Quoted from MythMaker:

I agree with above. I can certainly abuse a game anytime, even if the game is turned off! I don't see the advantage here for the player to move the game while it is in the shooter lane. Honestly if anything they are likely to nudge the ball enough off the lane switch to start qualifying tilt warnings again anyways!!!
How did Stern and in the Past Williams / Bally deal with this same issue? I don't recall tilt through being an issue on modern games until TNA?

Quoted from callaway15:

Thanks. I'll try to compress the foam a number of times and see if this increases the hit sensitivity.

Quoted from Aniraf:

Completely semantic question…is this technically cheating? Does this create a game that wouldn’t be valid for a tournament setting?
I am curious about how this works in the pinball scene. I understand that all players who played your machine would have the same benefit, thus nullifying any advantage. I just happened to wonder how mods like this work in the world of pinball “rules”.

Quoted from lpeters82:

Damn...I'm still stalled out at 5.

Quoted from rolandthoms:

ive only gotten to reactor 5...like once. Are you guys doing anything to make it easier ? adjustments to getting extra balls? are you on 3 ball play? or 5? any other adjustments? its just such an ass-kicker...which of course, it its appeal.

Quoted from floyd1977:

I have gotten pretty good at the secret skill shot, live catch and back handing the lock shot. I still can't master the soft plunge.
I am on factory settings, 3 balls. I did make sure to make the standups and upper slings as sensitive as possible, which helps.

Quoted from herg:

I gotta know, who read that email exchange and thought, "I want to start a pinball company."?

Quoted from Aniraf:

I’ve heard of this, but I don’t understand how you use an earplug to help it swing correctly. I think the more logical move would to be lose these contraptions for a digital tilt sensor. There is no way that could be extremely costly to manufacture.

Quoted from 27dnast:

So your TNA now has training wheels ...

Quoted from rai:

How do I adjust the slings?

Quoted from TonLoc777:

anyone have any suggestions on how to make the scoop more reliable?? my pitch is probably right around 6.2. any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. looking for more of a deadpool style scoop reliability, if that makes any sense.

Quoted from aobrien5:

Is there anything you can adjust to make post passing possible, or is it a design feature?

Quoted from maxpower:

Perhaps joining this wing of the hobby was a mistake. My expectations appear to have been set too high.

Quoted from Aurich:

I wouldn't necessarily go this far, but I think it's not really far off. Buying a "boutique" game comes with more risks and knowledge checks, as well as the need for more patience.
But even with a Stern things happen. That's pinball.

Quoted from namyzzo:

..So, being all up in the cabinet - I noticed another issue. Screw missing. There is an imprint from the head in the material - so I guess there was one in there at sometime. But I searched HI-and-LOW inside the cabinet = and I cannot find it yet
AJ is working on a few other things for me as well. (I hate that I have to "bother" someone about the issues, let alone experience the issue myself). From all these posts I see here - I don't know how they can keep up. I hope it's not normal for them - really hope they keep things moving smoothly for Scooby [quoted image]

Quoted from zermeno68:

Yup… when I first started pinball collecting, my first used machine had lots of missing screws.
Took a list of most frequent used acres and bought a crap extra pieces at Home Depot.
Always nice to have them handy in this case.

Quoted from maxpower:

Whoa whoa whoa. I'm an actual nuclear technician who turns actual wrenches. I am not averse to working on something when I know what I'm doing and I also know when to back off when I don't. I'll do what Spooky recommends, and if they walk me through a repair, then fine, I'll do that. I'm more than willing to do what needs to be done, and I don't appreciate the implication that I'm otherwise. I'm sorry I don't have the experience you have.

Quoted from vikeking27:

Question - 80% of the time when the ball enters the reactor - it doesn’t hit anything (regardless of lane) - usually it comes down and hits the bottom right corner of the area and just drops right to the scoop. Does anything need to be adjusted to make sure the ball gets some action up there? Very disappointing to make a super hard orbit shot for no payoff.
Game is perfectly level and at 6.5 degrees.

Quoted from maxpower:

I know I said I was done here, but since I solved my problem only with the help and advice of people here, I felt obligated to come back and describe in more detail what the problem was and how I fixed it. Also, I suspect that others may have the same problem and not even realize it, as I did not until recently, and this might help them.
The problem was this: When the ball comes down from the right orbit with high velocity, i.e., from the right orbit gate, the ball should feed the right flipper. When the ball comes down from the right orbit with low velocity, such as when the ball falls onto the PF from a short or soft plunge, the ball should hit the top of the right sling and bounce. This is by design. To quote damadczar , "On a slow rolling ball or a soft plunge, it should hit the top of the slings. That's why the ever popular right side nudge on a soft plunge became en vogue. If the ball is traveling fast around the loop it should go to the right flipper." TheNoTrashCougar replied, saying, "This is 100% correct for the record." Bowen Kerins explains it very well here, at 10:45: (this whole video is amazing, btw. I am now a Bowen Kerins fan)
My machine was not doing this. Very not doing this. On a slow ball from the right orbit, the ball on my machine would hit the rubber ring just south of the right metal orbit guide, bounce off of it, and not even come close to hitting the top of the right sling, as I showed in a previously posted video.
After "pulling the plastic" (look at me, learning pinball terminology), I could better see the real issue:
[quoted image]
[quoted image]
As you can see, the edge of the orbit guide was impinging on the rubber ring and the ball. Additionally, the guide was twisted, as you can sort of see here:
[quoted image]
First, I put pressure on the guide to bend it and take the twist out of it. I could see that this was not enough to solve the problem, so I thought the post holding the end of the guide (where it is riveted) might have enough slop in the through-hole to move the post in a bit. I found the nut underneath and was able to move it slightly:
[quoted image]
This was still not enough to move the guide completely out of the way of the rubber, so I pulled out (toward the PF right edge) on the rubber ring post closest to the guide edge, moving the rubber out slightly. I also worked the rubber around to get the chewed-up part out of the way:
[quoted image]
All three of these actions helped, and it was better:
Minor adjustments were necessary to cause the ball to completely behave as it should, and I had to bend the guide back in a bit to get it "dialed in," as the young folk around here are fond of saying. (I understand there is a pinball machine by this name. Coincidence?? )
Big shout-outs to sataneatscheese, Oscilated, namyzzo, falcon950, TheNoTrashCougar, and everyone else who PMed me with great advice and encouragement. Honestly, I was just worried about screwing up my playfield -- breaking something off, wood splinters everywhere -- the imagination ran wild. And the fact that I had to bend, pry, and twist things on my brand new 9-grand toy put a bit of a knot in my stomach. But here we are.
And since I discovered today that my TNA is at only a 6 degree pitch, not 6.5 as it should be, now I just need my daughter's boyfriend, Buellxb12r, to come over here and get it even MORE dialed-in.
Max
PS Re-subscribed to the TNA club. I'M BACK BABEE