Mantis Protector Update:

I've been working with Kerry the last few weeks getting this protector. Having a Metallica protector from him on hand helped facilitate the design, as the Metallica and RUSH scoops are the same size. He will be working on one for the upper scoop as well. Here are some pics of the prototype, the one he has for sale is another 1.5mm taller on the inside to come all the way up to the bevel of the hole. It is shown installed (without the scoop itself in place) in concert with the Stern Rev 2 protectors on my LE. As in the past, the best protection will probably come from a combo of different one.

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Sorry, the dude cannot abide. This is the same tack Stern is taking with stacking a BBQ Fork or a Blue Marge on a Cliffy lookalike. Is it really going to be necessary to use multiple protection devices for protecting this scoop? I've had a Mantis, and only a Mantis, on my MB forever, and scoop hole is pristine. One of the nice things about a Mantis is that it is nearly invisible. If it sits correctly in the hole, it should stand alone and serve it's purpose.

Only 1 night, I know, but the ninja looks good to me and the pics he showed of a few weeks on location look great. No hop, no rejects, pretty impressed so far. The stern protectors looked good on game, but pretty bad upon removal.

I can't argue with that, Mantis' protectors have ALWAYS worked well, which is why I worked with him on this. Keep in mind that each scoop hole is designed and abused differently on each pin, so what may work 100% on a MB may need some help to make it 100% on another. The jury is still out!

Right on. I am pro-Mantis as well and would really like to see this be a successful solution. Thanks for putting your time into helping Kerry.

I ordered mine as soon as I saw that is was for sale. I'm hoping that this will provide adequate protection, where a "cliffy" style protector isn't needed at all. Nothing against Cliffy, he makes great stuff as well. I just don't like that "fork solution". I REALLY hate the horse blinder solution that Stern came up with.

I'm just hoping the clearance is there to go over the playfield protector I will be installing at the same time as the Ninja.

I'm pretty sure you want to install the playfield protector over the Ninja, but you can try it.

Problem is, if putting the playfield protector over the ninja, the PP won't lay flat on the field and have an air gap which will let dirt into the gap and could look like crap in short order.

Maybe, but I think if you do it your way the Ninja lip may not lie flat (because the edge of the hole and the edge of the protector are not going to be exactly coincidental with each other plus you now have an extra .020 inch of grip length for the Ninja to accommodate). Also, the Ninja may act as a gasket to seal out dirt/dust out when the playfield protector is on top since it is made of an elastomeric material. But you may be right - let us know which way works best with your empirical data! The great thing is that the Ninja's flexibility should allow you to change configuration back and forth in minutes without really removing either protector I think.

Ordered ninja, thanks for posting an update.
Whether it’s a forever fix or not we will see.
Ready to move on and get back to enjoying game.

After playing my LE for a month, I got the chance to play a Pro on location yesterday. First thing I noticed was how much tighter the tension was on the shooter spring on the pro version. A full plunge required a lot more strength and launched the ball like cannon shot compared to my LE. Anyone know which version spring the Pro is using vs the LE ?

Also, the my LE still has the ball crash into something in the shooter lane 75% of the time to make it a sloppy shot. The Pro was smooth as butter. I've tweaked the shooter rod in my LE as well as double checked the ball guide alignment, but it doesn't seem to make a difference. I'm wondering if tighter shooter spring could cause damage to whatever the the ball is colliding with when exiting the shooter lane. Any other ideas ?

Exactly this. My plunge sends the ball to the left and just bounces into play - I can hardly ever get a full plunge to go around to the bumpers. Skill shots are now near impossible due to the code change for the skill shot switch.

Has anyone fixed theirs on their LE? Do I need a new spring, ask Stern for a new assembly, etc? Not sure what to do here as I've never had this problem before.

I noticed that too. I definitely prefer the weaker spring in the Premium and LE. Easy to fix though.

Not sure if it’s the spring. I’ve experimented with lowering and raising the back right corner leg and this helps out a lot but, Still not 100% perfect
I still get one out of 6-8 Plunges that turn into a clunker. And that’s from a manual and auto plunge

The shooter spring is MUCH smoother and softer, More Precise On my Rush than any of my other pins.

I agree. Definitely prefer the softer buttery smoother shooter spring.

I even changed my shooter rod and still the same beauty precision. So it’s not the rod. Definitely the spring

I have the same problem. I know the switch works because I can use it to plunge, and I've had a few times where I got the weapon and the switch worked for that, but aside from those 2 things, the switch doesn't do anything with the diverter for me.

Mine just shipped so hope to install it soon, do you recommend using an acrylic washer under the posts to prevent bunching or you think that's not necessary? Just asking as someone else mentioned they did that.

The diverter doesn't physically change when you hit the lockdown button - it is more of a software change that tells it which direction to go (left or right). The lower flashers indicate which direction is currently set. Hitting the lockdown button should cause a lightshow animation from one side to the other, and when finished the flasher on the other side should now be flashing.

The diverter itself gets activated when the ball triggers one of the switches on the ramps. This is because the diverter will be in a different up/down position depending on which ramp it entered. For example, if it is set to divert to the left inlane, then the diverter will be DOWN for side ramp shots, but UP for right ramp shots.

Note that some modes will override the manual diverter selection. For example, La Villa Strangiato diverts to the appropriate side to hit the next flashing shot in the sequence.

I tried realignment but ended up just replacing mine with an Orange one. It made a big difference.

Nothing mechanical happens when you hit the red button. You'll see the pulsing flasher change from the left side to the right side, or vice versa. This tells you which way the ball will go when you hit the ramp. Only then does the diverter fire. No reason for the game to use coil energy on the diverter if the ball isn't there.

I don't know if it's necessary, but I had em here from gnr fix and decided to try. The ball cannot hit the washers, so I think it's a good idea

Hey, Outpost Kodelia here. We're the other half of the team that co-developed the TPU scoop protector for Rush along with NinjaCamp. I think the acrylic washer is a great idea and certainly wouldn't hurt, but we've had good results just making sure the post is held steady as the nut is tightened by using socket wrenches on both sides of the playfield at the same time. The one on top should be a deep socket right over the top of the post and you can use that to hold it steady, or even spin it backwards a bit if your protector starts to bunch up on one side or the other.

We're all so happy to hear the positive responses from the folks that have started installing them. Just to throw our own testimony into the ring, we have a Rush LE here and we have had one of these installed on it from practically day one - as fast as we could design the part! - and both the playfield around the scoop and the protector still look brand new and there's no detectable impact on the shots. We're continuing to crank them out and we should be all caught up on the initial deluge of orders we received very soon so everyone that wants to can share in our peace of mind!

Just an FYI on the VUK protector, we have a design that we've developed and installed in our LE that is very promising and seems to be working well, but is somewhat difficult to install. We're trying to work out a different variation that's much easier to install but we're just not sure where we're going to land on this yet. Development and testing on this (and a few other ideas as well!) continues, so stay tuned!

Cool, thank you. I can buy one from Pinballlife. Do you still get clunkers to the side of the shooter lane at all? Did you do a combination of realigning the red screws and replacing the spring, etc.? Thanks for the tip.

Anyone else getting the ball stuck on the ramp here at the top of the flap? The V notch catches a slow ball whether the ramp is up or down and you have to shake it hard enough to tilt to get it off. I have no idea why there's a V there because a straight across cut on that flap wouldn't hit the ramp when it goes up or down. Ball search moving the ramp does nothing to knock it loose.

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I've had it happen a couple of times. And yes, you have to tilt to break it free.

Could it have anything to do with the balls becoming magnetized?

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Yes, I ve had it too. I guess I have my plump Bob a little liberal because I can shake it loose

I had it happen once Mike. Haven't put my tilt bob on yet so it was OK

If I've ever hung out/smoked out with ya at a show, you know I love it loud. Like, really loud.
I've got a fairly nice 300 watt sub on mine but...it's still not loud enough. I'm not one to sacrifice clarity for volume cause I want both.
I know there's some audiophiles in here so how can I make this louder?
1000 watt sub?
Pinwoofers?
Both?
Plan on getting the Pinwoofers soon, but
I need it LOUD.

Same thing as IMD, it starts to break up and lose clarity at any volume over 43.
Need more volume.

Just placed my Ninjacamp order. Never been so excited for a fuckin cliffy

Nope. Sits in the ramp flap cut-out. It's a weird design and just creates a ball trap.

BUY THE DAMN PINWOOFERS!!!

And a good sub. Klipsch preferred here, but the polks work great too. Have 3 each

If you are looking for LOUD…like really F’n loud, I’d skip the Polk 10” and go with the Kipsch Reference 12”. I have both and the Klipsch outperforms the Polk in every single way and gets you that deep booming bass you’re looking for. Be advised - RCA’s inputs only in the Kilpschs’ tho.
I still haven’t gotten around to the Pinwoofer game yet but I trust Hayfarmer - I’ll eventually show up to that party once I pay my machines down.

Damn you guys…

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I have a great sub. It sounds fantastic. I just need it slightly louder

And order the bbu too, huge increase in bass response and clarity. Have it on 3 pins now

This one?
https://www.amazon.com/Klipsch-R-120SW-Subwoofer/dp/B07FK2WNW4/ref=sr_1_2

WHY DO YOU HAVE TO REASSURE ME EVERY OTHER PAGE lol
Got it and SOLD on the Pinwoofers

That one is a newer upgraded version which I’m sure is outstanding. Here is the one I use for my pins - I have 3 of them and I’m very happy with them - they sure went up in price lately - hell I got mine for around $125-$150ish a year or so ago on sale.

Klipsch R-12SW Subwoofer https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MJ1YR8Y/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_NAHDVVRJBSWMFAPRPTYQ

Yup, mine from Costco were on sale for $149 at Christmas last year

Every time this has happened to me, a slight adjustment of the entire playfield (right or left) has fixed it. And I do mean slight...a mm or two maybe. I now get a rattler about 10% of the time. YMMV.

Sorry everyone! The day job keeps me from responding as fast as I would like .

Two things:
First, thank you all so much for the nice comments!! It is really exciting to see this technique scale to a larger user base than my original Rick and Morty idea.

Second, in my experience Playfield Protector’s (from this company https://www.playfield-protectors.com/) are either cut around the scoop protector (like my Godzilla) or cut under it. If they go under it, I recommend also shoving them under the scoop protector. I’ve always had great experience with placing the playfield protector under the factory metal and I don’t think our protector is any exception.

Again, thank you all! We’re cranking these out as fast as possible!!

Glad to hear you’re picking one up. I know it’s stupid, but that damn thing makes playing even more fun than it already is. Can’t wait to hear your review.

I find I'm not avoiding or flinching when I hit the lower scoop. I was shocked how bad the stock protectors looked and how thin and brittle they were. Had small cracks where stern cut the ears off the lower protector

ALL .THE. TIME

Lately, my ball has been hitting the blue bumpers on the side of the ramp while the ramp is up and triggering the time machine multi ball.

I've also had the ball ride up the ramp rails and over the top of the time machine. I've got balls flying everywhere!

Are you playing Rush pinball or having a sausage party?!

This all happens especially if you have a 6 ball multi ball happen. Sometimes I cringe the minute I get multi ball.
Between that and the shaker, I feel like the machine is going to explode