Giving the coil sleeve a good cleaning helped reduce this on my machine.

The new shooter ramp would require a new VuK ramp from the band member ball lock as well.

where are your back leg leveler s set? they should be all the way in like the fronts.
Data east built the angle of that game into the cabinet already.

That would make the game unreasonably slow.

No it does not. The game leg mount holes were made to set the game at 6.5", no adjustment needed except to level the game.

Finding either the original or the updated one is very difficult. It took me three years to find one and it was 175, which was a steal as I have seen them sell for 6-700. I was looking at getting them reproduced for people but the guy making them had too much problems with it. Good luck, be happy you have something now to have the game playable, mine sat a long time unplayable.

Wow! This is the set that is on mine, and I was wondering if it was more desirable to have the other kind. I guess not. I like the way it sends the ball into orbit.

Have you tried going into the menu and increasing coil pulse?
I haven't had a problem with my shooter, but it really makes the game play much better. No need for stronger flipper coils either. The ball flies up the ramps, fronthand and backhand.

Repro makers.........................people have cash...will buy.

Do you have the black or chrome wireform launch ramp in your game?

There are 3 different versions of the wireform launch ramp (pics attached below):

Version 1: Black wireform that goes over "R" ramp
Version 2: Chrome wireform that goes over "R" ramp
Version 3: Shorter chrome wireform that goes under "R" ramp

I had the exact same issue as you with the black wireform launch ramp (Version 1). I tried everything possible with re-positioning the shooter coil, upgrading the shooter coil, increasing coil pulse, leveling to the lowest pitch, re-drilling back hole via service bulletin, etc.

What finally worked is that I was able to find & upgrade to the chrome version (Version 2) that goes over the "R" ramp. The version I upgraded to looks exactly the same as black wireform launch ramp, except that it is chrome (it still drops the ball into the pop bumpers). Once I installed the chrome version, I was able to level the game at 7 degree slope & have had no issues since.

version1.jpg

version2.jpg

version3.jpg

It's unlikely to solve the problem (I have the Rev B, long, stainless wireform that places the ball in the upper PF). I put a stronger coil in mine and it works better, but still not a total solution. I've greatly reduced this problem on mine to the point where it rarely effects gameplay. I did the following:

- Implemented Service Bulletin #64 that lowers the wireform by 1" IIRC. Unfortunately, Stern just reorganized their website and this bulletin seems to have be dropped. Use to be @ http://www.sternpinball.com/downloads/sb64.pdf.

- Moved the shooter lane switch closer to where the ball rests. This enables the plunger to strike the ball at the optimum distance. If it fires too soon, the ball won't get a good hit.

- Installed a stronger coil. To be honest, the previous 2 were more effective, but the stronger coil doesn't hurt.

Seems like the software is partly responsible for the inconsistency. Sometimes the ball flies across the wireform, sometimes not. Clearly a half-baked design, since they came out with 3 different wireforms!

Oh well, still a great game…despite it's quirks.

The issue really boils down to a design flaw: There should have been a switch at the part of the ramp after the peak that let the ball know it cleared.

That would certainly fix the "back up" issue, but I'd prefer a solution where the ball always makes it up the ramp. For example, the STTNG catapult works great without such a switch (and likely requires more velocity than the GNR ramp).

So was this something that came with the machine from the factory, or was it switched out after the fact?

Switched out after the fact...

But hard to come by now. I see. I have never had a launch problem with the "version 3" on mine, but something always seemed a little different about the gameplay as I remembered it from the arcade days. That explains it. Sending the balls into orbit on launch is a big plus, but the VUK sending the ball into the same "M" lane every time, not so much. But it is a trade-off I can live with.

version two here no issues

I was able to get version 1 working flawlessly when I videoed the ball coming out of the shooter lane. The ball ended up getting a little air under it from the initial slope of the ramp.... and then it would rattle as it came back in contact with the ramp going forward... which in turn lost a lot of velocity.

I decreased the slope of the initial ramp up and the ball is now 100% with the original ramp and original mount position

Try it.

I've always believed that this is the cause of the launch ramp issues. The ball naturally lifts or 'bounces' off of the bottom surface of the ramp right after it's launched, and then bangs into the top surface (the upper 2 wires) - so instead of following the slope/path of the wireform it's busy banging around in there.

Yea I understand your point. But the game is extremely flat playing that way regardless. My leg levelers are substantially raised.

I agree with Markmon on this. All my games are high in the back low in the front. If there is any function in the game that does not work like this then there is an issue for me.

I measured the degrees on my GnR with the leg levelers flat, and it came out to 6.873 degrees, so slightly steeper than the 6.5 that it should be. Maybe my back holes are a little higher than normal?

Either way, I like how it plays, and it sure doesn't play slow, nor does the ball seem to lazily move as it does when the slope is below the 6.5 games are designed for.

Just a follow up. I recently came across another GnR and it has the type 2 ramp. The game played ok until two balls were in the shooter lane. I don't like to play the game totally flat, it just plays like an older game. I ended up doing the following to solve it:

1) On the shooter lane, remove the rubber on the rear side of the coil stop so that the piston has further to move when the coil fires.

2) Perform SB64 - drilling the new hole and moving the rear of the ramp down. This dramatically helps prevent the issue of two balls getting into the shooter lane by changing the center of gravity when the ball comes from the lock scoop it naturally falls back instead of falling forward towards the shooter lane.

3) I then leveled the game and made it as steep as I could while still allowing two balls shoot out of the shooter lane.

Hi!

a friend is looking for the right wire ramp

could someone help?

216154.jpg

and up!

Honestly these new ramps were a guess on how to fix the real issue.

I've had both ramp versions, and they both will work reliable if set up correct.

The REAL issue here is that the ball JUMPS off the ramp slightly (and loses velocity) from the transition off the wood to the ramp. If you smooth this out (by bending out the ramp jump) or adjusting the height of the entrance to the ramp, your balls will make it every time... and get up there fast.

Adjustment is definitely key. I bought my GnR from castlesteve, and I remember him saying that he had to dial in the ramps for a while to get them to be reliable (mine has the black ones). He definitely did it right, because every ball has made it to the playfield in the two years that I have owned the machine.

oh yay!!!

and up

anyone can offer any of this ramps?

whats the best version?