(Topic ID: 47092)

St:tng owners welcome aboard the uss enterprise

By Pinballgeek

10 years ago


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#2751 5 years ago

Hey all I had posted back here with an issue where I was getting multi-ball (mb) right out of the gate. Come to find that in settings you can get mb right away by shooting into the hole atop the playfield if the setting is set to 1. I changed this as it resolved the almost immediate mb.

Issue still is ..... for no reason the game will start shooting out additional balls. Almost as if the game is not realizing a ball is in play. Anyone encounter this and know where to start looking???

#2752 5 years ago
Quoted from meSz:

Hey all I had posted back here with an issue where I was getting multi-ball (mb) right out of the gate. Come to find that in settings you can get mb right away by shooting into the hole atop the playfield if the setting is set to 1. I changed this as it resolved the almost immediate mb.
Issue still is ..... for no reason the game will start shooting out additional balls. Almost as if the game is not realizing a ball is in play. Anyone encounter this and know where to start looking???

This is almost always caused by bad optos, bad connections to the opto boards and / or cracked solder joints on OPTOs. Start by cleaning them all with a qtip and alcohol, then go into switch test mode and push on the connector on the trough opto board and see if you get any switches registering, that IDC connector gets loose and / or the pins on the board get oxidation. If that doesn't do it I suggest re-flowing the solder on the optos in the left VUK, you might want to go ahead and do that when you pull that VUK to clean those optos.

#2753 5 years ago

Picked up my STTNG this past week and have been getting my hands dirty finding/fixing issues and getting to know the beast. I have resolved multiple switch, opto, diverter and cannon issues so far. The only really fubar'd piece left is the drop target. I do have a few questions for the experienced owners;

1) Does the lowest pop bumper normally have a colored cap? Mine does not and the ring movement has eaten into the beta ramp sticker. What helps mount the ramp high enough to not interfere with the bumper?

2) Sometimes the game chirps loudly on power up/down. I was looking at another game last year that had this issue as well. I haven't researched this one to know if this is common or not.

3) Are there missions in the game where 2 balls are kicked out? I have this happen from time to time. I don't understand the game rules enough to know if this could be normal behavior. I have been just assuming it is more voodoo opto issues to track down.

4) Sometimes the game loses a ball in the subway. Last time this happened I ran switch and coil tests and all were functioning proper, but the ball was floating around somewhere. My question is, is there a known spot on the subway that can cause a ball to not travel all the way through to the cannons or left vuc? I tried to look in the coin door to see where the ball was, but couldn't see it. When I tilted the PF up, of course the ball rolled back and was easy to extract. Under all other conditions, the subway works perfectly.

5) The launcher only makes the lock hole shot maybe 50% of the time. Any tips for improving that? I already cleaned and lubed the catapult mech. Also the launch wire form was free to bang around against the glass. I aligned it to the wireform below it and put a zip tie to help hold it's position. It didn't look like there was a factory way to secure it better.

6) The playfield seems to have a lot of flex to it. When I push down on the back right quarter it easy deflects. Is this normal?

Thanks in advance for any help.

#2754 5 years ago
Quoted from bobukcat:

I'd prefer to make it a little more accessible for players at these shows but I refuse to put outlane extenders on it, other than setting the left kick-back to always on (kinda lame) and a longer ball-save timer are there any suggestions for making is easier but not too easy?

Lane extenders by no means stop drains, while its impossible to say what percentage they save, I would be shocked if its higher than 1 in 4. Unfortunately, this game, by design, severely punishes missed shots with a SDTM or lane drain; there is very little that can be done to offset it.

#2755 5 years ago
Quoted from Pin_Guy:

Lane extenders by no means stop drains, while its impossible to say what percentage they save, I would be shocked if its higher than 1 in 4. Unfortunately, this game, by design, severely punishes missed shots with a SDTM or lane drain; there is very little that can be done to offset it.

Socks in the outlanes.

#2756 5 years ago
Quoted from RobF:

Picked up my STTNG this past week

CONGRATULATIONS Captain and welcome aboard!

Quoted from RobF:

I do have a few questions for the experienced owners;

I've worked on this machines once or twice.

Quoted from RobF:

1) Does the lowest pop bumper normally have a colored cap? Mine does not and the ring movement has eaten into the beta ramp sticker. What helps mount the ramp high enough to not interfere with the bumper?

No, this game shipped with only 2 covers on the pops. There simply inst room for the 3rd; most folk cut one to fit and add it as it looks naked without one. Nothing should be hitting the ramp; is it possible something is not assembled correctly?

Quoted from RobF:

2) Sometimes the game chirps loudly on power up/down. I was looking at another game last year that had this issue as well. I haven't researched this one to know if this is common or not.

Totally normal.

Quoted from RobF:

3) Are there missions in the game where 2 balls are kicked out? I have this happen from time to time. I don't understand the game rules enough to know if this could be normal behavior. I have been just assuming it is more voodoo opto issues to track down.

I believe all of the Neutral Zone modes are 2 ball multiball missions with an add-ball-feature on the Ferengi Mode.

Quoted from RobF:

4) Sometimes the game loses a ball in the subway. Last time this happened I ran switch and coil tests and all were functioning proper, but the ball was floating around somewhere. My question is, is there a known spot on the subway that can cause a ball to not travel all the way through to the cannons or left vuc? I tried to look in the coin door to see where the ball was, but couldn't see it. When I tilted the PF up, of course the ball rolled back and was easy to extract. Under all other conditions, the subway works perfectly.

There are multiple reasons this can occur, the most common are subway diverter alignment, old dried up grease or bad springs preventing them from retracting properly, or subway to VUK alignment issues that causes the ball to hang at the transition point.

Quoted from RobF:

5) The launcher only makes the lock hole shot maybe 50% of the time. Any tips for improving that?

There are numerous reason this can happen and many are documented in this thread.

Quoted from RobF:

I already cleaned and lubed the catapult mech.

This isnt one of them, there is absolutely no part of this mechanism that should be lubricated, the only spots on any pinball machine that should ever be lubricated is where you have metal-to-metal moving parts (like the cannon and diverter shafts)

#2757 5 years ago
Quoted from Pin_Guy:

No, this game shipped with only 2 covers on the pops. There simply int room for 3; most folk cut one to fit and add it as it looks naked without one. Nothing should be hitting the ramp, is it possible something is not assembled correctly?

Correct. Mine had two; and I found a ?r.g.pinball? post or a website which descibed the process.
I agree; The pop bumper right shouldn't be hitting the ramp. I'm more inclined to beleive:
1) the Beta ramp is loose and is "flexing" on the pop bumper body scratching the ramp.
2) the pop bumper body is loose, scratching the ramp on "pop-ing".

Once you figure it out; I'll shamelessly recommend my PopCaps for your game. I personally think they make the pops SO much better and I even include a "cut-down cap" for under the beta ramp. ;D

#2758 5 years ago
Quoted from bobukcat:

This is almost always caused by bad optos, bad connections to the opto boards and / or cracked solder joints on OPTOs. Start by cleaning them all with a qtip and alcohol, then go into switch test mode and push on the connector on the trough opto board and see if you get any switches registering, that IDC connector gets loose and / or the pins on the board get oxidation. If that doesn't do it I suggest re-flowing the solder on the optos in the left VUK, you might want to go ahead and do that when you pull that VUK to clean those optos.

Thanks will give it a whirl.

#2759 5 years ago
Quoted from bobukcat:

I had my STTNG at the Louisville Arcade Expo this weekend. It was set to 3 ball settings, return to duty was default setting (on), Lock Skill shot set to three and the left kick-back was set to easy. I reset the high scores before the show started and I'm shocked at how low all the scores are, it seems no one could get over a billion points. When I saw this Saturday I thought something must be wrong so I played a quick game, not really trying my hardest and easily put about 1.3B on it. I don't know if it was just a case of most players not being really good at pinball, the good players not playing that game or just not familiar with it or a combination of those factors. With these settings you are guaranteed to get to Borg MB if you want, though your jackpots may not be very high if you don't do anything in modes before that. I'd prefer to make it a little more accessible for players at these shows but I refuse to put outlane extenders on it, other than setting the left kick-back to always on (kinda lame) and a longer ball-save timer are there any suggestions for making is easier but not too easy?

Sounds like you had very generous settings. Not sure what more you could have done. I've noticed that none of the casual players (even many pinheads) realize the importance of the skill shot selection. I can't tell you how often I hear "The probe has discovered nothing, sir." during my pinball gatherings.

To me, the single best thing you can do to make this game more approachable is the lane extensions. Without them, even with them, this game can be a drain monster.

#2760 5 years ago
Quoted from Pin_Guy:

CONGRATULATIONS Captain and welcome aboard!

Thanks for that and your other answers.

Quoted from Pin_Guy:

This isnt one of them, there is absolutely no part of this mechanism that should be lubricated, the only spots on any pinball machine that should ever be lubricated is where you have metal-to-metal moving parts (like the cannon and diverter shafts)

I agree with the sentiment in general, but let me explain a little more. When I first got the machine the launch would make the hole exactly 0% of the time. Keep in mind the drop target is broken in the down position. After studying the physics a little and manipulating the ball exit, it was pretty clear that it wasn't coming through with enough oomph to completely follow the orbit. When I checked the launch mechanism I found there was quite a bit of resistance when moving by hand. I took the assembly apart, cleaned and polished the plunger, cleaned the tube, and noticed the two pivot points on the cup arm were not smooth. On disassembly, there was obvious signs of previous grease that was dirty and dried out. I cleaned the pivots and put a thin film of new grease in it's place. After this, the launcher worked much better and was hitting the hole maybe 90%. It was a huge improvement. It wasn't until I realigned and tied down the wireform that the hit rate dropped to 50%.

#2761 5 years ago
Quoted from RobF:

I agree with the sentiment in general, but let me explain a little more. When I first got the machine the launch would make the hole exactly 0% of the time. Keep in mind the drop target is broken in the down position. After studying the physics a little and manipulating the ball exit, it was pretty clear that it wasn't coming through with enough oomph to completely follow the orbit. When I checked the launch mechanism I found there was quite a bit of resistance when moving by hand. I took the assembly apart, cleaned and polished the plunger, cleaned the tube, and noticed the two pivot points on the cup arm were not smooth. On disassembly, there was obvious signs of previous grease that was dirty and dried out. I cleaned the pivots and put a thin film of new grease in it's place. After this, the launcher worked much better and was hitting the hole maybe 90%. It was a huge improvement. It wasn't until I realigned and tied down the wireform that the hit rate dropped to 50%.

There are just too many variables here too give any single conclusive answer on what is stealing the balls energy, it may be a little bit from lots of places. The only thing I can tell you with 100% certainty is that if you align everything correctly, and rebuild the catapult with the right parts (double check that the part you have are correct) it should operate flawlessly.

Parts List:

pasted_image (resized).pngpasted_image (resized).png

Links to parts (items highlighted in red above are not listed here)
Parts highlighted in green are sub parts used to build the item listed directly above them

Note: I'm sure you don't need every part.

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/A-12293
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/A-16886
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/AE-23-800
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/01-8413-1
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/02-4301
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/03-7066
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/03-7655-4
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/03-8089
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/10-135
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/20-8712-31
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/38-6577
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/23-6622
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/4004-01003-12
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/4010-01066-06
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/4700-00005-00
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/4700-00104-00
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/4701-00004-00
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/1N4004
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/5647-12133-08

#2762 5 years ago
Quoted from RobF:

5) The launcher only makes the lock hole shot maybe 50% of the time. Any tips for improving that? I already cleaned and lubed the catapult mech. Also the launch wire form was free to bang around against the glass. I aligned it to the wireform below it and put a zip tie to help hold it's position. It didn't look like there was a factory way to secure it better.

I had the same issue, the ball wouldn't lock around 50% of the time, it would bounce back into play. In my case it's because the drop target wasn't dropping low enough - it was raised slightly above the playfield. There's a screw adjustment to lower the drop target position, adjusting this so that the target was in line with the playfield has fixed this for me, locks 100% now.

#2763 5 years ago
Quoted from Pin_Guy:

This isnt one of them, there is absolutely no part of this mechanism that should be lubricated, the only spots on any pinball machine that should ever be lubricated is where you have metal-to-metal moving parts (like the cannon and diverter shafts)

Is there an idiots guide to exactly what parts should be lubricated in this machine?

#2764 5 years ago
Quoted from mappy24:

Is there an idiots guide to exactly what parts should be lubricated in this machine?

General rule is only parts that are metal to metal. Sling pivots, diverter arms, canon pivot, etc. Solenoid links and other areas that are not metal to metal are not lubricated.

#2765 5 years ago
Quoted from mappy24:

Is there an idiots guide to exactly what parts should be lubricated in this machine?

Yes...All moving parts that make Metal on Metal contact. this would be the subway diverter shafts, cannon shafts, Borg diverter shaft, and the slide rails.

Use a good synthetic PTFE grease on the above mentioned parts and you should never have to reapply grease to these parts...that being said, 30 years from now whoever is restoring the machine will want to clean and re-grease these parts

#2766 5 years ago
Quoted from bobukcat:

This is almost always caused by bad optos, bad connections to the opto boards and / or cracked solder joints on OPTOs. Start by cleaning them all with a qtip and alcohol, then go into switch test mode and push on the connector on the trough opto board and see if you get any switches registering, that IDC connector gets loose and / or the pins on the board get oxidation. If that doesn't do it I suggest re-flowing the solder on the optos in the left VUK, you might want to go ahead and do that when you pull that VUK to clean those optos.

Ok I got a chance to check the machine out (working on a neighbor’s machine) and cleaned all optos. All of them were working. The only issue I see is Ball Through #2 is not registering.

Is this common and, if not, is there something to look for to have an easy fix or is it a matter of soldering new optos in?

#2767 5 years ago
Quoted from meSz:

Ok I got a chance to check the machine out (working on a neighbor’s machine) and cleaned all optos. All of them were working. The only issue I see is Ball Through #2 is not registering.
Is this common and, if not, is there something to look for to have an easy fix or is it a matter of soldering new optos in?

That will definitely lead to your problem, first thing to do is use your cell phone camera and look at to see if the transmitter is working. If it is not check for voltage on it, if it does have the proper voltage you've found your problem and need to replace the transmitter.

#2768 5 years ago
Quoted from bobukcat:

That will definitely lead to your problem, first thing to do is use your cell phone camera and look at to see if the transmitter is working. If it is not check for voltage on it, if it does have the proper voltage you've found your problem and need to replace the transmitter.

LED transmitters do burn out. Typical lifespan is around 40-50k hours (15-20years of routed use I would guess). Best way to test is by measuring voltage across the leads; 12v means the LED is bad, 1.4V means it's working properly, 0v means connector/wiring/board problems. There are part numbers in other posts for Radio Shack sourced replacements, but sadly finding an open store these days is a challenge. If you have a Fry's nearby, these work as replacements; https://www.frys.com/product/1000873?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

I have already replaced two on my newly acquired game. I am ordering up a pile of of these guys for spares.
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Vishay-Semiconductors/VSLB4940?qs=sGAEpiMZZMsn8wIhgY8aVaM3i806UG0n6rOUbET7jt%252BgXOm7wJm%252BtQ%3D%3D

Just remember to match the orientation of the flat spot on the lens with the silkscreen outline on the PCB. Installing it backwards will kill the LED.

#2769 5 years ago
Quoted from RobF:

I have already replaced two on my newly acquired game. I am ordering up a pile of of these guys for spares.
https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Vishay-Semiconductors/VSLB4940?qs=sGAEpiMZZMsn8wIhgY8aVaM3i806UG0n6rOUbET7jt%252BgXOm7wJm%252BtQ%3D%3D

These may work but are not an ideal replacement as the wavelength is not a match to the photo transistor (880nm)

The exact replacement is QED123 this part has the ideal wavelength with a very narrow beam angle (8 degrees) https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/ON-Semiconductor-Fairchild/QED123?qs=sGAEpiMZZMvAL21a%2FDhxMh7mfA56bpVlNrxBWbhazdE%3D

#2770 5 years ago
Quoted from Pin_Guy:

These may work but are not an ideal replacement as the wavelength is not a match to the photo transistor (880nm)
The exact replacement is QED123 this part has the ideal wavelength with a very narrow beam angle (8 degrees) https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/ON-Semiconductor-Fairchild/QED123?qs=sGAEpiMZZMvAL21a%2FDhxMh7mfA56bpVlNrxBWbhazdE%3D

Thanks for the posts! I was able to test Ball Through #2 (LED #3) and it read 12v and the others were just under 1.4 does appear it’s bad. So now off to ordering.

#2771 5 years ago
Quoted from Pin_Guy:

These may work but are not an ideal replacement as the wavelength is not a match to the photo transistor (880nm)
The exact replacement is QED123 this part has the ideal wavelength with a very narrow beam angle (8 degrees) https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/ON-Semiconductor-Fairchild/QED123?qs=sGAEpiMZZMvAL21a%2FDhxMh7mfA56bpVlNrxBWbhazdE%3D

Ah, good to know thanks. The NHT part from Frys does work, but at 940nm peak wavelength I agree it isn't optimal. Changing up my Mouser order...

#2772 5 years ago

New to the club! Rescued mine off route! Hadnt been played in years because it was broken (fried diverter coil and Aux driver board). I havent been able to play it either for 2 frustrating months waiting for parts. PLayed my first games tonight and oh man! what a cool machine. You know this!

I changed both trough opto boards today, and wow the inner one closest to the flipper coil - what a pain, thank goodness for micro ratchets, and cut a standard phillips hex bit in 1/2 on the shank, tedious but worked super. BTW I used the HomePin board replacements and would recommend.

Still trying to figure out the correct function of the top drop down target. But i have done the tie back mod thanks to you and this thread.
This machine is super original , I suspect even the original balls. I have a lot to learn about the game play and functions but just thought I'd say hi and look forward to contributing learning.

This is my second DMD , my first being a JP and I thought that was damn cool - and it is , but this machine / theme and... wow. Those outlanes will need some work for me to tolerate though.

JP has a shaker motor and I like it. Is there any feedback about a shaker for this machine?" I'm thinking it is such a beast to maintain that adding a shaker motor might be a bad idea? But seems cool..? Colour display for sure when I can save up some $$

1D9EDEB9-1300-4809-B4DA-2899041291EE (resized).jpeg1D9EDEB9-1300-4809-B4DA-2899041291EE (resized).jpeg
#2773 5 years ago

Omg...tell me it has new balls in it now!

#2774 5 years ago

Zitt, no worries it does and fresh lithium batts.

#2775 5 years ago
Quoted from BCpinhead:

New to the club! Rescued mine off route!

Congratulations and welcome aboard! I do like seeing these rescued from the wild and your machine appears to be in very good shape.

Quoted from BCpinhead:

Still trying to figure out the correct function of the top drop down target.

The drop target is up at ball launch (unless you select probe or ball lock on launch). The drop target stays down after being hit during play (except at ball launch) in order to light ball lock for Borg Multiball, it will then raise after locking a ball.

The game expects there to always be a ball located in each VUK; so at the end of a game, or on power up if staged balls aren't seen in the ALL 3 VUKs, the drop target will lower and the game will autolaunch balls into the hole behind the drop target in order to stage a ball under each of the three VUKs; subway and VUK opto malfunctions are the primary cause of a failure in this area.

#2776 5 years ago

Does your catapult lack power? If so try a new coil sleeve and maybe change the coil. Also clean the wireform. Also check alignment of the mech.

#2777 5 years ago
Quoted from BCpinhead:

New to the club! Rescued mine off route! Hadnt been played in years because it was broken (fried diverter coil and Aux driver board). I havent been able to play it either for 2 frustrating months waiting for parts. PLayed my first games tonight and oh man! what a cool machine. You know this!
I changed both trough opto boards today, and wow the inner one closest to the flipper coil - what a pain, thank goodness for micro ratchets, and cut a standard phillips hex bit in 1/2 on the shank, tedious but worked super. BTW I used the HomePin board replacements and would recommend.
Still trying to figure out the correct function of the top drop down target. But i have done the tie back mod thanks to you and this thread.
This machine is super original , I suspect even the original balls. I have a lot to learn about the game play and functions but just thought I'd say hi and look forward to contributing learning.
This is my second DMD , my first being a JP and I thought that was damn cool - and it is , but this machine / theme and... wow. Those outlanes will need some work for me to tolerate though.
JP has a shaker motor and I like it. Is there any feedback about a shaker for this machine?" I'm thinking it is such a beast to maintain that adding a shaker motor might be a bad idea? But seems cool..? Colour display for sure when I can save up some $$[quoted image]

Congratulations on getting such an awesome game, it surprises me how under-appreciated this game is even with hard-core pinheads. JP is also a great game (kind of wish I had not sold mine but space is finite) so you've got a good start on an excellent collection. The ColorDMD (I recommend the LCD version in Hi-Res for this game) is fantastic if you can swing the $$ but your plasma appears to be in good shape for now. Welcome to the club!

#2778 5 years ago
Quoted from Pin_Guy:

Congratulations and welcome aboard! I do like seeing these rescued from the wild and your machine appears to be in very good shape. Thank you Captain , I've had my eye on her for quite sometime and needed to save and keep calm until I could pull the trigger on the deal.

The drop target is up at ball launch (unless you select probe or ball lock on launch). The drop target stays down after being hit during play (except at ball launch) in order to light ball lock for Borg Multiball, it will then raise after locking a ball.
The game expects there to always be a ball located in each VUK; so at the end of a game, or on power up if staged balls aren't seen in the ALL 3 VUKs, the drop target will lower and the game will autolaunch balls into the hole behind the drop target in order to stage a ball under each of the three VUKs; subway and VUK opto malfunctions are the primary cause of a failure in this area.

Thank you! This is very helpful, complex machine, a new league to the rest of my collection.
Cheers!

#2779 5 years ago
Quoted from thewool:

Does your catapult lack power? If so try a new coil sleeve and maybe change the coil. Also clean the wireform. Also check alignment of the mech.

Hi Wool, no it seems to have plenty of jam. The entire machine does need a cleaning, all mechs and coils subway etc, new rubbers blah blah. But for now , just basking in the immense coolness of the machine. Love it!

#2780 5 years ago
Quoted from bobukcat:

Congratulations on getting such an awesome game, it surprises me how under-appreciated this game is even with hard-core pinheads. JP is also a great game (kind of wish I had not sold mine but space is finite) so you've got a good start on an excellent collection. The ColorDMD (I recommend the LCD version in Hi-Res for this game) is fantastic if you can swing the $$ but your plasma appears to be in good shape for now. Welcome to the club!

Thanks Bobukcat, I don't get many opportunities to play new machines, the new titles, maybe once per year on location and they are good. But this title I feel is on par with some of them at least and I couldn't afford the new ones anyways. It might be a farce but it feels to me this era of pins and their serviceability is superior to newer stuff that's smaller, lighter, ?
Thanks for the display recommendation , but how do I tell if I have a plasma dmd or a led one? When I look at it it looks like tiny LEDs?

#2781 5 years ago

Another question: did the original trough opto board set (both sides) have rubber grommets that inserted into the mounting holes? I have 2 sets of aftermarket product here (long story) One has much bigger mounting holes drilled than the other. The old boards I took out had small holes, no grommets.

#2782 5 years ago
Quoted from BCpinhead:

Another question: did the original trough opto board set (both sides) have rubber grommets that inserted into the mounting holes? I have 2 sets of aftermarket product here (long story) One has much bigger mounting holes drilled than the other. The old boards I took out had small holes, no grommets.

No, original boards did not have rubber grommets. That's an upgraded aftermarket feature to resist vibration that causes traces to break on the resistors.

#2783 5 years ago
Quoted from BCpinhead:

Thanks for the display recommendation , but how do I tell if I have a plasma dmd or a led one? When I look at it it looks like tiny LEDs?

You appear to have a original DMD (which bobukcat called plasma).
The original display was plasma based; in that the orange color is generated by electrics entergizing noble gasses in the display to create plasma and emit orange light.

Some people (myself included) prefer the ColorDMD products which include color dots for this game. This means that all the display animations were artistically colored. Example:


You don't appear to have a colordmd and the prices are north of 400usd usually.

Most people prefer the LCD versions of colorDMD rather than the LED version because you set several different modes. Sadily; I can't find a video explaining / contrasting the different types of "dot" modes.

#2784 5 years ago
Quoted from Zitt:

Most people prefer the LCD versions of colorDMD rather than the LED version because you set several different modes. Sadily; I can't find a video explaining / contrasting the different types of "dot" modes.

I prefer large dots, which is what the video above appears to be set to.

#2785 5 years ago

Hmmmm...I wonder if I can make a special 3 connector ribbon cable to simultaneously drive ColorDMD LED and LCD displays for a side-by-side comparison.

#2786 5 years ago

A bit of follow-up on my comments about taking my game to the Louisville show last weekend. The weather finally cooperated enough for me to get the game back in my basement so I pulled the audits: 572 total plays and only 7 times did someone get to Borg MB, one of those was me testing it. 1 person made it to warp 9 the entire weekend. These are just shocking numbers to me seeing as how I had it setup to allow MB to start from the ball launch choice. Average ball time was 50 seconds exactly, which I think is about right for a game "on location" if you will but only 5 percent of games scored the replay score which I thought was extremely generous starting it at 1B. It will be fun to reset them again before I host local pinheads the next time to see how they all do on it.

#2787 5 years ago
Quoted from Pin_Guy:

I prefer large dots, which is what the video above appears to be set to.

Yes dots XL all the way!

#2788 5 years ago
Quoted from thewool:

Yes dots XL all the way!

At the risk of repeating myself, TNG is one of the best looking Hi-Res games I've ever seen. I've tried it with DotsXL but I always switch it back pretty quickly.

#2789 5 years ago

Am I missing a post here? The ball sure likes to try to escape behind the targets.
20190310_161423.jpg20190310_161423.jpg

#2790 5 years ago
Quoted from RobF:

Am I missing a post here?

Yep

#2791 5 years ago

Looking for a nice one in Dc/ md area. Anyone?

#2792 5 years ago
Quoted from RobF:

Am I missing a post here?

Yes and a 1" rubber ring.

#2793 5 years ago
Quoted from BriPin:

Yes and a 1" rubber ring.

Got it, thanks! Next question, I noticed that my center mission start shot has a rattly sound to it. Upon further inspection, I found the assembly isn't locked together and separates easily on both sides. Is this normal and if not, what is the recommended repair method?

20190310_161534 (resized).jpg20190310_161534 (resized).jpg

#2794 5 years ago

Mine was the same way when I got it. You can have it re-welded or buy the improved version. I went with the Mantis scoop

https://mantispinball.com/product/star-trek-the-next-generation-mission-start-scoop/

#2795 5 years ago
Quoted from BriPin:

Mine was the same way when I got it. You can have it re-welded or buy the improved version. I went with the Mantis scoop
https://mantispinball.com/product/star-trek-the-next-generation-mission-start-scoop/

Fun. Are the weld points below the playfield?

#2796 5 years ago

From what I remember the spot welded points are above the playfield.

#2797 5 years ago
Quoted from RobF:

I noticed that my center mission start shot has a rattly sound to it. Upon further inspection, I found the assembly isn't locked together and separates easily on both sides. Is this normal and if not, what is the recommended repair method?

This is normal in the sense that the MANY of the originals are broken.

Quoted from BriPin:

Mine was the same way when I got it. You can have it re-welded or buy the improved version. I went with the Mantis scoop

https://mantispinball.com/product/star-trek-the-next-generation-mission-start-scoop/

You can also get this from Marco, linked here:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/sttng-owners-club/page/54#post-4854624

#2798 5 years ago
Quoted from RobF:

Got it, thanks! Next question, I noticed that my center mission start shot has a rattly sound to it. Upon further inspection, I found the assembly isn't locked together and separates easily on both sides. Is this normal and if not, what is the recommended repair method?
[quoted image]

I worked on my neighbors STTNG and his scoop had all the spot welds broken. I took it to a local weld shop and the guy charged me 20$. He also made continuous welds on it as opposed to the original spot welds. He had also regrained the scoop. Thing turned out super nice.

the Mantis ones look great but I hate throwing away parts if they can be fixed. The one I fixed is never going to fail again, looks great and saved my neighbor $5 plus shipping.

#2799 5 years ago
Quoted from meSz:

I worked on my neighbors STTNG and his scoop had all the spot welds broken. I took it to a local weld shop and the guy charged me 20$. He also made continuous welds on it as opposed to the original spot welds. He had also regrained the scoop. Thing turned out super nice.

I'm glad to hear it worked out, but for those reading this thread, be forewarned, your welding experience may be drastically different.

#2800 5 years ago
Quoted from Pin_Guy:

I'm glad to hear it worked out, but for those reading this thread, be forewarned, your welding experience may be drastically different.

Thus the reason I took it to a local weld shop. If I did it it would look like an abstract piece of metal art (or should I say scrap metal).

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