Hello all! I Joined Pinside a couple days ago with having a POTC pin already. I got it back in 2014 from a Chuck E. Cheese for $1700. It was in really poor condition. Sorry no before pics. 2 optos were bad, the clutch for the ship was shot, and the link from the coil to the treasure chest lid was broke. In addition, the auto launch was not working and the decal on the Tortuga disc was worn down to about an inch in diameter.

I initially fixed some of the problems do be playable and have some fun with it. Last year, I started taking apart the playfield to clean it, as well as all the parts. Since this was a hobby, I worked on it when I could. Cleaning was the worst part of the whole project as it was evident that it wasn’t really taken care of that great while in the custody of CEC. But I cleaned it in the cabinet and out.
When I looked up online where to buy parts I saw some of the mods out there. Since I was on a budget, I saw some mods and figured I could create the same. There were some I could do though. Here is a list of mods.

1. Speaker Panel (I made using the old one and completed it in 2 days)
2. Speaker Grilles are a cloth material to allow sound to go through.
3. New speakers
4. Old sails broke and made new ones out of painted cloth and small dowls to hold them up. They are very light like the originals.
5. Added a modified firing LED cannon mod to the ship. Instead of the LEDs only coming on with the flasher when hit, I created a circuit allowing the LEDs to simulate cannon firing all different from each other. It stops “firing” when the ship sinks.
6. Added a jolly roger flair to the pops
7. Painted the chest
8. Purchased target covers
9. Purchased shooter lane protector
10. LED lights all over. Nothing color enhancing as I’ve seen with others as I bought them before I saw them.
11. LED behind the translight
12. Added cannons, by the flippers, on top a homemade deck. Cannons fire when you press the flippers. Special circuit was made so if you hit the flippers really fast, it only “fires” once. You need about a half a second for the circuit to reset. Both these and the ship’s cannons mimic cannon fire, not just flash. They do fade, but quickly. May be considered by some as they flash, but I made them the best I can to mimic cannon fire.
13. Added “Dead men tell to tales” homemade stickers on top of flippers.
14. Changed rules, I mean guidelines, as well as all images in that area. Installed a couple electroluminescent panels underneath to highlight them.
15. Added some coins on the front molding. It does not interfere with my hands when playing.
16. Added a coin to the plunger.
17. Added a few pics to the front.

I would like to get a decal set for the outside of the cabinet but need to wait for funds to get. Due to the location of its prior play, there is damage and extreme fading to the existing images. I would also like to add a topper of sorts. I’m still looking for the right items. I currently have a LED sign from when it was in tournament play at CEC. It shows the high scores and apparently my house is Chuck E. Cheese as the sign shows, other than the scores, “Welcome to Chuck E. Cheese”.

I hope you like what you see, even though some mods are the same as others. I do have a video of the cannons firing https://www.facebook.com/SmurfU/videos/vb.100000283422362/1723676784318419/?type=3. Due to the brightness of the LEDs on the playfield, the video does not do the flipper cannons any justice as to how they look when firing.

Thank you for reading.

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Thank you. Since I never kept track of other expences, I would have to estimate as to the cost of repair/mods. I figure that with the game purchase plust parts/mods would be around $2500.

Thank you. I had painted the originals and played for a while, but during a game, a sail fell off. The plastic around the screw shattered and the other was showing major cracking. I wanted to have the sails look as close to the movie sails as possible.

Here is a better link for viewing a video of the mods to my machine. I really like the firing cannons by the flippers (hard to see in the video) which are controlled by pressing the flipper buttons and the cannons firing on the ship.

After I rebuilt my machine, I had repaired the sail I had but wanted something better. After a few plays the sails broke. I decided to make these using some plastic for the masts and wood dowels and black string to hold the fabric sails. It's still light enough and small enough to do all the actions required for gameplay.

Here are pics of the sails. Also, I posted pics of the mods I did back in July in this forum.

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Thank you. Yes, they fold up without hitting anything. They are the same size as the old ones.

Thank you for the compliments. I will work on a video to post.

For your viewing pleasure.

Here is a vid of the cannons on my ship firing. They fire all the time while power is on, but they stop when the ship sinks. I cannot think of any ship (real or false) that can fire its cannons when it sinks. They start firing again when the ship comes back up.

More mod videos with cannons. These are by the flippers. They fire when you press the flipper buttons. If you hold in a button, it only fires once. If you rapidly press the button it will fire but not fire again until there is about a 1/2 second wait between button presses. I put dark paper down for the vids so you can see them firing.

Thank you again.

Great Mod! Where did you get the other part of the Kraken at?

Thank you for the information. I also like the key. You have some really good ideas and mods on your machine.

I have twice. However, I have yet to complete the compass for the Four Winds Multi-ball. I get close with one direction to go, then I choke.

That looks great! Is it hooked up to the auto launch?

The top left is for Player #1 and the last 2 digits of your score. The large number in the middle is to see if you match for an award. Typically by default it would be for a "Credit" and receiving a free game. However, if you disabled that, then it's more for show with no reward.

Love all the items. Took me a moment to figure out the hat. Great job!

This is what I saw in the read-me file for the updates. It really depends on who is playing and their preference. However, I did find it really annoying to be playing, getting the Tortuga multiball and then the next game I played would need to send several balls up the ramp to get the first multiball. Finally after starting a new game, almost finding it impossible to get the first mulitiball if I didn't shut down the game and re-start it.

(From Read-me file)

Pirates of the Caribbean
Release Notes.

POTC V6.00 - January 21, 2008
SYS 1.38
- USB back up will now dectect a full thumb drive.

Changes from 5.00
- Increased a few of the incendential scores.

POTC V5.00 - September 27, 2007
Changes from 4.00
- FIX the tourtuga difficulty was not reseting properly between games.
- Added chest award redundancy. If the enter chest opto isnt working
the chest will do its work.
SYS 1.31
- default 75 cent play

'That's it for the updates from V4.00'

Also, the read-me file is part of the download. Makes it hard to find at first.

Hope that helps.

When I got my pin, it was an older version (4.0?). I found out about the update and tried to install. My board has a wire jumper on it (assuming from factory) that was soldered poorly and didn't allow the update. Found it, fixed it and installed the update with the pin working great.

Except, it just doesn't want to give me crazy points for no reason.

If you are talking about the texture, it's supposed to be there. It helps grab the pinballs so they can hit the targets. Plus, that texture crap will go all over the play field with future game plays.

I had to get a decal for mine when I got my machine. The original decal on my machine at the time was about the size of a quarter. So I had to buy elsewhere and it looked about the same as yours. Sorry, that that's not muck help.

Not that I know of, but the mylar option sounds pretty good. My current decal is worn pretty good. I took a copy of Jack's compass, printed it out and laminated it. I want to give that a try and see how well it does. I'm currently cleaning and adding a few more mods so I don't expect it to be done soon to tell you how it is. But will update on the good and bad.

Are you the original owner? I got mine from a Chuck E. Cheese and a lot of it was in terrible condition, to include the shooter lane. Mine was made Oct 12, 2006. The Technical Manager at the store I got it from definitely did not take care of it properly. However, in his defense, he had to take care of over 100 games/rides as well as the kitchen equipment in the store.

Plus, only someone like us would really take care of these properly than having to get it fixed quick to ensure they keep getting money. I wished the broken things were fixed before I got it. Could't beat the price though, about $1700. But put in several hundred to fix up and mod.

This is after I removed almost all items on the playfield for the extensive cleaning and polishing that was sorely needed. While the shooter lane does have wear, it seems a little deep on the left, plus the damage along the right side wall. I installed a stainless steel plate on the wall to stop any more damage.

Took about 6 months to repair and clean. Of course, that was weekend and some after work time. That was 3 years ago.

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When you first start the game, you can hit any pirate target as many times to get the first Liars Dice. After that, you need to hit each one. That all depends on your settings too. Have it too easy on that and it may do the same thing. Just something to check before tearing it apart for a mechanical problem.

I want to apologize. I thought there was a setting for Liars Dice, but like you, I could not find one either. I spoke without looking further to make sure my facts were accurate.

Still, does this only happen when you get the first Liars Dice for the game or all the time? I did observe when I play, that I can hit one target several times to get the Liars Dice. However, after that first one I have to hit all the targets to acquire the next one and so on (at least, on my pin).

Again, I'm sorry that I gave incorrect information without verifying it first.

Surely you can't be serious.

This is how I did mine. I used an adhesive to attach them as I planned to not remove them.

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