Quoted from evh347:
I’ve seen that graphic before, but thanks for re-posting.
What would be more helpful is the exact menu options for, ‘enter vertical motor test’.
I haven’t found it in the LE manual on how to do this. Standard adjustment? Feature adjustment? Utilities? Test? Where?
To get into the vertical test select "Diag", then "Game", then "Vert" for the T-Rex Vertical test.
Quoted from scooterd:
So, my issue, after using the test-diag menu for vertical, is that at it's lowest setting, it's still a good inch or more from the ramp.... I have hit plenty of balls perfectly that just go SDTM afterwards after rejecting... very frustrating... also, when the T Rex head comes down, it also 'jogs' to the left side ... but, the head is just slightly off center... I think the big issue is that it's nowhere near the ramp...
The menu options (last 3) for in game doesn't seem to have a vertical adjustment... unless I'm not understanding how they work... I have tried -15 to +15 and the head just goes crazy from side to side, and doesn't change how close it gets to the ramp.
For a less than a day old machine, should I be going to Stern or the Distributor? I'm not interested in taking the machine apart myself to mechanically adjust...
Thanks all[quoted image]
When I first got mine it was also (like yours) too high above the ramp and rejecting probably 3-out-of-4 or 4-out-of-5 shots. After the information about the physical bracket adjustment was released I spent a bunch of time monkeying with it one night and I think I figured out the gist of it. When you go into the T-Rex Vertical Test, there are three T-Rex head heights you can toggle to by using the +/- buttons. You'll need to pull out the white interlock switch at the coin door hinge in order for power to go to the system while you're using the vertical test. First, hit the - button to lower the head. Then hit the Start button (same one you push to start a game) to open the mouth to see how high the mouth is off the ramp when it lowers & opens during the game. Check to see how high the bottom of the mouth is off the ramp in this position (T-Rex head low in the vertical test and mouth open). Pushing the start button again closes the mouth. It seems to me that if the bottom of the mouth is more than about 1/4 inch above the ramp you might want to lower it a bit.
To adjust the height, return the T-Rex head to the middle level of the Vertical Test by hitting the + button while it's in the lowest position. Now you'll need to pull the playfield out to the service position so you can loosen the 4 nuts behind the backboard holding the bracket in place (the nut on the bottom right as you're facing the machine is a blind shot to try to find it with the hex driver but it was very do-able once you found it - it's in a symmetrical position to the other nuts). I played it safe by turning the power off before I went to loosen the nuts. Don't loosen them very much, just enough to release the grip on the bracket. If I recall correctly, when I got all four only just loose enough to release the grip on the bracket the head lowered down a bit on its own. If it doesn't lower by its own weight, then you'll want to gently push the head down until the bracket won't let it lower any further. It's not a lot of movement down, but it's enough.
From here when I was monkeying with it I re-tightened the nuts on the bracket, pushed the playfield back in, powered the machine up, lowered the T-Rex head to the low position in the vertical test, and hit the start button to open the mouth. The mouth now completely rested on the ramp when it was open. When I hit start again to close the mouth it wouldn't close (I'm guessing because it hadn't opened all the way). I had to nudge the mouth with my finger to close it. So that meant I'd hit the bottom range of adjustment, and I was a bit too low. So I pulled the playfield back out, moved the T-Rex head back to the middle position of the vertical adjustment test and powered the machine down again. Then I re-loosened the nuts and only just a very, very, very little bit lifted and held the T-Rex head in place with one hand while I re-tightened the two most accessible nuts to hold it in place, and then tightened the other two. It was really only just the slightest lift up to get enough of an adjustment - just enough so the horseshoe openings of the bracket for the screws weren't in contact with the screws any more. A very slight adjustment in the bracket with the head height in the middle position of the vertical test translated to more of an adjustment in the lowered head & open mouth position than I expected it would.
After that, I retested by pushing the playfield back in, lowering the head in the vertical test, and hitting start. The bottom of the mouth was now probably only about 1/4 inch above the ramp & I figured it was close enough to try it out. Since then it's been catching probably 4-out-of-5 or 5-out-of-6 balls that it legitimately should. There are still some that it misses that I think it should catch and my distributor said he got a better understanding now of some of the software adjustments that can be made but I haven't had time in over a week to call him and go over it. I think once I get those figured out I'll be good to go. This is just my experience from memory, but I hope it helps a bit.
One thing to note. Watch the T-Rex head when you raise and lower the playfield. Make sure it's pretty centered looking down the ramp before you power up.
A couple times I didn't realize mine had swung to my right (its left) and was up against the left ramp where it goes through the backboard. When I powered up it started grinding, so I just immediately powered down. It was okay because I only had to use my hand to easily move it back to center before powering up again, but hearing that sound took a couple years off my life.
I think it's an amazing mech and it just needs a bit of tweaking to dial it in. The physical bracket adjustment just wasn't very intuitive. I figured the right position to make the adjustment would be in the low position of the vertical test, but it was impossible to make an adjustment in that position. I just kind of stumbled onto the fact that you need to make the bracket adjustment while it's in the middle position by accident (I didn't try the high position at all). Hope this helps. I'm sure the software side of the adjustments will really help too, but I don't know anything about them yet.
Quoted from timlah79:
I'm still in my back and forth with Stern about my T-Rex rarely catching the ball. Can anyone please take a look at this short video and tell me if it's normal that the T-Rex's entire head shifts/pops to the left to compensate for the space of his upper jaw to fit within the space of the ramp? What this ends up doing is having his open jaw cocked to the left side of the ramp. If no one else's LE does this I have to think I've identified the issue. Really appreciate anyone taking a comparison/look. It's extremely difficult to film/show this while using the vertical test mode and in this mode I cannot make the jaw drop to make it more obvious.
Look very closely at the very last second of this 39sec video: https://photos.app.goo.gl/iNzPW35N2UQKPrYEA
This is exactly what happens every time during regular gameplay just before he opens his jaw.
The link to your video didn't work for me, but the mouth of mine also skews a bit to the left to fit into the ramp when it opens. After making the height adjustment it's catching balls a lot more reliably, but I'm definitely wondering if this left skew could be resolved by a software adjustment to dial it in even better. I'm guessing there are one or two other software adjustments that might help, but I don't want to mess with them without first hearing from someone who knows what each one does.