The Hobbit
Jersey Jack, 2016Quoted from Cheeks:I think I turned down my flipper power, but I forget what it's at. I had balls flying off the ramps when it was higher. I can certainly backhand both ramps. I wouldn't call it "easy" per se, but I can do it fairly consistently and there's JUST enough power to get past the curve of the ramp.
Thanks do you know what your game is pitched at?
Quoted from jrawlinson_2000:Thanks do you know what your game is pitched at?
i believe mines set at 7 degrees.
has anybody changed the LED strip in the backbox that lights the Hobbit above the video screen? Mines a really light colored shade of white compared to the warm color of whites in the game. Id guess its a 12v strip i can just change out right?
Quoted from Phbooms:has anybody changed the LED strip in the backbox that lights the Hobbit above the video screen? Mines a really light colored shade of white compared to the warm color of whites in the game. Id guess its a 12v strip i can just change out right?
I placed a yellow film over the light to 'warm it up' ...
Quoted from Goronic:I placed a yellow film over the light to 'warm it up' ...
good idea! now where to find a yellow transparent film thats over a foot long?
Quoted from Phbooms:good idea! now where to find a yellow transparent film thats over a foot long?
1/2 cto gel is what you want:
https://www.amazon.com/CTO-Sheet-Color-Temperature-Orange/dp/B0089JKIH4/ref=sr_1_3
Quoted from pinballinreno:1/2 cto gel is what you want:
amazon.com link »
Fro $10 shipped? Probably better just to get the right color LED strip at that price...
Quoted from PinMonk:Fro $10 shipped? Probably better just to get the right color LED strip at that price...
Im absolutely sure you can get 1/2 CTO gel sheets from any lighting or art supply place local to you for a low price if you shop around.
Amazon is just for ease of purchase without calling around for me mostly.
If you do get the 1/2 CTO gel just tape it on with a few small pieces of goriila tape equally spaced, the 1" roll. It seems to hold forever.
Quoted from PinMonk:Fro $10 shipped? Probably better just to get the right color LED strip at that price...
I did the gel sheet instead of replacing the existing lights. In case I (or the next owner) want to use the original lights it can be quickly and easily removed.
I really cannot backhand either ramp when cradling the ball with the flipper. I believe my game is at about 6.7 degrees. I have not changed the flipper power. Should I be able to backhand at the factory defaults with my pitch?? Is there a flipper factory default setting??
Quoted from marspinball:I really cannot backhand either ramp when cradling the ball with the flipper. I believe my game is at about 6.7 degrees. I have not changed the flipper power. Should I be able to backhand at the factory defaults with my pitch?? Is there a flipper factory default setting??
Use a level app on your phone to set the playfield (not the glass) to 6.9 degrees.
Adjust the flipper power:
left flipper = 27
right flipper = 28
If the game is very new and slippery you might lower the flipper powers by 1 until you can backhand to the ramps and keep the ball on the wireforms.
The ball does not have to travel quickly after it reaches the top of the ramp, in fact it should slow a bit then continue down the wireforms.
As the game breaks in and the ball slows a bit, up the flipper power until it plays correctly.
Also after waxing the game you might notice that the ball will fly off the wireform. You can either wait 10 games untill it slows down again or adjust the flipper power down for 10 games and then back up again.
In all cases the right flipper seems to be best set at 1 increment above the left flipper.
One last thing, as the game gets dirty (300 plays or more) and in between wax jobs you might raise the playfield pitch to 7 or 7.1 degrees to keep the speed up in order the get the game playing exactly as you want. This is really up to you.
I am cleaning and waxing the reachable areas every 500 plays and will do a tear down and complete rubber replacement at 2500 plays in my home environment to keep it playing "like new".
Playfield pitch on this game is critical to making the shots accurately (as its quite the shooters game), as well as keeping it from playing too floaty around the bats and lower slings.
One other adjustment is to kick up the lower slingshots by 25% or more, the upper sling doesnt have to be as strong as the lower ones.
Quoted from pinballinreno:Also after waxing the game you might notice that the ball will fly off the wireform.
It depends what wireform you have. If you have the "old" wireform (has no wire "hugging" the barrel), airballs with stronger flippers are pretty much guaranteed. The new one, the new one has given me no airball issues.
That being said - the stronger your flipper coils are, you're more likely to bend the beast mechs which can cause them to lower slow/clunky. They're easy to bend back...but if you notice your beasts aren't falling easily, that's probably due to the flippers being too strong.
First pic is the old one, second pic is the new one
Old_wireform (resized).jpg
New_wireform (resized).jpg
Quoted from Rarehero:It depends what wireform you have. If you have the "old" wireform (has no wire "hugging" the barrel), airballs with stronger flippers are pretty much guaranteed. The new one, the new one has given me no airball issues.
That being said - the stronger your flipper coils are, you're more likely to bend the beast mechs which can cause them to lower slow/clunky. They're easy to bend back...but if you notice your beasts aren't falling easily, that's probably due to the flippers being too strong.
First pic is the old one, second pic is the new one
I do like the new right wireform, I think I'm going to have to call and get it, then I can crank up my flippers a bit more!
What a difference 3" of wire makes and it doesnt at all kill any views of the area.
I wonder why it was cut out in the first place as far as aesthetics, it doesnt seem to look any different.
Thanks for the pic.
Quoted from jrawlinson_2000:So just got my Hobbit, should I be able to backhand both ramps?
At the moment I can not just wondering if other owners have dialed up their flipper power to be able to do so?
I can easily backhand both ramps (and right hole) with authority. That's actually how I tend to shoot them. My flipper power is one notch down from the factory green setting i think. My table is at 6.9 degrees.
Quoted from Phbooms:good idea! now where to find a yellow transparent film thats over a foot long?
You could just use yellow electrical tape. Would only cost a couple bucks.
For anyone interested as per Pinside member 'thewool' suggestion I just installed a 3.5mm Jack Ground Loop Isolator Audio Noise Filter on my Hobbit which had some of that annoying humming/buzzing noise filtering through...it is now gone! Cheap fix and very easy to install.
Quoted from pinballinreno:I do like the new right wireform, I think I'm going to have to call and get it, then I can crank up my flippers a bit more!
What a difference 3" of wire makes and it doesnt at all kill any views of the area.
I wonder why it was cut out in the first place as far as aesthetics, it doesnt seem to look any different.
Thanks for the pic.
I wish they would not have cut those gaps in the rails on either side - where they have done that I have had the ball come off in those areas.
Quoted from Goronic:I wish they would not have cut those gaps in the rails on either side - where they have done that I have had the ball come off in those areas.
Agreed.
I wonder if it was just to try to make a more expansive wide open look and feel.
The game is absolutely gorgeous, I think added wire wouldn't have hurt the look at all.
Quoted from Bostonbuzz:For anyone interested as per Pinside member 'thewool' suggestion I just installed a 3.5mm Jack Ground Loop Isolator Audio Noise Filter on my Hobbit which had some of that annoying humming/buzzing noise filtering through...it is now gone! Cheap fix and very easy to install.
Totally agree. I had that static noise from the beginning and been through a lot of testing to get it to go away. Nothing helped.
2 days ago I installed a Jack Ground Loop Isolator Audio Noise Filter and NOISE IS COMPLETELY GONE!!! Finally!
I used this one:
https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B00BBE59WS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00
100% FIXED IT! 
Thanks for the tip "thewool".
I bought a hobbit earlier this week, really an amazing game. Thought I'd share two fixes I had to make, sorry if these have been discussed.
1. Ball gets trapped at lower left ramp mount area. I know jjp sends out a post to fix this, but all I had to do was put a #8 nut under the ramp mount and that both raised and tilted the ramp just enough to prevent hangups.
2. My shooter rod was weak, couldn't make the upper drop targets on most plunges. Stretching the spring helped a little, but not enough. I had a spare blue spring I got from pinball life. Works great, very strong, but still plenty of control to hit all the skill shots.
Quoted from Rarehero:It depends what wireform you have. If you have the "old" wireform (has no wire "hugging" the barrel), airballs with stronger flippers are pretty much guaranteed. The new one, the new one has given me no airball issues.
That being said - the stronger your flipper coils are, you're more likely to bend the beast mechs which can cause them to lower slow/clunky. They're easy to bend back...but if you notice your beasts aren't falling easily, that's probably due to the flippers being too strong.
First pic is the old one, second pic is the new one
Crazy. I've never gotten a ball stuck there. Had it fly off the rail a couple times though.
Quoted from Metalzoic:Crazy. I've never gotten a ball stuck there. Had it fly off the rail a couple times though.
Its not that it comes off the rail in that location, its that air balls from other shots can be trapped there as well as on the barrels.
Now that my game is pretty much dialed-in it doesn't happen at all. (Except after a fresh waxing while the ball is WILD maybe...)
Quoted from Asael:What are your settings for the kickback? I just can't get mine to work as it should, no matter what I try it always goes into the radagast hole direction or in it? And for now I am on the lowest power settings.
What is your Pf pitch? It affects everything.
Also one can bend the left side rail at the very end slightly to aim the ball into the right spinner loop. (you can wedge a small flat blade screwdriver between the end of the siderail and the last playfield mounting screw for it.)
Any adjustments of this kind should be made after you make sure the auto-kicker is nice and tight and the settings are correct, or close to the factory ones if in doubt, and the PF pitch is verified at 6.9 to 7 degrees.
One other thing is to set the kicker to easy settings, it made it less random on my game.
Quoted from pinballinreno:What is your Pf pitch? It affects everything.
Also one can bend the left side rail at the very end slightly to aim the ball into the right spinner loop. (you can wedge a small flat blade screwdriver between the end of the siderail and the last playfield mounting screw for it.)
Any adjustments of this kind should be made after you make sure the auto-kicker is nice and tight and the settings are correct, or close to the factory ones if in doubt, and the PF pitch is verified at 6.9 to 7 degrees.
One other thing is to set the kicker to easy settings, it made it less random on my game.
Thank you!!! I found the problem on my machine. The screws that hold the kickback were not tight enough. So every kickback was a random thing no matter what settings I used. Now, after I thightened the screws, I could adjust the wall where the ball exits and everything is fine now.
Recent purchaser of the Hobbit and first-time poster here! After experiencing numerous stuck balls between the right VUK chute and spinner bracket as shown below, I wanted to share my quick and easy fix with everyone. I removed the chute's rear attachment nut, added a small nylon cable clamp underneath, reattached the nut, and voila... issue solved! The clamp now diverts the ball away, and now I get no more stuck balls here. Love the game!
Nice simple fix thanks for sharing it! I haven't had a ball get stuck there but will look out for it.
Quoted from IceFang:Recent purchaser of the Hobbit and first-time poster here! After experiencing numerous stuck balls between the right VUK chute and spinner bracket as shown below, I wanted to share my quick and easy fix with everyone. I removed the chute's rear attachment nut, added a small nylon cable clamp underneath, reattached the nut, and voila... issue solved! The clamp now diverts the ball away, and now I get no more stuck balls here. Love the game!
Haven't had that one happen, but that area by the flasher in the lower right of your picture is a airball magnet, and there's no way for the balls to roll out if they end up there. Irritating.
Quoted from IceFang:Recent purchaser of the Hobbit and first-time poster here! After experiencing numerous stuck balls between the right VUK chute and spinner bracket as shown below, I wanted to share my quick and easy fix with everyone. I removed the chute's rear attachment nut, added a small nylon cable clamp underneath, reattached the nut, and voila... issue solved! The clamp now diverts the ball away, and now I get no more stuck balls here. Love the game!
I like your solution, its very simple and elegant!
I have never had a ball stuck there and have looked extensively for ball hang areas.
Has anyone else had a ball hang there?
Also what is your playfield pitch?
Are you missing a piece there that would prevent such a hang? Is something misaligned or installed wrong?
Im going to look at mine and see if I can get a ball to hang at that position.
Quoted from PinMonk:Haven't had that one happen, but that area by the flasher in the lower right of your picture is a airball magnet, and there's no way for the balls to roll out if they end up there. Irritating.
I have had that happen once but my air-balls have slowed a lot due to tweaking and adjustment.
I was thinking of placing a plastic mini post on the plastic to stop balls from wedging there.
Quoted from pinballinreno:I like your solution, its very simple and elegant!
I have never had a ball stuck there and have looked extensively for ball hang areas.
Has anyone else had a ball hang there?
Also what is your playfield pitch?
Are you missing a piece there that would prevent such a hang? Is something misaligned or installed wrong?
Im going to look at mine and see if I can get a ball to hang at that position.
Thanks! My playfield's set to 6.6deg since I found that to be my machine's ideal angle for allowing me to hit all four LOCK roll-overs on a plunge (SO satisfying!). Any steeper and the ball could never reach all four.
Everything seems to be installed just fine... no missing or misaligned parts that I can see. It could just be slight build tolerance differences that are unavoidable from machine-to-machine. Personally, I find adjusting and improving the functionality of a pin almost as rewarding as playing it... ALMOST. 
Quoted from PinMonk:Haven't had that one happen, but that area by the flasher in the lower right of your picture is a airball magnet, and there's no way for the balls to roll out if they end up there. Irritating.
Are you referring to the area shown below? If so, that was the very first issue I addressed on my machine. See below for my solution... I had to do both fixes on my machine, and the ball now JUST BARELY clears the post... Hopefully it works for you, too!
Anyone having sound issues? Mine cuts in and out and is quite noticeable during certain modes. I have checked/cleaned all connections that appear to be sound related with no improvement. Although it might be coincidence, it seems to me that the sound cutting in and out has been happening now after I did the 1.90 upgrade.
Quoted from CyberNinja24:Anyone having sound issues? Mine cuts in and out and is quite noticeable during certain modes. I have checked/cleaned all connections that appear to be sound related with no improvement. Although it might be coincidence, it seems to me that the sound cutting in and out has been happening now after I did the 1.90 upgrade.
Maybe add this:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001EAQTRI/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_2
or something similar.
It seems to help if there is noise.
To clarify, my machine needs something to stop the sound from popping in and out or this is a bug in the code that everyone has?
Some people have legit problems with their speaker wires or audio connections out of the sound board. However everyone has a sound problem with the code too that sounds like certain sounds get quiet or muffled for a moment. I believe it's the ducking part of the sound system that lowers the volume on some sounds when others play that needs some finesse.
Quoted from Pinballomatic:Keith is working on the sound popping.
when my filter arrives ill let you know about the popping sounds.
Quoted from freddy:when my filter arrives ill let you know about the popping sounds.
Filter doesn't solve the popping sounds. It's a software problem. Verified, as I tried a filter - no change. Plus, the popping only started in 1.90. It was fine before that.
Quoted from PinMonk:Filter doesn't solve the popping sounds. It's a software problem. Verified, as I tried a filter - no change. Plus, the popping only started in 1.90. It was fine before that.
I've got noises from day one so filter may help my game out
Quoted from freddy:I've got noises from day one so filter may help my game out
It will help buzzes/cracks/interference, but not the popping.
This would make sense. My sound was crystal clear at code 1.31.
With 1.90, Sounds sometimes fade and come in and out.
Doesn't stop me from enjoying the hell out of this table, though.
Quoted from ls1chris:Anyone else have clearance issues with the left sling axe hitting the PF? At the end of stroke mine hits the Pf , the mech looks more inward then the right side
Yep.. Undo the solenoid coil and add a couple washers in the sleeve. Hopefully you caught it before too much damage.
Also curious on what others are seeing on play field dimples. I have exactly 200 games on my Smaug and have pretty noticeable play field dimples. My flippers are set in the mid 20s I believe. Certainly not cranked up. It doesn't bother me and I'm not complaining. Just curious if this is the new norm? I thought I read somewhere that certain ways/chemicals used to make play fields in the past could not be used anymore. Thus, the PF dimpling.
Quoted from ls1chris:Anyone else have clearance issues with the left sling axe hitting the PF? At the end of stroke mine hits the Pf , the mech looks more inward then the right side
That was one of the first issues I had on my Hobbit. Jersey Jack provided some feedback, and one of the fixes they recommended to me was to bend the slingshot coil bracket upwards so that the axe stops a little sooner. I only had to bend the bracket slightly. Not only did it work perfectly for me (no reoccurrence of axe hitting the PF), it was a simple solution that only took seconds to fix. See the photo for details. I hope this helps!
Quoted from CyberNinja24:Also curious on what others are seeing on play field dimples. I have exactly 200 games on my Smaug and have pretty noticeable play field dimples. My flippers are set in the mid 20s I believe. Certainly not cranked up. It doesn't bother me and I'm not complaining. Just curious if this is the new norm? I thought I read somewhere that certain ways/chemicals used to make play fields in the past could not be used anymore. Thus, the PF dimpling.
Dimpling is normal. All plywood playfields dimple, no way around it. Even a solid steel playfiled would show wear from heavy ball bearings slamming onto it.
Give it another 2500 plays and a lot more dimples they will all even out.
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