The problem is finding a really good pinball repair tech that knows what they are doing to help you out. Luckily, I live in an area with a few very knowledgeable people that know how to fix pinball machines, but some are not for hire, or they cost $100 to show up, plus hours and parts. That's ok though as at least I have that as a backup plan. If you are going to own a pinball machine, go into it knowing that you need to know or learn how to troubleshoot the basics as it is probable that things will wear and will fail over time. It's mechanical moving parts being beat to death with a metal ball and lots of electronics. I didn't know too much about it when I started out with pinball, and I'm still learning and not super good at soldering and board type of work. Troubleshooting is a learning process and "part of the hobby". LTG is our best troubleshooting guy that we have "free" access to and he seems to enjoy helping for the love of pinball. Just give him all the details that you can with photos identifying what you are talking bout - or even video links that you can PM him. There is a need for more pinball repair techs out in the world. I've helped out a few people myself. If there is a thread for your local area for something like "What's for sale in <state name here>", make a post there to see if they know of someone local that can help you repair your pin.

All that being said ... yes, NIB pins "should" be working out of the box with very little tweaks needed for small things that happen during shipping. JJP is very good at tracking what is happening that is common that needs corrections and they find solutions to implement. Eric is (or was) at the factory likely checking over the CE changeover on the production line and is looking into these repeat issues. The CE owners and future production pins will likely have much better odds for "the luck of the draw" for no issues or just needing minor tweaks from shipping.

Also I am a mining equipment service technician, so that helps

All good points, and agreed concerning JJPs offerings being top notch, LTG always being on standby here at pinside, and yes pinball machines do break. It happens, and will continue to happen as is the nature of the game and anything else with moving parts. Could you imagine being a helicopter mechanic? That would be a nightmare in my opinion. Way too many moving parts. As my grandfather has always said, never ride in a helicopter... and he flew airplanes for 65 years, half of his time in models that didn't have engines!

I know JJP is listening, and likely making constant adjustments to improve QC, I just hope that it continues to improve and feedback is critical, but not criticism.

Gos I hope so, mine is getting made this week or next ..

Just an update for those of you also experiencing the lantern issue. I haven’t heard back from JJP but I did talk to distro and he is trying to follow up.

My suspicion is that the little led bulb shifted inside the lantern during shipping and apparently the 4 lanterns are tied to two other leds as part of a single harness in the ship. Not sure if individual bulbs are even replaceable on this harness and don’t know if there is a way to access the bulb in the lantern to see if it shifted.

Tbl was 8500 without shipping and had more tweaks needed than all my JJPs and Spookys games combined.
It’s not so much the cost as it is every game could need to tweaked. BM66 SLE have had issues too, their node boards blew too.
Sure I’d love to see games all arrive perfect, but till that happens i will manage my expectations and stand by companies that support their products.
Which both JJP and Stern do.

Yes, thats agreed. The point is the fact that owners are at times required provide their own service for a product that is brand new and the request is that some system be implemented in the field or at the exit point of the factory to address the issues that are complex for people that want to enjoy pinball but have a limited skill set for repairs.

Otherwise the industry is self limiting to customers that are mechanically inclined, and I cant see how this keeps the industry in growth mode.

Can we agree on that?

Repairing and maintaining the machines is part of the hobby and you learn more and more with each machine. If you have a limited skill set hopefully you have some pinball friends that can help or hire a local tech that can help and maybe you can learn a thing or two from him.

Tweaks are one thing but major repairs out of the box are another story so I understand the frustration. The machine should at least be playable!

Just a couple lighted mods I have done. Still waiting on beatmaster lighted shooter housing to come in the mail. Also did the Lermod for the drain. Have not bit the bullit on the side art just yet.

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If my old memory is correct, JJP use to have "white glove delivery service" way back with WOZ. I'm guessing that was for it to be delivered, setup and checked out. Maybe that should be revisited or offered by the distributors (at a small cost to cover their time/effort) for the newer pin owners. If you are very local to a distributor that you buy from, most will help if there is a problem and asked. One of the advantages of buying through a distributor.

PM me exactly whats going on. I'll help you personally.

Thank you.

Just saw this message, will PM you now. Thank you.

You can't find any better service than this. Honestly vivid, I feel for you, but this should be a great learning opportunity for you to learn some basic repair skills. I've learned that if I'm going to own pinball machines, I better learn basic repair skills. It's scary at first, but it's really not bad after a few attempts. I applaud Eric and Lloyd for efforts in helping above and beyond.

And this just made me confident in every penny I am going to spend on my CE. Awesome!

Ramjet is in VA, maybe he can help you out?

Couldn’t agree more. It has been frustrating because I want to play this wonderful game and also because it’s an experience I’ve suffered before after owning a Alien with a major xenomech problem amongst other major hardware issues that I struggled to fix where there truly was no support.

This was never about a knock on JTP and certainly not Eric. This is my like 25th pin but only after like 2 years. So I know how to replace a entire rubber set, adjust leaf switches, change bulbs out to leds on an entire playfield etc. I am not comfortable with soldering, I am also not comfortable with cutting zip ties and messing with wiring on a brand new 9500 dollar game and removing a playfield that after my first attempt was not as straight forward as it appeared due to the wiring bundles being run with other wires that don’t go to the ship, etc etc.

Eric has spoken with me. We believe we have an idea as to what exactly is causing the issue and I will attempt the playfield removal and wire removal again with his guidance to then repair the issue in the flipper.

The customer support from JTP on pinside and any time I have called JJP has been top notch.

IMO, I honestly believe that in this newer home collector environment, There’s is a severe need for pinball techs around the entirety of the US. This is my fourth JJP and first one with an issue outside of minor tweak or adjustment. I will learn something new today and hopefully not make anything worse. If I can’t do it, I am sure Eric will help me further.

Thanks goes to both JTP and Eric. Let’s consider the issue of not being able to be fixed, solved. Issues out of the box are QC and from what I hear, changes are being done to things in a positive way so once again. Go JJP. Early adoption of a title is risky. Sometimes frustrating. This one got to me, I was just voicing an opinion and perhaps hoping to better pinball in the future. Either way. I digress and I hope to be shooting on the high seas by the end of the night.

I’m out.

You can do it!

I love mine, I hope I was able to help flush out a few minor line issues. its one of the best pinball machine ever made . depth,shots are buttery smooth . like that upper loop OMG . awesome. The only thing that would have made it over the top would have been more movie assets and actor rights . brovo Eric. can't wait for the next pin. I hope it's Toy Story! If its Willy Wonka I'm out,The movie and Gene Wilder are too creepy..

Also call 732-364-9900 and try and get ahold of Steve. He's on the road to Fla. If anywhere near you, maybe he can stop by.

LTG : )

Does anyone else notice a lot of glare from the front left two spot lights? They seem very bright in the backglass and I am wondering if mine shifted a touch out of alignment.

Easy to adjust them to your liking.

LTG : )

Is there a way to adjust the bass,tone?

Me and the Captain are playing a few games tonight!

Arghhhh!

Drink up me hearties yo ho!

Hey, received my POTC a couple days back and have one remaining issue. Thanks to those that posted I was ready to tap the threads but all was good but did need to move the braid out of the way. The chest would not release the balls but tweaked it and all is good. The one issue is the ball hangs on the top of the ladder quite often and stops the flow of the game. Love the game, it's my first pin! How do I resolve this? Also, found some bolts and nuts down below. Two of the brass bolts needed to be threaded into the disappearing post, see attached. Realized the posts were not working until the next day, so if you have this issue here is the resolve..

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Anyone know if the chest is supposed to release locked balls at game end?

I also had a game going where I think there were two locked in the chest and got into a multi ball where I drained one and it released a ball from the chest during ball save. Struck me as odd but maybe this is normal?

The house that Jack built. 2/3 games working perfectly and just need to work on the potc upper pf flipper tomorrow if I can get the wiring all straightened out and then I’ll be golden.

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Mine always release at end of game...

Interesting, i haven’t had any issues locking balls or releasing for multiball when 3 locked. I don’t think they are releasing when game over though.

I think Eric just wants the $100 bucks.

Haha! He would have to come for a visit to earn that c note. Phone sessions don’t count

There is a screw in front of the hex post below the spot light on the right top side of the ramp. It runs through a rubber grommet. Turn it tighter to lower the ramp to the right so the ball rolls off the gate.

LTG : )

You do have to wait till after the match. To start a game. Or they hold the ball during next game play.

Knock on wood, no issues at all and about 6 games into it. No loose screws, ship works perfectly. Just had a start button get knocked loose. 2 second fix. Thanks to Doc Pinball in Indiana for snagging this one for me.

Had the same ball getting stuck on the ramp. Will adjust that. Also had the question on the bass/treble control. Any adjustments there?

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Figured it out, if you start a game before the game over animation it won’t release balls. It releases as needed in game it seems.

Is it me or is that damn tortuga hole a real bitch to make? I literally got rejected 4 times in a row!

Setting reply to free game is an adjustment I recommend for home use.
The crack and animation are very rewarding.

For sure.. i set all my jjp pins like this as they have a great show.

Another question for you code gurus

When your in a multiball the main goal is shooting the called shots for jackpots and super jackpots. I’ve noticed getting chapter started while in a multiball as well but there is so much stuff going on that I wasn’t sure what the scoring benefit of completing the chapters while in a single or stacked multiball, anyone with insight on this?

Thank you, I'll try this tomorrow.

I will try this tonight!

So this does something different Thant the match sequence on free play?

Ever get this resolved? I bent the gate so it sits more forward but the ramp has such a tilt to the left that I can’t bend it far enough to stop the issue. The ball travels downhill to the left and sits there against the gate. Gets stuck pretty frequently. Also my ship sits about an eighth if an inch above the ramp. Doesn’t seem to affect it though. Either way just doesn’t seem like the ramp isn’t shaped right to let the ball travel back on the right side ramp.

I had my post stop working as well . I fixed by threading screw #8 in some that fixed it but my screw had a jam nut on it .its not shown in the drawing I tightened it and that should keep it from backing out. If your doesn't have the nut I would get one or use a removable lock tite (blue) .

Like I said, I tried to bend the ship ramp gate forward but could not do that enough. Just as a troubleshooting measure I wrapped tape around the gate to see how much further forward it would need to come and it is pretty significant. See pic below. The whole ramp is only held up on one side which may be the issue with the ramp not sitting level.

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Correct, I used the nut to lock, forgot to mention that...

Yes, tightened the screw with the rubber grommet that LTG recommended and pulled the ramp up gently, left side of the ramp up as to bend the tab ever so slightly. It did the trick and it is no longer getting hung up. I actually loosened the screw to the grommet so it would not be impacted so tightly for longevity etc. and retested and still good to go.

Bah...didn’t realize LTG’s Response was for that. That seems to have worked. But it is awefully tight. May bend it slightly as well. Thanks for the response!

Edit: Still not 100%. Much better but still got one during multi ball.