Hi guys. Finally joined the club this weekend and added a pro to the basement! One quick question, should be mummy newton ball be slightly loose? Every newton ball I have encountered before has been solid tight to the playfield and didn't move at all. This one has a tiny bit of movement. I figured no problem, I would just snug it up, but the nut is all the way to where the threads stop, making me think the slight bit of slop is intentional. Should it be sloppy, or should I add a few washers under the nut to snug it up?

https://www.pinballlife.com/flipper-coil-stop-for-sternsega.html

98% sure these are the ones..

Bump..could someone please go poke their pro newton ball and see if it's mounted solid or loose? Thanks!

Can any one help clarify or help with the Super Skill Shot? My understanding is you plunge just strong enough to roll back to the upper left flipper, then shoot the super jackpot target. I have read conflicting info whether or not you need to hold the left flipper button while doing this. Mine will not register it either way. I have also tried the MXV, hitting the inner loop before the SJ target, and no go there either. Every other skill shot seems to work, and all switches test fine. I have done it manually, so I know I am not missing or hitting anything else between the orbit entry opto and the SJ target. I have even tried giving the spinner a small spin between in case it needs that to register that it fed the upper left flipper. Nothing seems to trigger the Super Skill Shot. By any chance was it removed from the latest code? I reset factory settings after I got the machine, and I have have gone through the options, without finding anything that would turn it off.

Regular skill shot works, plunge to outlane or inlane works, the left flipper up full plunge to orb works, etc. But no SSS. Any help with this mystery is appreciated. Thanks!

Yeah that was one of the first things I did...all clean. That said, today I dug into it again and was able to activate it. Not sure what changed. My guess is previous times with the glass off I was doing it without the left flipper being held up (based on bad info found in a post here on the various skill shots in the game). I tried quite a few times glass on with the flipper up, but my guess would be I was grazing the mummy captive ball on the way to the SJP shot. I paid closer attention today and could tell that I was doing that almost every time I thought I hit it correctly. I finally managed one without hitting the mummy ball, and sure enough it registered. Man...tough shot! Thanks for your input!

My wife made it with her Cricut (cut vinyl). Full disclosure using artwork found online. We have made a few others, but this was by far the most intense. It was a nightmare to cut, prep, transfer, and install, but I think it was worth it!

Never trust the bubbles. Waste of space and BOM cost. I usually check in various places around the playfield and kind of average it out. Middle of the pf is a good spot. Then I usually check as high up as I can, and as low as I can without removing anything. Some machines that's easier than others, but really if the middle is good, it's probably close enough you will not notice and difference.

One of my games had a bubble level that wouldn't have shown level unless the front was higher than the back, LOL!

Mine had a nasty burr on one of the welds near the wireform exit that made a fast ball hop off. I just ground it down with a dremel, and it's been perfect since. I have had other machines where the wireform needed to be bent a little to keep the ball from flying off. It's a somewhat common problem, but can usually be fixed with a little tweaking.

Definitely. In my case I couldn't tell what was happening until I held the ball in my hand and ran it along that section of the wireform. Then it was very obvious and you could feel what the ball was hitting. Many times it's just a slight angle issue though, and a slight bend is needed, or even just a washer or two under a mounting point. Good thing is, wireforms are pretty easy to bend. Just be careful not to overdo it or you could pop a weld joint. Usually a little tweak can make a big difference.

If your manual plunger is 99%, I wouldn't adjust the ball guide. That's telling you that isn't the issue...plus you do not want to mess that up. I would look at the "tines" of the auto plunger. Make sure the ball is resting equally on both and when it fires it isn't pushing more one way or the other. Make sure they aren't rubbing against the manual plunger. I have also found that bending the tines in slightly is usually beneficial. Bottom line is Stern's autoplunge mechanism is full of slop and there is really nothing you can do to get it 100% all the time. Some machines are more sensitive to this slop than others. You can try adding an E-clip to the auto plunge mechanism to take up some slop, but I haven't found a huge benefit in doing that. I would also just play with the mech a little and make sure there is no binding, no loose parts, screws are tight, etc. There is a ton of info here on Pinside on adjusting Stern autoplungers if you do a search.

Good luck!

You are doing good for sure, but you might be underestimating how far you have to go yet. Cyborg is definitely the "easy" mini-wizard mode. One of my favorites though. That gives you one of the cards. Trooper card I also find pretty easy. The other two cards are more difficult for me. Soldier (?) for starting 2 Minutes to Midnight is tough but doable. Mummy I actually find to be the toughest card, and is usually the one blocking me from The Beast. That might just be me though. So you need all four for Number of the Beast. But that is still only scratching the surface if you really want to finish the game, which means getting to Run to the Hills. That requires 10 tomb awards. So stuff like level two cards, soul shards for all of the modes, 6-way combo, etc. Basically you have to do everything and do all of it perfectly. That is a WHOLE different ballgame, and I doubt there are very many humans capable of getting there. To me, The Beast is the wizard mode, but it is nice knowing there is one more layer to strive for.

For reference, my GC score is 1.2 billion, with the rest of my high scores over 600M. I have battled the beast once so far, and I think only gotten one level 2 card (Trooper) a few times. I am a decent player, but not top level by any means. I doubt I will ever see RTTH, but will happily keep trying.

Here is some light reading for you...
http://tiltforums.com/t/iron-maiden-pinball-rulesheet/3787

JP is fantastic. Deeper strategy with more paths than IMDN, but I would say more straight forward than AIQ. The paddocks can feel a tiny bit "wood choppy" but each dinosaur acts differently and there are some interesting decisions in what path to take. And the T-Rex modes are amazing...some of the most adrenaline pumping modes in pinball in my opinion. Plus control room modes, and tons of other "side goals", and really fun mini-wizard modes culminating in a wizard mode that is basically an entirely new game (and can be played as a challenge mode from the start). Lots to do for the beginner, but as deep as you want to take it. Amazing game all around.

That's the same thing I have been dealing with for years. One half of my basement is just high enough that I can push up the drop ceiling enough to get a playfield up (in most places). The other half I can't. I do what I can with the playfields just slid out on the service rails, or holding it up with one hand. But anything more major, I do exactly what you are describing. Hydraulic lift, remove the rear legs, bring it down just far enough to get the playfield up. Pain in the butt, but not many options here. Thankfully the machines over there do not need to be opened up much. I wish Sterns still had the old "kickstand" playfield holder that older machines had. Then it wouldn't be a problem. You could try using a broomstick or something similar to hold it up, but that's risky and there aren't any great places to jam it into.

For what it's worth, I have had quite a few playfields replaced over the years. Every time it has taken many weeks if not months to get a decision, and then months to receive the playfield. However, they have always come through in the end. Of course, mine have all been aesthetic issues, not affecting play the way yours is, so for me it was much less annoying to wait. My best advice is just to be patient, be nice, and send them a friendly reminder every couple weeks. They are good people, doing their best to keep up. I'm sure no one is purposely ignoring issues, even though it can feel that way to us waiting. I'm sure they are short staffed and overworked like everywhere seems to be these days. Of course, that doesn't make trying to play on a warped playfield any easier. I hope they fix you up ASAP!

Boards can (almost always) be fixed. If not something you can do yourself, I would talk to Rob Anthony @borygard. He can get you patched up.

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.

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!

Comet has lots of options that will be brighter than the stock 2-SMDs.

Ha! Never heard that one. Guess I need to play better. I get a little tingly when she says I'm "quite the baller".

You will need to adjust your shooter lane switch to make up for the thickness of that protector. With the protector on, the ball sits up higher, which means the switch is not pressing down far enough. It should be simply a matter of bending the switch actuator up a bit. There are plenty of tutorials around on how to adjust a switch.

Next time I would suggest getting a Cliffy style (thin metal) protector instead.

I believe everything is bayonet other than the spotlight which is a wedge. (hopefully someone else can confirm, but I'm 95% sure).

May I suggest using Sunlight instead of warm? It is significantly more warm than the stock bulbs, but much less yellow than warm. It is a great in-between, just right temperature in my opinion.

I would also suggest using frosted lenses. Much easier on the eyes any place you can see the bulb directly, and lights up just as well in the places you can't. I really wish all manufacturers would switch to using frosted. I doubt there is any cost difference.

Yeah, it's a dirty little secret that in general, shallower games are harder. Everyone jacks up their pitch to make them "fast and brutal". LOL No...you just made your game easier to trap up and reduced the side-to-side sling action.

That said...I do prefer most of my games to be a little steeper...usually in the 6.8 or so range, but that varies depending on the game. They each seem to have a sweet spot where they just feel right. I hate a floaty game, but I also hate when a game doesn't flow right or I can't make a backhand that should work, etc. It usually takes some experimenting to find that Goldilocks "just right".