I guess I'll chime in here... got pirates 2 years ago, new in box from some dude that had a bunch of NIB pins sitting in storage. I'd say it gets the most play in our collection but it still looks brand new.

Coin Taker LED kit and a few toys:
http://4130-products.com/pinball/index.php/cheap-toys-for-pirates/

My pin has the same weak eject issue at the weak pop bumper eject coil. It is now to the point where I have to time my nudging with the ejection to get the ball to clear the hole.

This is a very low mileage unit, in mint condition. Mounting bracket and hardware all secure, nothing loose. Plunger moves freely in sleeve. Ohm tested coil, it was the same value as the other 26-1200 coils. No failed soldier joints, wiring ohm tested to factory design.

I'm thinking the Q18 driver transistor is the issue, Stern part number 110-0067-00. https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/TIP122

I'll be turning in an order to Marco soon enough for another project, so no big deal to grab that while I'm at it. Any other thoughts or suggestions?

That is how it goes... but the glass he hell bent on guillotine the wire as soon as you remove the lock bar. The button/bulb part is a snug fit through the opening in the lock bar.

Unless you are actually going to use the tournament button, just leave that bit of wiring off.

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I got my pirates "new in box" in 2016. Some guy had purchased 5 or 6 different pins and never set them up, they sat in storage for years. So my battery was 10 years old when I unboxed it, no issues and was still working fine... but at a few bucks, I replaced it. As a general rule, these types of batteries are going to last a lot longer (not leak) than AA batteries, but time will catch up.

If aren't sure how old the battery is, then play it safe and replace it, about the cheapest part you can buy for a pinball machine.

HELP! pop bumper eject, coil #18 is weak.

Hardware is all tight. Coil ohm test at 10.5Ω at the coil and 10.7Ω across wiring harness + coil. New Q18 TIP122 transistor installed. Cleaned pin and coil sleeve, move very freely.

Everything else works to factory design. Any suggestions?

The pop bumpers work fine, in coil test mode for #9, #10 and #11 work just fine. I don't see the connection between the pop bumper coils and pop bumper eject coil.

Coils #9, #10 and #11 are on a 50V circuit, J10 /9 and /10 (yellow/violet), then grounded on J9 /1, /2 and /4.
Coil #18 is on a 20V circuit, J7 /1 (brown) and grounded on J7/3

Looking at the wiring diagram on page 97, I don't see how these items tie together.

The plunger for coil 18 is visually fine and moves freely in the sleeve (no binding).

I'm not a fan of IDC connectors used in all pins... I wonder if I could have a voltage drop under load. I may see about making a quick and dirty overlay harness for coil 18 and see if that helps.

Got it vastly improved, the 3 things that all together got it working "good enuff":

1 - I had quickly wiped down the pin and coil sleeve before... went back and cleaned with Isopropyl Alcohol.
2 - Bracket that holds coil, secured with 2 phillip screws, loosened the screws and squeezed the ever living crap out of it with my bare hand to have it hold the coil tighter, then torqued screws back down. Coil is held a bit tighter now.
3 - Loosened the 2 screws that go into the playfield, twisted bracket a hair to help center up the pin in the opening, torqued wood screws back down.

I still feel like it doesn't eject with the same velocity it use to, but it is now clearing out every time and in most cases will just catch lower pop bumper. As I recall when we first pulled this out of the box, it would eject right into the upper left pop bumper.

If you suspect the disc, then just block off the ramp with a small towel or something so the ball can't get up there. Now play several games and see if it still snows.

Gave myself some late xmas gifts, color DMDs for several pins and I strongly advise against ever doing this kind of upgrade!!

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I am now cursed of any future pin I get with a DMD display will have to be upgraded.... there is no going back.

I went with LCD on all of them. I have Pirates set up with the tile setting, square grid pattern, that was the best one for this pin IMHO. Most other pins I set them to the hi res scaling where is "blends" things together.

I ended up going with LCDs on several pins and glad I did. Different games look better in different modes. I have Pirates set up with the large square pixels.

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The next person will be upset I didn't set it up with round pixels or the cartoon effect or just the fact I didn't leave it factory. IMHO the only real issue with a color display (LCD or LED), once you do this, you'll never go back non color display. Every pin that can be upgraded will have to be upgraded.