OMG Guys ...

First attempt at adjusting the shooter plate/assesmbly/whatever ...

Snapped it like 3 times and NO vibration whatsoever ..

=)

And got the topper going thanks to @zaphx.

I opted to do it the "hard" way and actually connect those wires behind the speaker..

It was fun...but it's done!

zaphX

Well unfortunately...

My black pearl is no longer running.

So I managed to fix a couple things and break something else.
All I did essentially was lift the playfield straight up and rest against the back box to get to the shooter assembly and when reseating .. I no longer have a rocking black pearl ..

=(

Wow! Sorry to hear that! Hope you get it going again. Such a shame JJP’s customers have to be fixing all these issues right out of the box!

So it's kinda odd right.

I can see the sort of rectangular slot where the ship sinks down on the left side. When I try to push down on the left side I basically can't get the ship to budge. It's almost as if something is blocking the movement..

=/

I concur, the ship rocks more to the left than the right. Otherwise all the balls would go overboard Arrrrrr.

Sorry to everyone who recently got NIB games with so many unacceptable issues out of the box. If I were you, I would raise a stink with JJP (and also let your distributor know). Reversed flippers? Light boards not plugged in or connected properly? No excuse for that.

Just as a reference, I am feeling pretty lucky and have not had any major issues with my machine. I've owned it for 3 weeks now with a manufactured date of 02/07/2019. I had a couple minor adjustments to make (like bending up the spotlight by the extra ball shot because the ball was getting stuck there), but that is the extent of it (*knock on wood*).

Hope those of you having issues get a proper and gratifying response from JJP. QC is clearly an issue right now, but it seems like from most of the threads I've read JJP takes care of their customers. Not excusing them, but hopefully they make it right.

Game is amazing! Hope the NIB issues don't spoil it for anyone in the long run!

Appreciate the help, thanks....

Why do we think so many of us out experiencing this magnetization issue?
I’ve had other games and I don’t think I’ve ever heard of this problem to such an extent.

Not only a candidate for post of the month but this sentence alone could summarize 75% of this thread unfortunately.

I believe the culprit is the Star Map/Character select magnet. that magnet fires too long and makes the ball bounce around for an extended period of time. that is what I think is causing magnetization more easily... the Black Pearl loading magnet only fires for a second compared to the Star Map magnet.

I am trying these balls from Marco:

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/PB116-5

They are supposedly less likely to magnetize.
I’ve only have them in for a few days...so far, so good...I will report back in a couple of weeks. 4 dollars a ball is pricey...they come in a 5 pack for 19.99

I never even opened the JJP balls and instead went with these from Marco. I use them in all my pins without any magnetization issues.
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/PB116

Edit: just realized these are the same as Pinzzz recommended.

Back at it..

So "basically" the pin is stock at the top:

zaphX
I saw in your guide where you have to loosen some screws and this pin should never touch the top or bottom so that the ship can move freely.
All I had to do was take the playfield out once and put it back in to mess this up.

Seems really weird that I would have tightened the screws by doing this unless I didn't quite get the pf in right even though it locked in place and everything.

I can take a picture from underneath as well if it helps.

black_pearl_pin_issue (resized).png

Is the motor that rocks the Pearl fully secured? Tightened down properly?

Never mind. In testing that motor, make sure the post to which the Pearl attaches doesn't hit the top or bottom of the slot. If it does, adjust appropriately.

Does the black pearl "sail" when the game is idle ... before a game?
I thought it did rock when it was idle .. mine is not doing this.

I don't own one, but during the DeadFlip stream it didn't start listing back and forth until a game was started.

I'm using stock balls. No issues.

So okay..

When i boot it up, the black pearl is lit. It even tilts side to side.
I *THINK* that's a pretty good sign.

Isn't there some sort of ship calibration test that I can run or something?

If only not rocking during gameplay, then I'm concerned I'm doing something wrong when I insert or something.

Also, I found this in the back of the game on the cabinet floor:

2019-04-04 (resized).jpg

Actually, now that I have had sleep, let’s do this..

Let’s turn off.
Put the play field back.
See if I get the same action on the black pearl when it starts up.
If I do, then theoretically I should be “good.”

I’ll report back.

It’s not uncommon to find a bonus screw now and then. Throw it in your coin box. You may find a use for it one day, you may not.

Haha .. Fair enough! =)

A note regarding issues with balls becoming magnetized. The plastic trough shim will help prevent magnetism issues in the ball trough. However, the interior of the chest ball lock where the balls rest on is metal which can be prone to magnetism. I wonder if putting down some mylar in the chest would help?

I'm using Pinball Life Super Shiny balls and they are becoming magnetized in the chest lock. I need to check the level of the game as well as I'm sure if it's lower on the right back side that it will impact how easily balls drop out of the chest.

Other then that my 2/4 built game is playing perfectly (knock on wood). Once I got the game leveled I was amazed at well it plays. The spinning disk also grabs the ball a good amount and throws it around much better then the triple disk mech did on a prototype game I played.

=)

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/l3p4v72rY55GPnUAf4wgb493HnHO6FKLC8PsCGQjCBLLMVBNqqmd2DH3MsGWd_ulkE5I9tOsXFRVXg=m18

I found a new topper

https://www.amazon.com/HHIP-3401-0006-Economy-Demagnetizer/dp/B00N40U34Q/ref=sr_1_3

Has anyone tried a demagnetizer with pinballs?

Looks like it is moving good. You can go into system test and find the ship test and calibrate it. I am pulling up the manual now on it.

Regarding playfield 'tightness' and 'fit', ensure the game is leveled and also check to make sure the legs aren't bent (from shipping?).

I do need to make a slight adjustment to the leveling. It seemed like sort of rocking side to side as I was pushing in/down on the playfield got it to go in easily enough.

I see these two pieces of mylar for the lock bar. What exactly does this do again?
Also, I have two longer rounded ish pieces of mylar. Not sure about that either.

I just noticed this game doesn't have art blades.
Kinda assumed the CE would.

Thanks!

Let's give it a shot and see what happens...

The mylar for the lock bar keeps your rails from scratching.
I believe the rounded mylar is for the chapter start area.

I just went though the ship leveling process. Do the full range test and make sure its not hitting the slot anywhere. Stop Motion Move Home and see where its at. If its leaning left and not pretty close to level it still needs adjusting. once you get home close to level do the move left and move right and make sure they look good as well (leaning a bit left on move left and a smidge right on move right) Then check full motion again. After that I did the force recalibration and everythign has been good since

Got it!

So I did the "full run" for the ship diagnositcs and it just rocked back and forth.
It said the slowest motor speed = 5.

I wasn't sure it was going to stop running so I decided to end it.

It seems happy...

I am working on my restore of F-14 too. Just waiting on my PF to come back from clear coating.

Got the same results when I ran the ship calibration, slowest motor speed = 5. The test does eventually timeout and stop.

Good to know.

I'm BLOWN away with this owner's manual that comes with CE btw.
My gosh!

Trying to apply these mylars now and then maybe actually play a game or 2. =)

Is this not the outside of the lock bar?
I would think the mylar would be attached on the inside.

What time/time zone?

Quick question. I see the ball hits the playfield rather hard when it comes out of the shooter rail. Is there a good amount of mylar put down at the factory to protector that area? Also, any concerns of damage on the playfield or plastic when the ball falls off the Pearl?

Shooter drop area is mylar. Man overboard area is a sticker on top of metal over the wood rail, so ball falls onto a metal area.

Awesome, thanks! Still trying to get the cannon shot down on the Pearl, what a tough shot!

If it's not too much to ask..

Can I get a quick recap of where you have used mylar to include the two squares as well as the two "odd-shaped" pieces?

Again, I LOVE it and first time owner here.
Just trying to be "kinda" careful

Thanks!!

=)

When putting key posts at the beginning of the thread, does this need to be done by the op?
We could definitely use some more key posts since this thread is becoming longer by the minute!!

I'd say not to start an "owners club" thread if you're not going to help manage the key posts. Maybe if a "owner" is one of the moderators, they could help with that. ???

Derp. Clearly I haven’t had my coffee yet.

The key post thing is something I have been shouting about for some time. I wish robin would make a “suggest key post” system.
There are some key posts in this thread, most of them is a head scratcher how they became a key post.

Pretty sure the curved Mylar is for up on the pearl where it comes out of vuk, it fits there perfectly. I’m assuming this is the one your talking about. I cut my own for the chapter start since I didn’t see a piece big enough supplied.

Mine came with two half-circle mylar pieces which I placed in front of the slings.