I’ll keep bugging you until then! PinMonk

Wow I'm super pleased that this Gate mod has struck a chord with so many of you! I'm doing my best to keep up with the orders and looking forward to you early adopters' feedback! THANKS!

I spent the day cleaning and waxing the playfield as well as replacing all of the rubbers with the Titan silicone rings and I can’t believe how different the game plays now. The ball is noticeably faster, enough where I had to change the flipper coils back to their default power instead of the +2 I had set it to. My timing is all thrown off too with the ball speed plus new rings so I have to relearn my shots.

Just installed that gate mod today. I feel like it blends into the game well and doesn't mess with the aesthetics. Plus it was easy to install. I played a few games and it definitely reduced the number of drains. I think I did get one out of the pops that went SDTM during a multiball. Overall...it is a nice, inventive solution to a problem that many of us have had. Thanks Travahontas

I also installed mine today and have the same sentiments. The only difference I noticed was @trumpanche’s testing had a vast majority of the balls drop to the left flipper where mine drop to the right flipper mostly. When it’s coming down past the gate, it almost always hits the edge of the standup target right there which bumps it to the right flipper. Not a problem, just an observation. Since it slows down the ball, I noticed it also gets more movement from the magnets.

I just installed the gate mod today too and it already feels stock to me, & no more pop bumper ptsd!(; I was concerned that it might slow the game down, but after install I was very pleased that I feel like there’s still the same flow, just less stress every time the ball heads for the pops. I had a few times where the ball stayed in the pops a tad longer bouncing between the lower pop and the gate, but still a nice trade off for the dreaded sdtm. Great work by the gate meister Travahontas

I need help. My upper right flipper doesn't work anymore, no power at all. Where do I start ?

Tests - Switches Dedicated, push flipper button in slowly. Do both switches register, first lower than upper ?

If switch test is good. Then inspect the coil. Make sure coil stop is still there. Then check wiring/soldering to the coil lugs. Look for breaks or cracks, especially the thin wires coming from the coil windings to the coil lugs.

LTG : )

Also installed my Travahontas gate mod and very pleased! most of the time the ball is dropping down to my left sling or left flipper. I bet small differences in pitch and exact placement of gate at pops are resulting in slightly different ball paths for folks. Very happy and so are my kids since much fewer cheap drains! Thanks, great design!

Gate mod looks factory, and I’m definitely hating the pops due to the random chance of an unfair drain. But I’m not sure I’m ready to change the game this much! Like it’s a significant change, and then I’d have the guilt of thinking I’m not playing it how Lawlor intended. Is that wrong? Ha.

I’m thinking as an in-between, might see if I can stop the auto launch for ball save so I can soft launch.

You can change the auto launch power to not force the ball to go all the way around the orbit. I did that on mine, and it's so much better than letting it launch into the pops.

My original thinking was to protect that front part of the ramp that leads down to the hole. But after seeing the install, it doesnt even protect that.

Strange.

Yea, as far as I can tell, the scoop Cliffy only really protects that one corner of wood between the post and the scoop kickout, but I wonder whether that would ever get hit enough to wear. For me, it was a little bit of "hey, I've got the whole protector kit, and now I've got this area of the table mostly apart to put in the scoop protector - I guess I'll see how it goes."

Truly zero negativity towards anyone on the pop bumper gate thing and it is a cool mechanical idea, but that alters the play too much for my cup of tea. Doesn't the code already account for this and sometimes return the ball if it it drains down the middle after hitting a pop bumper?

I found my culprit. I guess electric wire has become too expensive for JJP, they got super stingy on that one.

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Thanks so much for all of the interesting feedback on the Gate, especially from y'all who've already tried it! Some of my thoughts below!

This about matches my experience as well. In my testing, the gate reduced the number of SDTMs by half (down to 3 out of 50 feeds), but the bigger benefit was seen in eliminating the crazy feeds to the right sling and beyond!

I wonder if your target has tilted to the right or the ball guide should be tweaked slightly? If the target bumps the ball over to the right flipper, though, I couldn't complain, just as you say

Awesome result - this is how I feel about it as well!

Thanks so much! If the ball is hitting the left sling too frequently, you might try tweaking the exit of the ball guide up there outward a bit to push it over to the left flipper (assuming your PF is nice and level). The Gate is intended to guide the ball to where it usually rolls down that ball guide as it exits the pops, but the ball guide will push faster rolling balls further off to the right and slower ones less so. I like most of the feeds to hit the middle of the left flipper.

Soft launch will help for the auto plunge into the pops, which I agree is the most most frequent culprit of crazy feeds, but a clean shot to the Mike Teevee inner loop would still have me puckering It's funny, but I feel like not having the auto plunge go where intended is more of a departure from Lawlor's vision than the gate, but that could certainly be debated haha!

Thanks! I'm not aware of any ball saver based on time from last pop bumper hit? I suppose, either way, cutting the SDTM feeds by half is great, but it's not the key feature - the key features is the elimination of the craziest feeds like out to the right slingshot. The gate, instead, turns those into controlled feeds to a flipper Here were my test results using 50 auto-plunges without the Gate and then 50 with the Gate:
Ball feeds: without Gate ---> with Gate
Left Inlane: 1 ---> 0
Left Sling: 5 ---> 8
Left Flipper: 13 ---> 35
SDTM: 6 ---> 3
Right Flipper: 9 ---> 4
Right Sling: 16 ---> 0

No "pop bumper exit" save, just a timed ball save which might coincide with it. I agree it changes the intended randomness too much for me, but then again maybe I'd love it.

Regarding the gate, theres still plenty of randomness, often the ball still flies through it and as noted sometimes you still get a sdtm. It’s not exactly a “controlled gate” where your ball is always caught and safely placed at the guide to trickle down, instead it feels more like a chance to alleviate some of the punishment while still allowing the game to flow. Also if your house has guests or children playing then you’ve watched all of them not listen to you about soft plunging and instinctively full plunge every time & often to their doom, so it makes their experience more enjoyable.
For me the only down side has been sometimes the ball gets kicked back into the pops off the gate, and this could ring up some extra pop points that you would otherwise not have, but that seems to be the trade off.
As for changing the auto plunge to not go into the pops - that’s a slippery slope of changing Pat’s intentions!(; but that’s the point to each their own as long as you enjoy.

Out of the pops slide save always works great for me

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Why….?

So the ball doesn’t go sdtm.

If you can slide save this 300lb machine be my guest lol.

Not a problem. I moved it into my house and set it up by myself. I’m not a little guy though.

Gate mod is fantastic!! Install was simple. Took all of about 2 minutes. Now no more cheap ass drains from the pop bumpers. So silly that this wasn’t done from the factory just like the Augustus gloop one way gate. Perfect and thank you!!

I learned that "shove 1 side really hard" technique not to tilt, but it doesn't work for me on JJP games. They are so heavy I find they stay in place and I move 4 ft to the left. : ) Gimme a modern Stern and that it's a different story.

I knew this day was coming; I’ve seen there’s some different versions out there and also the extended camera platform thing, but does it really need anything at all?

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Put it on three-wheeled moving dollies

Slide saves are exactly why i put rubber feet on my machines...

Because you think it’s cheating or you don’t want your guests sliding your pins?

Both..

Isn't it what the tilt is for, so it's not cheating unless you tilt ?

Cool….

Not really, since its done to circumvent the tilt.

There are plenty of threads that go into this argument. No need to go through them here.

ArcadeBar inspired me to document my Wonka sound settings with the PinWoofer DIY kit I'm so fond of. I've included the settings and the recommendations that come with the kit so you can compare and contrast - I'm sure neither theirs nor mine are the best, but they are both something to try!
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I should have mentioned - this is with the factor cabinet speaker and mid-range speakers, but the PinWoofer tweeters. If you have the PinWoofer cabinet speaker, I imagine you'd find different settings more appropriate.

I had just installed the kit this week and it was better than the stock, but I just tried your settings and it was a HUGE improvement. I still need to hook up my external sub but it sounds great as is!

Awesome! Glad they worked for you!

Do you have or know anyone with a 3d printer?
If so I made this a while back.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4679354

r/
Mike

This worked great for me.

I do have one Mike, thanks so much for this.

You're very welcome.
r/
Mike

My printer’s been a bit funny but does the job!

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AWESOME!!!!!!
r/
Mike

Working on a custom topper and the motorized character is complete! Final version will be similar to my POTC and CC.

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Played a couple of games after installing the gate from @trumpanche. Every ball through the pops now lands on the left flipper, and it looks like part of the game.

The gate and a really good mojito helped me set a new GC score for myself.

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Great presentation Travahontas - we really like how you documented your settings!

Very cool!

Officially joining the club here. First, a quick background. In late May my wife and I visited the PHOF in Vegas, where I bought a t-shirt. On July 1 I noticed somebody in a PHOF t-shirt at a 4th of July party. I said hello, and turns out he lives close-by and has a Wonka CE. He said it's his #1 favorite game and I should come play it sometime.

Around the same time I had been PMing a couple Pinsiders. We were all disappointed in the TS4 reveal, and they both (independently) recommended I give Wonka a serious tryout. So I reached out to the local CE guy and played his in mid-July. It was fun, but I wasn't seriously thinking about buying until our final game, when I got a couple golden tickets and put up a #5/6 high score on his machine. That one finally showed me what was under the surface of the game.

So it seems like the stars were aligning, and after a little internal debate I ordered a NIB LE from Automated. The game arrived on August 5, and I've been tinkering with it since.

I had previously only played Wonka on location at one place, and had written it off. Looking back I can see that the game wasn't set up properly, so I never gave it a fair shot.

The theme also didn't grab me. I had seen the movie as a kid, but was ambivalent about it. We've since re-watched the movie, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's not the greatest movie of all-time, but it's just a classic, and very funny. I feel like the theme is very well integrated into the game, with well-timed quotes and movie clips sprinkled throughout.

The depth of this game is amazing, and it truly shines in a home environment. It also provides a nice balance alongside my Star Wars Premium & Cactus Canyon.

Here's my list of upgrades/mods:
- Titan rubbers throughout, translucent ... EXCEPT the 3 posts, which are purple Superbands
- Superband flipper rubbers, purple (when I think of Willy Wonka, I think of purple)
- Mirror blades (PDI)
- PinWoofer kit (HUGE upgrade in sound quality)
- Lermods full translite kit (this is a MUST IMO)
- Gobstopper shooter rod & Wonka Bar plate (Hooked on Pinball)
- Extra light strip (Hooked on Pinball) attached to back-right to illuminate that dark corner
- Travahontas Gate Mod

Cliffy's are ordered, but otherwise I'm done for a while.

Many thanks (I think...) to gorditas and zermeno68 for your help "convincing" me.... and help after receiving the game!

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Welcome to the club, officially!

Looks amazing! I'm curious what the translite mod really adds. I haven't noticed any dark spots on mine, or is it a case of you don't know how bad it is until you fix it?

Also, not sure how much longer I can go without upgrading the sound lol. It really is mediocre next to my heavily upgraded Sterns!