I'm not just twisting wires, maybe I used the wrong terminology but I cut the wires, peeled them back and connected them, and then applied solder to make a solid connection. I then had a rubber heat wrap tubbing and sealed the connection back together again. In my pictures, I show what it looks like before I apply the heat. It's honestly a solid connection and not a hack.

But if you are already breaking out the solder pen, why not solder directly to the terminal lugs and eliminate the Splice? Makes no sense, sorry.

Maybe every situation is different, but on my machine I also soldered to the Saucer board the AIQ shooter Rod. So this section already has so many wires coming out of it. It just didn't make sense to try to unsolder all of them just to attach these 4. It really was easier, still a solid connection and I simply did it right.

Look if you don't like what I did on my machine that's your opinion, and our entitled to that; but for me and maybe someone else like me, I'm certain they'll find it easier to cut and solder back not at the board. As long as they solder it back together instead of just twisting, and use a shrink heat wrap they'll be fine. I think the cost to entry for this clear bumper mod is a bit high for most people and I'm simply offering them another alternative solution that works and is safe if done right.

This is what my setup looks like, notice how tight and how many wires are attached to this board.

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It's your game. Hack it up all you want.

I will, thanks for the support. It works perfectly by the way

Yeah but you introduced extra points of failure for no reason other than laziness. My only issue is trying to convince others to do a hack when they could learn how to do it the proper way.

I'm not trying to convince anyone to do anything, just offering an alternative solution. Your opinion that it's a hack is just that, an opinion. If done properly, splicing and soldering wires and properly covering them up is perfectly acceptable in your everyday electronic repair.

As mentioned everyone's PIN situation might be different and given the information I laid out, that my AIQ shooter rod was already soldered on here. In my situation it didn't make sense and again it's your opinion that it was just laziness on my part. It was about what worked best for me and given my skillset I saw absolutely nothing wrong with it.

Have a nice evening.

Ask anyone who has worked on pins for a significant time if splicing wires when a solder lug is inches away is a good idea and you will see it is not an opinion, its a hack. Others stated the same thing after me. And you stated you were going to post a guide, which is exactly trying to convince others. Like I say do what you want to your game though.

I think both are fine. The splice with solder and heat tubing is A-OK by me. I've seen it many times before. If you know pins, you'll know what's going on if you end up with a similar machine. If done correctly, it's not really a point of failure.

I have fixed soldered splices that have been points of failure. Mostly when it flexes wires can break right below at the solder point. May not happen for years, but it can happen. I would not splice unless absolutely necessary, and especially not when a lug is inches away.

When we all tire of GZ in a few years and there are hundreds on the market. People will have choices. When people look under your PF they will choose someone else's machine.

If you're soldering the connection shown here, and covering with heat shrink, that's a perfectly good fix. These look fine, honestly. I'd have no issue with this type of repair.

Now, given that you're soldering, it's really no different that soldering to the bus bar, but that's a small detail. Either way, you gotta solder these leads. No shortcuts there.

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Answer this question honestly: if someone needs to check all their coils out of circuit and decides to cut the wires 3" back from the solder lug and splice the wires back in and you look under the hood to consider buying said pin, would you say it's hacked up?

My pop bumper is just a bit too sensitive because the right sling will set it off sometimes. What should I be adjusting on the pop?

I wouldn’t if the wires were properly soldered and covered with heat shrink. Not a hack at all. Interesting decision in this case, but totally fine. Splicing is usually used for when wires need to be extended.

You need to adjust the spoon switch under the pop bumper. This is a sensitive job. Just the slightest of tweaks here. It's best to use a leaf adjustment tool (pic below) for this. You can use needle nose pliers, but there's not a lot of room to grab the individual blade and ever-so-slightly twist it to increase the distance between the contact points. This is a common repair, and it's good to learn how. Be advised: you can screw up leaf switches pretty quickly if you don't know what you're doing. Novices tend to bend the various leafs in the switch WAY too much. Be super-light in your touch, and only slightly bend one leaf in the desired direction. Good luck.

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Interesting. Anyone I know would ask why the wires are all hacked and would reconsider a full price offer. Most issues I fix when restoring games stem from someone's prior work and hacked wires and connectors. I have not had to fix an untouched wire unless it has been pinched.

Also this is my point as well, there is really no need in this case. Anyway, like I say, do whatever you want to your own game but I would discourage splicing wires when there is no need to do so and it could affect a future sale.
Enough on this though, let's get back to GZ and how great this pin is.
Question, am I the only one who has a really hard time hitting the Maser target directly from the flipper? Wondering if I need to adjust my flippers as it is almost impossible.

Right, just look at all the AC/DCs, Metallica's, and Adams Family's on the market.

I find cupping then attempting the shot from the right flipper gives me a hit without draining left ~70% of the time.
With the ball moving tho, it’s a tough shot to make for me intentionally without just getting lucky.

If the flippers are on the dots, I don’t adjust.
Perhaps increasing or decreasing pitch Slightly might make that shot more accessible… ?

Some shots are harder than others. Steve Ritchie plug. Play better.

I adjusted the Maser target switch contacts. Felt like I wasn't getting credit for hitting it most of the time. Big improvement.

Offer less because two wires are spliced. Try it and let me know what happens.

If it was multiple hacked wires I would simply pass and leave it for someone else to deal with. Again, do what you want with your game. Burn it down if that makes you happy, but if you are splicing 3" away from a solder point I question your judgment and will likely find many other questionable "repairs". Speaking from experience.

Am I missing anything else?

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Need some help. Have had my Premium for two weeks and out of the box had problems with the building not always detecting balls entering the VUK. As suggested in this thread I completely replaced the opto in the VUK with a new transmitter and receiver. I was sceptical as the "old" opto was working fine when testing it. The problem is still occouring. About every five times a ball enters the VUK it isn´t detected and stays in the trough. Eventually the game goes to ball search, where as the VUK-coil sends the ball up to the top. Sometimes the game recognise the ball in this situation and sometimes not (making the game go further into ball search which results in the balls on top of the building going SDTM).

Are there more optos involved that I need to check? Is it possibly something else?

On the pinball show podcast they just talked about the same issue. It sounds like the ball when it comes to rest not fully breaking the beam and keeping the opto closed. I think he mentioned the gap from the subway to the vuk being the issue.

One thing you might try is reversing the positions of the transmitter and recieve optos on the VUK. (rarely) odd reflections and light can interfere with ball detection. Reversing the positions of these 2 LEDs might solve that problem. Worth a try.

I was thinking about something like that, but thought the space was too narrow. When inspecting more carefully I now realise it can actually be just about enough for the ball to stay out of the opto-beam. In order to shorten the space I went ahead and bent the lip where the ball comes down into the subway (se Photo 1) and moved the entire subway further towards the VUK-kicker (se Photo 2). First try worked fine with three balls in a row. I will report back after more testing!
Photo 1Photo 2

UPDATE: My problems got 99% solved by the solution.

Alternative solution which doesn't require moving the trough: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stern-godzilla-official-owners-club/page/316#post-7199283

Awesome!

My opinion on some cool mods is to reduce the amount 3D printed ones.
The Art of Pinball has resin cast popbumper UFO and Mechagodzilla rotating ramp covers.
I just ordered Oxygen Destroyer from High end mods. And resin cast Mothra from Pinball life. About to install Pinstadium Neo Atom Fusion.
And the Neon Sign from Stumblor Pinball has a wait list that you can get on.

And adding invisible glass and speakers are a great way to go first since that can cost the same amount as some 3D printed stuff.

But that's just me.

Enjoy this awesome game dude!!

I believe in them, too.

Think I remember now of a pic you posted of that. Is that just a standard size dome, or Stern specific? Haven't bought LEDS or anything for quite some time. Out of the parts loop so to speak these days.

..

Stern snaps one side off , I saw no reason to. Attaches with 1 bolt

This made me lol pretty good.

As I read all that, I’m like, cmon dude just let it go already. I feel like saying… ummm, you don’t even have to solder if your heat shrinking..
(Ducks and covers) haha

After I took a closer look, my clear coat is also “orange peeled”. By comparison, I have a JJP Wonka next to GZ. Looking at the reflection of my overhead spot lighting in that playfield, it’s a mirror like surface and I can clearly see the light fixture and it’s details. On the GZ playfield, the reflection of the same fixture is a round blob and there is a bumpy, orange peely pattern visible. Not sure if this is normal or typical for modern Sterns. Also not sure if it matters in a functional sense. Any insight or comparisons appreciated.

Pics aren’t super clear compared to what I’m seeing with my eye, but it can give you an idea.

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Getting really frustrated with wallop shot going SDTM, I turned my ball saves up to 3 but that's the max. I guess I just need to try and not hit that shot but a double super jackpot shot that immediately drains the ball is kind of a bummer to me.

I don't have this problem with my machine. I mean it happens sometimes but not common enough that I worry about it. Side to side tweak of the leveling may help.

I think Stern went with a thinner clear coat to help alleviate any bubbling that will lead to playfield chipping, so dimpling "orange peel effect" will be more noticeable but that is only going to happen over time anyway and will eventually all even out as the machine gets played. IMHO much rather have the dimpling then the artwork stripping off the playfield from bubbled clear coating.

6” figure 20 bucks if anyone is interested

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The building on our Premium just started sticking in the fully down position.
So if we start Godzilla Multiball, the building will go all the way down and release the balls. But the building will get stuck and you can hear the motor trying to raise it back up. If you can hit the building with a ball it will unstick the building and it will raise up.
It is like the building is leaning to far forward and is catching on something.
If we raise the playfield and put it in test mode it of course works fine because gravity is pulling the building towards the back of the game.
Is there a way to adjust the building further back a bit?

My November run godzilla has one of the best playfields I've ever had on a stern pin. Still looks great with very minimal dimples and has a nice shine to it still.
The clear is for sure thinner but it really looks great.

Only a Godzilla mother could love him

I'm sure you've already played with your leveling, but just an anecdote to give you hope - my wallop shot only 25% aims for STDM, so the two ball saves you are awarded seem generous on my machine. The majority of the time the wallop is easily savable by the left flipper for me.

Yeah rechecked my level and was shooting with the glass off and just aiming for that shot and was more often than not going SDTM so I don't know. I saw someone used some sort of thinly padded tape on a scoop, I thought it was this thread but can't find the post. Maybe something like that at the very back of the turn around would slow down or redirect the ball just enough to be able to save it.

If anyone knows or remembers what that tape was I would appreciate it, thanks.

For the win lol

Dimples and orange peel are two different things. I am fine with dimples as long as there is enough clearcoat to protect the playfield. The problem is that the orange peel is a sign of insufficient or improper mixing of the clear, poor atomization of the spray pattern during application or bad record timing.
I'm afraid that the clearcoat is not going to hold up, especially since my shooter lane is chipping with 300 games on it...

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Cool Corvette name. I'm currently on my 6th one, a 2020. I met Zora at an NCRS event in 1988...even have his name on my personalized plate.

It will hold up. The shooter lane damage early on is typical and is almost always isolated to that one spot.

Mylar up and reduce the trough eject power and it shouldn’t get any worse.