Hello all!, just finished setting up my ticket to the club and am Hella almost not disappointed.

March 16th born on date, no pf issues and no loose parts.

However, the raptor cage gate simply doesn't function properly during play. It tests up and down just fine and all the associated switches register. When a game is started the gate will travel up then back down and stay there. If the motor is manually rotated back up, it registers hits, but never drops. Everything seems to check out under the hood. Am I missing something?

Thanks guys.
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It bums me out that so many of us are having this issue, but it is reassuring to know it isn’t just me.

I have a tech support email in to Stern and they haven’t even replied yet. I hope everyone experiencing this is emulating them too so they know it isn’t necessarily an isolated incident. I know the virus is probably affecting their ability to respond, but it is still important to contact them.

I had the same issue with the raptor gate. I needed a part replaced (crank moto target) because it was manufactured wrong/backwards. The “nub” on the circle is on the wrong side that moves the switches for the gate to go up/down. Pablo at Stern was very helpful in figuring it out. They sent me the whole Moto 2-Bank Assembly, but if you don’t want to re-solder anything, just replace with the correct crank moto target.

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Thats a quality reply my friend. I'll mos def look into it. Thanks!

Replacing that raptor gate mech may not be necessary. If the gate is up when it should be down, simply flip-flop the (2) switches.

I have hit that 4 way skill shot combo only once. But man what a great feeling.
The game keeps track of the Skill shot champion which is cool. We have ours set to no extra balls, and my brother is our current champ with 8.
He did it with a 4 way combo on ball 1 and then two 2 way combos on balls 2 & 3.
It would probably be beatable except that our shooter lane sucks for getting the ball shoot straight.

I'm at 7 right now. The four way, a single and a double in that game.

Now that I look at it, yes, maybe try flip-flopping the (2) switches! Can unscrew each one and still not have to re-solder anything.

Mine is 13, I prefer going for the MXV skill shot, as I find it easier. Left Ramp, Right Ramp, Upper Loop, Tower.

It also has the benefit if you follow that up with Helipad & Spinner - it's a 6 way combo and awards a fossil instantly.

Is this a "hold left flipper" skill shot?

And just like that, back to square one. The part and switch positioning are correct. I found it hard to believe this late in the production there would be such a major component flaw but then again, they didn't notice the upside down decal.

If I disable the gate motor in settings, it functions as pro just fine. What a weird problem. Hope someone knows. Might be a good time to call stern.

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I made the 4th skillshot once, first time i noticed the opto on the the O shot isnt working always. IT DIDNT COUNT grrrrrr

What does yours look like underneath? Set the Raptor motor gate to down position, remove the balls, lift playfield all the way up, take a pic to see the “nub” of the circle (red arrow). Before/after part replacement for mine:

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The entire opto issue is a bit crazy.
Why in the world do they put the optos so low?
Why not just put them in the center of the damn ball and eliminate the ball hopping over and missed timing?

It hurts to see the up-side-down label. I pray its fixable.

For your Raptor Gate; swap the (2) switches (keep the wires attached).

Hey, Go vote for JP!

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/final-four-greatest-pinball-game-of-all-time-tournament-edition

close race, go vote

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/final-four-greatest-pinball-game-of-all-time-tournament-edition/page/5#post-5602134

^^

Despite absolutely loving my JP Premium, I'm afraid I had to vote for MM. I've had MM in one form or another (MMR) in my collection for 21 years. It's nowadays literally the oldest continuous title in my collection which speaks volumes to me. I own 3 out of 4 of the titles in the contest and owned LOTR for 3 years so I've nearly got a foot in all camps.

This is the way...

My distro made a few contacts for me and this was the fix. Thanks all. Maybe I'll leave the decal upside down. Then in 50 years it will be worth bank like a double headed penny, cause there is no way I'm letting it go of it until then. Tied with MM? Rightfully so.

Would be nice if the next code update fixes the smart missile glitch during T-Rex multiball where the post pops up and then goes right back down. Also would be nice if they changed smart missile so it doesn't activate and lift the post to interrupt/kill an attempt for the 4th shot of the ultra skill shot.

^^^ this!

Just stacked T-Rex MB with Invalid Frenzy. Never done that before...good points there!

Does that mean T-Rex MB can occur more than once?

Details? Did you start Invalid Frenzy off the smart missile while T-Rex MB was running?

Wow. Just got this from Invalid Frenzy.
At one point I had 255 gate hits till add a ball. What a rush.
Not sure about the Red ring of death part though. Other then the X-Box reference.

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According to the rules T-Rex events are not enabled during Control Room modes (Invalid Frenzy being the 4th) however maybe it is possible similar to stacking T-Rex MB with Raptor MB by clipping the truck (to enable T-Rex) and ricocheting into the amber target (to enable the smart missile selected mode)?? While stacking T-Rex and Raptor is mentioned in the rules, maybe stacking T-Rex and Invalid Frenzy is an undocumented feature

Started the first T-Rex MB then hit the tower shot and activated the Smart Missile. Selected Frenzy and hit the shot. Once Frenzy started, I hit the T-Rex/left ramp. Was definitely fun.

On a side note, how do you activate the Smart Missile. I’ve owned the game forever and I never intentionally try to activate it. Just take it as it comes.

Once you've played Museum Mayhem, EVERY further truck mode is TRex MB

Amber standup/value awards it when the blue "smart missile" insert is lit. Don't know what causes it to light...most likely based on pop switch hits?

Smart missile and Super Spinner are activated after 3 rescues (then after a further 5, 7, 9 etc. - unless bonus from captured Ankylosaurus which reduces rescues required).

Missile is lit when truck is facing right, super spinner when truck facing left.

Thanks for the info! A negative vote for asking a question? Odd.

Good info on the Smart Missile there. Maybe I found a super secret skill stack lol

I got you back to zero

A fine question I didn't know the answer to and I've read the wiki rules page multiple times as there is just more and more to learn on this time every time I play it. Still haven't seen any of the mini-wizard modes yet after about 5 weeks of ownership... When I start a game I tell myself I'm going to focus on one thing and one thing only, so paddocks or Jeep shots... trying to get to the Visit Centre or Museum Mayham then the next thing I know I'm shooting for chaos or getting hits in on the Raptor pen, I loose all focus and back to just having fun! Great game.

It was for an incorrect assumption about switch hits triggering the smart missile. I didn't particularly want to call you out in public for guessing and getting it wrong, but I see the down vote upset you, so I'll remove it.

Not just you, and not just here on Pinside, but there seems to be a need for people to post anything and guess even if they don't know the facts. If you want to see multiple examples of this just check out the Corona Virus Thread.

I have no interest in what Pinsiders think about the virus...I come here for pinball...not health, conspiracy theories or politics.

I have no problem being called out as "wrong"...I am far from a rules guru. I have no problem with you knowing more than me about the JP rules! Chances are, you are a better player than me as well.

You didn't upset me. From my perspective, it's just bad etiquette (i.e. not in the spirit of being helpful).

Anyone have similar issues with the inserts, where the color seems to shrink?
I read somewhere about this, but forgot the name of this issue.
It's just the bottom area, the side and top are reflections appearing because the insert is not evened out with the PF.

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Looks like the insert is raised. Doesn't look like ghosting to me. I've had quite a few Stern's over the years and haven't seen this...fairly rare.

thanks, checked some "ghosting" fotos, and thats definitely it. all inserts are "raised" due to thin clear coat.
you even can see this on some artwork on the playfield. i dont know how they print the color on the PF but i can see "layers" in height.

Today i noticed a small cut in the PF and deeper scratches, not reomovable with novous 2.

i have the stern clear coat repair kit, but i have no idea how i could fix that.
and i'm afraid to get more PF damage, the balls looks ok to me, sure some minor scratches but they dont look too bad.
but i'm not experienced with this, anyone can help?

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anyone have had a ultra loud flying ball into the glass from control room coil coming up to late and hitting the ball (premium).
i play in a quiet room and i nearly sht my pants ...and i was thinking about building an airball protector, because it happened 3 times already.

EDIT: just happened again! ouuch

As far as playfield wear goes, minor scuffs and dimples will eventually happen. I wouldnt concern myself with those and just enjoy your machine. The airballs being caused by the control room plunger however, is a different story. That should NOT be happening. My guess would be either a sensor or the post rubbing and coming up to slowly. I've never had that happen on my game.

post coil is perfect smooth, and how could it be the sensor? the sensor get triggered and the post comes up.
it happenes only on very fast balls, and target not shot on purpose.
Here is my fix for now.

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The same thing happened on mine. The first time scared the crap out of me. I posted my concern here and the responses were to turn down the right flipper power. I will say that helped.

My LE is like this as well. I keep it cleaned and waxed about every 150 games, and total 600 games on it now, no issues

I second this as I also have my flipper power turned down a little and do not have this problem. This game is VERY finicky if it is not level, suggest checking playfield pitch and horizontal level.

PF is perfect leveled and at 7°.
right flipper power is at factory, i could try this, thanks.

Mine has been doing that A LOT since the last update. Worked perfectly before, actually glad I'm not the only one.
Either coming up and sending the ball flying or coming up after the ball has passed, sucks when it happens during Invalid frenzy.