Quite thinking.

Eat your Wheaties. Grow a set. Crank the sh*t out of that sucker.

Probably. Won't hold the flipper shaft. It will gum up the bolt nicely.

Now we're talking. You're the dog now man !

LTG : )

In all my years I've only broken one. In commercial use. Thousands of times. Every hardware store would have a bolt you can replace it with. I wouldn't worry about that.

LTG : )

I have never had a brand new bolt break off.

But I have had a couple 30 year old, worn/bent and stretched ones break off.
But like you said, its only a bolt...get another one, lol

I broke 2 brand new bolts with PBL kits. I was still able to use the kits by transferring the old bolts.

What broke was the round pacman-shaped flat bit - the bolt popped right out of it. I didn't even crank it down that much!

Yeah, I can see those special cut washer heads failing if not done right or poor quality steel. The bolt part should be fairly robust though.

In a pinch I have just used an allen bolt and cut a notch in a washer with big diagonals.

I think Marco has the cut washers for sale.

I havent bought any of the flipper pawl kits from PBL yet.

I bought a couple dozen each of the left and right pawl/plunger assemblies and a bunch of flipper coils sleeves from Marco.

Ihavent had any trouble yet, they seem good. They have a good price on black friday sales with the bulk discount.

I have cranked down on them HARD! lol.

I must have had one of the oldest codes of any current Hobbit owner (0.81). After a couple plays and then several tries to update, I am running 3.10. What a difference! Great job on this pin, it will be my favorite when I get it 100%
I'm having a few issues I couldn't find solutions for:
1. The Smaug magnet for ball locks gets stuck. A solid smack on the side releases it. The magnet is recessed just a bit. Is it supposed to be flush? (see pic)

2. The lights on the A-R-F are switched with the lights for barrel bumpers, bag end, and mystery shot respectively. The actual shots are correct. For ex/ if I hit the mystery when F (Bombur) is lit it gives me the mystery. In Smaug multi when super jackpot is lit (it lights at mystery, bag end and pop bumpers) if I hit A-R-F then it rewards the super. Under the playfield, the light chips/boards all say J100. I can't see the ones under the targets. Really not sure how to remedy this. It looks like the D of dwarf is possibly wrong as well.

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My magnet is flush.

Thanks, I'll see if I can raise it somehow.

Loosen nut. Screw magnet pole higher. Tighten nut.

LTG : )

Is this screw supposed to be under the magnet? I felt underneath and I could feel a hole. I'll refer to the manual when I get a chance. Appreciate the help!

According to C48 of the manual. There is only the two nuts to the right of the magnet by smaug.
I can't see how those can raise it. I'll take those off and get a closer look.

Page C-8 in the manual. Two magnets, each has a big nut. Magnet pole is threaded to go up and down.

LTG : )

Oh, I see. I'm referring to the single magnet above the playfield on the ramp that locks for Smaug multiball. I loosened the two nuts for the assembly and was able to force it to sit flush with the ramp. Thanks LTG and punkin!

I still am unsure how the change the lights from mystery to bombur and two others. Can I unplug the wires going to each rgb led board or do I need to unscrew the board and put them in the correct place?

Sounds like maybe RGB board A J101 and J102 got reversed?

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@trumpanche. That did it! It was tough to tell which board was A. I messed up the arkenstone lights on board C and then guessed correctly the second time. Thank you all so much. I love this game and the community!

Yay! You’re quite welcome - It’s my favorite game for sure

I have an interesting issue that is popping up on occasion. It's rare enough that I can't simply call my shop guy out to take a look. During gameplay, usually after a decent game, often after the first Wizard mode, the lights across the entire game all come on and stay a single color. Similar to dying to Smaug's breath where they burn up red. However, the bug is that they don't reset and everything stays lit and none of the features or ques are active for any modes from that point forward. It makes continuing on that game near impossible once you have trained yourself to look for the ques. Once you do a hard (powered)reset, everything works fine again for what could be a several day span, 20-40 games before you see it happen again. That makes this hard to troubleshoot.

I am going to update code and see if there is something buggy there by chance.

My only other issue on this game is Smaug tests fine but doesn't want to turn and speak all the time. Mostly we think that's just a loose wire as whenever we fiddle with the connection he works fine for a bit then it stops again. What would be the best method for securing that wire? A bit of hot glue?

Thanks!

This sounds like an LED controller board failing. Others have had this issue in the past if you go back through this thread. More details there.

I just spent too much time trying to update code, on a machine with current code, just to try it. For some reason I cant even copy the file from downloads folder to the flash drive. Tried every size stick from 2,4,8,16,28GB and every one says the 5.5gb file is to large. trying a new computer now because something is busted. At this point it might be me.

I had a lot of trouble updating. I couldn't get ubootin to work. I tried https://rufus.ie/ and followed these instructions http://marketing.jerseyjackpinball.com/general/install-full/

I made sure my memory stick was formatted FAT32 and had nothing else on it. I powered machine off. Plugged in USB and powered on. The update started automatically. If you haven't, I would give that process a try. The new code is amazing depending what code you are running.

You dont copy the downloaded file to the usb stick at all.

Use Rufus or unetbootin to make the usb stick for you.

Rufus is more stable, Id try that first.

Great instructions in the manual for making a usb stick for the JJP games.
Please read the manual its really very good.

+1 for Rufus

I've got two issues:

1. Balfor target is reporting stuck open. I've already fixed it once and it broke again.
2. My wife reports the flippers died on her twice last night. It worked fine for me (to her frustration) but I believe her 100%. She has a very good track record for identifying issues on our pins.

I know how to fix #1. I do not know how to even diagnose #2. Maybe it's a side effect of the loose wire on Balfor, dunno.

Check flipper button leaf blade switches. I had one that was just crappy. Then check wiring from coils to coils in search of a poor solder joint of connector on the back of the big metal box not shoved in tight enough or a wire sticking up from it.

LTG : )

Furio

I had this same problem! Smaug's mouth movement was unreliable and playfield lights freeze up occasionally and would require a power cycle to recover.

I'll tell you what fixed it for me, and I realize it sounds stupid, but the issue has never recurred since (a couple months) - it was a rubber band.

My THEORY is the Smaug mouth mechanism has gotten wonky over time (or perhaps just by design) and sticks/binds a bit, and that causes issues with the struggling servo motor that has a communication link back to the BAG board (yellow ethernet cable). My Smaug mouth wouldn't close reliably by small increments (playing with it in Test mode), but it would make big position jumps open and closed OK, but it would hang and audibly struggle to achieve the next desired position/increment when commanded in the 'mouth closing' direction. It's also important to note that I could NEVER recreate the playfield lights freezing problem with that yellow ethernet cable disconnected between the BAG board and Smaug (but of course his mouth doesn't move with that disconnected either - not OK).

When I took Smaug out of the game to fiddle with his mouth, the mechanism was just out of wack. I ordered replacement parts from Nate a JJP, but while I waited for those, I had the idea to put a rubber band on the back of the mechanism to sort of counterbalance the weight of his jaw. It actually worked pretty awesome and his mouth always moves correctly now and the playfield lights never freeze. I still have the brand new replacement mouth mechanism parts in the coin box. If you're comfortable taking Smaug out of the machine, I'd love to see if the rubber band fix works for you as well!

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When the flippers died, it was both of them which would seem to absolve a button leaf. I will walk back the wiring and connectors though and look for issues.

I have a set of brand new pingraffix art blades of the map layout I’m not going to use. I’ll get pics later tonight. $65 shipped. Pm me if interested.

Brand new, not needed anymore. $65 shipped. Pm me.

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It wasn't because she killed Smaug, was it?

(both flipper die while Smaug dies on-screen)

Nope, I made sure of that.

I am going to give this a shot. Wish me luck! I will let you know how it goes. This will be my over the holiday maintenance along with waxing my machines and ball replacement.

I fixed the target and I'm still intermittently dropping flippers. My wife just saw it in multiball. I don't see anything wrong on the coil wiring.

This one is a bummer.

Before you go through all the trouble of finding if it is an issue with the board, I went through the exact same issue. Same with the lights being stuck and resetting after turning off and on. After a couple of weeks, the playfield lights would not even come on even when restarting. Got a new IO board from JJP and no luck. Tested voltage at all the boards, switched connectors all over. It finally ended up being solved by replacing the mini USB cable from the IO board with a new one. Try that first and if it works will save you a lot of trouble.

As for your Smaug head, is it rubbing/getting stuck against the ramp when trying to turn? Mine had that issue out of the blue and was fixed by lightly bending that part of the ramp away from the Smaug head.

This happened to me for a while. Clean the ball through optos and re-seat all wires to the ball through. The game kept thinking I had lost all balls at random times and both flippers would go dead, forcing the drain. If I opened the door and closed it again, then the game would kick out another ball and act like nothing happened. Yes, this happened a lot during multiball, but also at other times.

I’ve had this same issue and fix on both my woz and hobbit. Definitely put some time in looking over all the trough connections and switches.

Thanks, I will look at this today. I also got a suggestion to make sure the interlock switch is secure.

Also: hello, Frisco neighbor!

I'd make sure power cable is in tight in the back of the machine too.

LTG : )

So I took my time and added a rubber band to the head. While working on that, I think I identified the issue as to why my Smaug has stopped moving. There is a wiring connection at the top of his jaw that has come loose from the circuit board. I am going to attempt to reattach this as it was only glued on in the first place. If this is not repairable by me, should I be replacing a segment of parts or the whole apparatus? Ty

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That connector and board is for Smaug's red LED eyes. It likely won't change anything regarding his mouth movement, but you will get his eyes to light up!

Then I must have broke that off during removal. His eyes lit up during the tests prior to removal. I suck again!

The pins of the connector are surface mounted via solder pads to the pc board.

Its not glued on, you have to either replace the board or resolder it.

what's the difference between the LE and the Gold Smaug edition?

armor color, cab art, animation?

how's that black arrow SE look? is there a preferred version of the game?

Only cosmetic, no game play changes. Any version you can get your hands on will work.

thanks, found the flier

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Sorry I’m sure I saw these were addressed before but can’t seem to find it in the thread now. Two issues:
1) how do I adjust the wind lance to fire into the right orbit consistently? I’ve adjusted both the “strength” and “delay” in the coil settings (can someone explain the difference?) and it’s better but not at all consistent. How do you test this outside of gameplay - just hold a ball there with your finger and fire the coil? Or can you put the post up to hold it somehow while you adjust the coil setting? I also read to bend the metal rail but wanted to make sure I’m doing the other adjustments first.
2) my orc still works but now seems to “try” twice before he pops up - like he’s getting a little stuck on his way up so he’s just a little delayed. I guessing something is bent and rubbing but not sure what to look for or adjust.
Thanks so much or the help!

It was definitely glued on, no signs of solder on the connections and broken glue present. I glued it back down with some instant epoxy and the eyes light up just fine again. Mouth doesn’t. Movement of the head has come back for left and right movement, but it is clearly binding when going left and right. Going to check the connections again and retest. This is all trial and error on my part. Takes forever as I know nothing and am just watching videos and reading how to/diy guides along the way.

Question2
Chances are it’s getting hung up on wires. Check as it can sever/ cut wire . Also check switches as they tend to break

Furio thanks for the update - keep them coming. No mouth movement at all? :-/ that's no good...

So for #2 the wires are indeed getting beat up but I think it’s because the pop up mechanism doesn’t seem to stop soon enough. Is there a way to set the limit on how high it rises? When I push the pop up guide shaft all the way up it travels slightly further than the other pop ups and it doesn’t stay all the way (with playfield lifted the other pop ups stay “up” when pushed all the way in but this one springs back a little) so something seems to be off. Any ideas on how to adjust this so my wires don’t get beat up? Thanks

Sorry I’m sure I saw these were addressed before but can’t seem to find it in the thread now. Two issues:
1) how do I adjust the wind lance to fire into the right orbit consistently? I’ve adjusted both the “strength” and “delay” in the coil settings (can someone explain the difference?) and it’s better but not at all consistent. How do you test this outside of gameplay - just hold a ball there with your finger and fire the coil? Or can you put the post up to hold it somehow while you adjust the coil setting? I also read to bend the metal rail but wanted to make sure I’m doing the other adjustments first.

#7177 by Pinballinreno covers this but very broadly. I would like to get mine running better as well. I have improved it but still would like it better. It’s probably about 10% now, when I first adjusted it it was about 60%.
Could Pinballinreno please help. Thanks.