I bought a STTNG a few weeks ago, heavily routed with a lot of intermittent issues. Mechanically wise, so far I've had:

- check there are only 6 balls in! Mine had 7
- was getting multiple balls launching into the trough and extra balls plunged into play at random points, an LED emitter was out on the trough board (check it using a digi camera, broken they appear dull, should be bright). Also check the resisitors are not broken and the traces are all ok. Empty the 6 balls out, go to you switch matrix and drop a ball in, you should see it pass all 6 optos one by one, then test the VUK into the trough - and check the switch in the shooter lane (mine was bent so not consistently reading right)
- drop target assembly damage. Had to replace frame & eyelet A-14913, and drop target, knockdown arm 01-8647-L. Also adjusted the microswitch so it reads the drop position correctly (check it in switch matrix)
- loose cables on the switch matrix row/column lead to the CPU board. When things got busy multiple rows would activate and the game went crazy. Also pushed in CPU just in case. Not had an issue since touch wood.
- resoldered left VUK opto - check the solder on all of the the optos is not broken, they look ok but if you press the opto you can see it's not fixed
- broken switch on delta ramp - picked up in switch matrix
- new canon actuator which was broken (canon would not turn)

For the trough optos, my next step was to order new ones which are not expensive.

Be sure to read through all the STTNG fix threads on here, I've linked below which I bookmarked. Some really good advice which I never knew was when you go through the switch matrix there is an audible noise telling you when something is not as expected (I never knew this, doh!!). I would advise clearing all the 6 balls out and go through the switches one at a time, if you hear that lower tone beep you need to investigate. Also touch/bang things including the head/cabinet, playfield, toys, etc. and look for flaky switches.

Good luck! Now that my game is running ok (just really dirty) it's a hell of a game

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/sttng-keeps-giving-2-balls
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/sttng-top-drop-target-questions
http://www.loriengreen.com/2013/09/pinball-maintenance-star-trek-next-generation/#.V0gKAOS1Z41

Take the red bits out and super glue the domes in. Thats what I did.

Hi folks, does anyone have any cool instruction cards for STTNG they would like to share?

I have none at the moment, first stop was pinballcards.com but would like something more faithful to the NCC-1701D.

Cheers!

Thanks for those pinballgeek!!!!

I've been trying to contact Pinbits as their STTNG shaker kit is out of stock, but they are not responding. Is there an alternative way to add a shaker? Thanks.

This.

May I ask how you knew the cannon plunger was magnetized? Was it sticking on after plunging?

Thanks.

Thanks for that! Mine is doing the exact same thing so this is good to know.

I think I like them, nice job!!

Did you get them at the same place as your backboard decal?

Cheers.

Good work Captain Okarcades, the Federation is proud of you!!

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.

Yes dots XL all the way!

Double check the wire isn't being held up by anything. I had this on mine and the wire was tight when it was moving outwards.

Fired up my STTNG today, first time in a while... I was having a great first game, then all of a sudden the trough solenoid stopped working. Went into test and two others also weren't working, so altogether #9, #11 and #16 are out.

I've replaced F104 as a precaution, was was fine. Now I'm struggling to think what fault could impact random solenoids. Any ideas?

Cheers.

Wow @pin_guy... You were spot on about the wire!

I've seen you help out countless times with this game, including myself in the past. In my opinion you are Pinside royalty and if I could I would buy you several beers! (or synthehols!)

Cheers again dude!

The new LX-8 sounds rad!

Does anyone know if its compatible with a Color DMD display? Wasn't sure if it has new gfx/animations added. Cheers.

Thank you.