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I hate fixing stuff, but these machines are some of the most complicated things out there. There is a massive amount of PF mechanics and electronics, mixed in with maintenance, cleaning and upgrades. The fact of the matter is that all goes with owning them.

I feel your pain and know exactly what happened. You got up today all bright eyed and glowing with the feeling of playing for a couple hours. All of a sudden you have to fix something. Happens all the time. I was so pissed at my JD and DW the other day, both had issues, I felt like putting them both up for sale...

They always go down when you really want to play or you are having company.

After that magnet blew the fuse the first time I haven't had an issue with it since. This is common for this game. I think the factory fuses are of a lower quality, or maybe they put in a normal blow instead of a slow blow.

I also have DTR set at 2 ball.

Just wondering, LOTR owners, how many times have you had to replace the magnet fuse?

I would also grab some 3A SB while you are there.

It's funny this thread came up,I was playing my LOTR this morning
and the magnet fuse blew so I replaced it and upon start up a loud
humming sound came from the magnet and fuse blew again.The magnet
is locked on and i did'nt have time to investigate.The fuse was located
on F20 in my machine,might be a different location on the LE machines.

Stern manual says 4amp SB but if you have a rottendog driver
board in your game it says 3amp SB on the board.

The fuses protect the game from even worse damage (or fire).

Have you ever bought a Motor Home? It costs $150,000 and comes with a huge punch list that is signed off by 50 different guys who supposedly double checked every little detail. You spend the next few months making them a new punch list of many things that are squeaking, loose, not working, won't retract....

Anything that has thousands of pieces, and many moving parts is going to require regular maintenance.

Very well said I couldn't agree with you more atomic.

The magnet is a 4A SB but the rest of the coils and flippers use 3A SB. These are the ones which normally blow. Having some 5, 7 and 8A SB also wouldn't be a bad idea either.

Never had a problem with them yet,Just the magnet so far.

I know exactly what you mean,I have put more work time on LOTR
than any other game i own.It's a great game but the little nicknacks
always get in the way.

That's kinda funny I have had a 3amp in there for quite sometime
and never had it blown and i played it pretty heavily too.

I never said it was a 3A. I was saying you should pick up some up to have on hand.

Haven't had any of the other fuses blow, yet. But it sure sucks when they do at 11pm on a Saturday and you can't play the game because you are out of fuses.

Cherry is a manufacturer of switches. Arguably the most reliable.

I would think if the correct fuse for the magnet is a 5ASB then Stern would have put out a service bulletin for it. Use at your own risk. Because over fusing can result in a burnt board or worse.

Will keep blowing.

Set it to one ball.

If you decide to overfuse then i say yes you are taking a chance
at frying the transistor.It just dawned on me now I just recently
changed the roms in mine and I'm now wondering if it has anything
to do with it.

Your welcome,Was there any info about the regular LOTR fuse change?

It's a brand new Rottendog board and it looks to already be
updated.

EDIT- I will just have to dig into it when I have time and I
will post my findings just in case someone has problems like
this down the road.

Thanks iceman,I will check it out.

I understand where your coming from iceman. You spend the extra to buy NIB so you wouldn't have to get the fluke out. You should be flipping not fixing.

There will always be issues with NIB pinball machines. I hope the added competition does result in better quality control for both Stern and JJP. That said, Pinabll machines will still be pinball machines and sooner or later (sometimes sooner) you are going to have to work on them a bit. The unknown factor (and price of course) is part of the reason I probably will not buy NIB. At least when buying a used pin you can give it a look over and play to make sure all is working and looking good before you buy/unwrap it.

I heard Jack say he is going to use new "felt" balls so the plastics don't break

Just the nature of the beast, all pinball machines will have issues coming from the factory, doesn't matter who makes them. Like everything else, customer service after the purchase is important. I think both companies will do that well.

You might as well get some of these too while you're at it. You'll need one eventually.....

http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=197&parent=30

"After that magnet blew the fuse the first time I haven't had an issue with it since. This is common for this game. I think the factory fuses are of a lower quality, or maybe they put in a normal blow instead of a slow blow.

Just wondering, LOTR owners, how many times have you had to replace the magnet fuse?"

I got my new LOTR LE NIB about 3 months ago. Within two weeks the ring magnet fuse had blown. I replaced it with a 4 amp slo-blo from radio shack and have not had another problem with it. I do think the batch Stern used must have been prone to failure. Other than that, so far I have only had to replace about 5 to 7 bulbs. The pop bumper bulbs get vibration so much that I decided to use red flasher LEDs that cointaker sells. They work great and should not fail from vibrations. I also had to replace the flasher bulb behind the ring and used an LED from pinball life that seems to do the job.

Mine had the 4ASB as the stock fuse and it blew in two days.
After asking Stern about it, the 5ASB is the recommended replacement. (For the LE...)
So far the fuse is still holding after 6 months of heavy play and no issues whatsoever.
I still have the DTR set at one ball. The board is still looking good underneath the 5A...

The ring magnet fuse is a simple (and factory-approved) fix; just put in the 5A slo-blo as noted above. The real problem with the LOTR LEs is the flipper driver transistors. Both of mine blew within about 8 months, from holding the flipper up for a while (30 seconds to a minute or so). It also takes out a fuse when the transistor blows. Once while explaining rules to a friend during the game, and once during multiball, with a trapped ball and pause in gameplay. This is a REAL problem; 2 friends have also blown flipper transistors on their LEs (I think they were #15 and 16 on the board). Replacing the transistors fixed it--not sure if the board was underdesigned or they had a bad batch of transistors, but if your LOTR LE flipper dies, it'll likely be the transistor. Just a heads-up.

YES! Same here! My Magnet Ring fuse blew in the first few games I had my NIB. Stern told me to replace the 4 amp slow-blow with a 5 amp. I did it and have never had a problem since.

Mike

really bad advice sealclubber, you state that having a supply of higher rated fuses is acceptable. It is not and as a moderator you should know better.

Leigh, the owners manual for my LOTR LE states the game takes 3,4,5,7, and 8A SB fuses. So please tell me which ones I recommended are over rated? I also have never told him to over fuse his circuit. Quite the contrary. Having extra fuses on hand is NOT bad advice.

Leigh,SC was just reminding him to pickup extra different types of fuses
to keep on hand.Whenever I pickup fuses I always make sure to get all
different types to stock up on,Its always good to have all types because
you never know when your going to need them.

How safe is that though? I mean really I could tell you to change out every fuse with a 20 amp, and I guarantee you will never have another “fuse” problem. I have asked some questions of Stern before, and answers have seemed a little quick and suspect sometimes. The difference of an amp is much bigger than it sounds and would stress transistors. It’s entirely possible, as the SAM and Whitestar systems are different, but I would want to make REAL sure myself.

My machine is an LE that had less than 100 plays. The previous owner had never got too far, so the fuse blew on mine right away. I replaced this with a 4a, and it has never happened again. I would stay at a 4a unless you find it’s blowing frequently. Hell, even if it blows 4 times in a year, $5 for that over the possibility of the costs and time of an overfused issue is piece of mind for me.

If the fuse keeps blowing try simulating the point in the game where you draw too much current and hook up your amp clip to see exactly how much amps you have. Then I would replace the fuse with 1/2 amp higher.

I would recommend trying a 4 amp fuse again before going to 5 amps. If the 4 amp fuse blows again you can always go up to 5 after that. They are low cost items. It seems many people including me have not had much problem with 4 amp fuses after the 1st one blew. Why risk a higher current on the transistors if you do not need to?

Also, regarding the palantir flasher. Pinball Life sells an LED color changing flasher (bayonet type) for $1.25 that works well there if you want to give that a try. I carefully use needle nose plyers to install it. It is a tight area to work on. You still need to unscrew the palantir ball from its threaded screw to get to the bulb.

I've actually had luck getting at the palantir bulb without removing the globe (partially because my globe doesn't budge and I'm afraid of breaking it). Taking that route, there's plenty of room to work.

I've found that once the post that holds down the wire ramp is removed, there's enough play to lift off the ramp anchor. Then if you pull up on the whole metal assembly while also pulling horizontally on the small rubber ring on the front left post, it pops off nicely. The trick is getting it back on -- you need to have the ring wedged between the ball and the base first, and then work the assembly back onto the post(s).

It was discussed in some detail a while back that the 4A fuse spec was a "legacy" and that the LE's ring magnet can safely and properly take a 5A fuse. If your 4A fuse holds up, or you don't mind replacing blown fuses periodically (and maybe messing up a good game!) then I guess that will work for you. I've had a 5A fuse in for about 1.5 years, no problems at all.

As for the Palantir, the best mod is to replace the cheezy plastic ball with a glass one. It costs only $3 plus shipping for the 30mm ball and looks MUCH better; the only thing you need to mount it is a small rubber ring (1/4"?) and a small cotter pin or clip. Here's a source: http://www.cristalier.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=G-SB-CL-30

The other palantir mod is to put a bit of tin foil just behind the bulb and shape it forward so it hugs the back surface of the ball. You can't see it from in front, but it makes the entire ball glow from a wide range of viewing angles.