I think I've been there.....

You can download the manual from jerseyjackpinball.com - Support - Downloads.

It's similar to a Williams pin. They snuck a motherboard and hard drive in there.

Manual has switch matrix chart, and coil chart. And further in the back wiring pinouts to I/O board.

If you can rebuild an F-14, you shouldn't have any problems with this.

I'm not saying you shouldn't have to. Just trying to get you going.

LTG : )

This could be pretty cool, looking forward to seeing it.

No the problem with the diagrams in the manual is they dont match up. Just learned a lesson on the board that has the 8 cat5 connectors. It doenst matter where anything is plugged in as long as its plugged in. So spent 30 min tracing the cat5 cables to find 2 were plugged in the wrong socket so maybe thats my issue. Nope doesnt matter where I plug them the one board always registers the right lights and the other board is dead. Why have a wiring diagram if your not going to follow it. To top it all off the board that is dead has a green light on it

Revisiting the sling posts issue ... I bought the star post replacements as preventative precaution and found that mine has clear washers installed the same size as the posts. My build date is 1/15/19. Just an FYI. I replaced the posts anyway.

20190403_195515 (resized).jpg

The star field really isn't necessary - when you hit the star map targets (assuming none of the movies are lit), a playfield shot will flash white for a second. That shot will be the mystery pictogram depicted on the star field.

Ok got the cannon load door problem resolved and the targets on mini pf too close together. Didnt realize i could fairly easily take off the top decking. Upon inspection the load door was binding on the right side of the. The coil bracket and coil have a fair amount of play from side to side. Adjusted it a smidge and now door works. Targets i just bent about the distance of a cat hair and now both work independant. will adjust tehm to be spaced better when I'm finally allowed to pull the pearl. On to trying to adjust the pearl so it rocks both left and right and not left and more left

Is this a sign of improved QC?

Yes. More recent pin newborns had metal washers though. I just wanted owners with pins near the same build date as mine to know they may have clear washers that aren't noticeable because they are the same size as the post.

New problem......
Occasionally on a ball drained sdtm, the game does not recognize that the ball is gone and goes into search mode for the ball. I’d estimate that this happens 30% of the time on center drains.

Also, possibly related, at times there are issues with balls moving into position from the ball trough to the shooter lane. This has happened a few times during multiball.

Stock balls? Did you check to see if they're magnetized?

This Marco item will resolve that issue.. your balls are magnetized, and get hung up in the metal trough. I had the same issue, and this resolved it.
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/03-16809

Game is 5 days old and broke an upper Playfield flipper rubber. From what I can tell this requires removal of the upper Playfield to get at. Is this true?

Thanks

So for the record ... I had a list of a dozen or more issues with my NIB POTC game that varied in severity from various switches needing adjustment; to the plunged ball hanging up in the orbit more often than not; to balls CONSTANTLY getting stuck in the chest or behind the upper playfield.

That said, this list of issues was no different than those I have encountered on numerous other NIB games in the past. Frustrating as they were at the time, I've successfully resolved them all by making various methodical adjustments and I'm pleased to state that my POTC is now playing very well indeed!

Moreover, as a seasoned pinball veteran from woodrails to solid states to DMD and newer games, I can unequivocally proclaim JJP's POTC to be one of the truly FINEST games that I have had the honor to own. My sincere appreciation goes out to Eric Meunier and the rest of the JJP team for creating this fun and challenging game!

Uh, no. You just stretch a new one on. This is instructions for superbands, but it's the same idea for regular flipper rubber, too:

How do you get it around the thick part of the flipper without removing the part of the ship that covers it?

There are two nuts on top of the trim plastic on each flipper. Take the nuts off and pry the plastic trim up and off to get access to the flipper. Less than 5 minute job to do it all and put it back together.
Trim on, as it is from the factory
trim-on (resized).jpg

Remove the two nuts and pry it up on the flipper bat side to get it off (it was kind of tight on the posts)
trim-off (resized).jpg

Worked perfectly! Thank you

Hey guys!

Finally got my CE tonight!
What a journey getting up those stairs...

Anyways...I may be one of the really fortunate ones as it's playing pretty great - knock on wood.

I do have a weak plunger and really not the first clue how to fix/troubleshoot it. I guess maybe the tip isn't aligned with the ball or something. On another note, when the ball is saved or w/e, the auto-plunger seems perfectly fine.

You'll have to show me some love as I'm REALLY NEW to this and it's my first pin...but what a blast and amazing feeling to FINALLY own a pin!

Thanks!

Also...

I was pretty "shocked' how difficult? the topper is to get plugged in so unfortunately that has been skipped for now, but I'm looking to resolve ASAP!

Thanks again...

How’d you get it up the stairs? Did you use a stair climbing lift?

As for the weak plunger, pull the plunger and let it snap - does the autoplunger fork jiggle? If so, it’s making contact and robbing your shooter power.
Adjusting the screws on the plunger mech to move it down a bit will fix it.

Also, check your shooter tip - if it’s torn that will also screw your plunges.

It’s actually really simple. There are two empty plugs in the backbox ready to plug into the topper mech.

Really can't stress enough how INCREDIBLE this community and, even more so, how AMAZING this thread is.

Like...I can post a comment, suggestion, question, and pretty much get a response within minutes...for free!
It's just phenomenal.

zaphX I trust you are right. I tired. Would you mind providing a photo of EXACTLY where these two plugs go? I took off the back glass (after learning how) and learning that the keys for the coinbox are different for the back box (or w/e it is called) ... but I just didn't see anywhere obvious to plug these in.

I had some buddies over and I was kinda disappointed because it's one of the unique things about CE.

Really appreciate it guys!

To add a data point, received POTC LE today, perfect out of box. Only issue is trough hang ups, but I’ll switch out from stock balls tomorrow to see if magnetized balls are the issue.
There is a hell of a lot going on in this game, will take a couple days to get used to it!

I don't have one to check. According to the manual, wiring comes from the I/O board J113 - pin 10 - light blue wire violet stripe. So I'd remove the metal cover back there over the boards and look for a light blue two wire connector. Maybe stuck in there or behind something. Follow the light blue wire from J113.

You can download the manual from jerseyjackpinball.com under Support - Downloads.

LTG : )

So I do have to remove that cover from the silver box? I thought so. I'm pretty sure that's going to require removing the screen as well? .. as it's in front.
I guess this is what I meant by "not easy" ...

Appreciate it.

Also, this:
"As for the weak plunger, pull the plunger and let it snap - does the autoplunger fork jiggle? If so, it’s making contact and robbing your shooter power."

Sorry guys ... what exactly is the "fork" and I'm guessing I can do this while the machine is off.

There really, really is.

No issues with balls in trough for me and I'm using stock balls. Do you know about how many games you have on your machine now?

If you look down through the opening that lets you see the spring on the plunger, there's a band over the top of the plunger, that's the part that kicks forward to auto-launch the ball. If it's hanging low or the plunger is a bit too high, the plunger can catch it as it moves forward, robbing the manual plunge of power. If you see it "jiggle" when you manually plunge, your plunger is probably nicking it and one or the other needs to be adjusted so they don't contact.

Ah, got it. Thank you for the extra bit there. Umm.. as far as "looking through the opening" ... do I need to remove the glass and all that or should it not be necessary?

No, you should be able to clearly see if that bit through the opening is moving when the plunger is let go and moves forward rapidly, even with the glass on.

Checking now!

You can also slo-mo record it with a phone to see what may be happening, both from the front where the ball is, and through that slot over the spring of the plunger.

Okay...

So the "fork" is essentially those metal things on both sides of the plunger?
When I pull back and let go or let it snap -- they are DEFINITELY moving ... both of them.

Don’t know for certain, had my buddy over who helped me out and his family. Probably about 20ish games. May be balls as the probem seemed to get worse as the night went on. Nudge the game, they get recognized, not too big of a deal.

Def more than happy to do it...

Stand by..

Then you need to loosen the three screws on your shooter rod plate and adjust it down (or if it won't go lower, shim the top side of the plate to aim the rod lower). There's also a chance the playfield hooks are bent a little and the PF is resting like 1mm too low, putting the auto plunge onto the shooter rod path. But that long-running problem that affected The Hobbit and Dialed In was supposedly fixed for PotC, so that may be the least likely.

I don’t have pictures, but just root around in the back box - you’ll find two connectors along the left/top-left area that are obvious matches for the ones on the topper.

To be clear - I have to open the back box correct? You aren't referring to the back of the ... back box?

All you have to do is remove the translite. You do not need to remove screws on the silver box inside. Follow the wiring around the left side of the box and up, and look for the two lonely molex connectors in need of a home.

Here ya go guys...

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/B4vHUEKVANzzH7Iw7sptshhd4gLX85MmFj85MPGx74itzRiUALZn9gImcYKvUvmlGyDN0SgJ0XLPuQ=m18

Haha ... thanks a bunch.

This makes a little more sense .. Let me look again now and get some real light on this thing.

Yeah, it's definitely hitting the auto launch part that runs over the top of it. So adjust the shooter plate down, or shim it. If neither of those work, try raising the PF like 1-2mm by shimming the hooks.

To be clear - neither metal sides should be moving at all when plunging?

Correct. If the metal pieces move when you plunge, which they definitely did in your video, that is the source of your inconsistent plunges.

zaphX

I'm sorry man. I promise I'm trying. I removed the translite. I noticed the coloring of the two wires from the topper. I fed them into this back box through the hole. I can see towards the middle bottomish area the J113 jumper. It looks like it routes to the right and then underneath and then comes back to the left...

But I just CAN'T find the "ends"... Would it help to somehow remove the screen?

Also the topper wires are pretty short when routed into the back box so I'm assuming it's friends are going to need and meet them.

Excellent -- did you happen to catch the level on the right hand side?

I think it's a little low as far as the bubble goes.

This tells me that the elevation is a touch high? With the assumption that if I lowered the back legs the bubble would move up?

Is this correct and is this probably the first thing i should try before adjusting screws/shimming (FYI - not "entirely" sure what "shim" means but it sounds scary)

I catch on quick - I PROMISE.

This is just new terminology..

"Shimming" the "hooks" ??

Update. I got the black pearl in working condition. Still feel like it should lean to the right a bit more but its at the top of the range so as far as it goes. Next time one of you guys has the glass off if you have a digital level can you check what your degrees are for left mid and right. Thinking that maybe it was just designed to go more to the left than the right. At least its not center left left still. Worked the temporary plunger tip a bit (was pulling in one direction the littlest bit) got it even and now I can fairly consistantly hit the skill shots. Got about half the lights figured out. 2 lights were not plugged in. 1 looked like it was never plugged in at factory as I found the plug buried in the harness behind a zip tie. Other was so tight it prolly unplugged during shipping. Spinner light was plugged into wrong socket on wrong board (why it came up in test as not used). Still have a few rgb that are either missing colors or wrong color. Also still nothing on the one lightboard. took a second look at it and the green led comes up on board like it should be working but no lights. Also there is 2 sockets on the same board that say something something pop bumper and have nothing connected. Going to call dist first thing and hopefully get them to send me a new one. other than the light issues I think everything is in working order.

That should be the last thing you try after the other two fail.

Basically you want to loosen the two shiny steel playfield hooks (the things that hang on the receiver under the lockdown bar when you put the playfield down) where they connect under the playfield then put a shim between the hook and the playfield to raise the playfield up just a little, which will in turn raise the auto launch relative to the shooter rod because the shooter rod is attached to the cabinet and the auto launch is attached to the playfield.

Based on all the machines I’ve seen, I’d say the left/right is intentional.