(Topic ID: 240503)

jjPirates of the Caribbean Troubleshooting/Tips/Issues jjPotC Tech

By PinMonk

4 years ago


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#1551 4 years ago

You could remove the subway yes, I did not, the subway helped trap the debris, and then I stuffed a shop vac hose in.. I’m confident I got all the metal debris.

#1552 4 years ago
Quoted from Soulrider911:

You could remove the subway yes, I did not, the subway helped trap the debris, and then I stuffed a shop vac hose in.. I’m confident I got all the metal debris.

You must have been pretty delicate in trimming that nut, that far against the wood, and the tooth turned upward!

#1553 4 years ago
Quoted from wesman:

Did you removed this via the subway to trim it or.......?

I agree, wouldn't that be easier and safer?

#1554 4 years ago

wouldn't a Cliffy cover that T-Nut?

#1555 4 years ago
Quoted from 3pinballs:

wouldn't a Cliffy cover that T-Nut?

Mine still butted out over the Cliffy. His tnut situation looked even more poorly situated, with the tooth digging into the map hole.

#1556 4 years ago
Quoted from wesman:

Mine still butted out over the Cliffy. His tnut situation looked even more poorly situated, with the tooth digging into the map hole.

are your pinballs dinged up?

#1557 4 years ago
Quoted from 3pinballs:

wouldn't a Cliffy cover that T-Nut?

Take a look at this pic, it's actually slightly too short to cover the tnut. Even if it did cover it, the ball will bend the heck out of it in no time and or... the tnut will end up punching right through it...

map (resized).pngmap (resized).png
#1558 4 years ago
Quoted from 3pinballs:

are your pinballs dinged up?

I had a couple of nicks on two out of the five balls, but that was only maybe 70 or so games in.

Quoted from Soulrider911:

Take a look at this pic, it's actually slightly too short to cover the tnut. Even if it did cover it, the ball will bend the heck out of it in no time and or... the tnut will end up punching right through it...[quoted image]

Yeah, that's similar to what mine was, so I trimmed it.

#1559 4 years ago

The spotlight for my Black Pearl was out. Swapped the bulb to a working one to diagnose it as a bad bulb. I grabbed an LED from my parts drawer put it in... Worked for a very short time. I assume that I did not use the correct bulb? Are these 12v lights?

#1560 4 years ago
Quoted from kcZ:

The spotlight for my Black Pearl was out. Swapped the bulb to a working one to diagnose it as a bad bulb. I grabbed an LED from my parts drawer put it in... Worked for a very short time. I assume that I did not use the correct bulb? Are these 12v lights?

So I've found the issue isn't so much the bulb as it is the connection to the socket.

I fixed this with the e-tape fix to the bulb which gave it a nice snug connection.

#1561 4 years ago
Quoted from zaphX:

So I've found the issue isn't so much the bulb as it is the connection to the socket.
I fixed this with the e-tape fix to the bulb which gave it a nice snug connection.

I'll try again but I messed with the leads for the bulb the first time.

#1562 4 years ago
Quoted from kcZ:

Are these 12v lights?

Yes.

LTG : )

#1563 4 years ago
Quoted from LTG:

Yes.
LTG : )

Thanks... Explains why the 6.3v light that I swapped in popped so quickly. Now to find a 12v bulb in my stash.. That and make darn sure the original was bad but I'm awfully sure it was.

#1564 4 years ago
Quoted from kcZ:

I'll try again but I messed with the leads for the bulb the first time.

What you do is straighten the leads, wrap the base with e-tape, then fold the leads back down over the tape.

This gives more pressure in the socket and a reliable connection.

#1565 4 years ago
Quoted from zaphX:

What you do is straighten the leads, wrap the base with e-tape, then fold the leads back down over the tape.
This gives more pressure in the socket and a reliable connection.

The thread on this with pictures:
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/fixing-led-bulbs-flashers-that-fall-out-of-spotlights

#1566 4 years ago

It may sound simple but make sure the contact inside the spotlight socket are not bent as well. I had spotlight issues and when I looked into the socket without bulb in one of the leads was bent in making the bulb hard to insert and have a bad connection. 5 seconds straightening the pin and socket has worked ever since

#1567 4 years ago
Quoted from kcZ:

Thanks... Explains why the 6.3v light that I swapped in popped so quickly. Now to find a 12v bulb in my stash.. That and make darn sure the original was bad but I'm awfully sure it was.

If you need one I have spares.

#1568 4 years ago

So when i fire up my Pirates it makes this terrible pop and crackle sound out of the speakers, is this solved with the ground loop isolator?
http://store.jerseyjackpinball.com/Parts/The-Hobbit-Parts/Ground-Loop-Isolator.html

#1569 4 years ago
Quoted from Soulrider911:

So when i fire up my Pirates it makes this terrible pop and crackle sound out of the speakers, is this solved with the ground loop isolator?
http://store.jerseyjackpinball.com/Parts/The-Hobbit-Parts/Ground-Loop-Isolator.html

Get one from Amazon instead.

#1570 4 years ago
Quoted from kcZ:

Thanks... Explains why the 6.3v light that I swapped in popped so quickly. Now to find a 12v bulb in my stash.. That and make darn sure the original was bad but I'm awfully sure it was.

I did that. It smells nice doesn’t it!

#1571 4 years ago

Suggestion/improvement: change the cool white 12V leds in the spotlights for 12V warm white. This gives the playfield a much warmer atmosphere. And still more than enough light.
I did this on the Hobbit too and the games look much better overal.

#1572 4 years ago

I found my wayward post at last! If you lose a part check the rail gaps.

B9D9E8ED-3D43-4A5B-A478-FCD0D3CA2B5E.jpegB9D9E8ED-3D43-4A5B-A478-FCD0D3CA2B5E.jpeg
#1573 4 years ago

Work has been crazy so I haven’t had too much time with POTC since I got it. I managed to fix most of the original problems I had - the most surprising fix was that the opto switch for the Devils Triangle spinner was installed backwards from the factory (!) but the rest were pretty simple. I had one flipper rubber on the upper playfield snap with probably less than 50 games on the machine which seems unusual, but I have a few spares now in case it happens in the future. I still have three problems and searching this thread hasn’t helped me - anyone have any thoughts on the below?

1. The upper loop seems to be registering shots intermittently. The further to the right of the inner loop, the more likely it is to register. In switch test it behaves the same - the closer to the right hand side of the ball guide, the more likely it is to register. The path between the opto pair seems clear.

2. The left ramp is kinda clunky - even with the lower right flipper power down, at least 50% of shots hit the diverter even when it is in the up position and go into the whirlpool. When the diverter is down for multiball start, the ball goes into the whirlpool but at an angle so it doesn’t really spin like it should, which leads me to think they I need to adjust the position of the diverter mount. Could anyone share a top down pic of their maelstrom diverter so I can compare?

3. The most frustrating issue is that I am getting a ball trough error on start up 90% of the time, which prevents a game being started. When it first happened I did some troubleshooting with Lloyd via email, checking various connectors etc, and he came to the conclusion that one of the opto boards was faulty, so I’m waiting on a replacement - but since then there have been a few occasions where I’ve switched the game on and it has worked fine. If I don’t get the error immediately on start up the game will work fine until I switch it off, even if I leave it on all day, so I can play multiple games without an issue if I’m lucky on the first boot. Power cycling the machine after I receive the error once will always result in the error, but if I leave the game for a couple of days it will sometimes be fine. It’s driving me crazy.

Has anyone had any similar issues?

Edit: I’ve been meaning to ask - I get a loud pop noise from the speakers when the game is booting. This is my first JJP game so I don’t have anything to compare it to directly, but the noise is much louder than any of my other machines. Is this normal?

#1574 4 years ago
Quoted from JustLikeMe:

Work has been crazy so I haven’t had too much time with POTC since I got it. I managed to fix most of the original problems I had - the most surprising fix was that the opto switch for the Devils Triangle spinner was installed backwards from the factory (!) but the rest were pretty simple. I had one flipper rubber on the upper playfield snap with probably less than 50 games on the machine which seems unusual, but I have a few spares now in case it happens in the future. I still have three problems and searching this thread hasn’t helped me - anyone have any thoughts on the below?
1. The upper loop seems to be registering shots intermittently. The further to the right of the inner loop, the more likely it is to register. In switch test it behaves the same - the closer to the right hand side of the ball guide, the more likely it is to register. The path between the opto pair seems clear.
2. The left ramp is kinda clunky - even with the lower right flipper power down, at least 50% of shots hit the diverter even when it is in the up position and go into the whirlpool. When the diverter is down for multiball start, the ball goes into the whirlpool but at an angle so it doesn’t really spin like it should, which leads me to think they I need to adjust the position of the diverter mount. Could anyone share a top down pic of their maelstrom diverter so I can compare?
3. The most frustrating issue is that I am getting a ball trough error on start up 90% of the time, which prevents a game being started. When it first happened I did some troubleshooting with Lloyd via email, checking various connectors etc, and he came to the conclusion that one of the opto boards was faulty, so I’m waiting on a replacement - but since then there have been a few occasions where I’ve switched the game on and it has worked fine. If I don’t get the error immediately on start up the game will work fine until I switch it off, even if I leave it on all day, so I can play multiple games without an issue if I’m lucky on the first boot. Power cycling the machine after I receive the error once will always result in the error, but if I leave the game for a couple of days it will sometimes be fine. It’s driving me crazy.
Has anyone had any similar issues?
Edit: I’ve been meaning to ask - I get a loud pop noise from the speakers when the game is booting. This is my first JJP game so I don’t have anything to compare it to directly, but the noise is much louder than any of my other machines. Is this normal?

I know the loud pop is power being fed to the amp or speakers. Ask harryhoudini for more specifics, as he's working on a resolution to remove that.

That's about all I can help with sadly...

#1575 4 years ago
Quoted from wesman:

I know the loud pop is power being fed to the amp or speakers. Ask harryhoudini for more specifics, as he's working on a resolution to remove that.
That's about all I can help with sadly...

Thanks - good to know it’s normal.

#1576 4 years ago

I haven’t seen this issue pop up on this forum so here goes:

During some games, when there are multiple balls in the chest during multiball, the chest mech on the left side activates but doesn’t stay open long enough to allow the balls to drop on the PF. The coil activates the mech a number of times (so it clicks open), but the balls don’t drop.

Anyone else have this issue?

#1577 4 years ago
Quoted from Blind_Willie:

I haven’t seen this issue pop up on this forum so here goes:
During some games, when there are multiple balls in the chest during multiball, the chest mech on the left side activates but doesn’t stay open long enough to allow the balls to drop on the PF. The coil activates the mech a number of times (so it clicks open), but the balls don’t drop.
Anyone else have this issue?

There's an adjustment for that on the system menu.

#1578 4 years ago
Quoted from JustLikeMe:

Work has been crazy so I haven’t had too much time with POTC since I got it. I managed to fix most of the original problems I had - the most surprising fix was that the opto switch for the Devils Triangle spinner was installed backwards from the factory (!) but the rest were pretty simple. I had one flipper rubber on the upper playfield snap with probably less than 50 games on the machine which seems unusual, but I have a few spares now in case it happens in the future. I still have three problems and searching this thread hasn’t helped me - anyone have any thoughts on the below?
1. The upper loop seems to be registering shots intermittently. The further to the right of the inner loop, the more likely it is to register. In switch test it behaves the same - the closer to the right hand side of the ball guide, the more likely it is to register. The path between the opto pair seems clear.
2. The left ramp is kinda clunky - even with the lower right flipper power down, at least 50% of shots hit the diverter even when it is in the up position and go into the whirlpool. When the diverter is down for multiball start, the ball goes into the whirlpool but at an angle so it doesn’t really spin like it should, which leads me to think they I need to adjust the position of the diverter mount. Could anyone share a top down pic of their maelstrom diverter so I can compare?
3. The most frustrating issue is that I am getting a ball trough error on start up 90% of the time, which prevents a game being started. When it first happened I did some troubleshooting with Lloyd via email, checking various connectors etc, and he came to the conclusion that one of the opto boards was faulty, so I’m waiting on a replacement - but since then there have been a few occasions where I’ve switched the game on and it has worked fine. If I don’t get the error immediately on start up the game will work fine until I switch it off, even if I leave it on all day, so I can play multiple games without an issue if I’m lucky on the first boot. Power cycling the machine after I receive the error once will always result in the error, but if I leave the game for a couple of days it will sometimes be fine. It’s driving me crazy.
Has anyone had any similar issues?
Edit: I’ve been meaning to ask - I get a loud pop noise from the speakers when the game is booting. This is my first JJP game so I don’t have anything to compare it to directly, but the noise is much louder than any of my other machines. Is this normal?

1. Keith is modifying the software as others seems to have this problem, too. I haven't personally noticed it, though. It may be game-assembly specific.

2. Some people have noted this, too, but I haven't seen it on the one we have here.

3. Did you replace the balls? Did you check the balls for magnetism? If they're even slightly magnetized (as chrome replacement balls will, etc) they'll slow or stick in the trough and cause errors.

Pop is normal. Doesn't hurt anything.

#1579 4 years ago
Quoted from PinMonk:

1. Keith is modifying the software as others seems to have this problem, too. I haven't personally noticed it, though. It may be game-assembly specific.
2. Some people have noted this, too, but I haven't seen it on the one we have here.
3. Did you replace the balls? Did you check the balls for magnetism? If they're even slightly magnetized (as chrome replacement balls will, etc) they'll slow or stick in the trough and cause errors.
Pop is normal. Doesn't hurt anything.

Thanks - it’s good to know I’m not the only one with the first two issues, and as long as the pop is normal I’m not concerned. It’s just a fair bit louder than my other games so thought I’d ask.

As for the trough opto - I hadn’t replaced the balls, but I just tried putting new balls in and still got the same error. In the trough test, two of the optos are still active even when I eject all the balls, same as when I was first troubleshooting the issue. I’ve attached a pic.

I’d normally assume this was just down to a faulty opto board as Lloyd suggested, but I find it strange that I can sometimes boot the machine and get lucky with no trough error, then play continuous games without encountering any problems. It seems to be a start up issue only which makes me think it’s something else.
E381B295-F485-4EFE-B394-3DD267DB751A (resized).jpegE381B295-F485-4EFE-B394-3DD267DB751A (resized).jpeg

#1580 4 years ago

I lifted my PF up and noticed this little piece of wood is missing on the left side. Is that normal?

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#1581 4 years ago
Quoted from JustLikeMe:

Thanks - it’s good to know I’m not the only one with the first two issues, and as long as the pop is normal I’m not concerned. It’s just a fair bit louder than my other games so thought I’d ask.
As for the trough opto - I hadn’t replaced the balls, but I just tried putting new balls in and still got the same error. In the trough test, two of the optos are still active even when I eject all the balls, same as when I was first troubleshooting the issue. I’ve attached a pic.
I’d normally assume this was just down to a faulty opto board as Lloyd suggested, but I find it strange that I can sometimes boot the machine and get lucky with no trough error, then play continuous games without encountering any problems. It seems to be a start up issue only which makes me think it’s something else.
[quoted image]

Yeah, I don't know. It could just be a flaky board with a poor solder connection or bad opto chip (seems most likely to be a bad solder connection or opto chip since it's multiple optos at once). If it's bad, is it always the same result (two green and the rest yellow) or does it move around?

#1582 4 years ago
Quoted from Trooper11040:

I lifted my PF up and noticed this little piece of wood is missing on the left side. Is that normal?[quoted image][quoted image]

Check the machine in the morning.

#1583 4 years ago
Quoted from PinMonk:

Yeah, I don't know. It could just be a flaky board with a poor solder connection or bad opto chip (seems most likely to be a bad solder connection or opto chip since it's multiple optos at once). If it's bad, is it always the same result (two green and the rest yellow) or does it move around?

Before I eject any balls all are green - and as I start to eject balls trough #5, #4, #3 and #2 go yellow as you’d expect. Ejecting the final ball doesn’t result in any change, #1 and trough jam remain green.

It’s the same every time I get the trough opto error on boot up - but if I don’t get the error on boot up then the trough test works as you’d expect until I switch the game off. Then it’s a gamble what will happen when I next switch the machine on. It’s a weird one.

#1584 4 years ago
Quoted from JustLikeMe:

Before I eject any balls all are green - and as I start to eject balls trough #5, #4, #3 and #2 go yellow as you’d expect. Ejecting the final ball doesn’t result in any change, #1 and trough jam remain green.
It’s the same every time I get the trough opto error on boot up - but if I don’t get the error on boot up then the trough test works as you’d expect until I switch the game off. Then it’s a gamble what will happen when I next switch the machine on. It’s a weird one.

Probably a flaky opto chip, then. Applying power rolls the dice for the chip. I don't know if there's a molex connector for the opto board offhand, but if there is, you could try cutting power to the board manually while the machine is on by unplugging it and see if you can get it to change just by trying different board-only power cycles that way. It would isolate the issue to the board (and likely the chip) if you can.

#1585 4 years ago
Quoted from Trooper11040:

I lifted my PF up and noticed this little piece of wood is missing on the left side. Is that normal?[quoted image][quoted image]

I have that too. I thought “huh?” Maybe it was something that got dropped from then prototype.

#1586 4 years ago
Quoted from JustLikeMe:

2. The left ramp is kinda clunky - even with the lower right flipper power down, at least 50% of shots hit the diverter even when it is in the up position and go into the whirlpool. When the diverter is down for multiball start, the ball goes into the whirlpool but at an angle so it doesn’t really spin like it should, which leads me to think they I need to adjust the position of the diverter mount. Could anyone share a top down pic of their maelstrom diverter so I can compare?

Is your table levelled? Also make sure a ball can fit under the diverter so it is touching the wall of the maelstrom all the way round. If you have the kraken mod you may need to pack it up slightly so the ball will be able to clear.

#1587 4 years ago

Installed my pearl opto shield supplied by JJP!

672EC60E-A7ED-49B2-9FDF-500B8709EE95 (resized).jpeg672EC60E-A7ED-49B2-9FDF-500B8709EE95 (resized).jpeg
#1588 4 years ago

I had a ball tonight that was so magnetized it actually stuck to the left rail while rolling down, lol!
I have a big box of them from Titan so no biggie. I think this set has around 1000 plays on them.

How frequently are you guys changing your balls?

#1589 4 years ago

My stock factory balls are still working fine.

#1590 4 years ago
Quoted from zaphX:

I had a ball tonight that was so magnetized it actually stuck to the left rail while rolling down, lol!
I have a big box of them from Titan so no biggie. I think this set has around 1000 plays on them.
How frequently are you guys changing your balls?

I was planning on changing every 500 games or so.

Too frequent?

#1591 4 years ago
Quoted from joseph5185:

I was planning on changing every 500 games or so.
Too frequent?

Probably. Honestly every 1000 games is probably overkill too. I’m really only changing them when/if weird things start to happen.

#1592 4 years ago
Quoted from zaphX:

Probably. Honestly every 1000 games is probably overkill too. I’m really only changing them when/if weird things start to happen.

Wow. Nice. Okay, I won’t worry about it for awhile then.

Good to know!

#1593 4 years ago

gumnut01 I’ll see your opto shield and I’ll raise u an old Disneyland hotel room key and some target foam, granted yours is much more professional
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#1594 4 years ago

Any specific tweaks needed from a new out of box POTC that I need to do?

#1595 4 years ago
Quoted from Blackzarak:

Any specific tweaks needed from a new out of box POTC that I need to do?

In my opinion the single most important to to look in the map hole and see if you have a t nut sticking out... of so and it’s sticking out a lot the balls will hit it and Pit them... in turn can damage the playfield

A good test is to push a ball in there and see... but it’s kinda hard with the pearl on

#1596 4 years ago
Quoted from Soulrider911:

In my opinion the single most important to to look in the map hole and see if you have a t nut sticking out... of so and it’s sticking out a lot the balls will hit it and Pit them... in turn can damage the playfield
A good test is to push a ball in there and see... but it’s kinda hard with the pearl on

I think they all have that Tnut sticking out...I would think it would hit the metal cover and never actually touch the T nut unless its entering the hole slow...im probably wrong though lol

#1597 4 years ago

Trooper11040 That’s not something I was willing to gamble on in a 10k game.

My used le had pits in the balls like I have never seen... and yes the ball was hitting it a a lot, as the edge of t nut was worn from the ball colliding with it

I guess as long as your are very diligent about new balls should be ok, but the balls definitely are not going to last as long. Just my 2 cents

#1598 4 years ago
Quoted from Soulrider911:

trooper11040 That’s not something I was willing to gamble on in a 10k game.
My used le had pits in the balls like I have never seen... and yes the ball was hitting it a a lot, as the edge of t nut was worn from the ball colliding with it
I guess as long as your are very diligent about new balls should be ok, but the balls definitely are not going to last as long. Just my 2 cents

Did you end up grinding it down? I am a bit nervous to touch it...

#1599 4 years ago

I did yes look back a page I think I showed there, it’s really not that bad if you have a dremmel and grinding bits. Just takes patience also the inner Cliffy will not fit with that tnut sticking out... so if you plan on installing both the Sudafed mounted Cliffy and the inner you will most likely need to grind it.

Could also remove the tnut and grind it while not on the playfield

#1600 4 years ago
Quoted from Soulrider911:

I did yes look back a page I think I showed there, it’s really not that bad if you have a dremmel and grinding bits. Just takes patience also the inner Cliffy will not fit with that tnut sticking out... so if you plan on installing both the Sudafed mounted Cliffy and the inner you will most likely need to grind it.
Could also remove the tnut and grind it while not on the playfield

I tried to remove the ship and had a tough time lol...might have to try again tomorrow...

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