Updated the code and played a couple of quick games. Noticed that the scoop works fine, but having an issue with it not ejecting after starting a villain. It has to go to ball search to kick it out.

Adjust the scoop switch.

rd

I previously wrote about my 12 volts not getting to the back box. I tracked it down to the 15 pin Molex coming out of the transformer, these are 19VAC wires gray and gray green. They go to the back box at J17 pin 2 and 3. This molex connector appears to be sensitive. Previously, I could hold it tighter and the power would turn on. But I don't like messing with power when it is on. When I did this, it reset all the settings so I had to set free play and such.

I will buy a molex extractor tool. But I looked at the 15 pin Molex connector as I am pointing to in the photo, I moved all the wires that were behind the wood inside the loop to in front right behind the transformer. I also ensured all wires were below the wood, so components on the bottom of the playfield would not touch or move them.

Using this configuration, when I lower the playfield, the game continues to boot up correctly with 12 volts for sound (and color dmd, backbone LEDs and topper). I believe (or hope) that having the molex connector here, there is no tension on the connector causing the 2 wires that provide 19VAC to have issues. (Why none of the other 12 or so wires don't have any issues is beyond me.

I even pushed the game back into the lineup and it still works. I will keep this updated so I can finally resolve this issue.

If this problems happens again, once I have the extractor tool, I will take out the two wires and rebuilt the connector tips. If this doesn't work, I will buy new 15 pin molex male and female parts from GPE.

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I previously wrote about my 12 volts not getting to the back box. I tracked it down to the 15 pin Molex coming out of the transformer, these are 19VAC wires gray and gray green. They go to the back box at J17 pin 2 and 3. This molex connector appears to be sensitive. Previously, I could hold it tighter and the power would turn on. But I don't like messing with power when it is on. When I did this, it reset all the settings so I had to set free play and such.

I looked at the 15 pin Molex connector as I am pointing to in the photo, I moved all the wires that were behind the wood inside the loop to in front right behind the transformer. I also ensured all wires were below the wood, so components on the bottom of the playfield would not touch or move them.

Using this configuration, when I lower the playfield, the game continues to boot up correctly with 12 volts for sound (and color dmd, back box LEDs and topper). I believe (or hope) that having the molex connector here, there is no tension on the connector causing the 2 wires that provide 19VAC to have issues. (Why none of the other 12 or so wires don't have any issues is beyond me.)

I even pushed the game back into the lineup and it still works. I will keep this updated so I can finally resolve this issue.

If this problems happens again, once I buy a molex extraction tool, I will take out the two wires and rebuilt the connector tips. If this doesn't work, I will buy new 15 pin molex male and female parts from GPE.

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How much I love this game!!! Newton ball installed ( adjusting that switch was a pita), but worth it. There's just so much to do, great shots, disc is insane, and pure fun!!

While I had the game open I "temporarily" fixed an annoying issue for me.

I replaced the rubbers with red super bands from Marco. I have a Cliffy protector installed at the Villain scoop. When I made these mods, the ball would roll down where it says "For Hellfire Club" since the super band was just a bit thinner. The ball hardly fell into the Villain scoop and the game was just not enjoyable.

I added the second larger Super band as shown in the photo above the existing super band. In most circumstances the ball was fast enough to jump the slight gap over the Cliffy protector into the scoop. But sometimes it would just rest between the newly installed rubber and the protector.

My temporary solution added a small piece of tape to the left of the scoop to raise up the area a little and then a bigger piece of tape to go from the playfield, over the little piece of tape which raised up a little, to over the protector. Now 100% of the slow balls do not get stuck between the larger rubber and the protector.

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Well, 4 hours ago when I turned it off and on several times, it worked. I just came back downstairs now and the only thing that changed was 4 hours went by.

I assume if I wiggle and fool with the connector it will work again. But this doesn't seem like a logical solution. Has anyone seen anything like this on any Stern?

Nope. Those connectors are very reliable.

Take the connector apart and see if the male and female pins are properly locked in place. Pull gently on each wire and see if the pins pull out of the molex. If they do, there are tiny tabs on the sides of each pin, fold them back out and push the pins back in place.

You can also gently squeeze the female plug pins a little tighter with a tiny screwdriver — there needs to be good contact between all surfaces when the plugs are pushed together.

Also - the only thing that should reset your settings is a battery issue or a MPU board problem. Never heard of other power issues wiping settings. Ensure your battery is held firmly in place, and also check your boards are screwed in tight (for earthing)

rd

Thanks. I turned on the game as I stated before and I get a loud buzzing/humming sound. I turned off the game and posted the above message.

I came back to my desk to look for molex extraction tools. Do you have a brand or set you recommend?

I unplugged the game. I cut the zip tie on one side to get to the wires better. I disconnected the 15 pin molex connector. I pulled each of the two wires to ensure they were good. I then tried to push them as far in as I could (although not sure I really did anything).

I turned on the game. No humming/buzzing and the color display, back box LEDs, and topper come on with the display showing credits 0.

I did not even have the back box open or touch the MPU or battery, so it should be as secure as it has always been. I will reset the free play and other settings now. But the game will probably work. I'll have to come back to it tomorrow.

I am hoping rebuilding the two wire ends for both the gray and gray green may solve the problem, once I can extract the pins. Thanks

After I wrote the above email, I went back to the game since it was still on and reset my settings.

I turned off the game.

I pushed the playfield back into position.

I turned on the game. It buzzed/hummed for a second but the lights, topper and display came on with the following message. Then it went to attract mode showing free play.

I turned it off. waited. Turned back on and it did not work. Then I tested the info below.

F12 and F13 are showing a very faintly lit LED.

-12V test point reports as -25V

12V test point reports as 1.76V

I unplugged J17 and checked the wires and pushed them in further. I have not checked for cold solder joints since I seem to get the game to work by fooling around with the connector at the transformer.

I did the above test with J16 plugged in (as shown) and not plugged in (to ensure it wasn't the load). Same results.

I put the LEDs back into the back box. I raised the playfield. I unplugged the 15 pin Molex near the transformer. I plugged it back in. Now it works. (For the moment.)

I guess I really need to extract the pins and check them and also tighten the female side if that could help.

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I just had this same problem today.

Turn it off. Take out the F1 and F2 fuses and put them in the F12 and F13. The 1&2 are just gi and you can go without them for troubleshooting. Unplug your topper and any mods. Check all your ribbon cable connections. Turn it on and if it works ok, check that your topper wire isn't crimped between the back box and the cabinet, check it all the way down for crimps and cuts. Add one mod back at a time.

I just got the game today. Magneto releases the ball sometimes straight down the middle. It's level. How do I keep this from happening?

Thanks.

I turned on the game twice this morning and it worked with no problems.

In the past, I have removed all 3 mods and the power was not coming into the board.

I thought by removing J16, this stops power from going out of the board to anything else so effectively, no sound, no mods. With J16 disconnected or all mods disconnected, I would have the same problem.

I did try changing out the fuses. Although I would assume binary and either working or not working. I did ensure no corrosion on the fuse holders and solid connections.

I have checked the wires for crimps or broken areas. I have not found any yet.

Thanks. I will keep testing and did order a Molex brand molex 0.093 male/female pin remover.

I just checked my game. During play, if a ball is let out of the Magneto lock, the disc will spin.

At the end of the game, when the balls in the Magneto lock were released to prepare for the next game, they came right to my right flipper.

What are all the ways to get EBs? And also to qualify the two mini wiz modes?

Eb’s are based on completing xmen, you can change this number in settings ( I think factory is 3)
Danger room, you need to start all xmen modes and play magneto multiball,
Dark Phoenix, start all xmen modes and defeat all villains.

I luv X-men

Played a bit more. It makes good contact, just intermittent. I will add one to my next parts order. Thanks!

For Danger Room, that is only for if you have stacking on. With stacking off, you need to complete all X-Men (hero) modes. Magneto not required.

With stacking on, isn't it not only play Magneto, but also score a super jackpot (which is harder than it should be for me!)?

For Danger Room, I thought it was only defeat the villains...no heros required?

Last line I meant Dark Phoenix, not Danger Room.

First couple days with this game and wow is it a kick in the crotch difficulty wise (and I owned an Alice Cooper!) Have a Wolverine Edition.

I have a few lighting questions. One of my spotlights is out and it's an odd shape. I can't seem to find it in the manual although I'm admittedly bad at sifting through these things. Is this an after market spot light or factory? What should I replace it with? (Picture below). Also, the go is pretty low for an LED game. Did most leave the factory LEDs in or swap to something brighter? What kind if so?

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Danger room is the Heroes.

Dark Phoenix is the villains.

Still love this game - I got one of the first off the line 6-7 years ago, and I’m still playing it. When you get the sweet combos flowing, nothing better in pinball in my opinion! So many shots in this game.

Had a sweet game against Danni this morning Almost got to Danger Room ... all my pins have the extra balls off and are set up for tournament play these days. So, very happy with 126m. Even Dannis 50m would win 95% of games on this pin.

rd

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Yup...that was a typing too fast mistake...meant Dark Phoenix. What I meant was, to the best of my knowledge you do not need to start the heroes for Dark Phoenix, as mcuzz states. Just defeat the villains.

That looks like an aftermarket LED flasher. It can be replaced with another 906 flasher bulb.
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/x-men-le-magneto-spotlight-original-bulb

The factory LEDs were early generation LED bulbs and quite dim. I replaced mine with Comet 2SMD bulbs in the same color, except for the red under the slings. I replaced those with natural white. I went with natural white everywhere else with red and blue where needed.

Yep, that’s the one.

Both are independent of each other.

rd

Awesome! I'll do the same. Looks like all the insert lights are led boards. No replacing those for brighter lights huh?

Yeah, can't do those, only the GI.

Parts - For Sale

X-Men Cliffy Protectors Archived

New (selling multiple, business) - “http://www.passionforpinball.com/XMen.htm I have the scoop and shooter lane protectors.”

2020-12-10

Mequon, WI

Lawnboy

50

Archived after: 90 days

Viewed: 185 times

Status: Not sold

If anyone needs them

Bah, my newton ball mod stopped registering today. Going to have to try and figure that out tomorrow...

Are the blades separated? If they somehow got stuck together, then that could be the cause. Switch test is your best bet there.

Thanks. I'll check that first.

The switch needed adjusting, but then I realized I was still having to hit the ball pretty hard for it to register even though it should have been super sensitive. After trying just about everything I feel, I just spun the inner ball around in case it was dirty or something and never moving. Sure enough 100% sensitive now.

My only issue now seems to be a gameplay one. Wolverine periodically takes the ball and just fastballs it SDTM. Is this a known issue or is there an adjustment for it?

It's the randomness of the magnet. Nothing you can do about it.

My right flipper started buzzing when I hold it down. Should I buy a complete flipper rebuild kit or just a part of it. I've been collecting for 2 years and this is the first flipper rebuild I've had to do. If someone could link the Marco part I need it would be appreciated.

Two flipper problems on two machines in one week...

Common on newer Sterns. A lot do them out of the box.

The buzzing is the plunger repeatedly hitting the coil stop as the CPU pulses it.

Try loosening the coil stop and making it square to the coil.

If it still buzzes, check out the coil stops and see if they are worn.

If they are, you may as well rebuild everything while you’re at it.

rd

Ok, I'll try this and come ask for the part link again if this doesn't work. Never had to work on flippers before other than to fix a few out of alignment.

Let’s do some bracket busting! Our beloved X-men is up against Elvira in a stern game voting tournament. We need to come out in full force to vote up X-men past Elvira and give JP a run for its money! Who’s in?

My Wolverine got a little refresh the other day. New art blades, apron triangle decals, and flipper toppers. I maybe should have gotten some black flipper bats before putting on the toppers, but I have spare decals if I decide to do that later. I’m loving the transformation!

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I am in!

+1

Like the art blades, I've got mirrors on mine but they are really tight with the screws to hold them on. Might change them out to these.

Rule spoilers ahead.

So I've had my Xmen Pro for ... I dunno... 6-7 months? It was the first game I played coming back into pinball (around 2013), that one was an LE Magneto, and I just about crapped myself the first time I saw Magneto Multiball, and it spun them and shook the machine. I was BACK into pinball at that very moment.

I didn't really get too deep in the rule sets back then, it was more figure out a good competitive strategy to put up a decent score. That machine was there for a year, and haven't really encountered it at any other pinball joints. Had an opportunity to buy an Xmen, and decided I would just start playing, don't look up any rules, whack away at it and make it last a little longer. Getting to the Wizard mode of the game, I really want to earn it, and I want it to be a challenge. There are many Wizard Modes around that you can get to with relative ease.

I have been trying to get to the final final wizard mode in the game. I've gotten to and completed Danger Room (brilliant mode), but Dark Phoenix kept confusing me. Seemed to be a lot of points there, but was never sure if I was completing it. I thought I did once. But I kept grinding, trying to get Magneto SJP, Danger Room completed, and Dark Phoenix completed. Not getting to the final Wizard mode is what has really been driving me.

A few days ago I got to everything (hero stacking off), and didn't "win" Danger Room. When I got to Dark Phoenix, I don't know what the hell happened, and realized that if I'm ever going to get to the final wizard mode, I really need to cheat and read what to do with Dark Phoenix.

And here I come to find out,

a.) there is no wizard mode for DR DP and MSJP.
b.) Dark Phoenix is confusing because there's a bug that makes it end abruptly. Which is exactly what happened the other day (I think). I still had timers running, and then it was just done.

What an incredible game, ruined by not finishing off the last bits of code. Don't get me wrong, love the game, but man, I am really deflated finding out there's nothing left for me to do in this game. What a bummer.

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Dark Phoenix and Danger Room ARE the wizard modes.

Most people never get close to getting either of them, let alone both of them. (On standard settings). I remember a while back, a guy complained that there was no “super wizard mode” and then said that he’d never completed more than two Villains! Lol

Time to take your side posts out and turn off the extra balls ... then making either DP or DR is a real challenge.

rd

I haven't hardened this machine at all, so I *could* make it a bit tougher tightening up the slings, removing rubbers, etc... it's factory, and it's still tough as nails. I just find it amusing that I've been working toward a goal that doesn't exist. Like world peace, or two people agreeing on the internet.

Yeah...heroes and villains are two completely separate paths, each with their own wizard mode. Magneto multiball is also independent, but can of course be used to help finish off whatever might be running already when you start it. It's a bit unfortunate that there isn't a final wizard mode for those that can manage all of that in one game, but like rd said, it's a very, very elite group that could ever do that. You must be an amazing player. I've owned my Wolverine for about 8 years and only been to Danger Room a handful of times, never completing it. Dark Phoenix is still just a dream. Closest I have been is five villains defeated I think. I should make that my new quarantine goal, LOL! But seriously...doing both in one game is crazy good.

It's good to have goals. I think that is a FANTASTIC quarantine goal!

Mine was to make it to the final wizard mode. So in a way I've completed that, and in a way I've failed.

My strategy is to start a game, and soft plunge to the upper right flipper. When the ball comes past the raised flipper, I lower it to graze off of that flipper, deflect it on to the left flipper, trap that, and start beating on Brotherhood. As long as you don't hit any other switches, you can hit the Brotherhood target, ricochet off to the Storm ramp, which then (on my machine) often feeds back to the Brotherhood target so you get two there. Not often, but some times I can get Brotherhood lit before ball saver activates/goes off. I drain FAR less hitting brotherhood when I have the right flipper up. With it down, a lot of times it'll brick into the left outlane. Lighting Brotherhood lights Villain, I shoot the scoop, and start Sabertooth. Leaving Brotherhood until the end allows a SINGLE hit to Brotherhood targets to re-light Villain. Same with Hellfire but shooting that shot intentionally is death on this machine.

With Sabertooth running, I try to get Xavier out of the way. When you have that (or Shadow King, maybe others), a shot to Xavier lights the hero you're supposed to hit. IDK if this is a bug in the code, but it's something I've found. If I end up bricking Xavier, it's usually on the size of a Wolverine hit/graze, and bringing Wolverine in to Sabertooth is not the worst stack in the world. After that, I start knocking out hero after hero, and when I've completed a Villain, I hit Brotherhood, relight it, and move on to the next. I don't have much of a strategy after that, except get 3 Villains knocked out, and there's an extra ball that I will need. With Iceman on the pro, I will live post pass over to the left flipper to get that one done. Cyclops and Storm usually knocked out back to back by looping those two shots/rinse repeat. Beast is a tough shot for me, that's one I usually have to do a couple of times. I turned stacking on after that last big game I had, just to see what it's like, but I'm not really a fan of the stacking so much. I kind of like to focus on one thing at a time. I'll let Phoenix slide if I start it and Lock is lit too early in the game.

For Magneto, I try to bring Sentinels into it, and I try to load up as many heroes as I can. The Magneto SJP is easier to acquire with more Heroes apparently. But I'm usually forced into it earlier than I want, so I'll bring in Sentinels and if I get the SJP first go, great. If not, I'm pretty guaranteed to get another if not a third. By that time, I'm loaded up with Heroes. After the first one, if the lock is lit, I hit it.

Lots of patience with this one. Bounce pass and trap up constantly. This game gets squirrely FAST, and those magnets are just dreadful. Wolverine is a pro at throwing it out the left outlane before I can say Bob's Your Uncle.

I'm perfectly capable of putting up a 10M game too, not all of them are monsters. But when the game opens up for me, it really opens up. I have the pitch where it should be, left post is set to middle, right post to top, and kept the rubbers at the outlane. Tilt is set so I can get a good move and 2x danger, but too much and you're donezo. I can't play a game without dropping several F bombs, but much of the time, I just laugh out loud at how much Wolverine is being a dick.

I still struggle getting through Hellfire and Brotherhood. And Wolverine is a tough Hero to complete. The game is definitely punishing and you gotta work your ass off to get to the end. So much fun. I'm a pretty good player, but this game often puts me in my place.

One of the delightfully fun things in this game... Trapped up on the right flipper, one inlane to go to get Blackbird lit.. select the proper lane so that your right flipper lane changer will make the left inlane unlit when you flip, Shatz (alley pass) the left inlane to light Blackbird, and sometimes it will go right into the scoop. I had this work in a game where I was down to one ball with Wolverine, shatzed that into the scoop for the Add-A-Ball. It was gorgeous and hilarious at the same time

Awesome write-up...thank you! I love the Brotherhood trick for making villains easier to light, but those standups are definitely not as controllable on my machine (err...at least not with me at the flipper buttons!).

As for the Xavier "trick"...that's not a bug, that's how his mode works and it doesn't require a villain stack. Any time Xavier is running, a shot to him will light the needed shot. Of course, I usually concentrate on doing just that...brick it a few times since the shot becomes harder when I need it...and then if I do hit it I do not have time to hit the needed shot, LOL! It's a brilliant mode...love it.

I always forget that three villains defeated gives an extra ball. Goes to show how rare that is for me! I do love and appreciate the Nightcrawler mode and extra ball for completing it after three heroes though!

Cool trick with shatzing into the Blackbird! I will have to try that, though I have almost never been able to Shatz on purpose, LOL.

Hello there new in the club, nice HUO Xmen pro. Previous owner led'ed it but with cool whites on the characters inserts, and its killing me when the game blinks rapidly.
Hopefully I had in hand a LED OCD from another game so I am trying to fix the problem with it.
Anybody did the data sheet for LED OCD ? they have all sorts of games but no xmen.
Would really appreciate if someone could save me the trouble of mapping everything myself.

Once I fix this I will order some hardware to do the posts mod, seems like a must

cheers

I believe the point value decreases if you have Xavier light the shot for you vs without.

Lighting Deadpool will help in defeating Villians especially Hellfire and Brotherhood.
In default settings 10 combos award Deadpool.