Hmmmm. Let me see if I can get video. Hopefully I’m not going crazy.

I was going to add that I just had a double drain, one from the scoop and the other from an outlane, and it ended my ball (and consequently my game). All while working on Reactor 5! I was bummed! But yeah, no scoop save during MB.

I'm on 1.3.0 and have had a couple instances where the slings held on for an extra second. I dont want to lose my GC though!

I completed a few mods on the weekend...

1. Replaced the screeming jet engine fan in the PS with nearly completely silent one.
Orig. fan on the left, new fan on the right. New one is much smaller/lighter and quieter

2. Moved the speaker mesh material from between the speaker and the speaker lights rings (mounted on the back of the speaker panel) to the front of the speaker panel and cut to fit behind the metal circular speaker covers. I prefer this setup with the speakers themselves more visible and the overall brightness of the speaker lights slightly dimmed due to the mesh.

3. Tilted the stock monitor back so it points directly at the head/eyes of the player. This totally resolves the poor contrast and bad darks problem and makes the screen pop! I used 1 1/2" nylon spacers and longer wood screws to mount the top of the monitor to the speaker panel, and just screwed the bottom screws in without bending the monitor or adding spacers there (for now anyway, they seem secure enough). I also used Gorilla tape to fashion a light shroud around the monitor but this ended up being pretty "tacky" looking so might replace with black pastic or cardboard at some point.

Here's a before pic showing orig., speaker mesh setup and stock monitor angle with washed out picture quality:
Before

Here's what it looks like now with the angled monitor and speaker mesh in front of the lights...
After! That's better!

FYI My monitor settings are:
Brightness: 20
Contrast: 100
Gamma: On

Monitor mounted with the spacers...
Spacer (resized).JPG

Picture with a flash on to show the monitor angle from the side-front. Normally you wouldn't really notice the white spacer post.
SpeakerFlash (resized).JPG

One issue with the slanted monitor is that the top of the screen is now blocked on some screens in the game by the top of the monitor cutout in the speaker panel. It's not nearly as bad for me while playing as this picture would indicate, but still lose the top 1/3 of the top row of text on that screen. An ideal fix would be to expand the hole in the speaker cutout slightly but this would require cutting, sanding, and re-painting the speaker panel.

The monitor controls look like there should be an option to allow sizing/moving the picture but you can't select it. Too bad or this would be an easy fix.
I'm okay with this for now as the increased PQ is well worth it. It somehow "feels" so much better to have the screen slanted so it's pointed directly at the viewer, I wish Spooky would have fabricated a proper monitor mount and done it this way from the factory.
Oops

4. Added the light up siderails. These are great and should also be a factory option!

..oh, and the factory option mirror blades too. Shiny!
My precious!

Starting to get a pretty constant Drop Target 1 error. Each game starts with the #1 drop target up and hitting it will indeed drop it, however when two balls are locked in, they won't release. Both ball jam-up behind the #1 which will not drop. The long spring that attaches to the black plastic drop target was indeed fouled, but the error still occurs after reinstalling this spring correctly (correct to my knowledge). Can anyone share any common experiences and how to rectify this problem? Many thanks to all who contribute to this board! I'm new to this hobby, so not privy to many tricks of the trade in troubleshooting!

Go into the service menu and under tests there is a drop target test. Run that and watch the targets, they should pop up and drop one at a time. If they are not doing that, then you have a physical issue with the drop target, if they are and it is throwing an error, then the switch is no good on the drap target reporting the error. You can also verify the switch functionality in the switch test.
--Scott

also, make sure you are on the latest release.

rev 1.3.0

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1k53qgsp93g1PP0Ah7XLZf6L6o8jHA0ct

Spooky Pinball LLC is feeling cold.
24 mins ·
Kayte just talked to R&L Freight... with record cold temps the next 48 hours (60 BELOW ZERO WIND CHILL?!?) games will be held until next Monday to keep the drivers out of harms way. We are leaving all the non-Benton minions home tomorrow to keep them safe as well. Public schools, colleges, public services, businesses, most everything is shutting down. This is a bit crazy... even for Wisconsin! Our apologies to the people who are waiting. We'll keep your games safe and warm!

We were looking for a new game to splash some cash on, and of course my wife was right all along, TNA is the best. We have had #499 for two weeks now, no issues, very happy. We drove out from Milwaukee to pick it up, that was a really fun day. Everyone at Spooky is really terrific.

Definitely adjust your monitor settings. We are currently at Contrast 85, Brightness 25 and Gamma ON. Helps a ton!

Which one of you super clever 3D printer people is going to make the brackets/light shield to tilt the monitor back and drop it a 1/2 inch? Difficulty: beating the $100 price of the upgrade monitor and driver.

Don and Liz C.

Regarding Eastern Block post on the drop targets.... There are two springs you have to concern yourself with on the drop targets. One of them pulls the target down. The other smaller one pushes the face of the target forward. This smaller spring is located between the “drop coil” and the back of the target. The drop coil is the little coil off to the side that pulls against the drop target from behind. In my machines case, the little spring on the little coil wasn’t pushing hard enough against the back of the drop target and the drop target would spontaneously fall on its own. To fix it I just took the spring off, stretched it and re-inserted it. The last three weeks it has it running normally.

Got the situation fixed okiedokie! An e spring clip retainer was deformed on the back of the #1 drop target. Removed it, the two flat washers with spring and straightened out the retainer clip then reinstalled the lot. No errors in drop target test and after a few games the issue seems resolved. Was already running the latest code. Many thanks to TheNoTrashCougar KingPinGames SpookyKT and Cmartin1235 for the advice and help.

Now if I can just hear the music for reactors 6-9 on my machine rather than on SoundCloud or a pink cassette tape....

Well if you really want to hear them before getting to those reactors you can by going into the test menu.

Does anyone have problems with trying to get the ball into the scoop? If I hit the scoop 10 times it might go in there once.

I actually turned the power to the flippers down and I can now make the scoop alot more. This did not effect the game speed at all, it just stopped it from pounding into the scoop. I think I turned the power to 25 or 27.

I’m about 40-60 from the right flipper and maybe 70-30 from the left. I’m happy with that. What I cannot hit is that damned right orbit

I will try this tomorrow.... Thank You!

What are these numbers 40-60 and 70-30?

I’ve read a lot of comments about this scoop, and by no means am I an expert, but I would challenge people to keep track of how many times they unintentionally hit it vs. when they are aiming for it. I find that my friends and I are quite successful at hitting it when not attempting the shot. That makes me feel confident that I just need to up my game.

Down by 1 from the default was enough for me. Any more than that, and it started to negative impact to the game.

It means I hit 40 out of 100 from the right flipper and 70 from the left. Just another way of giving percentages - 40% right flipper, 70% left. I find the backhand shot easier, probably because it’s a bit softer shot.

Like others, I did tune my flippers too. I reduced the strength until they just made the orbits, then added 1 to those numbers.

Yes, the scoop is hard to hit physically on TNA. I have a hint for you guys though... If you need to get the scoop and you roll over either inlane, the reactor core opens in the opposite orbit for an on the fly shot to the core (indicated by pink arrows and Deltatronn logos in the orbit). You can then settle the ball and drop it in the scoop.
--Scott

Fytr

I'm glad I'm not the only one that noticed the louder than average fan. Out of the 2 posted, which one is the quieter one so I know what to hunt for?

Thanks

Here's a little trick for making the scoop shot. Hold ball on left flipper and allow it to sit still then release flipper and immediately back hand shot goes right in most of the times. Takes a little practice but works very well for me !!!!

Oh yes and do this as soon as the ball starts to move.

I’m So Sorry guys but I wasn’t descriptive enough about the scoop shot. The advice y’all had shared is Great Advice..... I hit the shot often, and it looks like it hitting dead on, but it’s hitting it at such force it bounces out and doesn’t go in. Ryan1234 suggested turning down the flipper power, which I’m going to try today. Toyguy mentioned his percentage hits with each flipper... I believe the shot goes in the scoop more often from my right flipper ( definitely by Luck... Believe me I’m not that good) than from my left flipper.... My left flipper seems to be hitting it at great force... All of you chiming in about this difficult scoop shot, I Greatly appreciate all the advice, tips, and tricks.... One day I might be a better player

This post takes a lot of abuse on TNA. Shots at the targets and the scope hit here hard and often. Just a thought.

My upper flipper has two unattached leads, can someone provide a photo of theirs so I know which goes where? Also any recommendations for wire strippers are appreciated…mine have apparently become snippers.

C04546F2-CAC2-47B1-A642-35F8C262FA17.jpeg

The one on the right is the quiet replacement.

Note that it produces approx. 1/2 the airflow of the stock fan but is only 10.5db(A) (whisper quiet) vs 34.5db(A) (Running Dishwasher) for the stock.

I did not know the rule on the in-lane to reactor orbit shot. I just knew that sometimes the ball would deflect down from the orbit. Thanks!

There's plenty of good choices out there, but these work fine for me. I have a pair in my home tools and my work tools.

https://m.harborfreight.com/7-inch-wire-stripper-with-cutter-98410.html?utm_referrer=direct%2Fnot%20provided

I had turned down the power to the flippers to 26 and now going into the scoop much better. And still enough power to go around the orbits....

2 solid blue , blue/red in the middle and then blue/green.

Bingo, she lives! Many thanks!

I can't ever seem to hit the right orbit, either.

Well... I can't hit the scoop for crap (going to try to turn down my flipper strength as suggested). I can't hit orbits either (practice, practice, practice). And took me 6 months to even beat the factory GC on my unit.

But I can strip wires like there's no tomorrow... I went to the self-adjusting type and absolutely love it. No more trying to figure out what gauge wire I'm working with. Maybe not for everyone if you're married to the old style, so try out a friends or something if you're watching every penny. But for about $20, this is one of my favorite tools in my chest.

https://www.irwin.com/tools/pliers-adjustable-wrenches/self-adjusting-wire-stripper

I never realized these were so inexpensive. I'll have to get a set when my old-skool style strippers need replacing!

Plus...."Play Better!"

I experimented with turning down my flipper power to 26. I can't say I noticed a huge difference in my ability to hit the scoop, but my preferred technique is to lock a ball and plunge into the reactor. Remember, ball locks are not just for multiball.

I think we’re talking about two different things.

People missing the scoop

People hitting the scoop and it rejecting the shot.

For people in the latter camp, I think Scott suggested adjusting the roof on the scoop down a bit to help the ball stay in there when you shoot it.

I turned my flippers down to 26 and I can actually make the right orbit shot now! Thank you!
I never really try to hit the scoop directly from the flippers......I always go through the reactor.

At least in my case, I probably just phrased it poorly. I'm referencing the ability to hit the scoop and, more importantly, not have it bounce back.

Has anyone tried adding some drop dead foam or even a strip of velcro to the inside of the scoop? This might settle the ball a bit and allow more shots to drop in.

Yes he did, he also suggested removing the scoop and adding a washer or two between the playfield and the scoop thus lowering the scoop slightly.
I have done this and it certainly helps with rejects, still a tough shot but better.

There is another...

IMG_2945 (resized).JPG

I just noticed this with the sound off....anyone have a real buzzy flipper?

Right flipper sure is noisy!

Any ideas what might be causing this lighting snafu? This is my routed machine and I have not been able to go investigate yet. Fuse?

6578D3E3-E9BE-499C-9A57-BEF7F916DDA0 (resized).jpeg

Check the 5v dc going to that board. Do the rest of the lights function as they should?

Everything else is good

Okay. Then the board is passing thr information through. Check for a loose power cable or no voltage at that cable. There is a black wire (ground) and a red wire (5v dc). Make sure it hasn't come loose.w