Just had a minor issue with the left upper flipper not falling back down all the way. Took the spring off, shortened it a few loops and it’s back to normal.

When I replaced the rubbers on mine the metal guide behind the flipper was too close to it and was preventing it from returning. I had to manually bend the metal guide back a bit, FYI.

Fair enough. I stand corrected. My replacement was sent by my Australian distributor. Did not realise there are 2 different buttons out there. Mine is working fine now that I removed the small burr. As for the action of this other button, it costs $15 AUD to get it. I have repaired mine and they work. Will see how they go.

The thing I noticed mostly was the "floppyness" of the button. The center part of the button which you depress is all sorts of loose on the JJP one I have. The stern one is much tighter/stiffer in that lateral motion but it isn't at all hindered in the up and down motion. It seems to have better action to it and feels more quality. It's a stupid, minor thing, so if the deburring solves it why not. I was ordering from Marco anyhow so I figured it was much easier just to swap it.

Problem solved! Thanks

An issue crept up tonight with the right flipper registering as a spinner on the pearl. Every time the right flipper is pressed, it scores points and progresses toward the pearl cannon (as the spinner would). Has anyone seen this or have an idea what’s going on? Thank you for your time and any advice.

Check your right opto on the right spinner on the pearl. Mine was broken and any vibration would set it off. I was boarding all day. It's the VUK behind it that's the culprit. It smashes balls into the opto. Turn it down to 20. I have a temporary fix for my opto, I just twisted the bottom until it was aligned.

too quick!!

My cannon doesn’t line up with the dauntless at all. It always hits the back side and will never go in. Which is misaligned?the dauntless or the cannon? Which is easier to adjust?

Post 6315 in this thread.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/jjp-pirates-of-the-caribbean-official-owners-and-fan-club/page/127#post-4908779

LTG : )

Got it and fixing it now. Thanks!

Ok so I've started to have irregular performance with the black pearl cannon gate. It seems as though the pictured spring attached to this hook thingy needs to be dead center. If the spring slides/pivots to the right during play the gate won't open all the way. Suggestions to stabilize this spring?
Screenshot_20190527-151004 (resized).png

No, but pretty sure it's not that. When this spring is misaligned it still opens and stays open just not all the way.

If I manually move this little spring back center performance goes back to 100 percent and gate will fully open and I don't notice any lower playfield triggered glitches.

If it slides over to the right edge of this plastic with hole or whatever it is that's it's attached to, the gate doesn't open fully (but stays open as it should).

I am having flashbacks and nightmares of the WOZ castle doors springs. I just had to fix mine for like the 30th time. I think I finally have it settled, just the right amount of tension.

I had this same problem new out of the box. In shipping it must have misaligned a tad. If I remember right It was a 2-3 screws to get the decking off. Then maybe 2 screws to loosen coil and pivot it back to center. Tighten screws back ( on mine I think I was able to just pivot it and not loosen the screws). manually move the gate up and down to make sure the bar that spring attaches to doesnt hit and you will be golden.

Ended up just making coil bracket adjustment from service position in the back, you don't need to take anything off. Thanks!

Captured ball should release after the game is over (unless you start a new game before it gets to that point). Balls being able to make it up the forks was covered here, did you do all that? https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/jjpirates-of-the-caribbean-troubleshooting-tips-issues#post-4933982

That's almost definitely what is happening. If you start right away (which we all do because it's such an addictive game) the balls stay put. If you give it a minute to get through game over, they will drop.

Sounds like normal operation to me.

Finally stopped playing the thing long enough to do some work on it. A bunch of switches hadn't been hit in a while because my cannon wouldn't load anymore. The spring that connects to the gate mechanism for loading the cannon came loose and I had to reattach it; they sure don't make that easy.

Now all that's left is to install the subway post and to gap the stuck slingshot switch on the left side of the chapter select. I'm hoping I don't need to remove it, and it's easier than I'm expecting because it's lower on the playfield (when flipped upside down.)

Regularly I get the “boarding party” message across the display, but no ball enters the mini playfield. In test with the glass of I cannot find yet the switch that triggers this unwanted behaviour.
I suspect a overly sensitive spinner opto.
Any suggestions?

2. I lowered the power of the BP VUK from 32 to 18 and it still lanches the ball perfectly onto the deck. I recommend this adjustment, since the stock setting is 32!!!! Which is way to hard.

Suggestion - tests switch test matrix switch test then look at the grid while you tap on the Pearl near the flippers - create a little vibration and see what triggers. Spinner opto it could be or something else up there.

Check the right spinner opto, 3 of us have had ours snapped in the middle. If it is, Twist the bottom half so it is aligned correctly.

Here was mine.

And yes, the powerful VUK broke it.

6E9FBD88-C707-4F4E-9D3F-C9D2CFC7D048 (resized).jpeg

D4AFBA50-F075-4FA0-B635-AF1B04FBF283 (resized).jpeg

Had the left flipper on the pearl lock on, is this a TIP102?

IRL 540 - good robust transistor akin to the TIP122 but can handle more amps more often.

thanks, will this work?

https://pu-parts.com/irf540-npbf-transistor

Has anyone hacked something to protect this area or does just turning down the VUK pretty much get rid of this issue?

Turning down the VUK seems to be the solution. I would love to see some protection there, mine was one of the broken ones.

Interesting....

I did not find a reported problem or a fix for this: for some reason I am able to remove my backglass even though it should be locked. Anybody with a similar problem and what is the fix for this? Thanks for any info!

I’ve had my SE almost a week and am loving it.

When I first turn on the machine (at times), all the PF insert lights are off (only GI is on), and this continues when I start a new game. I then restart the machine and everything is fine. Any thoughts on what might be causing this?

Look at the backbox lock to see if the keeper either fell off or is turned the wrong direction.

BAG board mounted under the playfield controls all of the lighting more or less. There is a mini USB connector on that board which can come loose or get misaligned in its socket. It's the only mini-USB under the field and usually has a factory tie-wrap on it to hold it in place. Examine and re-seat or straighten if needed. The other end of that USB cable plugs into the "bottom" of the motherboard below the metal box behind the monitor (with the security dongle and the VGA and everything else). Unseat and re-seat the USBs there with game power off. Don't move them to other ports, just unplug and replug.

The upper interior loop isn’t very smooth on my game, the transition between the rails seems to have s thunk that is robbing a smooth fast loop. I still get multiple loops in a row but a clean shot sometimes barely makes it around. I’ve played with the slope and the game is level. Can the rails be tweaked?

My spotlight above Tortuga Tom always goes out. I've tried several bulbs. Any tricks for this?

Hmm - doesn't this look to be ok?

IMG_6134 (resized).JPG

Are you using 12v bulbs?

I'd like to hear more on this.. Still having loop issues too

THANKS for the info, Pinballomatic. I’ll check those connectors tonight!

I have the same issue w/ my POTC