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Team TNA - The UK's Total Nuclear Annihilation Pinball Club

well lookie here - my first guess would be its caused by the flipper

Also I have this issue with my right flipper - happened when it gets warm - like the last few days. I open the coin door and it slowly goes away but during a 4 player game it comes back


Bizarrely mine started to do that last night for the first time ever! Something to do with the heat maybe?
 
I put my room fan blowing into the cabinet and it went away on Friday - its not that easy playing though with a fan in between your legs 🙃 its something to do with this weather but no other games have this issue?

Big question - can I fit stern flipper assembly to this machine ?
 
img_4019-jpeg.231261
And it looks like you've got the same bent kicker arm. Clearly a trend!
 
Spoke with @philpalmer today about the flipper issue and it was pointed out there isn't enough clearance between the flipper and the playfield. Have now made some adjustment.
 
I guess if the gap was already minimal, then 30c heat/humidity could cause enough expansion of things it to start binding?
 
yes, there should be ( so I was told ) approx 1.5mm clearance when you lift up the flipper at the fat end from the playfield and I had none
 
First some positive comments :) Had my 2 best games yesterday & today with over 7M, reaching (and almost destroying) reactor 8 !! I can feel the end is within reach...
Pretty good to be on reactor 7 still on ball 1 😂 (yeah yeah, extra balls)
PXL_20230911_154242650.jpg

Now, a few issues. First the aforementioned bending kicker arm. Although I bent it back, it's started leaning again within just a few games. Spooky pinball admitted that:
The mechs are surprisingly flexible, especial the end of the levers like that.
Perhaps they're made from recycled stern coil stops? :rolleyes:

Another issue is a chip in the clearcoat in my shooter lane. Not good! Cleaned it up with a fiberglass pen, a rub with novus 2, then IPA, and finally stuck a patch of mylar on it. All but invisible now :)
Oh yeah and I added a metal shooter lane protector to the outboard side - did anyone have one of these from the factory?
PXL_20230831_152712012.jpgPXL_20230911_204646361.jpgPXL_20230911_210451926.jpg

Finally changed the flipper rubbers as mine were getting frayed at the tip after almost 700 games. Only purple rubbers in stock from pinparts were superbands, we'll see how I like those... From a quick game I can definitely tell that they have a little bit less bounce, for dead passes especially it's risky.

PXL_20230911_210510127.jpg

Another thing I want to look at is the autolauncher mech. The slop in that thing is just unbelievable (see attached video). I wonder if it can be replaced with the stern ones?

Lastly it seems like I have a credit dot - error report is saying something about drop target 1 down. Will have to investigate as it seems to be playing fine. Another day 🥱
 

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First some positive comments :) Had my 2 best games yesterday & today with over 7M, reaching (and almost destroying) reactor 8 !! I can feel the end is within reach...
Pretty good to be on reactor 7 still on ball 1 😂 (yeah yeah, extra balls)
View attachment 231512

Now, a few issues. First the aforementioned bending kicker arm. Although I bent it back, it's started leaning again within just a few games. Spooky pinball admitted that:

Perhaps they're made from recycled stern coil stops? :rolleyes:

Another issue is a chip in the clearcoat in my shooter lane. Not good! Cleaned it up with a fiberglass pen, a rub with novus 2, then IPA, and finally stuck a patch of mylar on it. All but invisible now :)
Oh yeah and I added a metal shooter lane protector to the outboard side - did anyone have one of these from the factory?
View attachment 231509View attachment 231508View attachment 231507

Finally changed the flipper rubbers as mine were getting frayed at the tip after almost 700 games. Only purple rubbers in stock from pinparts were superbands, we'll see how I like those... From a quick game I can definitely tell that they have a little bit less bounce, for dead passes especially it's risky.

View attachment 231511

Another thing I want to look at is the autolauncher mech. The slop in that thing is just unbelievable (see attached video). I wonder if it can be replaced with the stern ones?

Lastly it seems like I have a credit dot - error report is saying something about drop target 1 down. Will have to investigate as it seems to be playing fine. Another day 🥱
Awesome scoring making it to Reactor 8.

Sorry to hear about all the quality niggles everyone has been having.

Hoping to look over everything on mine tomorrow. I will have a look at all the issues that everyone has shared against mine and will let yous know.
 
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That’s a great game you’ve had there. Good skills. Did you say “what was that “ at all during the game ? 😂

I had the same with my flipper rubbers and also am running super bands atm - they give a lot of back spin but not sure if the waxing has any part to play with that
Also the rubber left of the left keypad target had to be replaced for the same reason

I guess you’re emailing AJ at Spooky about this ? please let us know what the feedback is. I’m reluctant to email atm as it’s just more problems . My slingshots are double firing again after all was set a couple weeks ago
i haven’t checked my auto plunger. Mine didn’t come with the protector - where did you get that from please ?
 
Another thing I want to look at is the autolauncher mech. The slop in that thing is just unbelievable (see attached video). I wonder if it can be replaced with the stern ones?

Get some washers to fill the gaps, that'll sort it. Put them on the outside of the bracket holding it to the playfield.

Lastly it seems like I have a credit dot - error report is saying something about drop target 1 down. Will have to investigate as it seems to be playing fine. Another day 🥱

Probably the switch is stuck closed when the drop target is up and the gap needs adjusting.
 
So some guys on the pinside thread mentioned replacing the beacon bulb with something brighter, I thought why not and got some of these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C1NJMXQ1

It's ridiculously bright. Like, hurts-my-eyes-if-I-look-at-it bright. Wouldn't recommend in a dark room where TNA is the only light, however would work well in a well lit environment!
I looked at this also, will look at replacing my stock bulb.
 
Heh. i love playing in the dark with all ambient light off - are you able to shoot a quick vid ?

Fyi i sorted the slop in my auto launch with a single washer same thickness as the existing
Honestly I might put the stock bulb back in. It's so bright it almost overrides the playfield light show by making everything so red :D

Thanks for the tip, need to get a washer of the right size now 👍
 

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Honestly I might put the stock bulb back in. It's so bright it almost overrides the playfield light show by making everything so red :D

Thanks for the tip, need to get a washer of the right size now 👍
I’m off to Amsterdam at the end of the month , maybe i’ll just come stay at yours 😂
 
i did mention this to Spooky ( the kicker bending ) as was asking them about something else
They have no idea why it’s happening and have asked if we can spot anything that might be catching underneath the playfield or have any input ?
Mine hasn't moved since i bent it back - i’m now at 588 games
They are sending over replacement parts to Phil for distribution but it’s a bit fruitless unless the source can be identified
 
Thanks all for sharing the niggles and quality issues some of you were having.

I have checked over mine and everything appears all good so far, well... apart from the below.

As @Fubar had pointed out previously one of his Kicker arms was bent and resulted in making contact with the playfield. Well I also have an issue with a Kicker Arm making contact with the wood, although this is not because of a bent Kicker Arm.

Carried out some inspections. Here is the damage to the wood from the Upper Right Kicker Arm on the Slingshot in the Reactor Core, and what I have found so far.

Upper Right Kicker Slingshot Arm is sitting to far forward making contact with the wood, I would say this is sitting approx 4mm to far forward to front edge. Photos below show Kicker Arm at full travel and the damage to the wooden edge where it has been making contact.

Upper Right Slingshot 2.jpegUpper Right Slingshot .jpeg

Now when looking further into the assembly I cannot see any loose Kicker arm, bracket, coil etc. Everything appears to be fully secured. Suspecting a build quality issue at the moment, the assembly has not been fitted correctly to ensure the Kicker Arm is lined up in the centre hole in the wood on both the horizontal and vertical. Kicker Arms mounted to far forward can result in damage to the wooden front edge.

I also checked the Kicker Arms on the other Slingshots and although no damage to the wood, some Kicker Arms are very very close to the wooden edge ( a mm or two) at full travel. Also neither of them are dead centre in the hole, left to right or front to back. I could not find my steel rule so had to use a tape but there are varying distances between the Kicker Arms to the front edge of the hole in the wood.

The maximum clearance seen was with right Slingshot.

Right Slingshot clearance.jpegRight Slingshot.jpeg

Further investigation still needed, as well as finding the best solution to re-centre the Kicker Arms.

I also had a quick look at TNA photos on Pinside, and I seen this from an archived sale advert on an original run TNA.

PS Ad4 Original.png

I also noticed when looking at photos many Kickers Arms are not centred correctly on the horizontal.

I highly recommend that all you owners remove your plastics and slingshot rubbers. Check Kicker Arm is centred correctly and check the full travel of the Kicker Arms.
 
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i did mention this to Spooky ( the kicker bending ) as was asking them about something else
They have no idea why it’s happening and have asked if we can spot anything that might be catching underneath the playfield or have any input ?
Mine hasn't moved since i bent it back - i’m now at 588 games
They are sending over replacement parts to Phil for distribution but it’s a bit fruitless unless the source can be identified
Thanks for the update - I didn't get any reply to my last email.

Mine in the top left kicker keeps bending back, it's pretty annoying. Looking at less than 50 games before I need to take the glass of each time...
 
Thanks all for sharing the niggles and quality issues some of you were having.

I have checked over mine and everything appears all good so far, well... apart from the below.

As @Fubar had pointed out previously one of his Kicker arms was bent and resulted in making contact with the playfield. Well I also have an issue with a Kicker Arm making contact with the wood, although this is not because of a bent Kicker Arm.

Carried out some inspections. Here is the damage to the wood from the Upper Right Kicker Arm on the Slingshot in the Reactor Core, and what I have found so far.

Upper Right Kicker Slingshot Arm is sitting to far forward making contact with the wood, I would say this is sitting approx 4mm to far forward to front edge. Photos below show Kicker Arm at full travel and the damage to the wooden edge where it has been making contact.

View attachment 232171View attachment 232172

Now when looking further into the assembly I cannot see any loose Kicker arm, bracket, coil etc. Everything appears to be fully secured. Suspecting a build quality issue at the moment, the assembly has not been fitted correctly to ensure the Kicker Arm is lined up in the centre hole in the wood on both the horizontal and vertical. Kicker Arms mounted to far forward can result in damage to the wooden front edge.

I also checked the Kicker Arms on the other Slingshots and although no damage to the wood, some Kicker Arms are very very close to the wooden edge ( a mm or two) at full travel. Also neither of them are dead centre in the hole, left to right or front to back. I could not find my steel rule so had to use a tape but there are varying distances between the Kicker Arms to the front edge of the hole in the wood.

The maximum clearance seen was with right Slingshot.

View attachment 232173View attachment 232174

Further investigation still needed, as well as finding the best solution to re-centre the Kicker Arms.

I also had a quick look at TNA photos on Pinside, and I seen this from an archived sale advert on an original run TNA.

View attachment 232175

I also noticed when looking at photos many Kickers Arms are not centred correctly on the horizontal.

I highly recommend that all you owners remove your plastics and slingshot rubbers. Check Kicker Arm is centred correctly and check the full travel of the Kicker Arms.

I just checked all of mine and they're all fine, and no contact with wood when at full stretch. Let me know if you need pictures of the mounting underneath.
 
I just checked all of mine and they're all fine, and no contact with wood when at full stretch. Let me know if you need pictures of the mounting underneath.
Yes please. I noticed mine were all intentionally mounted forward of the pilot holes, wondering if that's the case for everyone... Can snap a pic later tonight.
 
More pics of my floppy reactor kicker arm. This was bent like this after maybe a dozen games? I've bent it back up again but pretty sure the metal is getting weaker with the bending cycles and will end up failing soon enough.

Note, under the playfield, how the mech is not screwed into the pilot holes. Looks like this was intentional for all of them, to get them closer to the edge... Possibly a production bodge?
 

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This is all pretty bizarre. You could understand it on early production games but as they head towards 800 games why are these issues happening now? Sling kickers have been around forever!

Have you thought about moving it to the original pilot holes? Definitely a question for Spooky.
 
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