to damage their brand.

#14 5 years ago

That's a friends machine. I did give him a set of lightning flippers. Makes it almost impossible to drain down the middle

Quoted from HighProtein:

I seriously would replace with those flipper with lightning flippers (jackbar) did it to theirs.

#15 5 years ago
Quoted from Monster_Bash:

That's a friends machine. I did give him a set of lightning flippers. Makes it almost impossible to drain down the middle

Yeah I was wondering about that. Lightning flippers are bigger than these.

#16 5 years ago

2 machines out of 100 that we know of have flippers that break in just a few games? Am I reading that right?

I love Stern for pumping out so many games and basically saving pinball from extinction, but lately it just feels like a money-grab. Put something together and get it out the door asap, quality be damned.

I hope I'm wrong.

12
#17 5 years ago
Quoted from Pinballer73:

If that's accurate and by no means am I doubting you, Stern need a big kick in the arse for letting these games out of the factory with substandard parts installed. They wouldn't even last a minute in a test bed and they'd know that if all the flipper bats they are receiving are equal. If they don't lift their quality control soon their games are going to be inoperable straight from the box and this has got to damage their brand.

They won't change until people stop buying / competitors take big chunks of their nominal sales (rather than just market share). The latter being a good reason to hope that DR actually do get some games out.

This is likely just the latest symptom of their quest to reduce costs to as close to zero as possible. See abnormal playfield wear, cabinets being light rickety & splitting, Spike, steel parts rusted through before unboxing, service rails, lockdown bars etc etc.

#18 5 years ago
Quoted from Monster_Bash:

That's a friends machine. I did give him a set of lightning flippers. Makes it almost impossible to drain down the middle

Did they remove the star post also? I saw someone else do this to their Primus

#19 5 years ago
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#20 5 years ago

That looks more fun

14
#21 5 years ago
Quoted from Luckydogg420:

That looks more fun

It's not. It turns it into a snoozefest with lightning flippers. The ball barely drains. Long ball times on location will not be kind to this playfield. The original design with the 2inch flippers/posts is more exciting and makes for some great saves and "Holy @!#?@" moments. The quality or lack there of is the problem here. My left flipper broke 18 plays in. I had to send it off to a friend to weld. I should be flipping on this one for years to come now. I wish I had given him both but I wanted to play it so bad I had to get creative.

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#22 5 years ago

Yikes, I'm sorry other people are having the same problem. I really want to give Stern the benefit of the doubt but this seems absolutely inexcusable on a machine like this.

17
#23 5 years ago

Use Gottlieb # A6888+ Flipper shoe & shaft assembly with Gottlieb # A6888+P threaded pin from Pinball Resource.

http://www.pbresource.com/flippers.html

#24 5 years ago

Powerball + lightning flippers

#25 5 years ago

I believe this is the correct Primus song to post here in this thread .

Thankfully there are Pinsiders here offering helpful assistance and suggestions.

Super exclusive ad from the Pinside Marketplace!
12
#26 5 years ago

Are people on here seriously suggesting that the buyer of an $8000 plus pinball machine with 6-18 plays should be responsible for replacing flippers? I really hope stern does the right thing.

#27 5 years ago
Quoted from gibsonrd:

Are people on here seriously suggesting that the buyer of an $8000 plus pinball machine with 6-18 plays should be responsible for replacing flippers? I really hope stern does the right thing.

What do you want them to do? Send a whole new pin over a couple $3 parts? I'm sure they will replace any bad parts under warranty and in a jiffy, but up to customer to install. That's how it usually goes. The bad batch of flipper shafts/bats is unfortunate. Possible supplier issue? I'm not a fan of the buttons they've been using the last coupke years. They fail and pop out around 2k plays, give or take. I'm replacing them all the time at our location. I wonder who they're getting those from.

10
#28 5 years ago
Quoted from IdahoRealtor:

What do you want them to do? Send a whole new pin over a couple $3 parts? I'm sure they will replace any bad parts under warranty and in a jiffy, but up to customer to install. That's how it usually goes. The bad batch of flipper shafts/bats is unfortunate. Possible supplier issue? I'm not a fan of the buttons they've been using the last coupke years. They fail and pop out around 2k plays, give or take. I'm replacing them all the time at our location. I wonder who they're getting those from.

Just my opinion, but they shouldn't have to pay for anything considering they just paid $8000+ for a machine. Why doesn't stern order the 3 dollar parts and put them in before they sell a NIB machine? I mean it's only the flippers, who uses those in a pinball machine?

#29 5 years ago
Quoted from Acupuncture:

As a long-time fan of Primus, we decided to purchase this little majestic piece of fan service to put inside our Arcade bar that rests in the sunny, coastal town of Dunedin Florida. Currently we have a Ghostbusters LE, Star Wars LE, and a modded out Tron that everyone enjoys. Needless to say we were very excited to add this machine to our collection, and to our absolute amazement the machine was going to arrive in time for our New Year Eve extravaganza! We paid the exorbitant "White Glove" service fee of nearly $900, and promoted the heck out of having the machine in time for our party. I've put together these machines before, and while it isn't difficult, I simply didn't have the time to assemble it since we were scrambling in preparation for our event.
The delivery company arrived, and while they were very cordial and nice, I noticed immediately that they weren't adept at putting these things together. It took them about 2 hours to assemble the machine and plug everything in, but to their dismay they simply could not fire up the machine. I inspected to make sure everything was plugged in, re-read over the manual, and began the trouble shooting process. "Did something shake loose?" I thought, so I began tightening everything. The delivery guys sat confused, unplugged and plugged the RJ45 jacks out a couple of times, and said "stern will probably just send you a new one." The noted it on their delivery form, told their superiors about the issue, and said "sorry" and left. Upon them leaving I noticed the back box was leaning to the side and did not sit flush. They ratcheted the back box down on top of a molex power connecter, so I had to take it off, fix the cord and it sat flush.
At this point we are about to open and people are at the door ready to come play this thing. After checking all the leads once again, plugging them in and out, and in and out again, I thought "maybe the spark plug is bad." Upon opening the socket I noticed it was fairly loose. I pulled it out adjusted it, and boom, it worked! All pleased I scurried to assemble the machine, level it, and gently placed it against the wall in preparation for play time. However customers started noticing that the mini-display at the bottom left of the machine didn't work. They didn't mind and started playing. After a few hours when the machine got a break I checked the display leads from the bottom left circuit board, the ribbon and molex, and plugged them in and out on the bottom and back box. Nothing worked, so at this time I can only assume the cables are faulty. I don't have a voltmeter in my proximity to test whether the circuit boards are bad, but at this point I'm just happy it's working for New Year's. A few hours later, the left flipper starts loosely moving up and down. I open up the machine and the flipper is totally loose, and just pops right off. However it was held, whether by glue or solder, was done so in a very shoddy manner. I then turn off the machine and put place a "sorry, out of order" sign.
Needless to say this has been a pretty disappointing experience. The machine shows no signs of damage, and it seemed to travel well. At this time I can only attribute all of this to shoddy Stern quality control. I'm certain I can jury-rig the flipper with an adhesive but I really don't want to do anything until Stern hears about this tomorrow (they are closed today). I'll keep you updated
Tl;dr New Primus pinball machine has a broken display, left flipper popped up, and white glove technicians are a disappointment
[quoted image]
[quoted image]

Your ribbon cable is damaged at the Molex connector, you need a new ribbon cable. That will fix your data communication to the small LCD. It’s obvious that the assemblers damaged it when it was crushed.

I recommend using these 2” flippers from Pinball Life the game was designed with 2” flippers I wouldn’t go with lightning flippers as those are 1/4” longer.

Or use the yellow 2” plastic.

https://www.pinballlife.com/mini-flipper-bat-and-shaft-assembly-no-logo-brushed-aluminum.html

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#30 5 years ago

Never had an issue with the flippers or the lcd on my Whao Nellie. TBH the game has been faultless. Can someone please post a link or share Primus game file in Dropbox. Would like to try it on my Whao Nellie?

11
#31 5 years ago

My flippers not broken yet but were loose out of the box and set too low. causing playfield damage. Also one score reel faulty

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#32 5 years ago

The 2 inch bats are a good solution. Shots are faster and more accurate and generally feel more Stern like.

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15
#33 5 years ago

I dont like flippers that have "flipper" written on them...

#34 5 years ago
Quoted from cosmokramer:

I dont like flippers that have "flipper" written on them...

Ah come on they're good throwbacks.

#35 5 years ago

Perhaps he likes it better when it says *Thrusters* on them.

#36 5 years ago

Isn't there like 10 of them given to the band? Imagine the look on their faces when the flippers shear off, I could see them trashing it like a cheap motel room.

10
#37 5 years ago
Quoted from Pinballer31520:

My flippers not broken yet but were loose out of the box and set too low. causing playfield damage. Also one score reel faulty
[quoted image]

The pic makes me sick. This type of damage should not happen on a new machine. I’m pretty relaxed about things with pinball, but this is a boutique/limited machine...Stern should send a new machine.

#38 5 years ago
Quoted from Pinballer31520:

My flippers not broken yet but were loose out of the box and set too low. causing playfield damage. Also one score reel faulty
[quoted image]

Stern's claim that they test every machine is just so obviously complete and utter bollocks.

#39 5 years ago
Quoted from rubberducks:

Stern's claim that they test every machine is just so obviously complete and utter bollocks.

Always has been. My NIB Monopoly came with an unshootable ramp shot and the instruction card for a different machine.

13
#40 5 years ago

FIRST game out of box. Nice job!!

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19
#41 5 years ago
Quoted from Cserold:

FIRST game out of box. Nice job!!
[quoted image][quoted image]

Looks like Stern's supplier sent a bad batch of flippers.

It will be a Pinside Holocaust.

#42 5 years ago
Quoted from Cserold:

FIRST game out of box. Nice job!!
[quoted image][quoted image]

Looks like you really play hard sir!

#43 5 years ago
Quoted from Ilushka85:

Looks like you really play hard sir!

That’s what she said

#44 5 years ago
Quoted from vid1900:

Looks like Stern's supplier sent a bad batch of flippers.
It will be a Pinside Holocaust.

Stern overnighting some “improved” versions

#45 5 years ago
Quoted from Cserold:

Stern overnighting some “improved” versions

Will these last ten games at least ?

#46 5 years ago
Quoted from Pinball-is-great:

Perhaps he likes it better when it says *Thrusters* on them.

I can't help myself...

Should they be called "Paddles" like in the other thread?

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/does-it-bother-you-when-people-call-flippers-paddles

-7
#47 5 years ago

I will never understand the threads that people post when they have an issue with a manufacturer or distributor and they come on Pinside before trying to resolve the issue

10
#48 5 years ago
Quoted from dnapac:

Stern should send a new machine.

henrylaugh (resized).jpghenrylaugh (resized).jpg
#49 5 years ago
Quoted from Cserold:

Stern overnighting some “improved” versions

I'd guess that the welding machine ran out of either Argon or CO2 and produced a run of worthless joints.

...or the gas company filled the canisters with the wrong gas; that can be bad when they are supposed to be O2, instead are filled with Nitrogen, and a bunch of people die at the hospital.....

https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/09/us/oxygen-and-nitrogen-mix-up-is-suspected-in-three-deaths.html

#50 5 years ago

Stern quality job 1.

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