The physical lock is coded and works perfectly fine if you have a working upper ball lock switch. Some games work out of the box, others do not. This is why they disabled physical ball lock as the default.

When your switch isn’t working reliably and you enable physical locks, it may lock the ball in the scoop but lose track of it and go into ball search and eject the ball from the scoop which feels like the game getting out of sync.

Stern is aware and working on a solution

Mine shit the bed once tonight as well. Only happened the one time and it didn’t happen again

At least yours came with the correct backglass. My premium came with a pro backglass

Easily fixed, hit up up your distributor.

Long gone my friend. But only after getting to LMS a couple times.

Welp. Maybe in 4-5 years for me

This Rush playfield protector is a must have imo. No need to remove time machine. The only mistake I made was putting the protector under the factory scoop protectors. It caused binding. It goes on top of the protectors. I removed the fork as its not needed. Put some hard as nails nail polish on inside of scoops and VUK area.

Took me a full day to do it. It plays amazing now!

I made a video I need to post.

Looking forward to your video. Any fitment issues (did you have to trim anything on the protector)? Did you remove the playfield from the machine to install?

NO TRIMMING. I was really impressed. Just layover the factory scoop protectors. Just take your time and bag/label everything.
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Cool. Did you remove the playfield? Seems like it would be easier on one's back to install on a rotisserie.

Edit: Looks like it also provides protection for the scoop protectors which is a big plus as well.

Did you get an email? I want to tap into the data channel on those and create some mods for my machine, but I'm not sure the sequence or the type of LED they are using.

My distributor told me to contact Stern for parts.

No need. Only need to disconnect 4 light connectors, remove flippers and the metal right ramp nuts. Drum stayed on. Just romved 1 screw on the mount so as to slide under it.

No removal of the drum - that surprises me a bit, but great. Looks good, thanks for the tips, and post that video when you get a chance.

One starting point is to unplug the C15 connector from the node board. That will turn off the red, blue and white LEDs in the lower playfield. If your machine plays okay without that connector plugged in, you know it's one of the lights. Keep in mind this picture is with the board facing up and it will be facing down under the playfield, so the connecter is in the back.

An easier test, if your problem is like mine, a nicked wire going under the flipper mechs, you could try slipping a business card or something non-conductive between the wires and the edge of the bracket. More than likely if you have a short it's going to be right at the edge of the bracket. If that solves your problem then you know that one of your wires probably got nicked during the install. Keep in mind, the nick on mine was tiny so it doesn't take much to cause a short.

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Yep, the little metal flake in the socket of my JP was tiny too. It was on location, so it could have been anything. The overcurrent circuit did its job.

Plays like a full mylar I hate them

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Playfield Protector install on Rush LE. Part 1. Disassembly. Hope this helps. Now I can put 1000's of plays on it and never wax it. Also no need for ball drop protectors on the inlanes. I show my Avengers IQ w/ 2200 plays with a protector as an example.

I’ve never noticed a full mylar playing any different. Biggest mistake of my pinball career was pulling the mylar from a NOS Space Station playfield. I should have left it alone!

You obviously haven't played a new stern with one on it. How can you choose a beat up dimpled pf over a shiny smooth one? I have played GZ, AIQ and now RUSH and they all play superior.

Ball doesn't act the same as on wood, tough to explain, it slips or something. Game with hardtop

I've had people have me remove them because they hate them. I'm not into playing on a plastic pf

Thank you for this info! Gonna do some investigation this morning. I’ve already reached out to Stern and my distributor as well.

I wish I had one but it’s a pass for me going through that install process. I don’t have the patience
I’d pay someone to do it for me if anyone is in phila area

Seconded

I prefer dimpling. Previous owner of my HUO Hobbit had one installed and after a month of ownership I ripped it off and played way better.

Just got this when I turned it on just now

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I think the factory scoop protector will still have issues bunching up / binding up the ball over time even with the protector over it as the ball will be bashing the inside of the scoop numerous times per game. Thus lifting up the playfield protector that's covering it.

When my playfield protector arives, I'm going to take out the factory scoop protector, install the playfield protector then install Aniraf's 3D printed protector on top of the playfield protector since Aniraf's scoop protector is pliable and shouldn't cause binding like stock metal ones would.

They are a pain to install, but I think they are well worth it. Only way to keep a new playfield in pristine condition with all the airballs involved in modern machines - nobody can argue with that fact. I also use them a lot on old EMs with sunken inserts - instant playfield leveling, protection of paint touch-ups, and beautiful shine. Also, they are really easy to uninstall if you ever want to remove them to sell your machine with a truly immaculate playfield in the description.

As far as playability goes, no discernable difference to me. I've played games on location that I didn't even realize a playfield protector was installed until someone pointed it out to me. Of course, the debate will go on, but "I prefer dimpling" will never be a good argument for your camp, LOL!

That is the node board where your short issue is probably occurring. Have you tried opening then closing the coin door or restarting the machine?

If neither of those work, you may want to unplug that CN15 connector to see if the message goes away.

Read Rush Le ratings comments if you want a good laugh,the haters are trying to tank it.Nobody cares but i Laughed.

I tend to agree with you, but I am surprised how close (almost perfectly), at least in this case, the playfield protector comes to the edge of the scoop holes. So if the ball can't hit the sharp edge of the metal protector, it can't deform it. But I like your plan (it's my plan as well), except I am going to install the Aniraf under the playfield protector.

I also greatly dislike plastic playfield covers. Game plays like garbage with them on. Tried one once and removed it after maybe like 50-100 games. In the trash it went.

How long before Stern decides their "fix" is to never put scoops on a game?

In a home environment, it just isn't necessary. I love to have my machines looking and playing amazingly. A little novus 1 cleaner, followed by waxing is all you need.

A few are funny but as expected with this title.
Many don’t get Rush enough to give it a shot.
If they heard Geddy call them a “HOSER” more often perhaps opinions may change.

Here's a pic of my switch. No diode and it looks to be wired correctly but I'm a total noob.

Again, this is my first NIB and my first Stern and I understand problems happen, but if I compare to buying a new car (price is close!) - can you imagine if 10-20 out of every 1000 cars rolled off the line with shorts that caused your blinkers to work backwards or computer issues that caused your electronics and steering wheel to completely shut off in the middle of a drive?

Back to my problem - let's assume I can't find a short or don't want to spend hours looking for one. Is this something Stern will send someone out to repair? I'm not about to start soldering new diodes onto a brand new $13k pin.

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My bad, there are no diodes on any of my switches either - good to know. Go into the switch test in Diags, trigger each switch on the game and write down the ones that are wrong.

I think I see the problem @boslaw. On my game, the right outlane switch wires are black/orange on the top lug, and blue/green on the middle lug. My inlane switch has black/orange on top and green/yellow on the middle.

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I unplugged the Cn15 connector and the game will start up and I was able to play a game. Plugged it back in and Now all the lights appear to be working in attract mode.
Thank you for the guidance- seems like some progress is being made here but it is still shorting out every so often. So Still have some work to do…
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Yep, that’s the problem. If you’re not handy with a soldering iron, maybe someone local on Pinside can help?

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I can easily imagine that if only 2000-5000 cars of that model were made. But congratulations, if this is your first cargument you just became an official Pinsider

Check out that heat shrink - I don't think it was ever heated...

Not heated nor "shrinked". Whoops.

Stern sent me new optos for both sides of the instrument lock. Installed and problem is fixed.

Definitely take some macro pics of the affected lamp sockets. One of them has a strand of metal in it, and it can be impossible to see it with just your eyes.

Ok that will be my next move…thank you

Mine looked like this, so it was easier to spot.

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You probably missed the meeting, but that's completely opposite of the normal Ample Dimpling Gang logic. Their contention is that dimpling will diminish and eventually disappear with more play. It's unofficially called "Pulverize to Perfection" to some of the playfield theorists. What actually happens, of course, is you eventually end up playing on an orange peel texture, but that's an inconvenient fact that must be overlooked to keep the theory intact. Anyway, point is "Home Use" is just going to accentuate every dimple per the theory.

Spoiler alert - nobody ever wins this debate, but I can assure you there will be many more passionate arguments to come on this thread in an effort to find that "Aha!" moment.

Your vote has been registered. Thank you for participating.

Damn that is a tiny sliver - I’ll keep an eye out for something similar