Just so it is flat, I would leave it. Many of us the Mylar at the map hole had lifted. Couldn’t get the Cliffy to lay flat like it was.

My MAP mylar was a mess around the MAP hole, bit it was fine around the MAP targets. With the Cliffy in place, that mylar is not needed so I removed it ... very gingerly. I can't see how the MAP mylar would be helpful with the Cliffy in place. Main thing is to fix that dang t-nut. It will chew your balls up pretty quickly if not addressed.

I have added mylar around the chapter selection area. With new Titan rubbers and mylar, the ball is much more active there now. I assume it was the new rubbers that did it. Just watch out on removing posts to get there as some of mine were sunk deep into the clear. One of the rubbers to the left in that area was worn nearly halfway through ... after 400 games.

What about the rubbers in this game? Are you guys changing them for Titans? Is it for cosmetic reasons or because of poor quality? Can you guys share the rubber ring sizes for this game?

FWIW - my Mylar was flat so I left it and put cliffy over it; no issues so far. If it was bubbled I would have removed as well

My mylar was lifting by the hole on the back right side, but forgot to take off mylar before putting on Cliffy. the whole cliffy lays flat, but I can see that the Cliffy is slightly raised on the back right side, but barely. I'd like to take it off and reinstall, but it's minimal as the post behind the deflector holds it down pretty well. Do think it will cause any issues ...only that removing wax might not be as clean as I'd like.

What is this loop ball guide bracket you speak of? I get very slow feeds through the inner loop and suspect something may need adjusted - could be this?

So this happened again the other day while collecting gold. I ensured everything was plugged in tight to the mother board in the backbox. Has this happened to anyone else?

The mylar to the right of the map hole was lifting but I flattened it, pressed it back down, then installed the cliffy over top. Problem was after a few days the mylar lifted again and this caused the cliffy to lift just slightly which affected the ball more than I liked. So I ended up removing the cliffy and pulling up the bad mylar. I'd like to know why so many owners have reported bad mylar around the map hole - did the JJP employee who's job it was to install that section decide to punk us all?

No

*sigh* Another Wonka upgrade......and no word on POTC....*sigh* Oh well.....Still love it!

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Yeah...not cool considering how much longer Pirates has been out. The wait for Pirates to become feature complete / polished is slowly starting to resemble waiting for Ghostbusters code.

Seems like just because of the shape of the area and the Mylar there’s a fold there from how they put it on. It didn’t impact ball travel on mine. I just snipped the middle of the fold and it laid down flat, then I put the Cliffy over that.

Got my trunk mod working this Saturday! Breaths new life into this machine and gives it something that I didn't know was missing.

I'll look or take a pic later but basically it's behind the BP on the loop. I believe this bracket holds the backboard to the playfield. Part of the bracket sticks out past the ball guide. If your ball(s) hit it, it will affect the ball's speed and/or trajectory not to mention possible damage to them. Take this bracket out and grind off the part that sticks out.

I saw this in one of the videos. Some guys from JJP were playing it. They laughed it off but didn't mention the reason why it happened. Concerning to say the least.

I'm going to post this comment in each thread I've posted about regarding POTC or JJP playfield issues. (Coming up as a double post error.)

I feel like anytime a company or individual is criticized for a lack of quality within their output, they should be equally commended when that output is adjusted.

I received an email from Jack before I headed out for work midday Thursday. I work second shift, and Friday had a voicemail left by him when I awoke, and called him back immediately.

Jack seemed earnest, gracious, and humbled in his offer of a new playfield to correct my issues with my POTC playfield tear and rippling. For me, this is the best I could hope for. I don't expect a fully populated playfield swap, or an outright machine exchange. What I am receiving is acknowledgment openly of the issues that have occured within this game, and done so by the company face of said product.

I respect this move. And it gives me greater confidence towards JJP then I had two months ago.

Jack as well, seemed confident these issues are being course corrected moving forward, and his overall tone was upbeat, wishing to make amends, and continue and improve customer relations. In my mind, for me and my situation, that has occurred.

That said, if it weren't for every single person being vocal on this issue, on this forum or via podcasts, whether supporting or accepting these issues, this outcome might not be happening. So I am thankful to all of you, as well as Jack and JJP, for helping make this lovely game "whole" again once more.

I also hope everyone affected by this issue is made whole again as well.

I only have a bit of pooling around my adjustable outlane posts on one side. Other than not being able to adjust the difficulty, everything seems ok and the coat seems hard. Should I be worried about these issues?

For those of us (like me) who may not know pin number identification, see new pic

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I am not an expert player at all. I am an average player, maybe a notch above. Many games I play on Pirates I don't even load the cannon. However, I was playing a game last week and sunk the Dauntless in seconds. First ball, hit the Black Pearl skill shot. A couple shots on the Black Pearl deck and I had the cannon loaded and took a shot and right in the hole for a Dauntless sinking. Total elapsed time about 5-7 seconds! Probably will never do that again

No. If your Mylar is flat you will get a good seal against the playfield with the protector. Just did mine this past weekend and the Cliffy's went in great.

What do you mean by “not being able to adjust the difficulty”?

I don't know that anyone knows for sure if there's an indicator that pooling will turn into a chip. I ended up with chipping at the base of my movable I-Lane post. I glued it back down and put a neoprene washer under a regular steel washer under the post. I don't know if putting the washers in will 100% prevent chipping but I don't think it will hurt.

Moving the adjustable posts changes the difficulty by making it more or less likely for the ball to drain down the I-Lane or E-Lane, depending on which hole you put the posts in.

Here is the prototype of the BP actuator protection kit (I don't know what the heck to call it). I don't know if it's even necessary, but I'm installing it on mine. It actually helps with a few things.

1. The shoulder bolt goes in to the bushing so it's easier to get the bushing on the back support pin and thread the shoulder bolt in.
2. The support pin bushing pushes the BP all the way forward, no slack front to back.
3. The rear protection plate gives a surface with much less friction and a "wear layer" to prevent the backboard from getting gouged (mine is somewhat gouged now).
4. The actuating pin (that connects the link arm to the BP) has a replacement bushing that has a lip on it which mates up with the protection plate. I think it provides better motion but I need to get everything back together to confirm this all works as smoothly as it should. The bushing and plate slide really smoothly against each other.

These are made from carbon fiber composite PLA and are quite strong. The plate is only .5mm right now so it's bendy but once it is in place that doesn't matter. These are printed in draft mode so finished pieces will be much smoother looking.

I'll post a video of installation and results so folks can comment.

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Does the chest stay open slightly?

Here is a video of what I was talking about.

Forgot to get a pic, here is a crappy screen cap where you can see the wear on my backboard.

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Looks like a homerun to me! Nice job!

So you POTC fanboys have finally cracked me. I have a chance to pick up a NIB Potcle. Im, a bit worried about the playfield, but am reassured by the recent promise to replace chipped playfields. What do you guys think? Should I take the risk and do it?

Absolutely, no question. Seriously.

amazing game

Super game indeed! Small disadvantage is that the screen is not tightly aligned with the front glass. Somewhere you always keep seeing the silver bezel of the screen, but that should not spoil the fun!

Seriously POTC is one of the best games ever IMO. Best JJP game so far, and such a great layout.
It's the 2010's decade Twilight Zone for me - truly a "World Under Glass" achievement.
Definitely *THE* game to get IMO, even with the issues.

Woz is better for me but this two are complementary, have hobbit 'spectalulary', POTC 'adventure', woz 'magic' all are so differents and good

It does just a bit. You can adjust it more to make it shut completely, but I reasoned that if it's not touching then that's less wear and tear. Also, none of them shut flush because of how they are molded and it's more noticeable if it shuts all the way.

Wow lucky man and what a find. For me this game defines all that pinball should be with the exception for a few fixit items. Worth the pain in my opinion and a trophy of gameplay no question. Congrats on the find plenty of knowledgable folks in this forum to help you out if you run into any trouble.

Some advice please: My inner loop shot (the switch labelled "inner loop enter") is not registering every shot, especially fast shots are missed. What should I do? Obviously it is the switch beneath the black pearl. hurra Thanks

Outch, what i will do ? Remove black pearl to tale a look un first

Go in test mode and use a pencil or something to activate the opto, see if it registers properly. Make sure they are aligned properly.

I have WOZ and JJPOTC and suggest both

Hopefully picking my LE this weekend. Always good to hear the accolades. I’ve owned Woz a couple of times. Certainly a crap ton going on with that but I never thought it was a huge amount of fun (sacrilege?) it was fun but just not great. DILE was similar for me. I liked Hobbit and had it for a long while.

POTC looks to me like it has a ton of stuff with great rules and flow. Can’t wait to delve into this.

Go For it Mate....I haven't played as much as I have wanted, but when I play a game, I find something new.....it's an unbelievable game and will never leave.

I agree on Woz but it's sooooo beautiful and interesting.
Curious about your thoughts on DI vs Hobbit, because I think DI is a really fun (and better) pinball game but I prefer the Hobbit theme and presentation by a mile. I ask because I haven't pulled the trigger on a Hobbit yet and I've been leaning against it.

I think I remember the same thing where some issues with the inner loop registering were mentioned as being code related. I haven’t noticed that one, but I’ve often had issues with having Dead Men Tell No Tales multiball qualified and hitting a solid shot through the turnaround in Devil’s Triangle without it registering to start the multiball. Seems to occur most frequently when I already have a couple multiballs running and there’s something else going on in the game (like a jackpot or mystery award) that seems to take precedent over the shot registering. I’m hoping that gets fixed in code also.

That is most likely a physical issue where the ball is not travelling through the mini loop at the end of the shot and thus not triggering the switch to start the multiball. Seems like the ball sometimes ricochets off the ball guide at the top instead of following the curve to the right.

Oh wow, I didn't hear this. That's great, I posted about this a while before (in conjunction with balls not making it around the loop when they should) and didn't know this was acknowledged. If only there were a centralized thread about POTC software updates

Sure would be nice to get a software update. I like that someone posted a Jack quote from a while back where he basically said they only will release finished software and games. Pshaw.

Yeah I know what you mean because I’ve hit plenty of those shots that don’t quite make it to the top The instances I’m describing though were 100% through the top of the shot.

BP actuation protection & alignment kit posted on Pinside if anyone wants to jump in the pool with me:

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/shops/1202-pinball-mod-co/02862-potc-black-pearl-actuating-protection-amp-alignment-kit

I’m having an annoying issue. I keep having balls get lost when get go behind the BP via skill shot, port royal or any soft soft around the loop. Game goes into search mode and eventually the ball is released into the BP (VUK) and to the playfield. I did notice the VUK has a hard time pushing the ball up into the BP. The ball makes it to the BP when the VUK fires and the BP is tilted to the left. I’m pretty sure this is what I saw. The VUK tries for a few times and then stops. Thinking the BP may be too far back or something? My daughter played a game and she hit the port royal lane. Ball got lost for a good long while. Anybody know what it’s going on here?

Also, is it normal for this wireform to be slanted like this? Thanks!

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Do you still have that big gap between the BP and the ramp? Can you lift up the BP (meaning it is not in the mounting pins all the way)?

If the VUK isn't kicking the ball up with enough force then you can change the setting and increase the power. Most people have turned it down because it had so much force it was hitting the spinner optos on the BP. You want just enough power to make it up the VUK scoop. This really only applies if the issue is the ball isn't getting kicked up with enough force the first time. If the ball gets lost first then I would check the VUK switch and just roll the ball in there manually in test mode and see if the switch registers each time and if the VUK fires properly.

I don't know how many times it might try to kick it up the VUK before stopping. I know that other coils stop after a bunch of tries (like the chest release, if the optos aren't aligned). So depending on what the sequence of events is, maybe it's hunting for the ball after not being able to kick it up?

If the ball is having trouble when the ship is tilted, I go back to my first questions. If the BP isn't installed right or there is a broken mount then it likely is not aligned well for the VUK. It's somewhat tight clearances back there and I could see the ship blocking the exit.

That ramp shouldn't be tilted, no. How's the top end of that near the BP? Is the BP clear ramp aligned now? Is the wireform inserted in to that ramp properly? If so, worst case you can use some channel lock pliers and a rag to bend that front mount a bit.

Then I have to think it's a switch issue. Check the switch in that tiny loop. I've played a TON of this game, often focusing on DMTNT, and haven't ever had it miss starting if it went around the loop no matter how many multiballs were in play.