Hey @chuckwurt, my buddy has a Premium that I'm trying to help him with regarding his TK lock.

I read all the info about dialing in the TK lock, got all the adjustments and measurements perfect but it seems even worse now.

In the pic below there is about .5 mm of play between that black alllen head bolt (circled in yellow) and the sliding piece below it. Is that normal, or should I tighten that up? It's not mentioned in the Stern PDF. It's a pain to get to without removing the whole ramp so I'll have to get some stubby allens I think.

Inked437f18140648ea8214d699ff493cb3207cd1971e_LI (resized).jpg

Thanks for looking. I've enjoyed reading through this thread btw, lots of great info.

The diverter pivots very smoothly. My thought was the extra play from that bolt was absorbing the energy of the ball and making it not go up the ramp. It seems that the timing of the diverter is too early and it rejects the ball just as it makes the turn up the ramp. Most of the time it doesn't even start going up the diverter arm. I'll try and get a video of it today and post it.

chuckwurt Sorry it took so long but I've got a video of the play in the mech I was describing. I think most of the play is coming from the main pivot (the one with the big circlip on it). Take a look a the video and let me know if that is normal if you would please.

I adjusted the mech some more and now I'm not getting rejects at the turn, but even strong shots are only making it up the diverter arm maybe 40-50% of the time. I followed all the instructions you mentioned as well.

I tried to tighten that allen bolt at the pivot but it didn't remove any of the play in the mech really.

I moved the diverter back out some more and it is working a little bit better now. Still not great though. I put the ramp in spec with the stern pdf but I'll try moving it closer to the player and see what happens.

Update:

chuckwurt Sorry for the late reply again, haven't had much time to work on the mech.

I've got the diverter working pretty well now. I'd say about 90% are locking appropriately. I've been using a digital caliper depth gauge to get the measurement from the end of the diverter to the back wall. The measurement that is working the best for me is .790 inches.

Also lubed the rubber washer pivot with zoom spout oil, even though the pivot wasn't rough. I'm not sure if it was the precise measurement or the lube that helped the most though.

We additionally installed the flipper coil fans from pinmonk and the kit was very nice with clear instructions. Well done PinMonk !

Now that the mech is working pretty well, the enjoyment factor of the game is definitely up! The game is finicky to set up for sure, but so worth it once it's all clicking. Thanks for all the tips, suggestions and advice!

I was inspired by the post made by manadams about using a strip of cardboard on the demogorgon ramp. The mouth shot on my buddy's premium is super difficult and you could tell it was hitting low most of the time. I used a strip of heavy duty self adhesive Velcro (hook side) cut to fit the ramp. Now I'm hitting the mouth shot on 80%+ from the cradle! A huge improvement from the maybe 10% accuracy before. I'm not sure how long it will hold up but I cut extra strips out to have on hand in case it gets beat up. This improved the game so much. I can actually hit the super jackpots in Run Will and Can't Stop This now!

It would be nice to have a small self adhesive, wedge shaped piece of high durometer rubber strip to go on there. It would look a little cleaner and probably be very durable.
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I can confirm that my buddies's premium also has has the same issues as C0untDeM0net is experiencing. Sometimes the center shot doesn't register, or it will award the mystery shot instead. Not very frequent, but it does happen.

Also ever since 1.0 code, the left ramp shot also awards the left orbit shot sometimes. Weird little bugs, could it be related to code at all since so many are experiencing it?

I agree! chuckwurt has been a valuable asset to enjoying this game for a lot of people. Stern should recognize him for his service!

That looks awesome! coasterguy Have a link for the manufacturer?

I have played two pros on location, an LE on location, and my buddy's premium. I can backhand the right ramp on all of them. Not easy but it is doable and once you get the hang of it, it's repeatable.

TheCoinSlotTC

I'm interested. Can you PM me with a price?

I don't usually post scores but this was such a rush I had to. Standard settings, tight outlanes on my buddy's premium. Scored poorly on Send it Back but finished Final Showdown and even got a super jackpot in Snow Ball!

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I had the Send It Back bug bite me hard last night.

I was playing at my local arcade for the pin of the month high score challenge on an LE.

Long Ball 3, I start send it back. Finish the mode fully except for the last demo shot. Game freezes for 20 secs, then just ends. No bonus, no keep shooting. Just game over and enter initials. Finished with 1.7 billion but missed out on about 600m in bonus.

Argh! So frustrating! I hope they fix this soon!

I had the Send It Back bug bite me hard last night.

I was playing at my local arcade for the pin of the month high score challenge on an LE.

Long Ball 3, I start send it back. Finish the mode fully except for the last demo shot. Game freezes for 20 secs, then just ends. No bonus, no keep shooting. Just game over and enter initials. Finished with 1.7 billion but missed out on about 600m in bonus.

Argh! So frustrating! Ihope they fix this soon!

Keep at it Maxharvard! The scoring really starts opening up after Total Isolation 2, (Second checkpoint mode, after finishing 8 chapter modes). I scored over 200m just from 2 super jackpots in TI2. Also bonus can be really big on this game, so stay on top of lighting your inlanes, especially during MB.

I was at "Send it back" which is the season 1 mini wizard mode, so pretty deep in the game compared to Total Isolation 1.

Personal best was around 4.5 billion on a premium.

OUCH! I've been there before lol. That's the worst feeling after a great ball 1 like that.

If you're getting drains off the drop targets often, I use the following strategies to avoid that.

1. Shoot drops when ball save is on (pretty obvious)
2. Primarily shoot right side drops from right flipper only - avoid drops from left flipper
3. Sneak past drops when possible to complete "words" for demo modes - mostly from the downed right side drops
4. Never ever shoot drops on the fly on this game. I can't stress this part enough!

Not sure if anyone else has seen this.

I was doing a shop job on an LE and underneath the far back center return ramp for left orbit, I found this.

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I think it's Barb when she's dead in the upside down but I'm not sure. Someone should confirm with Brian Eddy or the game artist!

That is the expected behavior:

Run Will!: 4-ball multiball. Phase one, shot the Demogorgon during the hurry-up to lock in the jackpot value. Phase two, all the drops are lit for jackpots. Collect those to light the Demogorgon for a Super Jackpot hurry-up worth the total collected jackpot values; however, the ramp leading up to the Demogorgon will lower and raise every second or two. Collect the Super Jackpot to start the jackpot phase again and work towards another Super Jackpot hurry-up.

DiabloRush Your two posts regarding this need to be stickied! Posts 21541 and 21552

I was inspired by this post and applied this same fix to an original run LE that I have been doing a shop job on for a local operator. I am now at >95% lock rate and the mech just feels so much better! Even on a deep game nearly an hour long with no flipper fans, I was still consistently locking balls. I had attempted all the documented adjustments before this and never had consistent success.

The main pivot washer is the primary culprit in the mech sloppiness. I replaced the washer with a larger one, just like DiabloRush did.

I only had a few on hand, so I had to file/sand it down in order to not bind up the mech. The final measurement I got was a 2.35 mm thick washer. The original washer combo was about 1.95 mm. I also replaced the secondary pivot washer with a slightly thicker one. I didn't measure this one as it seems to have more give due to the locknut on the bottom. I had the left ramp removed anyway for a teardown, so it made the job super easy.

This allows just enough play in the mech to function, but eliminates any extra movement.

I then followed the stern adjustment procedure that has been out forever.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stranger-things-club-join-our-party/page/35#post-5472488

If you haven't done this to your game yet, you should give it a shot! Now if we could only find a source for the exact washer size so we can get these distributed to all prem/le owners. I also wonder if the new run mechs are as sloppy as the original. I'm sure they could be improved too.

The fact that Stern couldn't figure this out by just putting the correct freaking washer size in is really mind blowing.

There is still one mode you can't get to via the challenge modes. After you beat Final Showdown in the actual game, you get the mode, but not via the challenge path.

So there is still incentive to beat Final Showdown in-game.

Perform the washer replacement for the TK pivot mentioned recently in the topic index.

This goes for old and new versions.

I find this makes the biggest improvement. You still need to follow the adjustment guides, but eliminating the slop in the mech is crucial.

I'll be streaming some Stranger Things LE in just a few minutes. Stop and by and say hi!

https://www.twitch.tv/pocketholeshotpinball

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Has anyone ever found a source for these stand up target plastic rivet spacers?

Stern seems to think they don't exist....

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Yeah the inserts are a mess on this game, it has been on location for years.

I've mylared a few but need to address that light lock one.

Thanks @chuckwurt! $30 is steep as I already have a replacement decal set.

Oh well, that's the only place I've seen them.

They are weirdly cheaper at Marco, but out of stock...

https://www.marcospecialties.com/control/keywordsearch?SEARCH_STRING=502-7125-00

I have the decal set from pinball life, which did not include the plastic backing rivet spacers.

https://www.pinballlife.com/stranger-things-projector-screen-decal-set.html

I had one of plastic spacers break into pieces, I forgot to specify that.

Good idea, might go that route.

They are definitely plastic. I had one shatter into 4 or 5 pieces. Not the same one as shown in the picture. I already tossed it. This is an original run LE.