I did not know that, thanks!

Auto launch a ball sometimes?

What should I be looking for? I’ve slapped the playfield to see if something is loose but nothing? It doesn’t happen all the time but is frustrating, sometimes I think it happens when the drop targets all pop back up then it launches the ball ... not sure if that is actually the case but looking for tips

When this happened to me I had a switch that was sticking - the metal loop switch in the windlance lane was mine, but it could really be any of them. The switch would get stuck down, then the vibration of the drop targets would release it, causing the code to launch the ball out of the shooter lane.

I think I bent it a bit when cleaning/waxing, correcting that so it moved freely resolved it.

At the risk of sounding dumb ... what is the windlance lane?

Kickback lane on the bottom left of the playfield.

here's a pic of the layout he's talking about...

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From the look of the original layout, it seems that the bag end gate gives you the best of both worlds.

Now, if it had a switch on it and was coded, that would ne next level.

To add to this story. Originally there was a nice wireform loop around Smaug as well (instead of the magnet when you shoot the right ramp and it deflects to the Smaug lock) and even a left upper flipper. That upper flipper was earlier changed into the slingshot and the upper right stayed. The Smaug wireform loop was deleted because they were not allowed to have any interaction of Smaug and a pinball. Thats why you don’t even see Smaug shooting pinballs from his mouth in the screen animation but just the balls flying around when Smaug is out of the picture.
Crazy times

So they didn't want Smaug taking balls in its mouth?

Interesting history! I never noticed the left ramp outer guide is "curvier" than the right ramp outer guide... Seems like they thought about the upper flipper maybe being able to shoot the left ramp??

Hello, I am sure this has been covered and I'm being lazy, but I have one of the pop ups in the playfield (the goblin) that is acting like it registers as soon as it pops up, so it goes down right away...how do I fix this? Thanks so much for any advice/feedback!!

open the leaf switch to make it less sensitive.

The weight of the character heads makes then bounce a bit and they falsely trigger the switch.

Trying to find it...

Shoudnt be too hard its attached to the black carriage and the head is bolted to one side of the leaf switch.

Is this it?

687850BC-D23A-4E62-8302-3BC066D8CB86 (resized).jpeg

Put the playfield in the service position (rubber feet in the front channel)

Push the mech up thru the playfield manually so you can work on it.

Put a wrench or something, thru the cage so the mech nut can rest on it to make it easier.

You should be able to see what you are looking for.

Yes. Same set up as a troll face on MM or MMR.

LTG : )

Do I need separate these more?

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It's a leaf blade switch. Yours is too sensitive. Yes.

LTG : )

Yep like 3/32" or more.

the warg head is the worst, I have mine gapped at 1/8"Bend it from the bottom, not the top.
Try bending the stiff metal clip first...

Use fine needle nose or an adjustment tool:

https://www.pinballlife.com/ultimate-leaf-adjuster-tool.html

this tool is awsome...

Need to go more from the bottom?

IMG_5324 (resized).PNG

What ever floats your boat.

I'd turn the game off. Stick a long, thin screw driver along the path of the red arrow. And push the rear leaf blade away from the character face.

LTG : )

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It's fixed!!! Thank you so much!!!!

Glad to hear you figured it out.

I just wanted to re-iterate what everyone knows about the Hobbit Arkenstone Mod and One Ring Shooter Mod. Not only are they awesome works of art and extremely well made but @modelvisonary (Bill) is one of the nicest guys around. Extremely genuine, willing to take feedback and not treat you like a fool. Thanks again for such a great product. If you haven't checked out his site yet it's here https://superskillshot.com/

Couldn’t agree more! Bill and his craftsmanship are next level awesome.

Which reminds me... If anyone bought his Arkenstone button and is curious about the Lamp Mod, I made another SUPER PROFESSIONAL explanation video

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/shops/1305-trumpanche-mods/04917-lamp-control-mod-for-arkenstone-start-button

Ok one other issue...I put Titans on these and when I hooked everything back up the small book screen is blank. I reseated the all the connectors...any ideas?

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I'd unhook the VGA cable both ends and reseat and screw on tight. It looks like you have power.

LTG : )

I need help from all of you Hobbit owners out there! I just bought a TH pinball machine and set it up and noticed a potential issue, ugh. Is it normal for TH to make a grinding noise occasionally? It seems to make the grinding noise, fairly loud, at the beginning of each turn and a few times throughout a play. What could this be? How can i fix it? Hopefully its not a big issue...

Like a but load of drop targets going up and down ? If so, it's normal for that mode.

LTG : )

Unhooked and screwed them on tight but still no pic...

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Hey as a new Hobbit owner I thought the same thing but it is normal, is the drop targets. It is just a loud game from that stand point!

Plug the VGA into a different monitor, if it works. You know cable and signal are good.

LTG : )

Sorry some more info... from what I can tell it is happening when the DWARF letters pop back up.

Oh sorry, just saw your reply. I was panicking a little. So glad to hear its normal!

Ok will do...don't have one handy so I'll find a monitor!

Replacing cables has worked for me in thne past. Sometimes the factory ones are not the best. If you have another spare VGA cable laying around, I would replace it and see if that fixes the issue.

Hello all. I am sure its in here somewhere but I just bought that noise diffuser for speaker static. I dont see anywhere to plug it in. Looks like a standard earphone jack. Anyone put one of these in and can tell me where it goes. Thanks.

Page D-102 in the manual. Back of the big metal box with all the boards. Goes into J1-13

LTG : )

Lloyd. Thank you so much.

Does anyone know of a replacement monitor that could be used in a JJP pin? I struggle to think there isn’t something out there that works that would be cheaper than the $600 one from JJP parts. Seems like a 27” monitor should be half that cost unless I’m missing something about it that does something special. Thanks!

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/jjp-can-we-talk-about-replacement-lcds/page/2#post-6194946

I emailed Bill Hanson, a gentleman & honest vendor (like most Pinsiders), concerning his Arkenstone Start Button. Does it really reflect ambient room light or do you have to light it from behind with a LED? I was in the process of making a lighted Arkenstone mod to place inside my Hobbit cabinet, centered on the game back panel pillar sculpture. I was using a clear acrylic 22mm half sphere, lit with a blue micro LED (Photo 1). I saw Bill's Arkenstone Start Button in this thread. I wanted to replace my clear half sphere with Bill's Arkenstone. My plan was to purchase his Arkenstone start button, disassemble it and use just the stone. Bill said that would not be necessary. He had an extra 35mm Arkenstone available to try. The received stone is unbelievable. I mounted it, centered on the pillar sculpture with a half inch glue dot. Photo 2 is with only ambient room lighting. Photo 3 is with cabinet lighting on. You really don't need to light it from behind with a LED, unless you want it to flash. The submitted Photos really don't do it justice!

If you like this idea, you can purchase the SMAUG'S HOARD ARKENSTONE from Bill's superskillshot.com (cost is 60$) and mount it on the pillar sculpture instead of in the pile of gold. It is smaller in diameter than the one I used, but smaller might be better. You might want to purchase two, one for the pile of gold and one for the pillar sculpture.

Thank you Bill Hanson!!!

Arkenstone Hobbit Mod 001 (resized).JPG

BILL'S ARKENSTONE 001 (resized).JPG

BILL'S ARKENSTONE 003 (resized).JPG

Bill's Arkenstone with back panel LED strip blue/UV (Photo 1), not red as in above post (10043). Photo 2 is with playfield lights on. Note: Don't affix stone to back panel sculpture with 1/2" glue dot as previously recommended. The dot is too thin and won't hold. Use a double sided adhesive tape such as Gorilla. It's thicker than a glue dot & there is more surface area of stone & pillar adhering.

BILL'S ARKENSTONE 001 (resized).JPG

BILL'S ARKENSTONE 001 (resized).JPG

One of the beast mechs on my machine has stopped popping up in game. I've had issues with it only popping up partway and then fully going up a second later from time to time, but never could figure out why. Now recently the mech won't pop up at all. I lifted the playfield and there are no wires or anything preventing it from going up. I do feel a lot of friction internally when moving that mech up and down compared to the others. I also noticed that I can move the shaft side to side more compared to the others, which leads me to believe that something is loose internally. The nut at the end of the shaft on that mech is not tight, the shaft spins with it. The nuts on the other three don't move so I'm guessing that need to be tightened? Am I on the right track or any other ideas? Thanks.

Yes, it adjusts the rubber stopper thingy.

I'd remove the mech from the game and spend a lot of time adjusting, loosening, tightening, the brackets holding everything until it goes up and down smoothly.

LTG : )

I'm loving Bill's "Arkenstone in Smaug's Horde" mod! https://superskillshot.com/products/arkenstone-on-the-gold-pile-for-the-hobbit

I took some time to both add a lamp to it and to add an LED controller to that lamp and to the Throne of Erebor LED so they pulse like the Start button mod. It keeps the original flasher lamp and adds to it. I also added a controller to Bag End's lamp and the trough lamp, which adds some nice dynamism to those areas. I think I'll move the two Arkenstones to separate controllers next week so they pulse out of synch with one another, just for a little extra randomness and visual interest.

I'm really pleased with the overall effect - the Arkenstone is a stunning improvement over the gold flasher dome that was there - it's really impressive! It's pretty easy to install as well - the hardest thing is just demating the tiny LED connectors under the gold pile - if you can do that, it's pretty much a drop in!

(sorry for the noisy glass-off vid...)

Ok, I have the elite topper, bag end gate, arkenstone start button with pulse, arkenstone in Smaug's gold, clear shooter ring (and red shooter ring for LOTR), barrel legs, and book frame. I don't have bag end mod because of previous owner glued figures there (I might remove them and add the bag end sculpt. Can you guys stop making amazing mods? I think we are good now right? Just kidding, this community is awesome. I think this pin is undervalued even at $8k.

Plugged in a different monitor and it worked perfectly!

Sometimes the small monitor works briefly, I literally only moved it to replace the rubber underneath.

Any ideas?

Little monitor is bad. Either it, small board behind it, or ultra thin ribbon cable connecting the two.

They come as a set.

LTG : )