If this has been asked already, I apologize. Our WARG stopped working, so we replaced the coil. But the new coil we ordered from Jersey Jack causes the WARG to pop up as soon as the power is turned on...and just stay there! I think we are wiring it correctly, but idk how to fix it. Any suggestions are appreciated.

It sounds like the transistor that drives him is bad.

Q333 on the I/O board.

LTG : )

You don't need to replace the entire mech, as it is possible to buy just the main bracket. Unfortunately for you guys on the wrong side of the Atlantic, I have only been able to find them in a German web shop:

http://www.shop.freddys-pinball-paradise.de/index.php?&lang=e&lnge=1

Search for 10-8002 and you'll find the two brackets, for 3- and 5-bank.

We replaced one mech due to this problem, but the next time it happened we just super-glued things more or less together again. The glued ones have worked great as well. I'm sure it would be possible to 3D-print a replacement ledge and glue it on, if the original ledge is too broken to glue together. Or maybe drill out the rivets and glue a Stern ledge on: https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/545-6163-05 ? I haven't checked the dimensions to see if it would work.

50Euros for the 5 bankdrop + 2x 42.50Euros for the 3 bandrop + Shipping (40Euros) = 153Euros
I am pretty sure we could get a better price if we could buy it directly from JJP than ordering in Europe.

I found this post on pinside, dated from 2 years ago:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/hobbit-setup-tweaks-and-adjustments/page/7#post-3500222

I am curious to see if JJP has improved the version they sent him. If not then maybe the solution of Glueing it could be the only one.
If not possible to buy plastic directly from JJP, I like the idea to 3D print those plastics and just glueing them instead of using rivets. With this solution, no need to purchase new main brackets. It would be the less expensive option.

Lift the playfield and actuate the mech manually to get familiar with how it works. Check the spring attached to the E. Possibly broken or needs to be shortened. Or look at plastic ledge that is riveted to the mech to make sure it's not broken.

I wonder why JJP used a fairly brittle plastic for the ledge, I would prefer some form of metal or at least a stonger form of material than what it is now.

There's no college course on pin design. So much is tribal knowledge acquired from experience and lost through turnover. A metal ledge would probably cause another problem with drops breaking but at least they are easier to replace. I will try 3d printing ledges when mine fail and figure out another way to fasten them in place.

They need to be made out of duron or carbon fiber I think.

Thanks! We will check that next!

Yeah. I would rather replace the drop than the whole assembly for sure.

Goblin won't pop up . It says there's a couple of switches stuck open . Is the circled switch below the one I should be looking at ( the arm on it felt nice and springy ) . To be honest I'm not sure what I'm meant to be looking at . Can't see any broken wires and all the connections seem good as far as I can tell . In coil test the Goblin moves a tiny bit but not as much as the other Beasts . Any suggestions on what to do would be great .

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The beast mechs are essentially flipper mechs. There is the main power that pushes up the mech and then the hold power.

Is your interlock switch pulled out? Have you tried moving the mech manually? If the computer shows it as broken you might need to move it manually.

Yes I pulled the interlock out to do the test ( it would be good if it reminded you to do that on the screen ) and it moves freely when I do it manually

if you manually hold it up, and then hit the test button, does it stay up?

If you manually bring it up and then hit the two switches, do they work?

If it is not going up in test mode, then i would look at the wiring on the coil itself.

The switch you circled in your picture is the "goblin up" switch, so if you manually lifted it all the way up then that switch should have been activated and cleared the "red" status. If you hit the goblin face, that should activate the "Goblin Pop-Up Hit" switch.

post a picture of the up coil so we can look at that wiring.

Do I do this with the play field up or down

Dragon Mouth Troubleshooting: I'm still trying to get the dragon mouth working on my new (to me) Hobbit. I have found that if I gently manually open the mouth before booting up, Smaug's mouth will close automatically on boot up. However, it will not open again. Does anybody have any troubleshooting advice on how to make him talk? I "unplugged and plugged back in" every connector I could find to the dragon under the playfield with no luck.

Still fixing the trough and backbox lighting mods, but that takes a back seat to getting the original functions working.

Pushing it up cleared the Goblin up switch . The Goblin pop-up hit switch does not work and it will not hold up in test when I put it up . Very hard to get a good picture of the wiring it all seems connected nothing is loose

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OK, my red switches have gone and the Goblin pop up hit , is an adjustment of the leaf switch behind the head I'm pretty sure . it's 2 in the morning now I got to go to work tomorrow and I'll get back into it tomorrow thank you so much for your help and putting me in the right direction really appreciate it .

Have you tried to set the end points of his mouth in the (Test Devices) in the settings?

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Is there a way to test the Beast spotlights?
My right upper spotlight is flashing all the time, but I can't see anything in the menu that lets me test the spotlights?
Can these LEDs be changed or do you have to change the assembly, as the LEDs in my spots appear to be siliconed in.

You can pull them out you need pointy pliers or something similar . If you replace them you need 12V lights . One of my spotlights is flashing and all the others are out and I had just replaced the lights I always seem to have issues with spotlights on jjp games for whatever reason . Jjp lights are one way if they don't work when you put them in try flipping it over to see if that works

Did I get scammed?

BLUF: Did the Smaug mouths used to not work, but were updated to work after a software update?

So... before I put the guy on blast, I bought a Hobbit LE with a handful of mods from somebody 6 hours away last weekend. When I got there, the guy already had the thing wrapped up and on it's end, but I made him set it up on the ground anyways. The dragon turned side to side, but did the mouth didn't open and close. After bringing up this point, I was assured that was normal, and that a simple software update would fix it. I had a kids birthday party to make it to so paid up and took my new toy home. When I got it home, I updated the software, and of course the mouth still does not work. I have taken the Dragon apart and put it back together 2 times now looking to fix it and have only succeeded in making the side to side motion not work either (it senses it is all the way to the left or all the way to the right at the same time). The mouth used to atleast close when manually opened but now the only part of the dragon that shows any sign of life is the light up eyes. I have not been able to get back a-hold of the guy by email or pinside and will be calling to leave a message soon. I just pulled the trigger on a replacement dragon (not cheap) from JJP.

I know I am probably screwed but before I put the guy on blast, I wanted to know if at any point in time the dragon mouths were disabled by software. If this is true, I have no ill feelings towards the seller. If this was never true, I'm pissed and will be putting him and his pinball parts supply business on blast.

Incidentally, if anyone is interested in a broken but possibly fixable Smaug make me an offer.

Software was never an issue with Smaug movement. Check your settings for his mouth and check if it moves in test mode, check the connections, they come loose easily when messed with.

Some of the updates did catch certain machines, and they needed the mouth settings restored. Not exactly a software bug, but it did cause them to stop working until addressed.

Thanks! That's all I needed to know to be assured that the seller could have been telling the truth (as far as he knew). Even if it's just a rumor its good enough for me. I'm still screwed, but I no longer think the seller acted with malice. I have a new SMAUG on the way from Jersey Jack. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

If he said to you smaug's mouth never moved and that's normal but a new code update will make it move , then he was lying to you . If he had it from new the mouth would have moved at some point . Some people have said after doing an update the mouth hasn't moved properly and they've had to adjust it in the settings , I've done every update and never had a problem .
Before buying expensive parts I would post your problem here , there are many knowledgeable people and they are very helpful and should be able to get you in the right direction to fix any issue . Maybe you could use your spare head as a topper ?

Hey I'm anyone.

Two thoughts. Spring too strong, try swapping with a different drop target and see if problem moves. Or see picture, the tab the plunger pushes the target up with, might need to be bent up a little.

LTG : )

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I had a similar issue. Turns out a switch wire was nearly broken at the connector end where it was crimped causing an intermittent connection. Check all your switch wires.

Nearly got this dialed in, but still have some balls falling off the right wire form into the bumpers. There is mention of bending the wire form, but mine is pretty robust and there is limited play. Where exactly would you place washers to get the effect? I'm guessing my wire form is dipping ever so slightly on the left.

Washers can be put under the mounting feet of the wireform to tilt it a little wherever you might want to raise it.

Similarly you can also clamp a small 6" crescent wrench (covered with a rag) over a flat area of a wireform and bend/tweak as needed if the ball isn't running smoothly, or there is a dip in it.

Or to raise one rail higher than the other to compensate for lateral inertia.

It has to cover both track rails to do this.

Sometimes 2 wrenches are needed, bending in opposite directions to take out a warp.

I just received my Lazeriffic Topper (looks awesome) from Mezel Mods and am having some installation issues. I have it mounted up on top of the pin but cannot get the lights to work. I put in a ticket with Mezel Mods but wanted to pick your brains too. The topper plugs into a blue power supply within the pin. I know it's the correct one per the instructions, and have verified it works as I have my backbox and trough lighting kit (which also looks very nice and came from Mezel mods) plugged into the power supply. My issue is the power supply for the topper appears to be pinned out wrong. The plug and receptical are male/female on the plastic part and are obviously supposed to fit together but the metal pins inside are both male. Am I missing something here? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

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In my experience female crimp ends go into the connector in your last picture.

That’s not the standard way to pin. You need a different connector. Mezel will take care of you.

Just heard back from Mezel Mods. It was an assembly error and they are sending out a replacement so props to them. Additionally, the Trough/Backboard kit I ordered through them (that came with your Lermod business card) looks fantastic. Thanks!

When I purchased the pin it came with an already installed trough and backboard lighting kit that the previous owner had installed... poorly. It did not work by the time I got it home and after close inspection was jerry rigged with electrical tape and "twisted wire" connectors. I never got it working. The Lermod trough lighting kit I got through Mezel Mods is fantastic, was simple to install, and was far better than the jerry rigged set the previous owner put in.

The only thing I'm waiting on now to make my machine perfect is a replacement Dragon from Jersey Jack. I got a note back from them that they didn't keep these in stock (although they are on their site and they let me pay for one), were built to order, and would be shipped in a few weeks. Really enjoying the Hobbit. Ball times are long and I'm limited to one play a day but I'm loving it.

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Thanks for the kind words, very Glad you like it, we sell through Mezel as a drop shipper. We try to make things as simple as possible. The backboard lighting makes a significant difference lighting the back and the ramps.

Has anyone installed pin stadium and was it difficult? Thanks

I have them on mine. Not difficult at all but I will say that I am not wild about the UV on this one. Swapped for a red flasher.

Thank you for the response I’m new to pinball what do you mean by uv

Why would you need pinstadium on this game? Look how bright the playfield is in the picture above.

I would agree with this. Of all the machines, this one didn’t do much. I just had an extra set and tried them out.

Because I like the light show the new pinstadium fusion has ......just for looks and the next person will say that’s a lot of money for looks and I’m going to say I have the money

It’s super duper easy to install. Click the frames in, plug in connectors, replace glass, play game!

However if you have pretty much ANY other game than Hobbit, I would install it on that instead. Hobbit is one of the best well-lit games out there. You will barely notice it.

WOZ, on the other hand...

If you do put them on the Hobbit, please make a quick video and post it here for us to see. Good luck!

Hi All:

I have what I believe to be an easier method.

instead of the splitter and near the same location there is an auxiliary 3.5mm stereo output jack. see picture. Buy a 3.5mm stereo to RCA cable and run that down to your sub and you are done. Although using the splitter method works, the RED RCA cable on the back of the JJP module has a low frequency filter. Since pretty much all active external powered subs have their own frequency adjustment you would want an unfiltered line out such as the aux 3.5mm jack. This way you can tune the frequency of your sub to your liking. The other two attached RCA cables on the JJP module go to the back box speakers and have a high frequency filter so likewise you would not want to use that either.

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I blew $2 50 on a splitter for nothing damn it

My wife's friend came over last night with her husband. He likes pinball but hasn't played in many years. So I naturally turn my games on and tell him he can play anyone. He immediately goes to the Hobbit and keeps remarking about how amazing it looks. After ball 2 he says he wants to get one. It was a great night!