In the club with a Star Trek Pro. Absolutely loving this game so far! This might just be my favorite pinball layout, and the sound and light show is great at home especially hooked up to an external sub.

Question for the other Pro owners, was the factory GI lighting all white or did they have some color GI mixed in in the slings, lanes, etc? Mine has a lot of blue and purple and I'd like to convert it back to factory. Thinking either cool white or sunlight Comet leds.

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I put in cool whites. Took out most of the blue and purple. Not sure if it was factory. Was too dark.

Thanks! I think cool would probably work best on this game as well. The blues and purples aren't terrible but the game is darker than I prefer.

Congrats, that’s a beautiful machine. I love my Premium ST. It is a great Steve Ritchie layout. And for sure has the best light show I’ve seen yet. Can you give any details on how to hook up an external sub?

That’s an aftermarket translite you have. I have that one but it’s not in my machine currently. Honestly I couldn’t figure out how to get the old one out and didn’t want to break the trim.

When I purchased my Star Trek in 2017 I purchased Alpha & Beta ramp protectors from paradise pinball https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stern-star-trek-alpha-beta-quadrant-ramp-protectors and Cliffy protectors for the Warp Ramp. These Protectors cover the tops of the ramps.

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Thank you! I just run speaker wire from the cabinet speaker wire terminals. You can direct solder or use banana clips. You then just need to run these wires direct to the speaker wire inputs on an external sub running the wire through the mesh in the bottom rear of the cabinet. It takes about 5 minutes once you know what you're doing.

I usually don't like alternate translites but I think this one is a nice improvement over the original. The original one shouldn't be too hard to remove from the original glass. Usually you just need to remove a little tape from the slide in trim and then slide the trim off of the glass.

Thanks, maybe I missed that there was tape on it. I pulled and pulled at the trim and no go. Another one, a Terminator 2, the trim is always falling off. Maybe that one needs tape haha.

That sucks. Mine is busted on the left side. I'll need a replacement as well. Maybe if we all bug Marco they'll get in another batch.

FYI update - Marco says they’ve been on order for a while, & they expect to get more in just waiting on Stern.

AFAIK; Stern is the only source for Art / Ramps / oem Parts for Stern Star Trek.

And Stern won't sell parts to anyone other than distributors.

PM sent

Fellow Trekkies, which spring goes there?

It’s to push the ship back up.

Is it this one? https://www.pinballlife.com/pop-bumper-spring-large.html

Thanks

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That may work.

Looking in the Star Trek Manual on page 30 it shows part number 266-5020-00 for item #17 conical spring. I think this is the same thing you are showing.
https://sternpinball.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Star-Trek-LE-Manual.pdf#page=30

If so Marco has them in stock for 99 cents.
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/266-5020-00

I already ordered the one from pinball life.

I'll see if it works.

But I guess after owning the game since NIB from 2012, that it has come time to replace that spring. My ship, when it goes down, isn't really moving at all back up.

When I took the ship apart a couple months ago to add the vengeance light mod I don't think it's the solenoid spring responsible for bringing the ship back to the home position. It's the 2 springs, one on each side that that stretch out and pull it back to home once that small solenoid with the magnet engages. Cleaning the track it slides in might be all you need to do to get it to work again. Could just be getting dirty so doesn't slide as easily as it used too.

My ship mechs probably need cleaning too. It moves fine but it doesn’t seem to ‘crash’ and stay latched down. The latch and ship both test fine in the menu. And it’s blown the Q53 transistor once - seemed to be when the ship got ‘stuck’ somehow. I’m just going to take it all apart, make sure it all works good, and new coil sleeves.

Mine is going down fine, takes the hit fine. It’s the return back to home that is slow.

I tested it with the game on, the spring was just taking its time going back to home after the lock released.

I know it's very late in the game to be looking but does anyone have any pictures of Stern Art Blades for this game? I am considering a purchase and started looking for some accessories but I don't think I have seen any that are Stern specific accessories. Did Stern make many/any for this game?

No. Stern did not make any art for Stern Star Trek outside of the game. Back then; they were just making games. No "insider" bullshit or toppers.

Wow, Insider bullshit? Not a topper guy but I thought most people liked insider connected? I like art blades, side armor, and insider connected if that even counts at this point. You know you don't have to use it right?

Stern upselling mods which could have been supported by the community is bullshit. There was a thriving topper biz before any they just wanted their piece. Now look at the topper market... Waiting years for a possible reveal and stupid prices and people just jump right in. Ridiculous.

Now Spooky and just about everyone else some form of an "insider" club to boost their bottom line.

One of the many reasons I don't by Stern machines any longer.

Should we be greasing this track?

Thoughts?

Thanks!

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I usually go by the rule - metal on metal = grease or lube... metal on plastic = no lube. Is it mentioned in the manual?

I didn't see anything.

Before I grease it, I wanted to see what others have said.

I'd imagine, it will only move easier.

Lube is generally bad in pinball machines, unless specifically recommended for very specific points.

Grease and Oil pick up the dust and soot generated by the coils & rubber wear and turns into a thick toothpaste like consistency glob which then binds everything and prevents full/rapid movement. A nightmare to clean as well. As has been stated metal on plastic should stay dry with no lube, unless specified in the manual.

I suppose you could also make sure the surfaces are smooth and without any burs or rough edges. If anything you could do a small amount of graphite without making a big mess or creating a dirt magnet.

The ship came with lube on my LE IIRC.

If anything, I'd consider mirror blades for ST. Have them on mine and really like the effect.

Has anyone tried the Precision Pinball flippers on a ST? My upper flipper can rarely make the warp ramp shot due to either bouncing out of the pops or possibly under-powered. I'd like to see if anyone has installed them and do they make a difference in more easily hitting the warp ramp? Also what color did you get that worked well with the ST color pallette? thx!

Mirror blades all the way. Have them in mine and they look great. I really wasn’t impressed with the art blades that were available in the past.

Ahhhhhhh

I put a new spring on the drop target and now I’m getting phantom hits.

How do I fix?

The ledge that holds the drop target up needs to be slightly thicker. Either put two thin washers behind it or cut the shape out of an old credit card and slip behind it. There’s posts in this thread about how to do so if you search.

It’s been like that since I got it.

Maybe I’ll just throw a new ledge on (I have extra).

This is a very common issue, and Stern published a fix several years ago focusing on the washers. A new ledge alone (without the washers) may not solve the problem, but you can try.

I put two small square pieces of mylar instead of the washers. For me the washers were too thick and the drop target wouldn't fall down half the time with direct hard hits.

Yep. You need to find the balance that works right for your machine.

Anyone willing to share their experience and/or recommendation for an audio upgrade? Just picked up an LE and want to really immerse in the audio as well. I’ve used Pinwoofer in some of my other games, and always been very happy. However, have not upgraded a SAM game and therefore not familiar with the best options. Thanks in advance!

Quick, easy, and relatively cheap to hook up an external subwoofer, like a Polk PSW10.

In my Stern Star Trek Pro, I installed a Flipper Fidelity speaker set.
https://flipperfidelity.com/complete-8-speaker-set-for-stern-and-sega-machines/

I also installed a PINsub board to allow easy connection to an external subwoofer.
https://pinnovators.myshopify.com/collections/stern-subwoofer-kits/products/pinsub-sam-stern-kit

I also put FF in my ST pro. Great improvement.

Got my drop target working properly again.

First step, I had replaced the spring. Then the target would crazy during play.

I took target out, I already had the washers underneath the ledge.

So I tried different thickness washers. Nothing. Target still going nuts.

So I decided to try a new ledge. Now it works perfectly.

The old ledge looked fine, but maybe it wore down just enough that it wasn't sitting right.

So happy to have the game working for my super bowl party later.

Recently picked up a very nice LE - really enjoying it so far. Seems to have the original flippers - was thinking about ordering the rebuild kits. Not sure if the older Sterns are as problematic as the newer? Lots of gold dust in the bottom of the cabinet, so I figured can’t hurt. Another question - I usually turn down the shooter lane trough eject on my new games. Can’t find the setting to do that on this game. Is there a way to turn it down a bit? Seems like the balls kick up with quite a bit of force…

I don’t think you can change trough power. Put down Mylar and cliffy.

Any have an extra plastic #12 (pro or premium)?

Thanks everyone.

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What's wrong with yours? Looks fine to me (unless that isn't yours I guess). I'm only seeing full sets any most are OOS. EBay is your best bet for one piece.

Edit: just so you know they never connected above the Black Hole (to plastic #21).

Hi,
Just checking, was this ever released by anyone?
Thanks

It’s cracked just above the screw on the bottom end. I’m only seeing full sets as well.
The search continues!