hehe. ill try the spring first! Since the auto launch is perfect i figure the lane guides are perfect. ill figure it out

Changing my spring to red made a huge difference.

That being said it helped with getting around the loop when it enters the loop. I still get a lot off rejects of the post when I do a softer plunge. I need to continue to tweak mine. It seems to change periodically from working great on manual plunge then rarely. The auto seems to work much more consistently.

where u order springs from? Pinball life?

2/2 people said increasing the strength of the solenoid made their autoplunge work 10/10 so I wonder if the manual fails more because a weaker plunge is more susceptible to any burr or issue with the lane. Like going over a small gap in the road, you feel it a lot more if the car is going slow

https://www.pinballlife.com/ball-shooter-plunger-inner-spring-red.html

Read the description below as it tells you what color spring is associated with what tension. You may want to use a different color as I think mine is overkill. It was just the color I had on hand.

They are fairly cheap, I'd probably get multiple colors and quantities.

yup ordered a bunch for my pinball toolkit

I found those springs and the ones for coin buttons at my true value store .On the auto plunge when I get 2-3 missing in a single game I change the coil sleeve ,works every time as the slightest bit of buildup holds it back enough to make it miss .Keep balls and PF clean .

Interesting. I wonder what other applications they are used for.

Marco's has an assortment which is nice.

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Yes, just follow those instructions I commented on, and you will find some wiggle room with your shooter rod at the level of the housing. For sure you want to try and get the tip of your shooter rod to line up as much as you can to the center of the ball.

This was fantastic advise. Auto plunge is super smooth now, clean into the loop 100% of the time!

Maybe I ought to give it a try too.

I put on some Marco PU rubbers and I noticed my manual plunge makes the orbit a lot more often now. I think having a harder plunger definitely makes it easier to hit the orbit.

I am also draining a lot because the outlane bumpers are so damn bouncy, I'm going to put those back to normal rubber lol

Backline mods on my premium: torches, Anubis, pharaoh blinders and lighting, obelisk

I am finding that auto plunge is 50% going up the loop but not always making it to the top, 20% hitting the post and 30% hitting the upper left flipper. I have checked and lightly filed the end of the guide as there was some burring. That did help at it was hitting the post almost always. Issue seemed to get worse after cleaning and waxing the playfield. Thinking the super shiny playfield might have caused the ball to spin, especially after hitting the burred end of the guide.

Now I just need to get new coil stops as on my 2018 game, I had a small pile of ‘gold’ dust in the bottom of the cabinet last night. The upper right flipper was getting stuck in the upper position and not releasing. I had read that some people were just replacing these as a matter of course when they got a new game. What Stern games have these faulty coil stops? I know that they wear over time depending on the amount of play, but did not think this mainly home use game had had that many plays. Lifetime audit shows 2786 plays, of which I have played 767 at home. Rest were on location.

Edit: observed that the upper right flipper has a lot bigger coil than the other three flippers. Is that anything to do with the coil stop on that flipper failing?

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Is this a common place for stuck balls on the premium? Had this happen last night and am wondering if it was just a fluke or something I need to address. Was having a great game and had to pull the glass and put it on my flipper.
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You need the mummy ball deflector:

https://mezelmods.com/collections/iron-maiden-legacy/products/iron-maiden-prem-le-mummy-ball-deflector

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Is the default outlane on the pro the first notch (very top) and left outline is the 2nd? I’m referring to the three holes that you can raise or lower on the outlanes

I would have thought second on both but website selling it show first on right

I am still diagnosing mine, I can go a more than 100 games with no issues and all of the sudden, balls stop making the loop when auto plunging. It is a bit disconcerting, like there is no rhyme or reason as to why is doing it because nothing has changed, things stop working momentarily and the next game the loop works 100% with auto plunge.

I suspect the coil is on the weak side and each plunge can be a bit inconsistent, OR, there is something in the code and the plunger is not getting the same amount of power every time?? mayyyybe?

It is weird because balls will change trajectory as if the power has changed. In other words, the ball might bounce off the little flipper bat and in the next shot it will bounce off the ball guide. This inconsistency makes me think that the coil is the issue and not the orbit adjustment (which I have already adjusted and worked perfectly for over 300 games, and works still the same now, I also check and it has not moved nor come lose or anything).

I have checked the actual mech and can't see anything wrong with it, so I am not sure yet what the issue might be. It is certainly not the adjustment anymore, I have dealt with it when I got the game.

I just cleaned and waxed the game and see if that makes a difference. Either way, this is weird.

Yeah that's normal for the default. I closed them both by one notch and it didn't seem to make a big difference on the number of drains, but nudging it out gets a little easier.

Yeah it's weird, I'd say 90% of my misses are low but the occasional one hits the little flipper which is really weird.

I'm still dealing with air balls on the right ramp. It happens once in a while on the left but almost every time on a really clean right show. I'm working on a 3d printable clip that would attach to the plastic guard above the ramp and slow the ball enough to stop it from lifting off.
I know someone on the marketplace sells something for this but I have a major hangup buying 3d printed stuff when I do my own printing. I'd pay for the file to print it myself but I can't pay that markup unless it involves a bit more, like the pinmonk gels.
I also think his solution was a little overkill. I'm hoping my idea uses about 1/10th of the filament and doesn't attract so much attention visually.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Stern's launch mechanism. Been like this forever, but most games do not have as unforgiving of a launch path as this one does. I believe the root cause is simply poor tolerance stack-up on the many moving parts in the mechanism leading to slop and inconsistent launches. There are a few things you can do to help minimize it, but I doubt you will ever eliminate it.

Check how the auto plunger sits at rest, with the playfield pulled out a bit but not upright. Flick it a bunch of times with a ball on it, see if it’s getting a consistent starting spot. My AIQ had a nut that was interfering with the plunger striker that I had to modify a bit to get consistency with the auto plunge. Hope you figure it out, it’s really frustrating on this game when it fails.......

yes, the auto plunger is a very important part of the game to keep the flow and or breaks consistent!

good news is I think I figured it out:

It turns out the guide had come out of alignment again, not sure why, as I had tuned it once before. I tuned it up again and it has been working 100% tonight.

This is what I did:

- Coil power as before -factory setting- 255
- Followed Stern's instructions (same as before). Because it started hitting the ball guide on the left side, I tune the guide on the shooter lane to shoot closer to the upper flipper.

** this is what I did different this time around**
I set it up so it shot closer to the upper flipper. I did some slow motion videos to see how close I was getting until I got the ball closer to it rather than the lower ball guide. I got it on the first try really, did not need to fiddle with it much.

Then, I reduced the coil power until I find a setting to get it to shoot the ball exactly in the middle, between the little flipper and ball guide. I figured, let's get the ball as high as possible first and then control the angle by adjusting the coil power rather than controlling this with the shooter lane guide.

The coil power has been reduced in setting #69 to 205 and played the game for 1.5 hours. No issues.

So with my original settings, I needed the coil at full power in order to not hit the ball guide under the flipper, and now, with my new setting, 50 points less than factory, I can get around with no issues so far.

The ball goes around the orbit just a hair slower but the shots have been consistent this way. Obviously, I would say it is too early to call it done but I am optimist.

Now, if the ball starts hitting the guide I know something has come out of alignment again, or something is binding. Also, having extra power available will enable me to fine tune if necessary, specially due to the auto plunger mech design and its tolarances, not every shot is exactly the same - they are very close - so having extra power available will allow me to explore a bit. Will see how it behaves for the next 100 games.

I will report back, cheers.

That's a great idea, overshooting the guide a bit and dialing down the power. I wouldn't have thought of that. Then again on mine I am not sure it would make it around the loop with all that much less than factory power. Interesting. Next time mine goes out of alignment I will give this a shot. Cool stuff. Glad you were able to get yours consistent!

Lifetime best game of pinball. Had Beast health down to 1!

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Wow thats a score. Ive only had the game a few days but just finally took default GC down at around 400m. Whats the key to scoring in this game?

Btw this game really is just super fun to shoot. And it may be my favorite ZY art package. Its just all so cool.

I'm not sure I have any great strategy. I go for super skill shots to get playfield X going. Shoot ramps aggressively when you have ball save running so that you can get power pyramid completed quickly with minimal risk. Stack modes and multiballs, HBTN goes well with trooper and these days I'm liking FOTD and mummy. Safest to have revive lit to play FOI. Play hard for soul shards and tomb treasures. The 5th tomb treasure is another EB which is huge. Keep eye on power jackpot, you can leave a lot of points on table if you drain so go for it when it's juicy Get a loop jackpot for tomb treasure. Some people love to shoot loops for big scores, and the points are there, but it's not a strategy that's going to get you deep into the game unless you're Tommy.

thanks for that. Ive only got about 25 games in so far. What are the skills shots anyways? I need to replace the spring in my shooter rod as well.

From vibration and being pounded by hundreds of balls the screw that holds the end of the guide gives way after x number of games.
Since it is just screwed into wood and not held by a nut and washer under the playfield it will work lose over time.
When the screw gives way the ball guide moves up against the post and cause the ball to hit the tip of the upper right flipper which result in the ball not making the orbit.
If you adjust the guide down and put a rubber ring on the post and then tighten the screw it will hold much longer since the rubber ring will prevent the guide from moving up against the post even if the screw gives way.
Mine has been working fine now for a year.

For those looking, here’s the autoplunger fix (courtesy of Neil McRae):

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/iron-maiden-issues/page/35#post-4806866

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Awesome! I think I'm getting very close to Number of the Beast. I finally cracked the 1 billion barrier this week with an absolutely phenomenal Cyborg Multiball.

This game man.... just fantastic!

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7,000+ games. Never touched that screw. My plunge is perfect. File any mushrooming off the end of the guide and all good

I think I saw two people try this and it worked 100% for both of them. I'm tempted to try but mine is pretty accurate, I don't want to mess with it.

I had a crazy airball last night when trying to record a video of the ball coming off of the ramp for Stern tech support. I shot the middle ramp and it somhow bounced off the side rail, flew up towards the glass and landed in the left wireform ramp. Unfortunately my camera was pointed to the right ramp so I didn't really catch it

will try the rubber ring if it happens again.
Right now the guide is set up in a way that there has nowhere to go but down, as I have adjusted it to the maximum curve possible and without being tightened it rests position is the highest position. I am hoping that even when coming lose it will still stay in its resting position (highest). The only way the guide can be lowered is by changing shape, which I doubt it will happen.

Another dozens of games so far and the ball is still making it 100% of the time. Looks like my adjustment to overshoot the ball and then control with coil power is working well.

Thanks for the tip, will try the rubber under the screw if it happens again.

Stayed at Westgate resort near WDW and their Arcade had a Iron Maiden pro. Yaaa! Finaly get a chance to try one ! Oh waite - the rubber on the small top flipper is hanging by a thread. Well I'll try it any how - Boo the top flipper is not working at all . Told the kid the game was broken - I'm sure if you go there 2 mo. from now it will still be broke !

I'll be in the club by end of next week

.License running out before the planned run ?

Really glad I didn’t just wait for the one I had a deposit on and kept looking until I found a NIB one. I guess impatience pays off sometimes!

That really sucks for people that had deposits down for all that time.

Hey everyone, I've had my Iron Maiden Premium for a year, and was going through audits, and I saw I had zero super skill shots. I figured I'd look into that, and I don't believe my super skill shot works properly. From what I understand, you hold down the left flipper and full plunge. When the ball gets to the top of the playfield, the upper right post is supposed to raise, and the ball hits the post and goes down the inner loop to the upper left flipper so you can hit the super skill shot target right?

If that's correct, my upper right post does not raise during this process. My shooter lane switch seems to be activated perfectly by the ball (not just my finger), and the opto works in the loop. The upper right post also works during Trooper multiball, but it doesn't lift for the super skill shot.

Am I misunderstanding something here? Thanks for any info or help.

The right post does not rise, you have to plung just enough so that it comes back down the left orbit.

It’s a pretty tough shot. I have actually started going for the normal skill shot and a lot of times I end up hitting a secret skill shot instead. The left inlane and outlane score a lot of points

Well that makes more sense and explains what I'm seeing. That really is a super skill shot! Thank you for that explanation.

I just had the same discovery. My machine is from 2018 and I am the third owner and in over 2000 plays no one had ever got that shot. It took me some practice to actually hit the orbit and then it took me like 30 successful plunges before I hit the target, but it worked.

I wish the mini loop was also a super. It's far more realistic than the target. That target is crazy tough!

I got it twice tonight, in the same game, after seeing this thread, lol... 15mil and then 30mil. It is a tough one!

Then you are luckier than most.
Could be down to different resting position of the upper right flipper, different thickness of the flipper rubber or slight variations in manufacturing tolerances but there are machines like yours that never need adjusting of the lane guide.
However, on my machine and all the machines I have worked on the guide have needed adjustment from time to time and it has been because the guide has moved up against the post.
Tension is needed to bring the guide "down", away from the post, and when the screw no longer holds the guide down it springs back up towards the post resulting in failed orbits.
That is why I have put a rubber ring on the post. That keeps the guide further from the post even when the screw gives way, so the ball still clears the tip of the upper flipper and make the orbit.
For me that have solved the issue.

I have the exact opposite problem, I can hit the target regularly, but the mini loops kicks my ass. It’s always a small personal victory when I get the tomb open.

I mean, there kind of is...
Hitting the mini loop before the target gets you an instant 3x multiplier. There is something for 2 loops then the target but I don't remember and I've never got it anyway.

Can you please take a photo of what your talking about and what size rubber did you use. Thanks.

Sure. A picture says more than 1000 words. Especially since English is not my mother tongue
Maybe this makes it a bit clearer. Pictured is the screw that is used to adjust/slide the lane guide up or down and the rubber ring to work as a spacer.
The size is 5/16 I think.

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