Success! Spent around 4 hours installing the playfield protector, Ninja scoops protector, felt pad switch maker and signals dalmation hydrant mod.

And spent most of last night celebrating by playing this most excellent game that I've found is Stern's answer to JJ's GnR.

This game plays awesome! And I can't tell the play difference with the playfield protector on. It feels the same as the few plays I had with no protector. =)

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I’m having a problem.
Hoping someone can help figure out what could be wrong.

My flipper buttons is at times (once every 5-7 pushes) triggering the right Ramp entry opto thus activating the diverter.

I have tried (in switch test mode) shaking and causing vibrations etc. Nothing.
Again pressing flipper button same thing activates R ramp entry opto/diverter

But nothing from shaking or vibrations.
Even pulling PF etc. No switch activation.

Even tried vibrations near opto, tapping it etc.
No activation.

Is there is a wired connection that could perhaps be the cause ? Or something I’m not accounting for?
Please advise thnx
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Nice work! I had GnR Le and was underwelmed. When I sold it there were only 125 plays. I much much prefer Rush. Yes, Im biased as a huge Rush fan and allot of the songs on GnR, their backtracks, were, lets say "wanting." Im sure if you put a GnR album beside a Rush album, the GnR album hole is liable to close out of embarrassment, lol...but I digress. So glad I dumped GnR for this pin...Borg has done it again!

~3 weeks in and mylar on the surfaces around the scoops, with $1.98 sally hansen hard as nails for the interior exposed wood in the hole is holding up great.

Scoop protector looks friggin' awesome! Good work.

The flipper leaf switches for the buttons are on node 8 and the opto you're talking about is on node 9, so unlikely to be some kind of node issue.

Go into switch mode and try wiggling the wires going into the opto emitter (one side) and the receiver (other side) to see if it exposes an inside the wire insulation intermittent connection (ie breaking wire). These Stern opto setups are pretty notorious for this. I hate them.

If not that loosen the opto and try to re-adjust so the emitter and receiver are better aligned. If their beam is hitting the edge of the hole for them in the ramp, it will also trigger them, and that alignment can change from use if they're not tight enough on their mounts.

I’m assuming most folks are removing the Stern “protectors” when they put these new ones on correct?

Do you happen to have the link for the Rush playfield protector? Thank you.

Went to a wedding last night - all the tables were rock themed. Guess what table I was at?!

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Now THATS a wedding I’d want to attend.
Nice!

Correct. Remove all of the Stern attempts and install this Ninja. I concur that this may be a game changer for scoop protection moving forward it is so good.

https://www.playfield-protectors.com/Home/Details/RlKho_Qk2kCBOijW6kDz5w?catgoryid=22&name=Rush%20%28Limited%20Edition%29%20%7C%202022%20%7C%20Playfield%20Protector

I did have to do some minor trimming of this playfield protector around the scoop holes as they were over haning the holes by a few millimeters and thus was effecting how the Ninja would lay down properly. But that protector is trimmed, everything else was spot on and the Ninja layed down there like it was made to be from the very beginning.

Update on this: I emailed [email protected] today (Sunday) and got a reply less than an hour later with a return shipping label, and confirmation that new parts have been ordered. Kudos to Adam Spreadbury at Stern, for his quick and positive response.

My free advice for anyone emailing Stern for support:

1. Include the part # that failed, the circumstances and how you diagnosed it (if possible).
2. Include your serial #, distributor and “born on” date
3. Include your full name and address, for shipping
4. Be polite and professional, this is absolutely not the time to complain.

I’ve been on both sides of this, and I can tell you, this works. When I used to manage a large software project, I quietly followed the message boards on our product. The posts I paid attention to were those that included all the info I needed to solve the problem, without bitching and moaning about how “the manager should be fired” (lol). I grew some pretty thick skin that year (2004), but I’m human, and we all like to be treated with respect.

Question for those with Expression lights and or experience installing them:

Would it be possible to only install One side?

ie if wanted to install Expression lights one side and another Blade on the opposing side.

Lucky for you… because my experience is stern requires the customer distributor to place advance replace purchase orders for expensive parts which slows things down and involves having to deal with multiple parties.

Speaking of Expression lights... I'm interested in installing them on my premium (maybe coming this month). Any word on when they might be available?

I think Mirror Blades would be almost as good as expression lighting.
It would be great f it could be both. =)

Do NOT do that. The expression lights aren’t the same on both sides. There are often different effects and colors on either side.

No way. Expression lighting adds WAY more than mirror blades, especially as the animations are being tightened up to each song.

No as for WHEN the expression lighting kit is available for Pro/Prem, I have no idea.

I actually made two gradient versions for Deadpool's B-O-O-M inserts. Initially it was yellow on the B with a gradient into red on the M, but the M kind of got lost in the red GI on the shooter lane, so I ended up doing a yellow to orange to yellow version as well that has better visibility on the right side. But I left both up so people can choose which they prefer. Yellow to Red is still the most popular by about 4 to 1, though.

Looking forward to your shooter lane protector! Sign me up. =)

Wait so both your node 10 and your friends are toast, sounds like? What part are they replacing? Hopefully not just a new node 10 as that'll get fried too. Keep us up to date on how the underlying cause is diagnosed and resolved, please...

Finally put my ninja scoop on.
All I can say……. If it holds up, Ninja for the win!!! Excellent job!
My scoop wasn’t too bad because I got to it early by overlapping the edges with Mylar .
I kept the forks but, made sure to smooth down the top edges with a fine file

The simplest explanation is that his LE has a bad PSU voltage, or a ground fault somewhere. I’ll definitely check everything going into node board 10 before I install his replacement board. Fortunately I have my Premium to compare it to.

I think he just wants to know if it’s possible.

I haven't seen or heard any problems in that spot but the ball does roll over the slot to get to the hidden target so I would guess the slot edges there might take some abuse over time.

I'm stoked about your scoop solution, though. I think you may have came up with a new industry standard with this. Can't wait to get mine and put it through the paces!

Played a ton today. So far it’s working great
Cliffy set with sterns fork left in place.

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Cliffy looks great, is he advising to keep the forks in? I think they will alter side sneak ins and damage the balls. But if needed, guess have to leave em in

Have a question…..
I installed the new scoop protector and I am experiencing more bounce backs from the scoop. I don’t think it’s because of the protector itself.
I see less give in the scoop itself now .
I also hear that ping noise.
Is it possible to have over tighten the nuts under the playfield?

Haven't seen that here, but I did put 2 washers under left side, to direct the ball to right flipper. Maybe that raised scoop up enough? But I dont think it a protector issue for you. Have not had 1 reject yet

Well when I first installed everything, the scoop started shooting straight down the middle. I had to go back under loosing the nuts etc , twist the scoop mechanism clockwise and while holding in place i tightened everything and it shoots to right flipper again

Shim it up, never sdtm again

That’s a good trick to know but I’m good now

Which scoop, top or bottom?

Slo-mo film it with a camera phone to see what might be causing it.

Lower . Hmmm great idea!!
I’ll do that tomorrow
Thank you

One of you lawyer bastards needs to get up with Ninjacamp on that free advice as he needs to patent/trademark his shit asap.
Many thanks for the ingenuity

I mean, you do realize that Stern has already stolen this right? I'll still be a Ninjacamp customer for life, as will many others.

It's really not practical on a product this niche. Legal costs will substantially reduce or obliterate (depending on demand) the income from the item. Plus there is prior art from Cliff (the OG) and Stern and JJP with the only change being the material (a kind of plastic, but mylar is a plastic with extensive prior art with this use, too), which may not be enough to successfully defend the patent even if it IS awarded.

And policing patents you own can be a VERY EXPENSIVE enterprise. There's a company I bought stock in with a seminal patent on DDR memory that underlies every stick sold since DDR2 that EVERYONE that used DDR2 and up (computers, phones, servers, EVERYTHING) owes royalties to. Google was shown the tech and ripped it off, got tremendously wealthy with the speed advantages and spent the last 13 years trying to bankrupt the company so they did not have to pay royalties. That is JUST now getting to a money judgment trial after finally getting a guilty verdict against google who exhausted all appeals last year. And this is on a patent worth tens or hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars. 13 years. Tens of millions spent to get justice.

So yeah, it's not an easy road, or a cheap road (or a recommended road, here), and if Stern wants to dick them around like they did to Cliffy with his OG protectors they flat out ripped off, there's little they can do about it without a LOT of money, probably more than they will make from these and related products. Essentially they just have to rely on the quality of their product and the propensity of the pinball community to support originators that move pinball forward.

PinMonk you are my favorite modder. I installed (and tested!) 3 of your quiet fans this weekend, and I’m incredibly grateful for the silence! (all my Spike games are on right now, and I can’t hear them). Your color mods for Stranger Things and Rush are frankly “must have”, and playing un-modded examples of these games fucks me up.

I just want to mention the other side of the patent equation: patent trolls. In my past life, I wrote software for cable set top boxes (which are about to be obsolete, thank god). But back in the day, we fought companies like GemStar about stupidly specific patents like “when I bring up the program guide, I want to be on my current channel at the current time”. Other companies ignored the patents, and GemStar sued them. It was just a really dumb time, and I spent endless hours on calls with TiVo while my group was coding our DVR application (remember hard drives and DVR??). I had to spend a week in depositions because I sent an email explaining how our competitors were beating us by ignoring patents (we had bought that competitor by then).

I can’t complain too much, because I wrote 20+ equally stupid patents at $2k a pop (they paid for finishing my basement). But it’s a war of lawyers, and only the lawyers win. I mean, I really can’t complain AT ALL because I have the best pinball collection all of that annoying shit could buy. Rush is just the jar of cherries on top of a great 20+ years.

I appreciate the sentiment. It's all the better since this pinball mod thing was a complete accident for me. I mean, I made the characters and name, etc, but the mods themselves just kind of happened out of my OCD mixed with pinball.

This is a hilariously frank quote that made me laugh, but I completely know what you mean. When I see streams with Iron Maiden with white mode inserts or a Deadpool with white multiplier inserts and character mode inserts it just looks WRONG. Basically any of the ones I've done, but especially those.

Additional info on this other aspect of the patent subject is appreciated, too.

Now working on the topper. Just ordered this mini R40 retro kit, the craftsman's is impressive...

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That's pretty cool. Where did you buy it?

I know right! Replica R40 retro kit, right down to the tubular bells. He has other Peart kits, but would be hard to fit on the top of a back box!

https://www.miniatureinstrument.com/

Finally getting my Premium on Thursday. Wondering whether I should do a shaker or not?

Is a shaker a must have or meh on Rush?

Must!

Very well integrated. Really adds a lot.

I put one in my pro. Very easy to install and definitely a nice premium feature. Recommended!

Very cool!