I would be very surprised if heating was a problem in the plunger coil. This coil is only powered at intermittent times, so it's unlikely to heat that much, unlike flipper coils which are use pretty much non stop during a game. Unless I'm mistaken. Did you measure temperature over time to see if it indeed heats up significantly ?

I would check the amp level going through this coil, if you have the equipment (probably need an oscilloscope with a current probe) to see if this degrades over time. I need to check on the schematics to understand how it's driven but I assume there is a command transistor. Check it and potentially replace it (although at this point probably premature).

Others might chime in to provide guidance

Regards

Thank you! I can feel it get slightly warmer, but not anywhere near hot.

On LOTR, games tend to be very long (at least for the good players, which is not my case), and the coil gets very hot so lose power over time. One of the option done by players is to add a small fan toward each coil to cool it. The other is to replace it with a more powerful coil, so that over long play it does not lose too much power.

But you might want to try the fan option just to see if indeed this has an effect.

Regards

If I knew how to upsize a 23- 800 coil, I would order one to try.

23-700 is stronger. 23-600 even stronger. First number is wire gauge. Second number is wraps around coil.

Thanks!! But I just spoke to a tech at Marco and he did not recommend upsizing the coil. Instead, he agreed to change it with the correct one which is now on order. If this doesn't work, I could be looking at a possible MOSFET problem.

Yes. Using the recommended coil in the manual is best.

I had a wierd thing happen last night. I ususally play a 'good game' between 100 and 200K, and I was on track with one last night with my score about 150K after the first ball with an EB in reserve. I had banked about warp 9.3 and during a multiball, all of a sudden I started scoring warps left and right. went to 9.9, then back to 1 and back up to 9.1 ....without hitting the warp ramp but a few times. I ended up getting an extra ball, then another. my total score ended up being north of 800k!
question is, is there any way to score a warp without hitting the warp ramp...maybe I was doing that without knowing. Or the opto is bad?
Anyone had this happen?

It was exhilirating and the game took nearly 30 minutes to finish due to the 4 EBs I recieved..2 due to warp ramps and 2 for other awards.

I played again today a couple of games, and everything seemed normal.

your optos are acting up. Happened to alot of us. First thing to do is re-seat everything in your backbox. bang on your playfiled with the glass off and in switch test to see if anything goes off as well.

cool, thanks for the advice. shame the GC score is now a sham!

FYI, I've created some Star Trek 3D flipper toppers if anyone is interested in purchasing: https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/ad/109929

ST (resized).jpg

Hello everyone. I just picked up a ST Pro. Very happy with my purchase and I love the game so far.
I have one question that you Trek experts might be able to answer. It's about the speakers. For some reason it feels like the majority of the sound is coming from the under the cab speaker and not the two speakers on the head. Is this normal? Don't get me wrong, sound still comes out of the two front speakers but it feels much weaker and there is a slight hiss if I get up close. My other Stern pins don't function like this. Is there something I can adjust in the settings or is this normal for this particular pin?

That is not normal. Something is wrong. There are a few sound settings, but if the game is new, I'd do a full reset of all the settings to factory. That will rule out any settings, and will put you to a stock game.

Then I would start looking at connectors and soldering behind the speakers. Trace them back to the boards to make sure the other end is solid as well.

Thanks Dave. I did a factory reset and still the volume mainly feels like it's coming from under the cab. Its weird. Because sound is definitely coming out of the speakers on the head but at a much lower volume\quality.

I checked the connection on the back of each speaker. I'm not an electronics expert but it looks connected ok. Same for the board. I took pics. Maybe you'll see something.

20210209_151859 (resized).jpg

20210209_151933 (resized).jpg

20210209_153434 (resized).jpg

So I feel really stupid. But I think I figured out my problem. Because I just picked up this game I had it sitting on my tile floor. While all my other games are on carpet. So the tile floor was reflecting the cabinet speaker right back into my face making it sound louder than the head speakers. I moved the pin to the carpet and now the majority of the sound is coming from the front and it's way more balanced now. Sounds in line with my other games. Sorry if I wasted anyone's time with this one. All is well.

Actually that's a very very very good point... I would not have thought of it...

Thanks, this is great advice and I'll follow it. I just had a 'center lane lockup' tech error crop up too, could be related. Sounds like the Opto needs some attention. I'll do some testing this weekend. cheers.

Just relieved that the solution was that simple! Enjoy the game!

Check that the four wires are seated properly in the connector that plugs into the drop target assembly... Mine had frequent problems of this ilk until I re-inserted the four wires into a fresh connector and hot-glued the damn thing into position.

New game and still issues. They should have sent you a populated one.

Wow! That one would have never come up in my debugging checklist. Glad you figured it out. And welcome to the club! ST is a fun game.

Stern Star Trek pro.

Right upper flipper is it suppose to have an EOS switch?

Mine doesn’t and i can’t find where it would have been wired into as i don’t see any extra or loose wires.

I'm out of town now and can't double check, but I don't believe so.

Do any games with a dual flipper config have the switch on the second flipper? Not sure either, but I don't see why they would.

Back in the club! Shout out to Kingpin for the LE, it was originally Spooky’s personal LE, then Chris had it a while, and now it’s mine. Also shout out to Tilt Topper for helping me on how to re-wire the topper!

D2BEE250-75B1-4C47-BE4F-C1232F8FDAA7 (resized).jpeg

Having just stripped my entire machine, I can tell you my premium does NOT have an eos switch on the upper flipper.

There is no Eos switch on the upper flipper. I had a broken Eos on an lower flipper and didn't notice some time. The Eos is just to prevent a flipper moving down on ball impact while hold power an trapping a ball. The hold power will switch on after time even with a broken eos. So no need on upper flipper. Other machines also use eos on upper flippers...

Does anyone else here have the lighted magnetic hinge covers from Lighted Pinball Mods? I just got mine on the mail and the font is all stretched out. If they're all like that, I'll live with it, but if mine was just a mistake and others' are in the normal aspect ratio, I might inquire about a replacement...

This is what the website has:
star-trek-stern-hinge (resized).jpg

This is how mine look, and no, the image has not been stretched.
20210211_160305 (resized).jpg

Looking at them closely and at two different angles. They look the same. Disclaimer: I wear cheap sunglasses. Lol

Could be because they don't like being on a Star Wars pin.

If I had purchased those, they would be going back. That looks nothing like the picture advertised.

Thanks, yeah... I've reached out to support, hoping to either exchange this one for one that looks like the one in the picture, or else for a refund.

(I was actually hoping to get their RGB lighted shooter plate, but let's see how this resolves first...)

Thanks kindly!

OK,
I replaced the auto launch coil and no change. A recap...
New coil, spring, sleeve, no binding found. Installed clips to eliminate side to side play in linkage, adjusted fork so perfect and equal contact with ball.
Shoots nice to the pops for roughly first dozen times then starts to get weak. After a couple dozen times, it can barley make it to the playfield! Coil barely gets warm. WTF is going on? Spoke to a tech at Pinball Classics and he said it's extremely unlikely that it's the driver board. He told me to check for binding. There is none. So what now?

Could it be a bad IDC connector just causing enough resistance to affect things only after coil warms up slightly? I'm reaching now!

Turn on the game, start a game, but don’t launch the ball. Let it sit like that for about 30 minutes. Then launch the ball. What happens?

I’m assuming the first launch after sitting like that will be very soft, but let’s do the experiment first to see.

The thing I’m checking here is, is it with usage, or not. The reason to put the game in that state is so everything is powered. Make sure the coin door is shut, and the game is started, but not launched.

Thank you for responding!!
I tried what you said and you were right! It happens just from being turned on, not from usage! My previous tests were from a cold startup. So what does this mean? I would assume a board problem after all then?

Can you check the control transistor temperature at start, then after 30min? (do you have an IR temperature reader?)

Alternatively, put a fan toward this transistor to cool it (its not a solution, it's a test )

Also, can you measure if you have a leakage current in the coil even when it's not used

Thank you!
I will check this tomorrow after I get up... I'm on night shift this week. I have an amp meter, so I will check for leakage. I don't have an IR temp reader, but may be able to borrow one, but it won't be for another week or so. Keep in mind that this coil does not use a diode. I'll touch test the transistor (Q2). I'll post here when I have something for you!
Question??
MOSFET transistors don't have a predriver transistor like on the old system 11 boards, correct?

I installed the Pinball-Mods red laser upgrade mod on my STLE today. Very nice improvement over the stock laser and Klingon multiball is super intense. Installation was straightforward.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cKKEwsI36AXfSVAqCbMVYaHzuXf7UHMN/view?usp=drivesdk

I assume this is a video, but it's blocked

How is this installed ? Do you need to draw power from another location ? Also would be interested if there's a wattage level on the laser sticker (the original laser is supposed to be 200mw, but that's before the lens, and I'm not sure it actually delivers that)

I have one also, but haven't took the time to install. Sounds like I need to make it happen. With the stock laser I don't notice it much. I'm looking for that WOW factor, I guess.

I shared the link publicly, try now. Install takes about an hour, it’s all plug and play and completely reversible. The laser has a decal with specifications on it. Great mod and definitely brighter than the stock laser.

http://pinball-mods.com/oscom/modifications-bolt-on-mods-star-trek-laser-upgrade-p-40.html

I just installed mine. Less than an hour. More Dots, Bigger Dots and Brighter too. I tested light before putting apron on, good thing. Only because I was trying so hard it took me 5 game before getting Klingon Multiball. Man I sux. Thanks for posting, it got me motivate.

Don’t bother if it’s the one I’ve seen in person they are cheap 3D printed shite.

Nice, feels good to have that done, for sure. I might put some black electrical tape near the bottom of the apron as some of the laser light is hitting the left flipper bat. I never get sick of looking at and playing this masterpiece of a pin!

Well, I finally got time to try and fix the problem with the center lane lockup and the frenetic warp awards......I didn't really DO anything, just reseated and wiggled some of the connecters in the back box, and it seems like the game is working fine again. wierd. What I really do need to do is figure out how to fix the left orbit switch to register so I can get the 'hold down the flipper skill shot' option back. there's two wires coming off of that assembly....which is terribly hard to get to btw, and they lead back under the playfield....I guess I should trace them to whatever they connect to and see if the connection is good. Excellent job for valentines evening, my sweety love her some Star Trek!

The laser is installed on the same wiring harness as the original laser. See the install docs.
The difference is that our modules are not laser pointers; but actual red laser modules. So they require a regulated 5V source instead of the zener/resistor regulator used on the stock laser (under the apron).

Red laser pointers cannot exceed 5mW so 200mW isn't likely on the original.

You also won't find a power sticker on our modules. I know you are going to ask; but the warning on our product page is all I'm going to say on the matter:
http://pinball-mods.com/oscom/modifications-bolt-on-mods-star-trek-laser-upgrade-p-40.html

That would be correct. MOSFETs are voltage devices; were BJTs are current devices. The Gate of a mosfet is an insulator; so they only need to charge the capacitor of the gate. BJT needs a beta's current to maintain the current flow between the Collector and Emitter.

Always check the schematic; as MOSFETs may have a "inverting buffer" to use a different polarity in the application circuit.

Thank you!