Hi all! My balls (haha) keep getting stuck beneath the demegorgon head and not popping out to the left. The game then starts looking for balls...any idea what needs to be adjusted? Joe

They might be getting hung up in the one-way gate? There are some posts in here about the gate needing adjustment and / or falling off.

Anyone with the new run of pros feel like their demo needs adjusted? Last night I played a few games and went 5 for 6 off traps from the right flipper. Wife has been making the shot reasonably often. Not easy to sink if you don't trap and I don't have a good feel for how it's been going from the left flipper, but I wonder if they changed how they've assembled the mech? Haven't inspected it closely to see if the spacers are still there.

I believe, based on early owner comments, that they have made adjustments on later runs. Mine has a good amount of back and forth play and I can hit the mouth pretty well from an accurate trapped shot. I'm not messing with mine, as of now.

Hey team. I found this broken piece inside the cabinet between the woofer and the coin box. I looked and can’t find anywhere on the underside of the playfield where it came from. I haven’t noticed anything not working on the game so no clue there.

Any ideas?

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Thanks Chuck! As I said before, you are the LTG of STh. And you don’t even own one anymore!

I can make mine rather regularly. Definitely not 5 of 6 from a trap, but I have made the shot almost every game once, sometimes more. I did lower my flipper power to the 240s range and have my playfield around 6.5-6.7 degrees. I would like it to be more consistent, but then again, I am not sure it should be a gimme either.

I am probably just going to leave it and see how it does over the longer term. I really only had an hour or so on the machine.

Taking the plunge into installing the Premium UV kit on my pro this weekend. RC_like_the_cola, thanks for the info on the 2 playfield bracket screws that I will need.

I'll just say this. When you get farther in the game being able to consistently hit the shot is super important. Imagine if you will a 6 ball multiball where the only way to collect the super is to shot the mouth shot while the ramp is going up and down every second. Good luck.

The shot is never a gimme but if you get the timing down you should be able to reliably hit the shot from a cradle and on the fly. Ever since "fixing" it the only shots I miss are the ones I know were off. That's skill based not fighting the machine.

To each their own tho. I couldn't imagine playing AFM and not being able to shoot down the saucer or MM where you can't destroy the castle.

I can try the rubber/elastic band approach to see if that makes it much better. Right now, I haven't played enough to know if my shot was just off or it is just rejecting.

If it is rejecting a lot and the rubber band trick improves it, maybe I will venture to take out the mech and add washers to tilt it forward. I assume removing the mech is the hardest part of that job.

also - be careful about cutting straps to make sure things are supported before you do. the head unit comes strapped but if you just cut the strap it will flop down HARD!

Are you talking about these brackets for installing a Premium UV apron on a Pro? https://www.pinballlife.com/stern-arch-retainer-bracket.html

No, that is the old mounting for metal aprons. You will need 2 of these screws or some other #10 screws, but the head can't protrude too much or you can't seat the playfield.

https://www.pinballlife.com/stern-10-32-x-516-metal-apron-mounting-screw.html

Perfect, thanks so much!

guilty as charged. I got very lucky and no damage. I was being careful but not following the unpacking instructions close enough!

I went to Home Depot and got these for $1.28. They are 1/16th of an inch longer but when I tried them in my Jurassic Park Premium apron as a test, they worked perfectly. Looking at them, I can’t even tell that it is slightly longer.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/10-32-x-3-8-in-Phillips-Flat-Head-Stainless-Steel-Machine-Screw-4-Pack-815931/204274920
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Had the pro a few years ago. Seems game has come a long way. Have a TZ or Totan to trade. Would love a loaded pro or premium

Now I'm trying to think what I did wrong / missed when I installed the premium UV on my pro...I don't remember putting in any additional hardware. I thought I just removed the two screws from the playfield and some under playfield hardware, and tightened the premium apron threaded rods with nuts under the playfield.

You didn't do anything WRONG and it will be super simple to "fix". Your Premium metal apron is only attached by 2 of the 4 mounting points. When you lift the playfield out and just rest it on the lockdown bar area, there are those two hooks that latch into that area. If you look behind each one, there is a screw hole. For the Premium apron, put screws in there and it goes through into the apron. Now the premium apron is attached on both sides.

The Pro apron is just attached by those two center bolts.

Hope this helps.

You guys are really not good for my work productivity. All this talk on the Demo and I had to go down there and poke around. I tried the rubber band trick and sure enough, I was making most from the right flipper and some from the left flipper consistently. If it was a good shot from right flipper, it went in.

Ok, so now I lift the playfield and see the opto cable that is zip tied. It is definitely putting tension on the Demo and pulling him back a bit. To really loosen it, I will have to cut some zip ties, unplug it and then reroute a bit. They have it twisted through another bundle of wires. However, I did loosen it up a bit and the demo does seem to lean forward a tad more. Not completely resting on that hex nut, but just a little above.

I tried playing again, hitting the shot routinely from a trap on right flipper. Not quite as routine on left flipper but I am also having a harder time getting that shot just right where it is a perfect shot.

When I put the UV kit in, I will reroute that wire and see if it leans it any more forward but as of right now, it is probably close to where it should be without taking the demo apart.

Are your demogorgans resting on that front hex nut or hovering slightly above? Just curious.

Yeah, that's something to consider. I have to feel it out for making it on the fly still, as on some of the multiball modes the ability to trap and shoot is difficult at best.

Gotcha. Thanks! I figured it was an either/or mounting situation. If I don't have proper screws laying around, I gotta make a run anyways as my plastic protectors showed up yesterday and the existing lane plastic screws are a bit too short to use with those evidently...

This is not the correct fix. This was an early fix. The correct fix is to find the ideal height for the demogorgon by removing or adjusting the spacers under it and removing the spacer on the one way gate under the front of the demogorgon. There are lots of recent posts on the proper fix

Ok, noted. I was just going by what was mentioned in the key posts. I assume doing this still requires removing the demogorgan.

Right now it seems to have improved greatly by just reducing the tension on the optical cable thus letting it lean more forward. Adding the rubber band to pull it a tad more forward doesn't seem to make a noticable difference but I will continue to play with it.

the height is the problem. Sounds like yours is not as bad as some others. Mine for instance the shot was not makeable period. I basically ignored the demogorgon for 5-6 months of ownership. Seems like a lot of machines suffer from slightly low to extremely low hits on the demogorgon. The one at a local barcade is probably like yours where it's an ok shot but I've definitely seen ones that should have gone in that didn't on that machine too. Bringing it down a bit on that machine would make the shot better but the ops don't seem interested.

yes you will need to remove the demogorgon to do the fix. It's the hardest the first time because there is a screw in the demogorgon base on the top of the playfield that requires loosening the ramps to get to it. Once that is out though it's really easy to remove the demo. Just don't put that screw back in when you put it back together. It's not needed

I tried the leaning it forward fix. Put the flipper rubber back there and tried everything. It would feel like it was working then I'd put the glass back on and nope. Reducing the height is putting the demogorgon hole lower and moving where the ball hits on the bottom of the mouth which is what caused the glass hits and misses. Leaning it forward meant I had the ball hitting the bottom of the mouth, bounce up and hit the top mouth flap, then bang into the playfield. It might help a bit on those that are not as badly off as mine but it's not the same fix.

Was just down securing the prem apron. I figured I’d have a bit of time before I had to mylar the under side of the left ramp.

Seems I figured wrong, already gouging one week in.

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I can't believe they have done nothing to fix that. Contact stern tech support and ask for the decal. Hopefully it has not started cutting the ramp plastic like mine did. Definitely mylar it or something. I was thinking about using the metal duct tape I use on the ducts. The height of the ball guide that's doing the cutting really should be reduced to fix this right. 1mm lower would probably have been enough

Yeah, I'll be taking a closer look & contacting support. Just wanted to post so folks that got the newest Pros can consider adding it to their list earlier than later.

So the fix here is to remove that ramp and put some mylar underneath that area?

Thanks for the info. I assume the opto also comes out with the mech and that has to be unplugged from underneath?

I will put this on my list of something I may tinker with once I get the UV kit installed and apparently some mylar under the left ramp. Want to do those things before messing more with the demo since mine seems pretty good.

Thanks again for all the info... may need to shoot more questions your way when I get to the demogorgan tinkering.

There is one connector under the playfield that needs to be disconnected to take it completely out. It's pretty easy to find. It's one of the easier things to work on actually.

Yeah, already found it when I was trying to loosen it a bit since it was definitely pulling the demogorgan head back a bit. Just need to cut a couple zip ties to actually fish it out of there.

That’s what a few folks in here have done. I’m questioning if 1-2 mylar squares would be enough though in my case if it’s already gouged through this quickly. Maybe a little piece of felt on the guide or as suggested some metal tape.

Carbon fiber tape might be a good option. I have a replacement ramp and stickers and have not gotten around to replacing but have been looking to find something that will last. The metal tape or carbon fiber are my guesses but I have not tried yet. It's one of those.. It's a problem but I have a new ramp and graphic so in no hurry to fix items" on my list

That's exactly what happened, the gate fell off on one side! Really appreciate the help!

Got my UV kit installed tonight and put a few plays on. Now I remember why my wife likes this game so much…she beats me 9 out every 10 games.
So I’ve decided that the beacon lights don’t appeal to my taste. Maybe they were trying to keep an 80s vibe by using them, but the rest of the game looks sleek and modern…then there are the beacon lights which just seem huge atop the ramps. They just look out of place in this game IMO. Can they be removed or replaced? Even a smaller dome-style beacon would be an improvement. Just wondering if removing the beacons hoses up the game lighting?

Leaving the club, circumstantial...been a blast...what a game!

Pro coming home today! Haven’t played it since original shipping code or with a UV kit. I’m really excited.

OK the video worked...where do we get that backglass mod?

I too need to fix the beacon/flashers. I have scoured pinside and pinsites for mods and have been unsuccessful. I think they could each be different items - (D20 dice, Christmas light or a bundle of them, Dustin's hat, can of pudding, etc.

Christmas light bulb is a great idea.

All great ideas!