Almost positive it’s the servo motor. I replaced mine by taking Smaug apart a dozen times but gave up after not getting it to work. But I believe many people have replaced their servo motors and have had success. JJP has the motors and the manual clearly shows how to replace. There are also settings in the menu. You can try changing the values and see if that works.
Also, there are numerous posts about Smaug’s mouth.

Thanks, he didn’t in test mode. I’ll check the wire.

Thanks, I’ll check that too. I’m always amazed out how quick everyone responds in an effort to help. Truly thanks to all. Makes owning pins less stressful lol

Was this game playable at Expo? I don't remember seeing it.

When I was in the middle of a game a couple of nights ago, my 27” LCD went out. Everything else works, but the screen won’t come back on.

I’ve rebooted it a few times, and have checked all of the cords to make sure something didn’t come loose. I have a support ticket in to JJP, no response so far.

Has a anyone else had this issue?

Loyd ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

There was one in one of the rooms dunno if it was a smaug. I traded a friend of mine from indiana seperately for his HUO at expo

Nice. I was wanting a black arrow edition NIB awhile back, but waited, and now they can't be found NIB.

Can you hook up a different monitor to sort out monitor or something else issue ?

LTG : )

Does the LCD have power?
You can hook up another TV or monitor. Does that work? If yes the LCD bad. If no the onboard graphics is toast and you need a new system board.

I’m not home, but I’ll check this weekend.

Thank you

Good recommendations. I just bought the pin a couple of weeks ago, with only 39 total plays. Thank you for your suggestions.

I need help, fellow Hobbitses.

My playfield lights and Smaug frequently lock up during gameplay. You can see an example of it here: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/491641015?t=828s

(It happened a few other times during that stream too).

I’ve heard it may be an issue with the BAG board so I reseated connections on it and replaced the USB cable, but it’s still happening. I was going to bite the bullet and buy a new BAG board but I don’t see any on the JJP site. Any troubleshooting recommendations appreciated. Thank you!

I had the same thing happen about 2 years ago on mine....replaced the BAG board and was good to go.

Times like this is when I want to take a sledgehammer to the game. I just spent two hours following instructions on how to recalibrate the mouth. Take the assembly off... take apart smaug... follow the calibration settings exactly as explained in the manual... put it all back together without breaking anything else... like I'm disarming a bomb... only to test it and have the mouth shut on me during the test and never open again. WTF. I wish these f-ing things would just work for $9000 GD dollars.

Does anyone know if the mouth is supposed to open and close as you're adjusting min mouth and max mouth configurations? Because when I was trying to adjust those values nothing was happening and I'm not sure if it's supposed to opening and closing in real time or not.

I'm not very good so this was an insane game for me.

Smaug dead
Reached the second wizard mode (stage 3 barrel mode)

I think I probably need to win more modes before going in but not sure I'm going to top this. Again I'm terrible haha

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Yes, when you change the values, press the start button and the mouth will move.

Thank you. I'll see if I can track one down...

It seems to be a very important board - I am tempted to buy a new one as a backup for down the road.

Would be nice if someone knew how to fix 'em -- seems silly to replace when you could potentially repair.

Ok, yeah, mine doesn't do that. Apparently it's completely broken and pooped it's pants at this point. Does anyone know where the right servo motor can be purchased? They don't have any on the JJP site. I created a ticket expressing my frustration. My machine has maybe 300 plays, has had more downtime than uptime, I bought it directly from JJP and it's been in the same place since initial setup. I know it's pinball, but items this expensive should be more reliable, especially HUO. Instead we all have to become mechanical engineers to try and enjoy them. Sorry for venting.

you can buy the servo on Amazon for $20, the link may be in this thread somewhere. the servo motor controls the up/down movement of the mouth. Does your smaug at least move left and right as that is a different motor?

Ok, I'll try looking for that link. Thanks.

Everything else works fine. Mouth just stopped going up and down for some reason.

Update: Turns out JJP will repair these. I'm sending mine in, hopefully it does the trick.

Great news!

so how many mode wins do you guys go into mini wizard mode with? 2? 5? doesn't matter?

btw mini wizard mode 2 (barrels) has this really cool sound effect in it. Like a zip noise. Sound and music package on this game is def #2, if not best of all time. It's crazy.

Doesn't matter. All that matters is the highest star level mode you have completed before going into the mini wizard mode. At the very least I want to have a 3 star mode done when starting a min-wizard so I at least get 1x value. A 4 star mode yields 2x and a 5 star mode turns everything up to 11 at 4x.

If I happen to finish a 1 or 2 star mode in a multiball or just by luck, I will focus on getting a higher star mode finished before starting the mini wizard. Into the Fire at 1/4 or 1/2 value is a real downer.

Replacing my BAG board fixed my freezing-lights issue. Cool they're repairing them, hopefully that takes care of it.

Quick question(s)

1. What is the repair cost?
2. How much is a new board?

Thanks!

EDIT: Not to answer by own question, but I found my old invoice (date 11/25/2016).

The Bus & GI Controller Board (JJP Part Number: 15-000033-00) was $149.00 + shipping.

I did a search for the link. Anyone know where to get that replacement servo?

Sold out on Amazon. Here is the company that makes them. Looks like you can only get them from overseas right now. But seems worth the price to have a spare for $7.

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/hobbykingtm-hk15288a-analog-servo-bb-mg-9kg-0-20sec-51g.html

Repair is estimated around $100 (depending what’s needed) plus shipping

Replacement is $227.99 plus shipping.

Looks like prices went up a bit

I dont feel like reading this entire thread again but I do remember one person who documented the whole smaug fix but other than that guy having success, I've read about a bunch of failures. So either that guy is smarter than everyone else or people are just incapable?
It's not if but when Smaug takes a dump so with that being said what the hell is the actual fix and should a person get parts on hand or just plan on sending it to JJP to get fixed?

Double and triple check all the wires and connectors. My Smaug’s mouth stopped moving all of a sudden and to make a long story short it was a loose connection behind the main motherboard.

You can buy these motors directly from Hobby-King.

https://hobbyking.com/en_us/hobbykingtm-hk15288a-analog-servo-bb-mg-9kg-0-20sec-51g.html

Totally agree . Everybody in this thread is so nice and helpful , if it wasn't the case I would have sold my Hobbit . Pinside at it's best .

Prices are probably as low as they will go, so i wouldn't wait. Its a great game and hidden gem. Thing is a work of art.

Good idea. I have added an additional sign that says "There And Back Again". Both are now included in the kit.

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/shops/1223-pinball-forever/02933-hobbit-backbox-facelift-kit

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You should ad the backbox mod that lights the outer perimeter of the bezel artwork.
It really does make the bezel pop.

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I’ve posted on here before (#7443) but after I thought I had it fixed it seems as though the Goblin mech on my game continues to struggle to pop up on the play field... after taking it apart, it seems that it is not the mechanism, but for some reason it is getting stuck on the playfield itself as it is trying to move up.... I take the glass off, bend it back into place and it seems to work for a few games. But after the balls hit the mech a few times it seems to bend it back and then won’t raise...
Short of me having to manually bend and adjust it every time, are there any other suggestions here?

Thanks!

Good idea. I'll give that a try. Thanks.

Mine should be arriving soon from Mezel Mods. It looks so much better lit up all around the LCD.

thx for the order, we distribute through Mezel. Hope you like it, has a dramatic effect, but includes a dimmer to tone it down to your preference. If you have questions, please contact me directly.

https://lermods.com/shop?olsPage=products%2Fthe-hobbitwoz-pinball-led-strip-sidelights-translight-kit

Maybe it´s missaligned from underneath?
That would make the mech come up abit from straight up and chink to the side?
Adjust with really thin washers, where the mech is attached to the underside of the pf?

Hi all. My kickback plunger tip is broken. Was about to order some other stuff through pinballife and wondering if the older bally williams part they have is the same as JJP uses in Hobbit.

https://www.pinballlife.com/williamsbally-bell-armature-plunger-assembly-a-6306-2.html

JJP part :
11-005012-00

The JJP part is 7 bucks plus 11 shipping. Not a big deal in the end, but figured I would ask. I will probably order the pbl part either way and try it out.

Thanks, ordered two of them just in case. I assume it's the right motor since it's the same link referenced in another post below.

If you have a chance, would it be possible to get a pic of that connection? I went ahead and ordered a couple motors, I'll also try and check the connection you're referring to, and maybe I could also get a response to my ticket from JJP since I don't think I should be trying to figure this out myself in the first place.

Awesome, will do. I didn’t even know about the dimmer...very cool, thx.

Hopefully this can help, it’s the black and red wires that come from under Smaug and goes to the back of the PC box(big metal box with all the connectors). Make sure they are all connected properly.

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