Sorry your guys Smaug is broke and stuff. I check this thread mainly for code updates. But alas, another day/week/month without any progress. This game is simply too darn beautiful not to have more software!

Connector for mouth servo is on the back edge of Smaug not under the field. It can come loose or back off so I'd start there.

I am March 2016. Warranty is one year. I'm second owner so I was charged a $170 plus shipping exchange fee for my replacement Smaug. Warranty doesn't apply to me as second owner.

Thx, will check.

This is disappointing.

It's not horrible as Smaug is $500 to replace normally. The $170 was offered by Victor at JJP as a courtesy out of warranty exchange.

Took a look tonight and didnt see anything obvious, but didnt dig too deep. How does the base plate for smaug come out? There are two screws that hold it in. I took the screws out and the base plate came up a little, but i couldnt lift it up and out and didn'twant to damage it.

From underneath the pf, all connectors and wires looked good.

I tried testing the jaw in test mode, nothing.

Fuses test good with a meter.

Given that many people seem to be having this issue, surprised there so little info on fixing smaug.

For those that have fixed the jaw, does jjp give an instruction sheet?

Once you remove the cables from Smaug under the playfield there are only the three screws holding him in. When those are removed he is on the loose. You have to tilt him in a certain direction so that he clears the ramp and he comes right out. Putting him back in is easier if you have someone holding him against the top side of the playfield while you look to line up the screw holes from underneath. It's a little tricky.

When I contacted JJP about his mouth not moving there were not any home repair options presented (only a full swap).

I got him out, didnt yield a fix. All connections good. Jaw Servo motor moves with the head off when i manually move jaw up and down , but with head on, the jaw has very little room to move. How much can people move the jaw on their smaug while its in the game? When you move it, can you feel/hear the servo motor moving? Either the jaw on my smaug is not positioned right, which means likely need a new smaug, or its the motor...or maybe both.

In the jaw settings keep the top and bottom numbers within 15-20 of each other. That's all the range you want him to have.

Just bought a Hobbit and the mouth doesn't work as well. Seems crazy they won't just ship the servo. Why would you make people pay $200 for a $25 part, especially when it's a JJP fuck up........Am I missing something? First thing Keith needs to do is come up with a way to disable the mouth in the menu.

Are there any aftermarket servo's that would work for Smaug?
I know that on my Tommy blinders several of the available servo's worked perfecty. I bought a Hitec one with metal gears for $23

I seem to have gotten him to work now. Now quite sure how. With smaug installed in the game i removed the head piece (two screws easily accesaible behind his head). Put the game in test mode and kept mannually moving the jaw up and down the ful motion with my hand while do the test (coin door closed, push start button) After about a minute of doing this reear2edly, it the servo motor started working and seemed to reset itsef on the proper track. Im wondering if there is a gearinlg issue with the servo motor. Will have to wait to see if this is a permanent fix.

Also, someone told me to make sure two numbers on the bottom of the motor match the jaw settings in the game test.

If your jaw doesnt work, this may help you and its simpe to do.

Just replaced my Smaug last week as the mouth quit moving up and down then a couple days later it wouldn't move. Took it apart and took pictures for JJP and they took care of me quick! Their service and communication was great! Happily playing again here is what burned up....

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Any ideas why? Did they tell you to change anything to prevent it happening again?

Nope and Nope unfortunately....

How in the world do you spell "RACE" on the Hobbit?

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Close your eyes and pretend you're playing NASCAR?

I think you spell a particular race (like man, elf, dwarf)

Anybody have any light board issues with TH? The "C" in LOCK seems to be going on my game. Right now it's a different hue (same color) but slightly off.

light boards are RBG, so if 1 of the 3 signals is flakey it will change colour. My Star trek did this and it was just a loose connector

Thanks. I'll check the connections.

if that doesnt work press down a little on the LED a little and have a look to see if it changes above the pf,
as it might be a cold solder joint

Yup, hitting the sets of drop targets light either man, elf or dwarf modes.

I guess I had a blonde moment. Dah. I "get it" now ... didn't realize those were classified as a "race" of something in that meaning. There isn't individual modes for that section that I've seen, so shouldn't it be more like "Shoot characters AND spell all races to qualify mode"? Maybe more modes will be in updated code for those.

OR is correct. Well, it should say AND/OR to really be correct. Some modes require combinations of these.

Just got my Hobbit Smaug in a trade for a GB. Amazing game so far, but clearly needs a few adjustments. For one, the ball seems to double clutch in the left VUK sometimes. Is this a wire form issue, or most likely just a VUK mech calibration issue? Ive never seen the issue with the right VUK.

shim the wire fourm with a spacer or nut on back side it gives enough tilt to eliminate the issue

Had similar issue. Just adjust the power of that VUK coil. Also make sure your game is at the pitch you want and is level (horizontal).

Make sure the wireform tube is lined up directly over the hole.

Didn't see you adding the switch protector for the Black Arrow switch- with a ball drop close by, I think it's a good idea.

Just joined the club!!! Well not officially but waiting on shipping. Just curious if the code is complete or will there be more updates in the future

One or two more updates to come AFAIK

There will be more. Keith posted on the JJP Google Group recently that another update is coming. I've also heard rumors that a super wizard mode for completing everything will eventually be in the game (I hope!). The Hobbit could certainly use a few more big updates.

Yes another update is in the works. Will add a new playing element as well. I should be joining the owner's club in about a month. Will be going through this thread for all tips before a single ball is played.

I received my Hobbit a few weeks ago and immediately referenced this thread for tips. It's a huge read but tons of solid information on getting this pin "dialed in" (so to speak).

I'm wondering how original owners that are around the 1 year mark of ownership are feeling about this game now? Is it still a keeper? Did the game play get old or did the code updates keep it fresh?

I'm still in the honeymoon phase with the sounds/lights package and beautiful design. I'm just wondering if it will have staying power or if it tends to lose its luster? WOZ is now on my radar because of the positive playing experience I've had with TH.

Fixed in what sense?

The Black arrow and the LE are still being built and have been being built together since shortly after the Black Arrow was announced at Expo last year. So if you want a game built later on the production run, you can buy an LE if you'd rather have that model.

It's not things breaking. Here are the fixes that JJP has released for early games. Other then that everything is the same between early games and the ones being made today.

1. Beast mech fix: 3D printed inserts in front of beast mech to prevent balls getting stuck.

2. Drop target fix: More durable springs from the games 11 drop targets.

3. Left rail fix: Post that stops ball from falling off left rail

4. Ramp flap fix: blue steel ramps flaps that do not curl

All of the fixes above are offered free by JJP. The beast mech fix is a bit of a pain to install but doable. The ramp flap fix is more difficult but JJP will do it for you if you ship them your ramp.

I've had my Hobbit LE for about 8 months and it's a very solidly built game.

You can check if a Hobbit has the latest ramp flaps if they have a blue tone to them and the beast mech fix just activating one in test / playing and ensuring the plastic inserts are there. Seems like all games that have the beast mech inserts have the upgraded drop target springs. However, some Hobbits did ship with the upgraded drop target springs and beast mech inserts but not with the upgraded ramp flaps.

I think its mostly the early ramp flap issue and ball hopping out of the left wire-form
People strategically bend these, and the rest either live with it/waiting for a mode-start "5 second ball save" code update..
A few bought the new wireform from Jack altogether.

Also, the gray/silver ramp flaps that came stock- your mileage may vary- some become defective/lift off the playfield, others slightly curl but still function perfectly, remain mostly level with the playfield. Im glad to have the replacement flaps- "just in case"- but I'm not about to perform the upgrade 'just cause'- same with the more durable springs.

I have a Smaug that was made in March 2016, no issues to speak of, it has about 1800 plays and has needed none of the reported common fixes. The only thing I've done is put a #8 nut under the screw at the exit to the mode wire form. JJP provides a post, my fix is as good and not noticeable.

I also have an LE I recently picked up nearly new out of the box, 30 plays. Same issue with left wireform exit, same fix. It was made in April 2016.

Both play and look exactly the same. The Smaug has held up extremely well and looks like new.

I have the Smaug for sale for 7750 in the market, but would also consider selling the LE for the same price (the LE has a full year warranty as I just registered it yesterday.). I don't need or want two, an opportunity came up to get a second so I took it. It's become Apparent to me that there is no difference between the two games except the artwork so either can go.

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Two more fixes not yet officially dealt with by JJP on my Black Arrow:

- common ground filter required for the audio output to remove static/interference, cheap and easy to install which begs the question why these are not factory
- beast mechs installed in such a way that the target wire gets pinched, on two of my mechs the wire has been sliced clean in two. The fix is to install a washer between the mech and the pf so the mech raise height stops short of pinching the wire. This should be a factory critical fix imo as it's been a pain in the arse to sort out

Just an FYI...if you registered that warranty under your name it is not transferable to the new buyer. I found that out a couple weeks ago when my Smaug mechanism needed replacing. I was second owner with manufacture date of March 2016 (within 1 year warranty period) and there were costs involved that would not have been for the original owner.

None of these "issues" are a big deal.. and every NIB pin you buy, including stern, may have a few things that need tweaked. I just got my Hobbit and am VERY happy. If you're on the fence, you have nothing to worry about with the resources here on pinside.

Have you ever had the ball go "air ball" when starting a mode- when hit full blast- from the right flipper to the right ramp, and into the drain?

I've heard some experience this, some don't. My game is well balanced, and I've never seen this issue fully go away even when I've tried to tweak a little.

I have an extra set of pingraffix hobbit side decals. $70 shipped if paid via paypal gift, thats about 20% off retail.

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Edit: these are now sold.

These were factory on WOZ and were planned for Hobbit, there were some sound issues on WOZ which the engineers felt were being contributed to at least in some part by the ground loop isolator, ground loop isolator was removed from the Bill of Materials on Hobbit, lobbying to add it back to the Hobbit BOM is moot as Hobbit is nearing the end of its production run and it won't be needed on DI owing to the essential elimination of the chassis box that WOZ and Hobbit use.

edit: this is a response to "the wool"

Thanks for the background. I was inside my WOZ today and noticed it used phono audio outs and I could not see an isolator installed so it looks like this is an issues with only certain Hobbits.

I have an early production Hobbit and I added the ground loop isolator.
Before it had a slight high pitched air noise, after the addition of the choke the audio is crystal clear.

I really think that it helps a lot.

It does not kill the start-up pop, but then all of my pins have a start-up pop.