Thank you all... this is great info.
Thanks again.

As mentioned by another poster, sounds like the ring part isn’t sitting flush in the hole. That bottom lip has to stick all the way through. Did you follow NC’s install directions?

Other suggestion would be to make sure everything is lined up properly(VUK/wireform), or that you don’t have something in there blocking it. Did you unplug anything and forgot to plug it back up? Is your coin door open when testing?

I had the same problem. I ended up bending the leaf on the switch up just a bit to give is some extra reach. Working perfectly ever since.

So I installed it twice per their instructions. I can’t see any more play on either the top half or bottom half to pull it in one direction or another. It seems it may just be too tall / big? If I nudge the ball with my finger down the vuk switch activates and kicks ball up.

Unless I misunderstand their instructions the bottom lip portion should be on the bottom of the playfield as opposed to jammed into the hole. I’ve pulled it out and reseated it twice with same results. Either I’m missing something (always possible) or it’s design is just a hair too “tall”.

I do not have my coin door open.

As is often the case, pinball guys become band fans or band fans suddenly get into pinball.

Congrats!

post a photo and we can see if it looks like ours.

Is anyone using the 2 piece VUK carbon fiber protector from Cliffy's set? I'm curious to know how it's performing and whether it would be a viable alternative.

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Maybe revisit step 3, does it look like the ring is preventing the switch in any way? Can’t remember without looking, I think there’s a little notch for the switch, isn’t there? Maybe it just needs a slight trim?

http://mjf.me/Pinball/Rush_TPU_VUK_Protector_Installation.pdf

You are correct, bottom ring should be flush to bottom side of playfield, no wiggle room between top and bottom.

Gotta ask, the side with the longer lip, is on the top playfield side, correct? Long piece towards back of the VUK? Just trying to rule out issues without pictures

So trying to decide which color to stay with, or keep both for variation. I’ve seen plenty of people get Schwasggs(Gameroom Mods) green dice, for the RTB scoops, but haven’t see other colors posted. I ended up getting blue and red sets, as I wasn’t sure which one I’d like more.

Having a hard time choosing one of the two, or staying with how it’s pictured.

Whatcha think, both red, both blue, one of each? Just curious of other thoughts.

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I did white for mine. Very happy with it. Dice pop nicely and offers a nice balance in color to the playfield. I would do both red since there is a lot of purple in the playfield already.

I did red and green

Personally I like green, since that's sorta the 'standard' Lock Ball indicator insert color. Though I imagine white is nice too since they'll be their 'real' color.

Green has always been the color for locking balls / multiball in pinball, I’d stick with that. Regardless of what color you choose, the dice look great, like they’re factory. Best cheap mod for Rush imo

Also was surprised to see my most listened to artist on Spotify this year was Rush. Was a band I was lukewarm/ not really a fan of prior to getting hooked on the pin

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Who wants “standard”, bleh!

Nothing against green, just that a lot of machines I’ve seen, that’s typically what they have. Dare to be different, even in the smallest of details, lol.

I know Transformers and the Sega Harley Davidson, were both red, I’m sure others as well.

I agree green seems the most common, but again, who wants common/standard? Viva La Resistance’!!

Yes, either case, they’re a great small mod from Schwaggs, like many of his other pieces. That’s why I was asking for outside views, thank you everyone.

You can add a $1 Billion Club member plate to your speaker panel or coin door Think I will remove Xanadu and make it customizable to the players three initials.

I am close to $1BN but not quite there yet.
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I followed the installation instructions and photos. So I did not install it upside down if that is what you are asking. Picture below. I also centered the part per the instructions and ensured that my finger could trigger the switch freely (which it can). I actually installed this part with a portion of the topside torn down so I was able to really center it. When it didn't work I had to reinstall it from the bottom up because I didn't want to tear all the parts down again.

I assume I have done it correctly because the small lip is poking out the bottom of the VUK (where the coil mounts back) and I can't see any more "play" to pull it down lower.

Here is my problem - when the ball goes into the VUK it doesn't trigger the switch. The ball sits up too high because I think the ninja camp part may be too "tall". Before ever posting here I started by reaching out to them 4 days ago but when they never responded I figured I'd check on here if you guys had an easy solution. I think it likely just needs to be returned for a new one or I will likely just install the Cliffy and call it a day.

When the ball goes in - no switch triggers. If I push the ball down with my finger the switch triggers (so there are no other mechanical reasons why the switch won't trigger). If i remove the part completely game acts normally. It seems to me I would have to bend the switch way more than a little to get it to reliably trigger.

The purchase receipt from pinside said I should PM Aniraf for issues with the product. Is there an alternate contact I should be reaching out to?

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Added LZ blades to my pro yesterday. Was trying to be patient for the official Rush set, but after seeing the insane price of the Mando topper, I assumed the Rush blades would go up in price as well and took the mismatched plunge.

Install isn’t too bad, but it is bizarre to me that Stern didn’t include this amazing product in all their Rush and LZs out the gate. I get they’re the industry leader, have no real competition and make $ off accessory sales, but EL are so well done that they really sell the game. I think Rush would’ve had a better reception if they all had EL included off the bat.

Highly recommend them for all pro and premium users when they’re readily available again. Will be buying them for all compatible games going forward as well

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I installed the real knocker in Rush Premium a while back. I turned off the volume to the computerized sounds effect and enabled the knocker. I am getting the real knock for Match and high scores, but in game, when I get a "Replay" no sound anymore. Is there a setting I'm missing or could this be a software bug? (Same in 1.01 and 1.02 firmware). Thanks!

Knock-on-replay is the most iconic pinball sound from my youth. Getting that "CRACK!!!" during play was cause for much celebration, and everyone in the arcade would look over to see what savant had achieved this great achievement. It's literally sacriledge if the new Sterns won't replicate this experience.

I get a simulated knock when hitting replay on my machine without a physical knocker - the logic is definitely there for replay knocks.

Placing pics here for now, coming back to edit this post shortly.

OK, from what I can see from your pics, it looks ok, curious by what you meant with "I had to reinstall it from the bottom" referring to the 2nd time. Did you install it from the bottom the first time, or from topside? Is there any chance, you may have bent/snagged that switch just a little bit during install? Again, just asking questions to eliminate possibilities, not to judge.

I've included pics of mine, reference them with yours, and see if you notice anything slightly off. Worst case, I'm thinking either the switch got slightly bent/snagged, or something small(TPR spider webbing) is causing the switch not to react properly. Hopefully it'll just take replacing the piece, which NinjaCamp is awesome about. If the same issue persists with 2nd piece, then I'd refer back to the above. It about ruling out the other possibilities.

As you mentioned, you can message Aniraf or OutpostKodelia, and they will follow up with you. Can't remember which one, but one of the accounts, the other doesn't have access to, and that can cause delays in responses. They may have something else going on, but they are extremely great with their customers and messages. You can also post in their thread, to hopefully get more attention from them. Just post you messaged them regarding the VUK protector, and have some questions/trouble.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/ninjacamp-mods

Sounds like you've done a great job troubleshooting so far, it's appreciated when people reply back with great detailed info. Not only for myself, but helps others down the road as well. In any case, will be an easy fix, either with a part or readjustment, that's a good place to be with a machine, lol.

Let us know the resolution when it happens.

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Mine is set for replays - not extra balls. That does explain the difference.

Thank you. I really appreciate all your time and effort and the photos. I think I am reasonably confident that mine is just defective somehow (probably too tall). I'm sick of tinkering with it and just installed the Cliffy solution instead. If NinjaCamp ever replies back I'll just return this to them and hopefully they will refund me.

I will say the top of my protector does look "taller" than yours. Makes logical sense then that the ball is sitting too high on the extra material.

To answer your question - there was no way I could have snagged the switch as I removed the coil/switch every time I installed. The only difference was my starting approach (top versus bottom) which changed after I put the playfield back together.

Happy to move on and just play my game now. I have a bunch of other projects to do and spent way too much time tinkering with this. The Cliffy install took about 5 minutes and just works. I would recommend that one if you are willing to wait for Cliff to get to your order.

That's cheating

Down vote for cheating?

Officially part of the billionaire club

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Cracked 6B today, during a game in which I didn't even get to Book 2! Totally crushed it during some of the multiball modes and hit several new high score records, shown here, including an insane new bonus record. Also hit head 2099, another new personal best!
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Edit: "head" = "year", DYAC

I really appreciate all the responses about the knock sound for replay. I used to have just the "stem sound" and I seem to remember it from replay? I do however currently have Replay set to "Extra Ball". I guess that makes sense then?

I would suggest to Stern that a home user or anytime the machine is in "Free Play," the player has no use for a free game. And I get that lots of you "better" players want the "arcade challenge" and choose not to add a free ball for replay. All that being said, This is all just software. If the machine is set for home use, what's the cost to knock the knocker? It excites the player and is a deserved reward. Possibly even better than another ball or game. I 100% agree with DiabloRush.

Thanks again all. Just wanted to be sure it wasn't a misconfiguration or a bug.

100% agree I’ve always set my games to extra ball cus I like playing more pinball. I’m only comparing scores to myself or my friends who play on the same machine setup the same way so what does it matter.

I know if I play on location it won’t be there but I also know the whole game will play different so I just have to adjust play accordingly.

Is anyone getting multi billion scores on a pro or is that mostly just on premium models? Curious if I just absolutely suck on my pro, or if the premium is much easier.

Pro doesn't score as well, I completely agree. I think it's mainly because of the dead end shot on the pro but hard to say for sure.

Pro feeding dead end shots back to the right sling for sure is more difficult than Prem/LE returning it to the right inlane.

Got my (2.3) billions on a pro

I recently updated to the most recent code and was wondering if any others have noticed something strange, yet halfway amusing. At the conclusion of a game, when the different bonuses are displayed there is a strange noise that is quite similar to somebody ripping a huge fart. Is this some part of the new code or some type of easter egg dropped into the game?

Close to a billion on my pro, and I suck.

Yes. I have the set installed on mine. Extremely easy to install, no negative impact to my game (i.e. no rejects), and there is no wear at all on my VUK.

Jeff

Have you watched Dalton Ely's streams on Twitch? He regularly gets billions on his pro. Like 30+ Billion. Granted, he is one of the best players in the world.
With that being said, the prem/le is objectively easier due to the dead end return.

I noticed that too! It's a specific noise for the instrument bonus, if applicable. I think it's supposed to be a really really short guitar sound. I don't know if ALL of the bonus category sound are new, or if that's the only new one.

I'm not that good of a player, but I have hit 1B once on my Pro...as well as 2-3 games in the 900M's. TBH, my goal is not necessarily try to hit the optimal shots to get maximum points, but to try to "finish" the game. I haven't started any of the mini-wizard modes yet, although I've been close (missing 1 MB). For the other Book, I think that my best is completing 4 modes.

I guess I'll need to get more practice LOL.

I must admit that sometimes, I feel like I could grab the sledgehammer and smash it when the game is..err..."uncooperative".

Wouldn't change it for the world though...roughly 1000 games in and I still enjoy the challenge and the trials/tribulations of hitting 1B..again...soon...I hope!

Usually feeds my right flipper nicely. It's faster - most noticeable on multi-ball.

Hoping they are still planning on a 2112 challenge mode. My chances of getting there in a regular game are slim.

Same!! Took me 770 plays before even hitting Cygnus like two days ago - I got my cab in July. Of course I freakin' tilted out before I escaped the first planet because I was playin' a bit rough to get there in the first place and had used my warnings but.... at least I got there naturally!!

At that rate, I may hit 2112 naturally in a few years

I can get cyg1 but 2 never so far.There is a 2 right ?

This is something that is bothering me about this troubleshooting... from what I remember a "taller" protector would maybe cause problems with the ball getting over the VUK, like an extremely slow roller would hit the lip and then roll back out to the playfield. I'm pretty sure the protector is designed to allow the ball to effectively pass through. If the ball is sitting in the protector and above the VUK, requiring you to push it down to trigger the switch, it sounds to me like something might be too wide in the "sleeve" of the protector. With the way they 3D print this I would think it possible, but unlikely. Or maybe it isn't sitting flush against the rim of the drilled VUK hole.

When you press on the ball to get it to trigger the switch, does it feel like it is binding (VUK hole is too tight) or does it feel springy like it just needs a bit more weight to push something down at the bottom? This "feel" might help to zero in on the problem.

I'll try to take a look at mine today, maybe I'm off on my memory/assumptions here.

I have a suggestion instead of the billionaire's club

Appreciate your help - however I'm just going to stick with the Cliffy solution that I have subsequently installed. I'll try to mail this back to them if they ever reply to any of the PMs to either account I sent.

To answer your question, you may be right that when I pushed down on the ball it was "tighter" which might indicate it is too wide (as opposed to too tall). I was just focused on the fact that I couldn't make it "fit" any better than it did and I wanted to really give it a shot to ensure it was a defect versus my install. That said, I installed and removed it enough times that I think I gave it a more than fair shot to get working.

Assuming these are hand cut/printed and can vary a bit from product to product I can understand how some might not work on occasion.

No need for you to spend more time on this but I really appreciate your efforts! This community is amazing!