Damn! That thing got hot! It unsoldered stuff on the bottom!!!

I’m currently running with the clock disconnected. I’m going to see if I can keep the board of life for a few weeks that way. Then I will plug in the clock and see if there’s anything there at least then I’ll know if it’s the clock motor or the ramp motor

I'm not sure that's what caused those vias to not have solder on them, and in fact might be an indication as to a possible point of failure. We're talking minimum, sustained 700F for silver solder to flow.

That chip, and other SMD ones like it, typically have a thermal pad on the bottom and have to be properly soldered to a copper pad on the PCB for heat dissipation. If you look at the whitepaper linked here:

You'll see that thermal pad in the center of the evaluation board on page 2, and also referenced as DIE_PAD in the pinout on page 9.

If there's a manufacturing defect that causes the thermal pad to not be effectively soldered, it's possible that could be a contributing factor to these premature failures.

So….. got my game in July. Have just under 450 plays on it….and yesterday I noticed seeing little clear flakes on the playfield.
So I started searching and noticed the VUK.
Anyone else having their clear coat chip away on their premiums around the VUK?
Can’t say I’m happy about this at all.
*Also found a very small chip where the ball drops into the left inlane.

308757921_10228927813521365_3639504770989888171_n (resized).jpg

308905247_10228927813601367_6005218755861947906_n (resized).jpg

308803685_10228927813721370_3953062791602423537_n (resized).jpg

308856897_10228927814041378_8407341236279892237_n (resized).jpg

308721346_10228927813841373_1221501987211337292_n (resized).jpg

308729897_10228927813921375_2434564218542466014_n (resized).jpg

Oh wow, that area around the VUK is pretty beaten up. Not seeing the chip around the rollover you have pictured, but I’m sure it’s there.

To answer your question, I have not. I installed NinjaCamp’s VUK and rollover switch protectors(where balls drop), before first play, so those areas don’t show wear and tear on mine.

Regardless, that’s pretty bad application of clearcoat, to an area that’s going to see extreme abuse.

Thanks for the pics. I have not seen one with this kind of damage. So far my new board is lasted 7 weeks, the longest yet. I did add a power backup conditioner that the games is plugged into now. I think the board issue is voltage related, but not necessarily from the AC outlet. I was just be extra cautious with the backup / power conditioner. Double check all cables going to the node 10 board, before applying power.Don't forget the dip switch settings.

Thank you Stern Pinball! Received my replacement side scoop light (and all it's buddies) on a fresh board!!! I think their service is great.

20220930_143200 (resized).jpg

looking at it again.. that LED is right on the edge of the board. Maybe it's getting caught/snagged/hit in some way in handling that is compromising them and leading to the failures.

There is almost no way for it to get hit once in the game that I could tell...

This is a common occurrence in games that have these areas like that. Stranger Things saucer had chipping clear issue in the saucer. GB Pro had the issue. I install mylar in those areas. Cliffy makes a carbon fiber contoured adhesive protector for some of the games that have that style saucer/vuk also.

Holy Cow!

I don't see the chip on the roll over switch but that VUK looks hammered!

I would clean that area up good and hit it with some "hard as nails" and then install the VUK from NC.

Okay, Im scared now. I just ordered NCamps VUK protector.

When I got my LE, I couldn't play it for like 3 months while I waited for proper protectors to be made by the community.

Pretty sad state of affairs, but it is what it is.

The VUK protector is a MUST for Prem/LE owners.

I would also highly recommend Cliffys inlane switch protectors since the ball drops right down on those switches to prevent further damage.

The chip on the inlane is very small and hard to see, but it’s def starting. And I’m sure will grow over time.

8CD4D826-5574-49DD-9FBB-C53E2CCC4E9E (resized).jpeg

Yup, you're gonna want 2 of these protectors ASAP.

https://www.passionforpinball.com/switchslot.htm

The mylar on the inlanes is pointless because the ball clearly doesn't drop down there.

pasted_image (resized).png

pasted_image (resized).png

Either the Cliffy or the Ninja Camp (I prefer clear) switch roll over TPU protectors.

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/shops/1326-ninjacamp-mods/06754-lane-rollover-switch-protectors-42mm

Ordered a set of the ninjas tonight.

Took the glass off to do a cleaning tonight. The dirt on the playfield wiped off pretty well with a microfiber cloth and a bit of elbow grease. How often should one do a novus + wax pass? I also noticed that I have some ball trails on my metal ramps and guides. How do I get these out? Sorry for the newbie questions, this is my first NIB!

I love Cliffy, but those switch slot protectors are a ball hang nightmare. What I’ve done on every Stern I own is to put down 3 layers of mylar and cut out the slot for the switch actuator. Never a wear problem, and never a ball hang.

Just got my replacement time machine ramp bumpers. How do you get them off?

Forget the Novus, get a bottle of Klasse All-In-One. It cleans better, is non-abrasive, and a little goes a long way. It’s even good for cleaning rubber. It’s NLA on Amazon but you can find it. This size lasts me 5 years even with 25+ pins.

3E734900-659B-45AA-99C1-1E24C21AF02F (resized).jpeg

Has anyone had their pro powdercoated yet. This game is a keeper so I'm looking at color options.

Two small screws on each side of the ramp entrance.

Use a small bit OR remove the ramp entirely by dropping the ramp out from bottom by removing the three nuts and unplug the connectors.

You think NCs are the same way?

Anyone have a good brand of USB stick they recommend for the update? The 64GB one I had isn't being recognized... going for something smaller. I'm assuming they need it to be in Fat 32?

partition to 16gig (leave the rest empty) and format it as fat32

Extract the zip on your computer and cooy the files (not the folder) to the drive

Any reasonable brand ought to work fine. I can confirm that the drive must be formatted as FAT32, and that exFAT will not work (and presumably nor NTFS...I'm so sure about that I didn't even bother to try ).

I can't comment on whether the drive size has to be limited to 16GB or not, because as it happens, the USB drive I use is only 16GB to start with. But I would trust the previous post on that matter, especially since you're having trouble with the 64GB drive.

One hopes that Stern improves their USB drive software in the near future. It's a little ridiculous in this day and age to not be able to handle anything bigger than 16GB and while lack of NTFS support is perfectly reasonable, lack of support for exFAT is not.

You can buy an LE in germany. All germain dealers have LE‘s in stock. Because of the unknown theme, i sold my Rush LE unpacked yesterday.

I regret this decision a bit, because all of you say it‘s an amazing pin.

I just put down some mylar below the ball drops. I custom cut the pieces from a large sheet of mylar.

I also added the three-piece set of NC lane fixes. Already had the NC scoop protectors!

My VUK looks OK.

Thank you both - will do that this morning. I figured it had to do with the file format. Every other game I ever updated would update on an 8GB stick and therefore the need to partition it differently never occurred to me. I will work on this today!

Hello Frankfurt!

R30 was recorded in Germany, seemed like a packed house of great Rush fans, maybe not totally unknown!

My upper scoop protector has some weird discoloration in spots. Not sure if this is dents or corrosion? Is Ninjacamp still considered the best protector available? Has anyone here had the stern v3 fix on for a while before swapping? Any shot geometry changes?

PXL_20220930_173042526 (resized).jpg

Ninja working great for me (https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/the-official-rush-owners-club-1/page/145#post-6984075). Stern's V3 is fugly and prevents the ball from going in the scoop from the sides IIRC.

I can't debate the aesthetics. I got my machine late enough that it came with the v3 scoop bumpers and to me it just looks "normal", but I can certainly see the appeal in the cleaner look of using a low-profile scoop protector. And if one type of protection looks better than the other, I have to agree that it's obviously the low-profile ones.

The low-profile ones, if you get them from NinjaCamp anyway, also have the advantage of coming in a variety of colors, so you can add a bit of flair to the machine that way. They do seem to be visually sharp.

That said, and for what it's worth, while the v3 bumpers probably do decrease the number of balls that go into the lower scoop, I have found that for me they increase the number of balls that go into the upper scoop, as well as the number of balls that hit the RUSH standup targets. I've even had some stray balls get deflected into the spinner (which now that my inner loop is working perfectly, is a much more important/useful shot for me ). The v3 bumpers create a deflection/reflection point that, while preventing balls that might have dropped into the lower scoop from doing so, send the ball in other useful directions.

At the same time, I have not found the shot into the lower scoop from either flipper to be all that hard. And I'm not really even that good a player. It's a reliable enough shot for me that it's become part of my multiball strategy, giving me a quick add-a-ball when one of the balls in play drains. So the gameplay downside of Stern's protector doesn't seem that big to me.

Granted, it'd be better if I could just make the shots I want when I want, but I'd have to say that on the whole, having the "fugly" v3 bumpers installed probably nets me more made shots than it makes me miss lower-scoop shots.

Who knows? Maybe one day I'll install a NinjaCamp style protector (though I'll probably print it myself), but for now I find that the Stern-provided solution is pretty much a wash for me in terms of which I'd prefer, since it's already installed (I'd probably feel different though if I were in a position where I had to modify the scoop one way or the other anyway).

“Hi, my name is Bill and I’m suffering from Node 10 failure”.

*sigh*
Not really understanding any of this, is there something I did to cause the board to fry? Played too many games in a row? Left the machine on too long? Powered up/down incorrectly?

A little background: it’s got the most recent software update and about 1000 plays. No mods (other than the NC loop and plunger correctors).
Mid game, the center ramp wouldn’t come up. Powered it down and saw the red warning.
Sure enough:
BF41B779-3968-4E22-92D1-6E602A7E30B8 (resized).jpeg

This is the board number:

A7BDA032-22A5-4E88-9A0E-6D0C486BB26F (resized).jpeg
My distributor is working with me to get a replacement. Anybody have insight as to what causes it or how to prevent it?

Considering how long the game as been out and the frequency of the Node 10 boards failing, it's kind of disgraceful that Stern and it's distributors don't have a definitive answer to this. Pinside shouldn't have to figure this type of issue out!

Since other recent games (like GZ) use the same platform and boards, it seems like this issue might be more Rush specific? If Node 10 boards fail more uniformly across other games, it's more likely to be cheap board failure? Man, I hope Stern is looking into this...

I bought a Rush from the latest run and uninstalled the most recent Stern scoop fix, then installed the Ninjacamp.

No regrets.

20220827_183003 (resized).jpg

So who's put Rivendell in this beast yet?

All of my song selections are Tai Shan

there was something in the newest software update that addressed something on the clock. I bet they hoped that this would address this, but clearly its not. I just got my node 10 board two days ago after waiting for almost 3 months. I have chosen to disconnect the clock for now and run it only with the ramp for a few weeks. If i lose another node 10 board now, it would most likely be the ramp motor. If after i plug in the clock, and then the node 10 board goes, ill be asking for a new clock motor. Thats how im handling it.. Also.. no mods for me other than playfield protector

Sorry to hear you had to wait 3 months...awful. Assuming you bought it NIB, shame on the distributor for not pulling strings to get you the board in a more timely fashion. I've never waited that long for a part, but I guess Stern and distributor will blame COVID supply constraints...whatever.

It's nothing you did. My location Rush Prem is switched on 18hrs a day, and during tournaments and other times is played almost constantly for several hours. So the node 10 issue is not related to volume-of-play .

Just seems like some games have a defect that causes the node 10 board to eventually fail, and other games that don't have the defect, don't have node 10 problems.

Im assuming the "clock fix" was to take care of the issue I was having, since its been working 100% ever since I updated.

My clock was sometimes have issues where it would not initialize. It would just stay at 12:00 the entire game no matter what, until you rebooted the game. Happened about 40-50% of the time.

First of all I LOVE LOVE LOVE the code on Rush!

My son has discovered two bugs in the Cygnus flipper challenge.

The first is that when you play a 2 player game when the high scores are saved the number of stages completed seems to pulling from player two even when saving the score for player 1. See image. I’ve played this challenge three times. Once as single player and it was fine but my two scores shown I hit stage 22 and 20 respectively but as you can see it saved 10 and 9. I was player one both times and those level numbers were from player two. I had this happen in both 0.98 and 1.00.

The other issue my son had was in 0.98 and at one point during flipper challenge the game went out of the challenge and into normal play mode. So no timer and regular shots, but draining the ball had no affect. So he seemed to be stuck in an infinite game. Going into song mode didn’t change anything but after starting Fly By Night multiball he lost the infinite ball save. After draining his high score was saved in flipper challenge (shown in image). We haven’t seen it happen in 1.00 yet.

I was excited to see that there were some changes to ball save when you don’t score any points but it isn’t exactly clear to me when I will get the extra ball save. I’ll take it though.

And if I can put in another plug for one of the things that frustrates me is when a ball drains during song mode, PLEASE don’t reset the mode display info in upper left of screen (back to number of shots needed) until the new ball starts. I know it is a small thing and has no consequence to the game, but I just want to see how far I progressed. It will probably only make me more frustrated, but I still want to see.

A2480D48-DAB4-405C-91DA-88148F38014C (resized).jpeg

Hi Rush fans! Quick ? re: drum lights. I am a noob who owns an LE running 0.98. On my drum, the hour light and hand move around as expected (I still don't know what any of that means!) but nothing else. Friday evening I played a Premium and the drum on that machine had lights that were quite animated, apparently in sync with the playfield lighting of the moment. How can I get my drum lights to do the same thing? I looked through the settings and couldn't find anything related. Tks for any advice.

BTW - I will not be installing the V3 scoop protector system p/n 502-8020-00 that my distributor sent me. It looks too klugey and I have the NinjaCamp device to install when I'm ready. And at the same time I will install the "Rush Trough Kit", p/n 502-8018-00 that was sent with the V3 kit. The trough kit is apparently a new mechanical switch for the lower scoop that's on a beefed-up mounting plate. Looks important...!

Must watch from last week

Rush set at Taylor Hawkins tribute

The interactive drum clock you saw, was probably this:
https://pinside.com/pinball/market/shops/1016-lermods/06837-rush-pinball-pro-interactive-illuminated-clock

Premium/LEs machines came with the version you have on your LE.

Nice recording! Fill in drummers were excellent. Geddy and Alex still have it.

I believe that this has been mentioned in previous threads but not directly addressed. I own an IMDN Prem (it's not leaving) and thinking of adding a Rush Pro. I have played one on location and have really enjoyed it (and I am a Rush fan), but I worry that once I own it and the new game exploration period is over that I will find it to be just a shooter similar to IMDN but not as good and will want to move it. I prefer to buy thinking a game is a keeper, so I am reaching out to those of you who own both games or who have played both extensively to ask your opinion about having both in your home lineup.

I've had IMDN pro since 2018 with no plans to get rid of it, have had a Rush pro for 5 months now. They're very different games code and shot layout wise. Rush has way longer and more difficult modes to complete. Equally difficult getting to the end of the game as in IMDN. I wasn't a fan of Rush (the band) when I got the game, but still loved the layout and code enough to get it. If you're already a fan of the band, I think its a no brainer.

The game is hard as the devil if you have it set up fairly steep. Hope you enjoy challenging games.