Trooper11040 I’ve already done it twice lol and I have only had the game a week, pm me I’ll help u it’s not that bad and there is a great video by tuna here:
Trooper11040 I’ve already done it twice lol and I have only had the game a week, pm me I’ll help u it’s not that bad and there is a great video by tuna here:
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
Do you have to remove a lot of stuff and/or components just to get to the T-nut? Sorry my game is still in the box
Quoted from Soulrider911: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
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]
Nice!!!!!! Yours is definitely more special!
Quoted from Trooper11040:I tried to remove the ship and had a tough time lol...might have to try again tomorrow...
My t nut is only showing a bit through the wood on the wall. Nothing extending under playfield and the deflector seems to hit first as you say. My balls are nice and shiny!!! Definitely think it will depend on how you nut sits.
Quoted from Blackzarak:Any specific tweaks needed from a new out of box POTC that I need to do?
Make sure no sdtm on ball launch. Adjust upper left flipper if it does so that ball launch will hit middle of right lower flipper. Turn down ship VUK to about 20 to protect your optos and or make a nice protector like other poster. Make sure everything level and at 6.5.
If you struggle sinking ships you may need to add shorter hex spacers. Anyway check the start of the troubleshooting thread. PinMonk has a great index going.
I just changed my balls out after about 400 plays looked pretty rough might have to address that tnut in map hole as well
Quoted from Schabs81:I just changed my balls out after about 400 plays looked pretty rough might have to address that tnut in map hole as well
Also the washer on launch and the orbit has an angle that sticks out a bit.
Quoted from gumnut01:pearl
My right opto housing broke and I await this new JJP protector. Had anyone received a new opto housing?
Yes they sent me a new opto and the protector. I think you are about the seventh person on pinside to report it. Everyone turn their black pearl VUK down. Ask for a shield as well
Quoted from Blackzarak:Any specific tweaks needed from a new out of box POTC that I need to do?
Having set up 3 of these things, these are the things I found need checking OOTB:
1. Adjust the Pearl ramp adjustment screw until the ball rolls off the top to the right. Stuck balls here are common until you do this. Do not over tighten.
2. Confirm the shooter is working cleanly and does not catch against the autoplunger. See index for fixes if so.
3. Go into switch test and hit all the switches, confirm none are stuck closed and none fail to fire when hit.
4. Run the ship test and confirm the Pearl runs freely without topping/bottoming the slot and gets down to a single digit score as its lowest value. See index for fixes if it’s not.
5. Clean the playfield (sometimes there’s a little shop dust.)
All this will take about 10 minutes. At this point just play and enjoy your new machine!
IF you run into issues, check the index on this thread for help.
I do not recommend reading every single item and worrying if you have the fault or not.
I also recommend two preventative maintenance items but you should NOT feel compelled to avoid playing on day one.
I didn’t do these items for months after unboxing.
1. Plastic wire loom on the wire behind the Dauntless (it can rub and cut)
2. Plastic wire loom on the wire under the Pearl (it can rub and cause a short)
Quoted from zaphX:There is a lot of hysteria on here about the map hole nut. I personally would not mess with it, risking messing up a 10k game over a 50 cent ball.
I also don’t recommend changing any coil power from default (including the Pearl VUK) -unless- you discover a problem during gameplay.
Having set up 3 of these things, these are the things I found need checking OOTB:
1. Adjust the Pearl ramp adjustment screw until the ball rolls off the top to the right. Stuck balls here are common until you do this. Do not over tighten.
2. Confirm the shooter is working cleanly and does not catch against the autoplunger. See index for fixes if so.
3. Go into switch test and hit all the switches, confirm none are stuck closed and none fail to fire when hit.
4. Run the ship test and confirm the Pearl runs freely without topping/bottoming the slot and gets down to a single digit score as its lowest value. See index for fixes if it’s not.
5. Clean the playfield (sometimes there’s a little shop dust.)
All this will take about 10 minutes. At this point just play and enjoy your new machine!
IF you run into issues, check the index on this thread for help.
I do not recommend reading every single item and worrying if you have the fault or not.
I also recommend two preventative maintenance items but you should NOT feel compelled to avoid playing on day one.
I didn’t do these items for months after unboxing.
1. Plastic wire loom on the wire behind the Dauntless (it can rub and cut)
2. Plastic wire loom on the wire under the Pearl (it can rub and cause a short)
zaphX why do you continue to tell people not to turn down the black pearl VUK? You have seen evidence that the default setting breaks the opto. Just because it has not for you does not mean it is not for others. The advice is to turn the pearls VUK to the lowest setting that reliably gets the ball onto the ship. If you set it too low and it doesn’t then turn it up until it does board successfully every time. Mine is set to 20, boards every time and does not leave dents in my upper deck nor smash into the optos anymore. Over 5 pinsiders have reported broken optos caused by the default VUK setting. But you continue to tell people not to turn it down. Why? Does not make sense.
If you need more proof here is a email from Steve:
“Might want to turn down the coil setting for the Black Pearl VUK as that seems to be breaking the opto housing when turned up too high according to the Design Team. Thanks, Steve”
Other coils to adjust:
1) if your slings are causing air balls turn them down to minimum setting. Particularly if you are now using star posts around your slings.
2) if a kick out from the depths is getting caught on the “I” lane, turn it down 1 point. Just be careful that it still kicks out.
3) if your balls are launching out of the maelstrom you may want to turn down flipper strength by a point. Be careful as you still want to be able to backhand to the pearl.
I understand @zaphX’s sentiment that if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Changing these coils for no reason by large amounts will make the game play differently than it was intended. As mentioned though even JJP admit that the default setting for the BP VUK is too high in most instances and is causing upper playfield and component damage.
Quoted from zaphX:There is a lot of hysteria on here about the map hole nut. I personally would not mess with it, risking messing up a 10k game over a 50 cent ball.
I also don’t recommend changing any coil power from default (including the Pearl VUK) -unless- you discover a problem during gameplay.
Having set up 3 of these things, these are the things I found need checking OOTB:
1. Adjust the Pearl ramp adjustment screw until the ball rolls off the top to the right. Stuck balls here are common until you do this. Do not over tighten.
2. Confirm the shooter is working cleanly and does not catch against the autoplunger. See index for fixes if so.
3. Go into switch test and hit all the switches, confirm none are stuck closed and none fail to fire when hit.
4. Run the ship test and confirm the Pearl runs freely without topping/bottoming the slot and gets down to a single digit score as its lowest value. See index for fixes if it’s not.
5. Clean the playfield (sometimes there’s a little shop dust.)
All this will take about 10 minutes. At this point just play and enjoy your new machine!
IF you run into issues, check the index on this thread for help.
I do not recommend reading every single item and worrying if you have the fault or not.
I also recommend two preventative maintenance items but you should NOT feel compelled to avoid playing on day one.
I didn’t do these items for months after unboxing.
1. Plastic wire loom on the wire behind the Dauntless (it can rub and cut)
2. Plastic wire loom on the wire under the Pearl (it can rub and cause a short)
Sorry for how bad my pinballs were nicked up need to eliminate that or I will ruin my playfield
Quoted from gumnut01:zaphx why do you continue to tell people not to turn down the black pearl VUK? You have seen evidence that the default setting breaks the opto. Just because it has not for you does not mean it is not for others. The advice is to turn the pearls VUK to the lowest setting that reliably gets the ball onto the ship. If you set it too low and it doesn’t then turn it up until it does board successfully every time. Mine is set to 20, boards every time and does not leave dents in my upper deck nor smash into the optos anymore. Over 5 pinsiders have reported broken optos caused by the default VUK setting. But you continue to tell people not to turn it down. Why? Does not make sense.
If you need more proof here is a email from Steve:
“Might want to turn down the coil setting for the Black Pearl VUK as that seems to be breaking the opto housing when turned up too high according to the Design Team. Thanks, Steve”
I take the advice in the coil setting screen to heart “Do not change unless you have a problem.”
I’ve owned two machines left on default without having the problem. Then my buddy got a CE which had a lot of problems with the VUK failing and the ball going under the Pearl...UNTIL he turned it up to default. It was too low as shipped.
None of those 3 machines have broken optos yet. Maybe we’re just lucky though, I am definitely interested in the shield.
I would definitely listen to JJP/Steve over me on any of this! I’ll butt out.
Quoted from gumnut01:Other coils to adjust:
1) if your slings are causing air balls turn them down to minimum setting. Particularly if you are now using star posts around your slings.
2) if a kick out from the depths is getting caught on the “I” lane, turn it down 1 point. Just be careful that it still kicks out.
3) if your balls are launching out of the maelstrom you may want to turn down flipper strength by a point. Be careful as you still want to be able to backhand to the pearl.
I understand zaphX’s sentiment that if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Changing these coils for no reason by large amounts will make the game play differently than it was intended. As mentioned though even JJP admit that the default setting for the BP VUK is too high in most instances and is causing upper playfield and component damage.
Interestingly enough, I've ended up lowering many of the coil settings due to airballs and also lowered ship vuk to ~21-22 or so w/out issue. Flippers lowered quite a bit to avoid balls jumping when hitting bonus x targets to left/right of ramps. I can still make both ramps with both flippers so I'm happy with the change. I did lower my pop bumpers as well but that's likely just a matter of taste - everything is pretty hectic IMO but each machine is different. And agreed, I lowered my slings to 16 and still think it's too high - ball has hit the glass a couple of times even on that setting when the slings start passing the ball to one another.
Quoted from KornFreak28:Do you have to remove a lot of stuff and/or components just to get to the T-nut? Sorry my game is still in the box
There's a good write up in this thread that I used. If you ordered cliffy's, just do it then which is what I did. Not a whole lot to remove after the pearl is off; it's mainly just loosening the subway underneath to move it out of the way to get to the tnut in order to remove it; maybe 3-5minutes to get to it once the playfield is raised; not as bad as I was expecting.
Quoted from gumnut01:If you struggle sinking ships you may need to add shorter hex spacers.
What are these hex spacers you speak of? Thank you
Quoted from Trooper11040:Took off my ship to fix the map t nut and on the back lane, I see this sticking out. This can’t be good?
[quoted image]
Edit: disregard. Ball doesn’t touch it. Sorry
Good troubleshooting! Not everything that looks like a problem actually is.
Quoted from Trooper11040:On another note I did fix this T nut issue!
Did you back it out from underneath or grind it in place?
Quoted from statsdoc:Did you back it out from underneath or grind it in place?
carefully grinded in place. I didn’t like it lol. Felt very vulnerable holding the dremel. When I got real close to the wood, I used a rasp to grind the rest flush
Quoted from Trooper11040:Took off my ship to fix the map t nut and on the back lane, I see this sticking out. This can’t be good?
[quoted image]
Edit: disregard. Ball doesn’t touch it. Sorry
Why does the ball not touch it, is it at the bottom of the playfield? It looks like it is standing significantly into the ball movement.
Hey guys, I recently joined the club. Have an issue with the black pearl ship. I noticed while playing the ball got stuck between the ramp and the end of the ship. With further inspection I noticed the ship dock was below the ramp significantly, more than a quarter inch. I was able to pull the ship up flush with the ramps but then I’m troubleshooting why i’m able to move it by hand dropping below the ramp again. What do I need to look at? I notice that there is a black column attached to the playfield that the mining ramp is sitting on. Is this connected somehow that may be missing a screw and nut? Looks as if disassembly may be required. Anyone with this issue that can help...thanks in advance.
Quoted from Zora:Why does the ball not touch it, is it at the bottom of the playfield? It looks like it is standing significantly into the ball movement.
The back rail keeps it from touching the actual t nut. Kinda odd but the shape of the ball works to the advantage of the rail lol
Quoted from Zora:Why does the ball not touch it, is it at the bottom of the playfield? It looks like it is standing significantly into the ball movement.
Mine has the same protrusion and my orbits are smooth. If you roll a ball over it you'll see that the metal piece runs under the gap between the ball and rail when the ball is flush to the rail.
IMG_0955.jpegQuoted from rlslick:What do I need to look at?
Tighten the screw the red arrow points to. Squishing the rubber grommet it goes through. Lowering the right side of the ramp so it leans that direction.
LTG : )
DSC00679 (resized).JPGQuoted from gumnut01:Also the washer on launch and the orbit has an angle that sticks out a bit.
If......you have a washer near the ball launch. Some don't.
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.
I've read pretty frequently from multiple forum vets on here 400-500 games. That basically replacing balls, and waxing are the two most important steps in longevity for a game.
Quoted from zaphX:Having set up 3 of these things, these are the things I found need checking OOTB:
1. Adjust the Pearl ramp adjustment screw until the ball rolls off the top to the right. Stuck balls here are common until you do this. Do not over tighten.
2. Confirm the shooter is working cleanly and does not catch against the autoplunger. See index for fixes if so.
3. Go into switch test and hit all the switches, confirm none are stuck closed and none fail to fire when hit.
4. Run the ship test and confirm the Pearl runs freely without topping/bottoming the slot and gets down to a single digit score as its lowest value. See index for fixes if it’s not.
5. Clean the playfield (sometimes there’s a little shop dust.)
All this will take about 10 minutes. At this point just play and enjoy your new machine!
IF you run into issues, check the index on this thread for help.
I do not recommend reading every single item and worrying if you have the fault or not.
I also recommend two preventative maintenance items but you should NOT feel compelled to avoid playing on day one.
I didn’t do these items for months after unboxing.
1. Plastic wire loom on the wire behind the Dauntless (it can rub and cut)
2. Plastic wire loom on the wire under the Pearl (it can rub and cause a short)
I think the idea, whether it's accurate for all games or not, is that if the tnut damages balls, nicked up, deformed balls can damage plastics and any other part in a machine differently than smoother ones might. That's the idea I operated under, anyway.
Quoted from statsdoc:Did you back it out from underneath or grind it in place?
I went the subway route. No way was I using a dremel near the playfield hole. Wasn't too difficult to access. Not fun, but more piece of mind for me, personally.
Quoted from wesman:I've read pretty frequently from multiple forum vets on here 400-500 games. That basically replacing balls, and waxing are the two most important steps in longevity for a game.
I better buy more balls then I figure I need to do it monthly if that's the service interval. I already clean it a couple times per week, and wax it maybe twice a month.
LTG...thank you...I’m going to look into it when I get back in this evening. Appreciate the help. One more thing..I can’t drop my playfield back Into the lock down bar. It was tight getting it out but I figured it was due to the foam pad I needed to remove. Unfortunately it looks as if the foam was unable to keep the playfield from pulling and bending the lockbar. Should this just be replaced..or disassembled and bent back with a hammer/pliers?
9FAF4E49-7AB9-4553-8D4F-27BE7FC936C6 (resized).jpeg6CCEE030-83E5-48B4-AF65-CE21DB1A8BAF (resized).jpegFunny thing is putting the adjustment screw back onto the ramp, I dropped it in the map hole. I had to remove the subway any way...would have been easier to just pop the tnut and grind it externally
Quoted from rlslick:One more thing..I can’t drop my playfield back Into the lock down bar.
Not going back far enough. Miss any styrofoam blocks behind it ? Cables with wires in the wrong spots and preventing it from going back ?
LTG : )
Quoted from Trooper11040:The back rail keeps it from touching the actual t nut. Kinda odd but the shape of the ball works to the advantage of the rail lol
Quoted from zaphX:Mine has the same protrusion and my orbits are smooth. If you roll a ball over it you'll see that the metal piece runs under the gap between the ball and rail when the ball is flush to the rail.[quoted image]
Thank you for your feedback. Good to know that no fix is needed. I already feared that I had to remove the BP. Keep that removal for the future.
Quoted from Zora:Thank you for your feedback. Good to know that no fix is needed. I already feared that I had to remove the BP. Keep that removal for the future.
Then hardest part of taking off the black pearl in my opinion is the VUK, and putting the wiring back in after you have it off lol. It was honestly a pretty easy process
Quoted from Trooper11040:Then hardest part of taking off the black pearl in my opinion is the VUK, and putting the wiring back in after you have it off lol. It was honestly a pretty easy process
That gives me hope, thank you
Quoted from zaphX:I better buy more balls then I figure I need to do it monthly if that's the service interval. I already clean it a couple times per week, and wax it maybe twice a month.
Sooner definitely seems to be better for sure! You seem pretty diligent in upkeep, so changing balls is the easiest part! I bought some fluid to degrease them, forget what it is offhand. And I know I'm supposed to grease and store them in an airtight bag too...
Quoted from rlslick:LTG...thank you...I’m going to look into it when I get back in this evening. Appreciate the help. One more thing..I can’t drop my playfield back Into the lock down bar. It was tight getting it out but I figured it was due to the foam pad I needed to remove. Unfortunately it looks as if the foam was unable to keep the playfield from pulling and bending the lockbar. Should this just be replaced..or disassembled and bent back with a hammer/pliers?[quoted image][quoted image]
Definitely try what LTG suggested!
I had this very same issue. I somewhat feel, and from looking at your two photos here, the receivers on some of these games aren't flush. I felt mine wasn't due to the insulating wire being tucked waaaay under the receiver.
If you want any tips or need help, feel free to PM me. I had this issue the very first time I raised and lowered the playfield upon setup. Struggled with it for hours till I wedged it back in. The issue was still there, so I had to troubleshoot in ways I never had prior with a game, being a fairly new home owner, and all.
Quoted from Trooper11040:Then hardest part of taking off the black pearl in my opinion is the VUK, and putting the wiring back in after you have it off lol. It was honestly a pretty easy process
Removing the VUK or getting around it?
The hardest part in my three times, has always been resetting the Pearl back onto the eyelets. The wiring is pretty straightforward, though sometimes an errant wire might struggle here and there.
Quoted from Zora:That gives me hope, thank you
But removing the VUK makes things much much easier. Definitely go that route, rather than mess with adjusting the Pearl Ramp, like shown in the video.
Quoted from wesman:But removing the VUK makes things much much easier. Definitely go that route, rather than mess with adjusting the Pearl Ramp, like shown in the video.
I may go this route next time when my cliffys show up...
Cliffy’s are finally in the mail!
My take on the t-nut is to address if only interferes with installation of the Cliffy’s at which point I would opt to remove it entirely.
Also, I’ll likely take this opportunity to lay down a fresh coat and probably replace the balls with brand new ball barons that I recently received since the balls I'm rolling with right now are stock. Once the new balls are in, I won’t be inclined to worry about them again for a long time.
I thought there was one other thing on my mind, but can’t seem to remember right now.
Edit: I remember what it was now. I just realized that my AFMr has mirror blades and it looks REALLY good. I also saw the snaps of someone who did the black chrome blades on this game and it also looks awesome. So I may consider this as well.
Quoted from LTG:Tighten the screw the red arrow points to. Squishing the rubber grommet it goes through. Lowering the right side of the ramp so it leans that direction.
LTG : )[quoted image]
Another trick - that is very helpful, put a thin rubber pad, like the ones used for cabinet doors under the left side, this allows you to really fine to the level, and raise the left side up a bit if need be
IMG_0821 (resized).pngQuoted from gumnut01:Installed my pearl opto shield supplied by JJP![quoted image]
Huh... I don't recall seeing any announcement or notification that this was a thing? I got an opto replaced under warranty and no one said this was a thing. Oh well, mine opto shield looks better
Quoted from Trooper11040:Took off my ship to fix the map t nut and on the back lane, I see this sticking out. This can’t be good?
[quoted image]
Edit: disregard. Ball doesn’t touch it. Sorry
The ball guide is very flexible. If you push the ball with a little force it does touch it, at least on mine. I ground down the corner so it did not stick out anymore.
Quoted from zaphX:I take the advice in the coil setting screen to heart “Do not change unless you have a problem.”
I’ve owned two machines left on default without having the problem. Then my buddy got a CE which had a lot of problems with the VUK failing and the ball going under the Pearl...UNTIL he turned it up to default. It was too low as shipped.
None of those 3 machines have broken optos yet. Maybe we’re just lucky though, I am definitely interested in the shield.
I would definitely listen to JJP/Steve over me on any of this! I’ll butt out.
What's the problem you'll notice if the VUK is turned up too high? Do you wait for the opto to break?
Quoted from harryhoudini:What's the problem you'll notice if the VUK is turned up too high? Do you wait for the opto to break?
Yeah yeah chill I already deferred on this.
Is the main fix for airballs off the X target to the left of the Black Pearl ramp to dial back the main flippers? I am getting it regularly.
I just wanted to add how grateful I am for the posters in this forum!
A special thanks to Vireland for all his effort in addressing questions and organizing the answers!!
Quoted from gumnut01:Funny thing while we are mentioning what we do and don’t do. Have not waxed since I own the game. AFM waited a year until I did it. Other games maybe once a year. Don’t see the need.
Interesting.
I figured every 500 games or so is good for waxing and then cleanings in between.
To each their own though.
Quoted from joseph5185:Cliffy’s are finally in the mail!
My take on the t-nut is to address if only interferes with installation of the Cliffy’s at which point I would opt to remove it entirely.
Also, I’ll likely take this opportunity to lay down a fresh coat and probably replace the balls with brand new ball barons that I recently received since the balls I'm rolling with right now are stock. Once the new balls are in, I won’t be inclined to worry about them again for a long time.
I thought there was one other thing on my mind, but can’t seem to remember right now.
Edit: I remember what it was now. I just realized that my AFMr has mirror blades and it looks REALLY good. I also saw the snaps of someone who did the black chrome blades on this game and it also looks awesome. So I may consider this as well.
You can't remove the tnut entirely. It seats the one nut, of two, that help hold the Map Snubber Bracket in place. The tnut gives the nut the ability to be threaded and held in place.
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