Just sent deposit in to join this club. Decision to purchase was 100% based on Pinside positive reaction to this game. I've done this sort of thing before and have never been led astray. Hopefully will get either next weekend or the following. Hurricane Dorian might push back getting this bad boy a bit.

Very exciting.

Because of fun or the tweaks needed? Maybe 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.

So, my LE finally arrived after almost 2 months of waiting.

Few issues I need help with

1. Some rod that looks like it is part of the ship mechanism behind the back of the Playfield is disconnected.

2. A thumb screw was sitting in the bottom of the cabinet. Not sure where it goes.

3. Couple bracket looking things loose in the coin box. Not sure what to do with them.

4. Funny enough I’m having a hard time getting the Playfield to slide back. Something seems to be in the way. Silly I know but any words of wisdom?

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Looks like I’m just going to need to remove the pearl. Just investigating still and realized the pearl is like a solid inch away from the ramps and maybe 1/2 to 3/4 inch below. I can lift it up with a little effort and get it better aligned. You can also see where the pearl has rubbed the back board a little with a wear spot.

This is all a little intimidating and a little of a bummer. Any additional thoughts with seeing these photos?

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Okay, just received my topper from the guy I purchased my LE from. The topper is much thinner than the mount. I’m guessing I’m missing something. Any suggestions? Current set up would never hold this in place.

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Hmmm. Getting around to getting my LE running. Bought a while ago and knew it had issues. Life is busy but chipping away at issues.

Next big job will be taking off the pearl to install cliffy and such and do the chest mod. Before that though, the game thinks door is open when it is not. Checking switches and neither door closed switch registers. Everything looks okay except one broken connector on a coin mech and a few loose wires that I don’t know the function for.

I would not think that is my issue.
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There are two switches. The other one is hidden. Sorry. I didn’t realize that.

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Also, coin door open and ticket mech which is not installed showing as active regardless of door position. Again, the door close button does not work in switch test mode either.

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It does not work on switch test.

I could not find the ticket dispenser listed. It does make me wonder as This pin was routed at a fun center by first owner. When I got the pin the coin mechs had been literally ripped off the front door which made no sense to me but maybe that had something to do with a ticket dispenser. Really I have no idea.

NICE! Still looking forward to getting my first game played, lol.

Does anyone have a link to how the Cliffy set gets installed? I have my pearl off and ready to get these in but can't seem to find any info

Well, I have the Map Cliffy installed. So far so good.

Put mylar in the map area and now going to wax under the pearl before putting back in.

The one way gate on my VUK was hanging by a thread and in fact I thought it was broke but after I looked at the diagram in the manual I think I'm good. I don’t really understand what good it is doing like this however. Do I have this correct?

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yes, other switches in the column do indeed work.

that makes more sense on the VUK lol. It was like this but hanging loose when i got the pin.

Perhaps I have located part or all of my issues.

I can play the game now but none of my column 9 switches work. I tracked that down to the left opto I/o board. Out of curiosity I looked at the right opto board and saw what is pictured. It looks like the power is disconnected.

I want to confirm that it is okay to plug this in. Sort of a stupid question but I really want to make sure I don’t fry something.

Photos below are from the right opto I/o board. You can see the connector hanging in the breeze with what I think to be the appropriate plug on the board.

I’m hoping that if I plug this in all will be well.
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Yes, got it plugged in and it did fix my column 9 issues. I was on the phone with Jim at JJP. Still a couple of issues which I was really hoping that one plug would fix:

1. Coin door always shows as open even when shut (both the splash screen and in switch test) Splash screen will go away if I start a game. Edit: interlock switch does work.

2. Black Pearl does not move at all either during a game or in test mode. I tried the "force recalibration" and still no movement.

Back to the manual. Can Lloyd (or anyone) who can help point me in the right direction?

Thanks. I'm happy that I am slowly making some progress.

Darin

Update on getting my LE up and running:

1. Coin door switch fixed: I removed the switch and tried a switch from LOTR which worked fine, so I knew I was dealing with a potentially bad switch. However, when I installed the JJPOTC switch in LOTR it worked. So, I'm guessing it was just a loose connection at the switch. Regardless, one more problem fixed.

2. All switches on column 9 now working. I have manually moved the disc connected to the BP motor and those 2 optos are working as well. So, I think all is well with switches.

3. Sadly, the BP is still not moving at all either in game mode or BP test mode. The motor is not bound up as I mentioned I can easily get the Pearl to move simply by manually rotating the disc which is connected to the rod and motor. I re-seated the connection on the board by the motor, the connector on the main board (J109)which I think is controlling the motor and one 2-pin (power connection, I think) connector coming off the motor and that little board. Not sure where to go next on this but at least I'm getting closer. Oddly, at one point when I was manually turning that disc the motor seemed to work for about 20 seconds. It seemed slow. Could I have created a little energy by turning that disc that then powered the motor for a moment or is that some evidence that the motor is getting some power? I have a suspicion that there is either something wrong with the motor or with power getting to it but not sure where to look next.

Also, just in case someone is wondering...I also ran could test of the pearl rock motor with the connector rod fully detached...no movement.

Not sure if related, but I had a similar issue with my LOTR years ago. As I recall, it was something blown on the main board that I had to send off and get repaired. Hopefully not the issue here but something to keep in mind. I don't totally remember.

Lloyd (or anyone), how would I go about testing with my multimeter if the black pearl rocker motor is getting power?

Tested as suggested. Unless I did something wrong, it looks like I'm not getting any power to the motor.

I already re-seated connectors on the main I/O board.

What about that little board connected to the motor. Any chance that thing is bad? Looks kind of hard to get to. Looks like the entire assembly can possibly be removed to get to the board and re-seat that connector. I have not done that yet.

Any additional thoughts?

One thing I have not done and should have is check some fuses associated with J109 (yellow wire) and J111 (blue wire). I'll update tonight after I get a chance to check those after work.

Sadly, my fuses are good. I was really hoping to get home and find a blown fuse

And, yes, spotlights work as do the ramp LEDs and spinning pops. I'll try checking the board with the motor later.

Yes, pulled fuses.

I re-seated connector on the motor relay board. No help.

After looking at this board a bit, I'm not sure how one would go about checking voltage to it. It is pretty easy to get to by simply disconnecting the rod and unscrewing the 2 screws holding it on.

Page D-86 in the manual shows the relay board. Sadly, I am not good with understanding a lot of electrical stuff, so it is not super helpful for me from a diagnosis standpoint.

Anyone that can tell me what leads to put the multimeter on and what setting on the multimeter? It would be nice to see if power is getting to that board.

Don't hate me for ignorance, lol.

Thanks,

Darin

More research...D-86 shows motor relay board receiving 12V power at pin 5 and pin 2 is black to the motor. I'm guessing the black is the ground to the motor.

So, if I wanted to test pins coming from the I/O board to the motor relay board, could I just unplug the female molex connector and put my multimeter black lead into pin 2 and then the red lead in pin 5 to see if I am getting power TO the board?

As far as I can ascertain, I am not getting power FROM the board. If I do test power getting to the board, would I be able to similarly test the other pins to see if I am getting signal? If so, what kind of setting on the multimeter would I use to test the other pins?

Again, thank you VERY much for the helpful teaching and suggestions.

I'm certainly happy to pop it over there. I just didn't want to duplicate stuff and it has morphed into more detailed tech stuff. Sorry for derailing this owner's club stuff.

For anyone following my BP motor stuff, I just posted more info in the troubleshooting thread. Take a look and comment away.

Argh! Need to get me Pirates fully functioning! All this talk of how great a game makes me go nuts! Maybe if I get sheltered (looking more and more possible) for next 2 weeks I will have the time to get her working!

Just got home yesterday. Today was grocery store and Costco. Tomorrow is hopefully relax and play some pinball and troubleshoot Pirates. I'll keep things up to date on the troubleshooting thread...

Congrats. Im a relatively new owner too. I have purchased the chest mod and a couple other fix it mods from the same place. Also just purchased the dauntless mod. Will be installing chest mod over the next week. People say that is one of the best mods out there.

So far i love this game. Hope you do too.

contact harryhoudini

Just watched this video. My door is definitely not going down all the way for sure. Any fixes for this?

Not talking about the chest door. Talking about the door on the "light fuse" shot on the BP

My issue is that in the 'closed' position the door is only about half shut and blocks the standup to the right from shots from the left BP flipper.

Post 14607 is the video link.

Watch this video. Door is definitely in thhe full down position.

This game is a ton of fun. Actually made me laugh last night at my misfortune. Had a new GC kind of game. Played 4 multiballs and had the 5th one lit. Played Liar's Dice for first time. Had no idea what I was doing and chose the points as my option. Well, I lost the game of dice and it cost me 176,000 points! It was half my score at the time. I didn't even realize it at first until I looked up and saw my score at about 200k and was thinking, "what the heck, I had about 350k a minute ago". Then I realized I LOST points playing a minigame! I literally laughed out loud! How awesome is it that there is a true risk v. reward!

Anyhow, ended up with 392k points and a big smile on my face. Can't wait to keep getting better with this game. Another awesome thing about that was I had just played maybe 10 really crappy games before I pulled that one out. Gotta love pinball!

I don't know how you guys do it. My GC score it maybe 300-400k. Don't remember for sure. I have only played liar's dice once. Sometimes I hear people bitching about code not being done. Well, for someone of my skill level, I have nothing to complain about. I do love the game.

One question...has anyone adjusted the upper left flipper so it sticks out ever so slightly? Right orbit shots go STDM if I don't hit it with the upper flipper. I lose A LOT of balls like that. Also, any downside to upping the strength of my flipper power? I have a very hard time making a shot to the BP unless the ball has some momentum.

Can you either post a photo of how your topper is installed or PM me directly? I have the topper but have absolutely no understanding of how to install it. I think I must be missing part(s).

Thanks,

Darin (and great game!)

Any info on how to "read" the star map for next lit shot on the LE? I don't understand that part of the game at all.

I don't play my game a ton...certainly not enough to be any good. As far as balance goes between the characters, I usually just play the one who has the lowest high score and once I beat it I go onto the next character. Keeps it fresh feeling for sure.