https://www.amazon.com/DGOL-Fixing-Setting-Rivets-Setter/dp/B07YC4LT97/ref=asc_df_B07YC4LT97/

Where can i find the arkstonemod? Thought i see it somewhere but cant remember where…

Sold out - https://superskillshot.com/products/arkenstone-lighted-start-button-for-the-hobbit?variant=33365507997759

LTG : )

On the ramp flaps topic - some of those early Hobbit ramps (like mine - Jan '16) had a tendency for the welds to break and the ramp fall apart. My ramp flaps were still fine, but I had to replace my whole ramp assembly when it broke apart (chose not to try and find someone to re-weld it).

Just to say, I don't think it's a terrible idea to replace the whole ramp assembly (with the replacement flaps already attached) vs riveting in new ones to your old ramp. More expensive, of course, and possibly wasteful(?) but reduces the chances you'd need to do the job twice.

Sigh, it's not Smaug head which is causing by BAG board to lock up.

I have disconnected the head (to be more precise, the mouth), but i just had the board lock up today after 20 games or so.

And it even appeared after power on, in attract mode, no game played

Any other pointer for debugging this ?

Is it a brand new BAG board?

This one i have already. Im looking the arkenstone for smaug. Maybe change the yellow cap for transparent one with some pearlcoating or so?

162C599B-631C-4715-ADF1-80BBB3E18F5D (resized).jpeg

No it's not. It's the original one in the machine.

Mine had issues and I got a new one 5 years ago and it has been smooth sailing ever since

It was exchanged under warranty?

In my case, if I have to pay full price for it, plus shipping and tax, that's not going to be fun.

The ramp wasn’t changed, that has been confirmed.

I think it was, but I can’t recall. How much are they? I may buy one just to have a backup in case they go out of stock.

Right here: https://superskillshot.com/products/arkenstone-on-the-gold-pile-for-the-hobbit

This game just keeps getting better and better. Spent some time with the rules and familiarizing myself with different strategies. Soooooo gooooood. And such a stunning presentation of colors/sound.

A4B537A6-11EB-4172-97CF-FDB686680904 (resized).jpeg

I love my game, its going nowhere from my small collection.

I like the mirror blades!

Where and how can you take a measurement of the power supply on the BAG board?

I'm getting random lock up of the inserts (not so random now, it even appears in attract mode - and smaug mouth is disconnected) . JJP support suggested to reseat the USB connectors, and it still failed, to measure voltage.

But looking at the wiring, the power connector on the bag board is located in such a way that I don't see how to access it's pins. Worse, there's a metal plate below the PCB, so I can't access any signal from the bottom either.

Suggestions would be welcome

With a meter.

Page D-60 and D-61 in the manual has the pinouts and information of what is where.

Former jjp fan

Well I do have a meter. I even have an oscilloscope.

It's just that I find JJP support comment rather hilarious, because reading the pinout, I need to put the meter probe at a connector which very close to the playfield, completely inaccessible under normal operation. And because the issue does not appear immediately, in theory I need to connect my oscilloscope probe during operation.

Sigh

Bear in mind it's not official jjp support comment.

Just trying to help.

LTG : )

Apologies, I was referring to the official message I received from JJP support by email, not your statement in the forum

Hello Hobbit owners, can one of you please measure the vertical height of the playfield hanger bracket (part number 10-0014-00)?
A measuring tape could be hooked to the bottom side of the playfield and measure to the 90 degree bend that hangs the front of the playfield. Attached is a picture for reference of what I need measured ( the vertical height on the one in the picture is 2 and 1/4 inches).

image (resized).jpg

So my BAG board is considered as dead

While debugging this issue, it turns out I realized that machines built prior to August 11 2016 are using high density wiring harness and PCB, whereas machines built after that date are using more regular 2.54mm connectors and wiring harness.

And unfortunately, JJP is not building nor keeping inventory of wire harness anymore of either generations. For the 2.54mm that's probably not a big deal as you can likely easily rebuild it, but for the 1mm version (mine), this is really problematic: I have one harness which is damaged, which I managed to repair somewhat, and one harness where the pin was actually dislodged from the connector body. I'm trying to repair it, but it's a pain without proper equipment for this type of connector.

Also I'm concerned that what caused the BAG board to fail in the first place will cause the new board to fail again over time. Someone mention an excessive current draw due to Smaug mouth, anyone with a build date prior to August 11 2016 has any indication that newer BAG boards are less affected than original boards ?

Thanks

Mine is 2 1/4"

That's very interesting! How did you find out about that?

It's in the documentation ... And since I had to repair one of my wiring harness and it was a pita (and I still have one to repair), I asked JJP if they had any stock and they stated they don't build them anymore.

Hobbit is the second machine built by JJP, and I suspect they realized that their design choices were problematic for maintenance, so they changed all the PCBs mid production (not only the BAG board, but all LED PCB).

Thank you!

I wonder if they could do a small run of a few boards so they could be bought by Hobbit owners that need to replace or at least have a backup.

They have the board. Just not the wiring harness.

I was hoping I could take advantage of this failure to migrate, at least partially, to the 2.54mm pitch connectors (on the BAG board and all connected boards), but while I can buy the boards, I can't buy the wiring harness, so it's rather useless unless I want to rebuild it completely myself... Not practical.

So I have to revert back to the original 1mm pitch board version.

Sidenote: the BAG board is $150. It's not terribly expensive, although based on the bill of material, it probably cost less than 50 dollars to build.

Mine was made in July May I ask how these wiring harness got damaged?

Combination of bad design choice and bad handling on my part: the wires are super thin, and the RGB PCB just below the drop target are located in such a way that when you disassemble the drop target assembly, there is a risk if you're not super extra careful that the sharp edge of the metal bracket assembly will quite simply cut the wire. They should at least have protected the wire in sensitive area using tubing. I did not see the 2.54 pitch wiring harness, but I would hope they did not use the same wire gauge.

On another area (Smaug flasher), I'm not sure how it happened, but the pin inside the connector housing was dislodged. I suspect this happened when I disassembled Smaug head to fix the end of movement optos.

One concern that I have is long term reliability of the 1mm variant. When you compare schematics in the manual, you can see that on the 2.54mm variant they added 1000pF capacitors on the 5V rail, on pretty much every single IC on the board (plus ferrite beads and other caps for noise reduction on the output signals). The 1mm board version does not have any of these.

For me this is an indication that the quality of the 5V rail has an impact on the board reliability long term, and they decided to add these 1000pF to prevent any hang or reset during operation. I do hope that I'm not going to be faced with the same issue in a few years from now.

So, I am looking at purchasing a Hobbit and I have a couple of questions about the beast mechs I was hoping someone could help me out with.

Is it common for the flaps/lids of the mechs to not lay flat on the playfield? I noticed they seemed slightly elevated and askew and would affect the trajectory of the ball when rolling slowly on the playfield.

When the beast dropped back into the playfield, it would often move halfway down, pause for a second, then lower itself the rest of the way. It seems like this may be in place to prevent a ball from being sandwiched in there, but should it happen often? Even when there is no ball around that struck it.

Thanks

Might need new flaps or new springs holding them. They should be kind of flat with an edge around them because they do rest on the playfield. ( if mech is adjusted and working right )

Need to be gone over and adjusted so it moves up and down freely. Might need new coil sleeve, frame might need some fiddeling to get it going up and down smooth. It is heavy and should plop right down.

Let jjp know you miss LTG : ) on tech support !

Thanks as always LTG!

SOLD!

Mod - For Sale

The Hobbit - Sculpted Pop Up Heads - Brand new Archived

NOS (New Old Stock) - “The Hobbit - Sculpted Pop Up Heads - Brand new. I bought these a while back but even opened them. With shipping they will run you around $370 at Little Shop of Games. I'm sellin...”

2022-10-21

Vienna, VA

Ramjet

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Archived after: 4 days

Viewed: 86 times

Status: Sold (amount private)

Contributed to Pinside

Got positive feedback

.

I try to order the stuff I can get that are not game specific from your typical places. But Spinner you need stickers that a JJ e-mail I have found that website saying out of stock has zero truth.

I don't think the BAG board needs much outside of a surface mounted fuse replaced correct? So fix don't purchase new - that's what I did also I have some of the smaller boards and harnesses horded, if you need one hit me up. They told me about this change and said the tool to make a new one was 2.5K, so I purchased some replacement just in case, they used to have them. I don't recall what I have in stock, but happy to help if I can. Cost 1 - Billion? plus shipping

Appreciate the offer !!

I managed to fix the drop target 3 RGB insert wire harness. But the wiring harness for the gold pile flasher is more difficult, as it's the pin that got dislodged from the connector housing, and I'm not sure I can plug it back (not to mention I still did not really figure out how to unplug the cable from the PCB, the latching mechanism is not obvious). If I can't fix it, I'll be sure to contact you.

As for the BAG board, I'll have to take a look, but since it's working for a while before locking up, it's probably not a fuse. I wish JJP would provide guidance so I could fix it.

I did order one, with shipping and tax it ended up about 250 euros...

The gold pile flasher is what took my BAG board out blew a fuse - JJ helped me with it asked if the red lights were on someplace in this thread so scroll in these 233 pages boom tech advice.

Each thread on Pinside, near the upper right side. You can search this thread only. Makes it easier to find help if not in the FAQ.

LTG : )

Anyone else have the small lcd start flaking out on them? I’ve checked all connections and it’s gotten worse over the last two wks so yesterday I just made my own replacement lol(; I’d like to actually replace the mini lcd at some point so if anyone knows what screen to buy for that please let me know. THX

6648AC1A-6777-4549-86AB-4C57F15E4D0E (resized).jpeg

Brand new member, I just went to turn it on to play my first game and I'm getting, press f1 to update F2 to continue. I attached a mini keyboard hit F2 , brought me to the cpu menu did a save and exit, booted up the game. Played a guick game, turned the machine off than on again, f1, F2 message came back. Any idea why it's doing this?

Next time you have the game turned on, I'd try replacing the battery on the motherboard.

I've had one go out. Same little LCD and board used in the cellphone and theater in Dialed In, and on the apron in Pirates.

Search the Dialed In tech or fan thread for links to buy them. Or contact parts at jjp. Call or email Martha there for parts. [email protected]

Call jackaroo and let him know you'd like LTG : ) Back.

That was it, it was probably the original battery, all is good now.
Really liking this machine and more importantly, so is my Wife. Since this machine now resides in our Dining Room, it was vital that she would enjoy playing it. I would also like to mention and I may be in the minority but I kinda prefer the bigger video screen over the smaller Stern screens.

When it comes to TV's , bigger is better

I may go ahead and swap out my battery too. What size and manufacture is recommended?

If you do, go to page E-14 of the Hobbit manual, great instructions on changing out battery while power is ON.

If you do it with power OFF you'll wipe out the BIOS settings. Be careful not to drop the battery coming out or going in, possible to short stuff out on the motherboard.

http://store.jerseyjackpinball.com/Parts/The-Hobbit-Parts/ The screen is 35.00 and the driver board is 35.00. buy them both. i just replaced mine in my dialed in and fixed the problem.

It’s a CR2032 battery
I just recently changed them out on my JJP games. Took all of 5 min