I am still on 1.21 - my first thought was to update the code... but maybe that's not going to fix it

Hi all,

All the lights on my tmnt LE are off when i activate the button on my lockbar for the glider... Then the game restart.... Is it normal to have this problem on a 10k$ machine ? (and all the other problems with ramps, balls stucked behind the van, playfield issue, glider without screws and is falling on the playfield ?.)...

We dont have answer of stern about all these issues ?

First freeze ever happened at end of turtle power multiball on 1.22 pro.

Yea I'm surprised stern doesnt have someone on the forum to post answers and follow ups. Most other forums I have been on has a Rep monitor them

Company reps are usually chased off by complaint posts pretty quickly. They have tried in the past.

Have you let your distro and Stern know? Please let us know what they said. I have got no response.

Hi guys. Stupid question, but I can't seem to find the answer. How and why are the plunges different between the pro and the prem/LE? What does the premium do at ball launch that the pro doesn't? Thanks!

It needs to be able to load balls into the Van for the multiball. So, it launches up onto the ramp.

Ahh...that makes sense. So it's always going "over" the lanes, which doesn't allow a normal lane skill shot? Thanks!

Magnetized Balls in Turtles. Bought the TMNT Pro NIB. The game played great for the first 300-400 plays and then the 3 balls wouldn't release out of the Pizza Parlor. First I thought it was the post not going down all the way, but the balls were magnetized to each other and the metal rail. Watched it when it happened again and the balls would just stay stuck to each other. I bought New Polaris carbon balls and have just gone through my second set of those. they were magnetized after about 70 plays. These Polaris balls are pictured. I bought the Titan standard balls, just put them in, and will see what happens with them. Very frustrating. can't begin to see how these could be out on location. The balls won't release when you start a new game either. Had to dig them out. I have videos and pictures of all this and wonder why Stern would not have addressed this. Why have them against a metal rail. The only thing I can think of to try, if these new Titan balls magnetize, is to put a clear plastic piece over the metal rail. Yes angle and level right to left is set right on the game. Nothing in the chute blocking them and post go down all the way and is working properly.

20201007_153706 (resized).jpg

I think this has only happened since 1.22, but anyone else have the issue where during pizza parlor multiball the auto plunge goes off, but no balls come out of the trough? It doesn't happen every parlor multiball, but when it does, it basically happens throughout the whole multiball. It will still launch balls too, but it also is trying to auto plunge when no ball is there. This is a recent issue, which is why thinking it might be due to the update.

That’s basically the job of a social media rep though. I can see the argument for designers and coders being chased away, but not support reps.

Well, I'm not arguing that point, just laying out what has happened in the past.

The pinball-related company social media reps usually stick to the social media platforms and stay off message boards like pinside. Heat gets too hot, too fast. It's happened over and over again.

Have many people tried the retro refurb art blades? https://www.retrorefurbs.com/shop/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-stern-night-pinball-sideblades/. The antsier I get for my Pro to ship the more I keep buying mods.

I've seen one reference to them in this thread, just curious what the material quality is like on these guys. I'm not really digging the Stern blades.

Stern has the best material of all the ones I've seen. Most of the others are thinner. Some are paper-like, which is a total fail.

Actually, just now playing, and noticed the auto plunge without a ball issue on turtle power multiball also. I think with both tpmb and parlor mb, the correct number of balls are out on the playgirls, so not sure why it's auto plunging without a ball. Anyone else with this issue?

I’d be interested to hear how it goes, I’ve never had an issue with them. I’ve been using them in XMEN LE, Stanger Things, WCS and never had an issue.

I have the sunset ones and they look great, quality is no issue (also have them on my TF). I liked them better than others on the market, personal preference. Shipping does take a little bit though.

titan balls have been fine for me. Its been about a month since I put them in.

5 upper loops in a row. The best I've done so far. What a fun shot.
https://clips.twitch.tv/BoldDaintyCurrySuperVinlin

Totally agree. I have A premium out on lease to a regular client. They are not happy with the problems; lock-ups, balls stacked behind the van, diverter issues, screen going blank. Very frustrating. Sadly not getting much love from Stern.

For as long as this machine was in development (due to manufacturing delays), it sure has a lot of software issues!!

This game has software issues keeping track of where the balls are. Stern should have put optos in the van.

Please let your distro and Stern know.

What do you use to cut the polycarbonate sheet?

Good news. The servo for the glider I ordered will be here tomorrow. I will get it installed Sunday and let everyone know how it’s working.

Which did you go with?

It’s a hitech hs-645mg

The torque for that one is only about half the Stern stock servo's torque. It's also slower at .24 sec 60 degrees vs .15 for the stock one.

Seems like those differences could be significant.

Wow those are hideous! How many different art styles on those art blades? Go with Sterns after market art blades, material is great and the ZY art is perfect and obviously matches the rest of the art so they make a cohesive package, win win!

I think they’re just called industrial shears or industrial scissors. Here’s a picture of the ones I used bought from our local Bunnings hardware store. The blades are a lot thicker than normal scissors and also have a slight serration.

image (resized).jpg

I checked on amazon and was able to find these. You want something a bit heftier than normal scissors. Really easy way to make shields. And cheap.

https://www.amazon.com/ARES-70105-5-2-Inch-Multi-Purpose-Shears/dp/B01LXZL5KV

I use a scroll saw to cut .93" lexan.

Lexan is about $100 a sheet here. Polycarbonate is $30. Scissors $30. Scroll saw about $160. Scissors a bit easier to store and use. Polycarbonate will bend to any screw position and once anchored down the .8mm is rigid.

The only downside I can see to the polycarbonate is that you need 3 anchor points. If you only have 2 than lexan would be far superior.

I believe Lexan IS polycarbonate, I just use something thicker than what you've got so it's rigid. It sounds like what you've got is working fine, I'm also just using what I can find locally.

Hey thanks!! I did not realise! Was looking for lexan in hardware stores and all I could find was polycarbonate! Haha! Thanks again. And if I had a scroll saw already and the thick stuff than I would probably use as well. 2 different options. All good!

I'm not really a fan of the Stern art blades, but maybe I'll like them more in person? I like the look of the retro refurbs a bit more but I also have horrible taste so who knows. Either way my Turtles shipped today so I'll have it on Monday!

I understand all of the issues I am reading about with the glider servo, but I am still confused on how mine seems to work correctly but the lights keep recycling. Everyone (even stern) agreed that the video I took is a glider issue but I don’t understand how it is causing the other errors.

The burned out/failing servo is likely drawing too much power and resetting the Node board. Both are attached to Node 9.

There are too many affected lights to show them all (a LOT are on Node 9, check your manual), but I cut out the LAIR lights section from the chart in the manual because you can see them resetting in your video so it was an easy comparison point. L-A-I-R lights are all attached to Node 9, where the Servo is drawing power, too.

If you unplug the servo from Node 9, your problem will likely resolve unless the node board has been damaged by the servo (which I doubt).

Servo-node.jpg

could be but the alternative was buying another $8 servo from china. trying to get by until they start shipping out replacements

Enjoy it’s a super fun game! I moved my LE onto my mate to get an AIQ but he’s like 20 doors down from me so it’s worked out perfect!

The Stern blades aren’t very busy but I’m a big fan of having all the art match up and cohesive, some of these 3rd party art blades are a photoshop explosion or so many different art styles they look awful, wish some of them would make a little more effort into making things look cohesive and match up styles.

I wonder if torque is the solution, or range of motion? Maybe the servo just has the wrong specs for the job it needs to do? This particular servo Stern is using has a LOT or torque. Most of the others in its size are 1/2 to 1/3 the amount of torque. There are literally only a handful I've found with the same or more torque.

I bought their decals for STTNG and JP Pro and they seem to be great quality. But it takes 4 weeks to get here.

Mine is annoyingly glitchy, I'd be curious to try an aftermarket replacement. What have you found that is similar or close?

Me either, I would def be interested to try an alternative if the quality is good.

I couldn't really recommend one because I don't know the answer to the torque question, and I don't have a TMNT anymore to test candidates. Is more torque, less torque, or the same torque the right answer? No one really knows at this point.

I'll be getting a Premium in the next couple of weeks once they do a run this month. Hopefully, I won't have any issues, but I am curious to see the mechanism in action. Looking at the diagram in the manual, I don't think it requires much torque at all. It is never holding anything. Even when blocking the ball, the ball is applying force mostly along the diverter arm (not perpendicularly), so there is very little torque applied. We'll see...

I'm thinking the same thing.

I'm trying to disconnect my glider due to it not moving left properly (and am waiting on replacement parts from Stern, intergalactic backorder, etc) I'm trying to figure out if I'm disconnecting something from a node board or an I pulling this glider apart on the top of the playfield to unplug something. Could you help?

According to the manual you'd need to remove pin 5 from connector CN8 from Node Board 9.

You can't just disconnect the whole CN8 connector or you lose the up post, krang, pizza magnet and other things also on that connector. You can use a pin extractor to remove the pin from the connector, then mask it off with electrical tape.

I don't have the machine to check how it's connected on the other end to the servo, but if it's just a molex connector or the like, it may be easier to just unplug the servo rather than doing it at the node board.

There is a 3 pin wire under the glider mech that can be unplugged. Has some black heat shrink around it. As for the torque. The motors that size are used in things like RC boats and helicopters. I would imagine they require more torque than spinning a piece of plastic 30 degrees. I’m hoping it will work. Parts got delivered today but I had to go out of town for the weekend. Will know at least if it works by Sunday evening. I don’t mind being a tester for $30 and find a solution that works. Worse case I will return it to Amazon.

I'm planning to put speaker lights in my pro. Any recommendations on them, or are they all pretty much the same?