About to get a NIB Premium Vault. In May.

That left VUK Cliffy is a pita to install. I had to remove a bunch of parts. Worth it

I have had my Premium about a week and I have noticed that on the final shot for Sudden Death, the Vengeance fires the ball out as the drop target pops up with the result of the ball flying into the glass. This seems to happen fairly consistently and I am running 1.62 software. Is this normal?

So, is the only solution to install a protector? I was just wondering if this is the way it is...

OK, so I have played it a bunch more and it usually doesn't hit the glass, but it can fire out of the Vengeance into the drop so hard that it gets some serious air.

There is a solenoid plunger in the back of the Vengeance ball lock area that fires back the ball during certain play modes. The drop target stays down in that case so that there is no interference. What I am saying is that during a certain mode, Sudden Death, the ball is sometimes forcefully fired back out along with the drop target going back up as if to lock the ball. If the timing is right, the ball will strike the upper edge of the rising drop target, launching the ball up and towards the player, hitting the glass. I tried reflashing the the latest code, but it still occasionally happens.

That's pretty cool. Mine was made in 2015. Is there any difference in machine from then to now? Any manufacturing updates?

No allenheads on mine. The same backbox bolts as the new games.

Where to get engage button?

I am wondering what this is. It was in the coin box of my recently acquired HOU SWP. Aftermarket 3D printed something.

IMG_20190403_110933.jpg

That's interesting... Where does it mount? I can't visualize the part in place.
The warp ramp is a hard shot, but it is totally doable. I don't see how this would have any advantage.

Thanks for the info on this.

The most I have gotten is 4 in a row.

It's posted in this thread a few pages ago...

Having an issue with the 1.62 code with movie sounds. The bugs that were supposedly fixed in 1.61 with the missions not being completed and next mission being able to be selected while in multi player games are still present. Has anyone else had this problem after updating to 1.62 with movie music? Also, what can be done to fix the laser button? The switch seems to be intermittent. Does any know of a good replacement laser?

The switch gap is fine. It's a software bug as it only happens on multi-player games and the ability to select a mission is not lit on the playfield even though the previous mission was completed. Works fine on single player. I am looking for a red laser.

I have Stern sw along with star trek.

Love it. Missing the speaker panel, though..

MVIMG_20190515_132505 (resized).jpg

Can someone straighten out how the shields standups work? If I hit both standups in the same ball after already going down the left outlane and having it work properly (it kicks back) after that the kickback does not light up even after hitting the standups again although it does at the start of each ball. Is it only supposed to work once per ball regardless of how many times you hit the standups?

I love the sound on tna. What exactly did you get and how did you install?

The drop target is directly over the right flipper. I don't see how it can go sdtm if the playfield is level. How are you checking to see if it's level?

The drop target pushing the ball back is normal due to the shape of the target. If the playfield is level it shouldn't sdtm.

Stern uses hot glue.

Yes, excellent call.

I just experienced what I think is a code glitch, please let me know if that's the case or if this is normal-
I completed Prime Directive 1, then selected PD 2 but it would not finish. I got to what appeared to be the end of the mode, shot away team, and then was taken back to PD 2 as if it was never started. Finished that mode, so it would seem, only to have the same thing happen after shooting the Mission select hole and then selecting PD 2 again. As the mode timed out, all ramps and targets were off. I then shot away team again and selected Space Jump, which played normally. I attempted to complete that mode with the idea that I would then select PD 2 again, but drained on the last ball. Any ideas on this? I am running the latest stock code 1.62.

Also- Can someone explain to me how the Shields standups are supposed to work? Relighting them after having the ball get saved by the outlane plunger has no effect.

Interesting on the warp ramp, but if the mode was not completed, why was the select mission hole lit? Thanks for the info on the standups.

Ahh. That could be it. I thought that it behaved as PD1 with regards to timing out. IOW, that PD 3 would be available to select at that point.

Don't all vault machines have the plaque?

Should be free. CBS All Access. It's actually CBS pay-to-access. Forget it.

Cliff makes outlane protectors for the Sterns, too.

Edit- I see you know that after reading the blog. I haven't had any wear on the left edge, but there was some on the upper edge. I will keep an eye on it. The Cliffy has been working pretty good so far.

Thinking of getting one of these, but it would be LED this time. My TSPP has the LCD.

Pinball life is where I order stuff from.

Or you can be Captain Hook.

For sale: Star Trek Pro half assembled.

The ramps can crack. Check for insert ghosting and separation. There is one guy who has posted how his has held up over many plays while on route, I am sure you have seen that.

Except that Star Trek is not a spike 2 game.

I had an issue with that code that was supposed to have been fixed, which was that in multi-player games, the modes would not advance or complete properly. Can you test this and see if it works properly?

Yes, the modded 1.62 with movie music code.

The manual calls for locktite on all screws on the Vengeance ship. Use a new, proper sized screwdriver and be careful.

If the coil windings have lost some integrity when the event that caused the sleeve to melt into the coil occurred, then yes.

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/all-3m-products/~/3M-Super-77-Multipurpose-Spray-Adhesive/?N=5002385+3293242460&rt=rud

First, don't shorten the spring as it was designed to be the length it is. I would suspect this to be an opto issue. Try reseating the connectors and ensuring that the opto units are positioned correctly and secure.

I don't see how these could be not available since Stern just did a vault run on these machines. I would try calling Stern and see what they say.

That is expected and now the distro knows you called Stern. Sometimes that's what it takes for them to actually get a part. I have had that happen more than once.

You need to call Marco on the phone, maybe call Stern first to get the part number. It should be available.

Does it work in test mode?

Follow this man's advice. He knows the workings of the machine very well.

How do you get the Special to light up on the Premium?

On my Premium I noticed now that if I finish a mode, say DTD 1, and I have Vengeance MB ready to go and then drain the ball, I don't have the option of picking a new mode at ball launch. The only way to start a new mode is by shooting the Away Team shot or the scoop. Is this normal?

Must try.

Hahaha. Had a good laugh on that one.

Regarding the ball getting stuck up at the pops-
I removed the screw and started getting balls stuck. My solution was to make the lowest pop bumper switch more sensitive. I did this not by reducing the switch gap, but by reducing the preload of the spoon switch. Now the ball will trigger the pop way more often and even a very slow ball rolling into the switch will trigger the pop. This also increased the action of the pops in general.

I will do my best to explain. The skirt switch has too much spring pressure and a very slow ball will not close the circuit, even if the switch gap is minimized. My goal was to lessen the force needed to activate the bumper so that a slow ball will have enough force to overcome the spring tension and close the circuit and activate the bumper. A large amount of spring tension resides in the spoon switch contact itself. All I had to do was reduce that tension a bit by bending it ever so slightly so that it no longer presented a strong spring resistance to the skirt. Now the skirt will move down, close the switch and activate the pop when a ball very slowly rolls into it. Ideally, the pop should activate whenever a ball even rests against the skirt, but I have found that achieving that sensitivity of adjustment and not having machine gunning is next to impossible.

Yes it is there to prevent stuck balls.

I wrote about this earlier. My solution was to adjust the lowest position pop to be more sensitive by lowering the spring tension of the spoon switch by adjusting it. The ball will activate the bumper with hardly any momentum and very rarely gets stuck, even without the screw there, which I have removed.

The flashers are used during attract mode, I haven't noticed them in play. What causes them to flash in play?

Oh, those flashers...

The screw is not installed with anything on it. Just a bare screw.

You will probably find many loosened screws throughout the machine. They do cause issues like this and really need to be tightened occasionally.

Premium has the laser, Pro does not.

I have seen them misaligned. You can take the lower arch cover off and bend the bracket if you need to.

The stock laser is made from a laser pointer, a cheap item, and mine started to flicker badly due to the switch malfunctioning. I went with Zitt's laser mod and it works great now.

http://tiltforums.com/t/star-trek-wiki/456

I don't get why it would be difficult to source pretty much any part for this machine. They just finished the vault version. Stern has loads of parts.

If you do contact Stern they will most likely tell you to contact your distro. However, Marco and others can certainly get any part that Stern makes.

You might want to clean up that shooter lane.

Novus 2 is the recommended polish/cleaner.

Increase the spinner value.

That hole is for a simple screw, no post. The idea is that it stops the ball hang.

Check that the standup target at the end of the rail isn't deflecting the ball.

Your speaker panel is excellent. It almost looks to be illuminated. My Premium that I bought used had your kit, minus that panel that I then got from you. The entire kit is awesome and makes the machine.

This has me thinking. The spinner switch actuating arm on the switch is a major source of friction. I am going to look for a small piece of teflon tubing to fit over the end of the actuating arm so that there is no metal to metal contact between the switch and spinner. That ought to make it rip.

One thing to understand about the connectors is that they are rated for only a few disconnects and reconnects. In other words, they wear out. The conductive layer gets thin and current doesn't flow as well.

You might as well play with the glass off.

All I can say is--- Glad I got mine!!! Hahahahahahaha!!!!

There is another skill shot. Hold the right flipper and launch the ball with the button. The right gate will stay open and the ball will come back down to the right. Hit the upper right flipper for the warp ramp. Big payoff.

The hold the right flipper button to warp ramp shot is 1,500,000.

If people were paying 100 for it, do you have to ask?

You can bend it back. Just remove the two small screws near the flap and you can lift it a small amount and fit a small support under the flap and reshape it.

Since the pin is so recent, Stern has loads of all the parts. Just contact a distributor.

The pro has no laser. Best part of the game.

Diagnostic, test, coils, single coil, laser. Number 21 or 22.

Stern has every part for this machine. Check with a distributor.

Curious as to what is wrong with your playfield...

That is a big job. Stern should send a populated pf instead and have you ship the old one back.

And then you get a cool wall hanging.

I have known people who have stripped playfields and when they are reassembled, have "mystery" problems. The actual work isn't too bad, but putting everything back where it was is the big challenge.

Find the real reason why that is happening.

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

The connectors and pins will not tolerate repeated reseating. The pins are plated and the plating wears out.

Here is the info on electronic connector durability.
https://www.electronics-notes.com/articles/electronic_components/connectors/specifications-parameters-datasheet.php

Excuse me, are those aluminum flippers?

I had no idea there were so many ST movies.

I have found that a full rack of torpedos fired at the Vengeance while in the V1 multiball will always bring it down.

Why 7? Have you tried the recommended 6.5?

It is taken straight from the movie. It sounds like Kai, the subtitles say Kahn.

Make sure that the spinner shaft is free to rotate on the frame. You might indeed need to use a tiny amount of light oil on the contact points. As far as the magnet, yes it can be raised or lowered from under the playfield.. It is secured with large nuts.

That happens from time to time. Hit it hard and it just bounces the ball back without dropping.

That is a splice connector

Opto or switch problem in the trough.

I would sell my Premium for 19999.99

Cancel the laser? Could you clarify this?

This double flip to cancel the laser doesn't cancel it, BTW.

Good work on that and thanks for updating!

Why didn't you download it from Stern?

I am 6 foot 4 and I run all the feet out to the top on all my machines so my back doesn't hunch over. With all the adjusters out the same I get the recommended angle on the playfield.

Have you tried contacting him?

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

Attract mode only.

Stern won't sell parts to anyone other than a distributor.

I have never seen the special and I have had my Premium for 4 years now.

He has said that he has uploaded the files to somewhere that you can get them, not sure where.

I had a problem with a shaker running constantly and it was a short solder blob on the motor itself. If you have another machine, try connecting the shaker to that one and see if it still runs.

Those spotlights only flash during attract mode. They never illuminate during gameplay.

I know, right? The Premium I bought didn't have them so I added them and found out they do nothing.