Am I crazy, or is there no chest mod installed?

Is there more than one open/close chest mod available? Where is the best place to buy?

Was going to say the same. I’m not seeing evidence of it being installed in those photos.

Haha, easy to overlook the simple things. I don't see any of the telltale signs of the mod being installed on the chest lid! Looks like the stock metal bracket!

As far as I know only the one we are supplying: https://pinballmods.co/pinball-mods/PinballJs-actuated-chest-mod-JJP-POTC

Heh, yeah I was wondering where the rod was then I saw inside the lid. No mod installed

I just installed my chest mod and noticed my servo turns much farther than yours does in your videos. Mine makes about a 1/4 turn. While I have it working at the moment, it's opening my chest lid a lot farther than I would like it to. Is there a way to adjust the amount it turns when triggered?

In the code, yes. Without access to the code, no.

That's strange. It should go about 15 degrees. Could you post a video of this happening? Or email it? I could send a new controller and servo but would be interested to know what is going on. Have not had anyone else report this.

Sure thing - I just buttoned it up for the night, but will take a video tomorrow. In the end I was still able to use it by using the holes closer to the center of the spinner for mounting the rod so the travel wasn't so far.

Makes sense, so odd. Would love to know why.

I must have been tired the night I installed it. Took a video and it appears to only rotate maybe 60 degrees give or take. Not near 90 degrees like I initially thought I saw. It is has been rock solid since install. Extremely pleased with this! It is so cool to have a functioning chest lid as part of the game. It add to an already awesome ambiance. BRAVO and thanks for making this possible for us all.

I just finished installing the chest open mod, it is awesome. Everything is working properly except for the LED lid.

My lighting keypad controller works and changes colors, pulsing, speed of chest open etc. The issue is the light only stays lit as the motor is opening or closing. For example if I power up the machine the chest light is off until I start a game and hit the locks. It stays on from when the chest starts moving until it stops. Also it lights up when the chest opens back up and then when it stops moving the light goes off.

I can get the light to stay on if I hit buttons on the controller with the playfield up and they stay on until the motor starts working and then it goes back to the above. Any ideas?

Are you 100% sure the light is going off when it is closed? It sounds like it is in reverse and maybe the light is on while it is closed.

If the light is working at all then it is working. It keys off the micro switch. Does the chest start closed until you hit the locks? Or is the chest open when you start? I would wager it is open when you start the game, which is the opposite and means the rod is attached to the servo 180 degrees from where it should be.

I've just installed the chest mod and love it! I had the parts printed before harry started with the production of the plug and play solution and it took me a while to get all the other parts together. Now that it is installed, I am thinking about putting more life into it. Has anyone thought about reading the "load chest" switches with the arduino, enabling another nice "chest animation"? The chest might not like "being shot" and there might a little lid animation which represents this and brings some more life into the chest

Reading matrixed switches from an external microcontroller is not very easy.

That being said, I'm testing some options for that still.

LOL. You've always got something brewing. : )

So many ideas, so little time.

It would be much easier for us if we could read matrixed switches instead of having to add on to the game. The issue is reading "instant hit" switches and acting in the same manner as the game. What the game uses to determine a switch hit and what we do could be different things. And the matrix uses a timed polling method which means unless we read them in the exact same time/format we wouldn't get the same data to work against. How fast can the game's CPU process those signals versus how fast our microcontroller can. It's a whole thing lol.

Thankfully we have some smart people in pinball and some possible solutions we are testing that could be implemented game wide. This, combined with possible software modifications for the game, we should be able to do a LOT more.

@timebandit has done amazing work with Metallica, iron man and so on. He can take out things from the switch matrix.
Maybe team up and see what he can do?

Ah sweet, I emailed him. Through all my searching I never found his work or product, crazy. Looks like it's specific to Stern but might be configurable to B/W, JJP, etc. Hopefully he responds!

His matrix interceptor worked on SAM machines.

He also put up his ironman for sale on monday

not sure if this means he's freeing funds to do more dev or its the end of any mods for ironman

Cool. Sounds like between the one I just got and his we should have a solution. That will make a bunch of existing mods we are working on much easier.

I've ordered the Chest Mod and while I'm waiting for my order to arrive, I've already started watching the install videos so I can start right away when the mod arrives. I've also ordered the optional lighting mod for the lid, but what I didn't see in the install videos (unless I missed it) is where you have to connect the wires from the lighting mod below the playfield? I'm assuming they should be connected somewhere to the servo mech where the keypad is also connected?

Exactly. Everything can only plug in to one location. The lighting connection mates up from the lid with a plug on the controller that matches the plug end and wire colors.

For anyone waiting on a chest mod we are waiting on parts to arrive which have been delayed. I heard from the supplier that they will be able to ship but it is taking longer since they are understaffed.

A little trouble after install. See enclosed videos in 2 parts.

Basically the rod seems to be interfering with the 'gate' and the coil assembly. The rod is pressing on the little tab and not allowing the gate to open all the way to release balls. Also, the tab seems to mechanically hold up the lid about 1/8" or so intermittently. I hope these vids help.

Part 1 of 2:

Part 2 of 2:

Thanks.

I'm having the same problem and I will probably go back to the metal rod instead of using the flex rod. Your flex rod looks a little long, is it possible to re-route the flex rod through the round hole to the right? I haven't messed with mine yet but I was going to look at that option or go back to the metal rod. I never had any issues with the metal one.

Man, crazy how some games are slightly different than others. I can make a different lid which has the tab moved over a bit to clear that piece more. I've seen oddities like this on a few JJP games for different reasons (like someone I was just talking to had their playfield sit higher in the game than any other one I've dealt with).

VolunteerPin your rod does look a bit too long, but not sure that will change the orientation of the rod at the lid. I can send you a lid which has the tab moved towards the right more (away from the coil) to help with the clearance issue. It makes the rod have to bend more but that isn't a huge problem.

Let me know if either you or Meadowhawk want to try a different lid orientation. You'll need to swap lighting over and the ball joint but that is easy.

It would work for me if the lid tab was a bit longer, then it would clear the spring. What do you think?

Any ETA on when you'll have the mod back in stock?

Sure, PM me and we can figure it out.

Where's it out of stock?

Thought I had read that due to coronavirus you were not able to ship any kits cuz you were waiting on parts?

OHHH, lol... gotcha. Yes, we are waiting on parts but just a delay. We have a handful of pending orders which will be filled this week (if the parts arrive as they say they will) so we should be able to ship new orders right after that. So if anyone needs to order, it's still "in stock" in terms of ordering capability. I think we say on the site everything can take 2-3 weeks to ship as we keep very limited "complete" stock of anything on hand since so much has options and customizations.

I have an early version not yet installed and was just about to order the updated lid for it. Should I hold off for this next version? I'm not in a rush, but was going to install it soon to stay busy. Let me know ... I can wait if it is better.

I'm not changing what we normally send out, just going to make a special lid for @meadowhawk. The current production version seems to work for 99% of the people who have used it. Order away

Well, I shortened my rod a little by screwing the rod itself more into the yellow sheath. I played around with a couple of different things. When I first put lid on, it opened and shut very well but the balls would not release at all from the trunk as I previously showed in the video.

I played around with the position of the rod a little and if I install it on the lower arm of the motor the lid still opens some and shuts perfectly. The balls will release but just barely. The first one will release after a couple of pulses of the magnet and maybe a little shake of the pin. The next two will come out simultaneously with a little nudge timed with the magnet. I'll take another video later. I am tempted to gently bend the arm out a little to get a little more clearance but certainly afraid of breaking something. Additionally, if I do that the ball will show a little at the edge of the chest when locked.

Not a great solution. Getting ready for a teleconference at work. Will video after.

Bending the arm that holds the balls in the chest is a valid solution, as long as you hold it while bending it you should have no problem. If your balls are magnetized that can cause issues as well as the setting for release time on the chest lock mech in the settings.

Putting it on the lower arm will cause it to work backwards, but I can send you a code update to reverse it if that is best for your install.

Here are a couple more videos of my partially working chest mod:

Video with rod behind the tab:

Video with rod in front of the tab (I mis-spoke at the end. Clearly the rod is in front of the tab)

I hope this helps me trouble shoot my issue. I can take other photos/videos by request if someone needs to see something specific.

Thanks,

Darin

A few thought, one you can just drop the balls in the chest to load it up And there is a test for ball release in the menu. Might help you troubleshoot easier.

The one thing I was hoping to see was a video from behind the chest when it is releasing balls. Just need to see if anything is in the way of the coil/lock arm. If there is something preventing it from opening all the way we should solve that. If the bracket that supports the coil got bent, that could screw up the alignment or if the coil isn't screwed in all the way (if you removed it) that could be an issue. If it is the rod getting in the way I can simply send you a lid with the tab moved over.

One thing I've found is that no two JJP games are exactly alike. Across all of our mods we have had one or two have unique issues or layouts that are different from what 99% of everyone seems to be able to do.

Take a metal paper clip and make sure your balls aren't magnetized. This is exactly what was happening to me, and it was doing it with less than 50 plays.

Always check your balls!

Balls seem magnetised.
The release mech lid on the left of the chest doesn’t seem to open far enough. You might need to bend/adjust some metal parts there.
The chest not opening full: it seems that the initial pull down from the rod doesn’t do anything. That might mean that the first 0,5 cm pulling down of the rod doesn’t “touch” the tab of the lid at the top. Solution: mount the nut lower on the rod or make the rod shorter.

Side notes: your lid closes very fast. It looks better (to me) when it closes and open slowly. This is adjustable.
Second: your light seems to pulse, you choose a purple color and the brightness is set to low. All this can be adjusted.
Good luck.

Some photos to show the nut on my rod. I can adjust the level of the nut. If I lower it’s position the chest will open further, since the nut will pull down the tab sooner and therefore open the chest lid more.
And a photo of the position of the chest ball release tab.

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The lid edition does make some difference. There were 2-3 versions sent out, the first being the clear lexan lid. Later mods or upgrades have the printed lid with various modifications to account for feedback and design updates. Also the rod is different and in different places in various models. We can upgrade any mod to the new ones, we have the kit on our site, but in most cases, functionally, they do the same job.

I like the way mine looks and the way it works.

Well, for now I believe I got mine Working acceptably. You can see how my arm is somewhat in between vertical and horizontal. Also, I tightened down the screw holding the solenoid magnet that opens the chest door. It was a little loose and I think that was part of my issue with the door not opening.

Yeah, now time to really explore all this game has to offer! A do have a few more non pressing issues with the game which I’ll post on the other thread. They don’t affect game play so not as concerned on those.

Also, not shown in above photo, my flex rod is in front of the tab, mot behind
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Hi folks,

So I have the mod with lighting, fitted it and did not notice the lights so took it out again.

Only to find just 1 LED is working.

As I am in the UK no point sending back to the US, can someone tell me what LED strip I should purchase to repair.

Cheers

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We'll send you a new one!

Thanks for the offer of sending one, but great news I have replaced the faulty WS2812b strip and its now working and installed.

Great mod.

Awesome, thanks!

I finally took the plunge and decided to install the chest opening mod. Physical install went fine, but I cannot get the arm to move the lid at all. I have the newer flex rod assembly, so I followed the video instructions as best as I could but since that is the ball and rod version maybe I am missing something? I even tried modeling it after the pics of VolunteerPin above. I have the 4 prong wheel and his is the two prong, but I tried positioning mine like his and like in the video even though, but still nothing. From a glance it seems like my flex rod is too long and has too much slack to make anything happen with the chest, but with these flex rods you don't trim it, so I am kind of at a loss. Anyone have any ideas, words of wisdom, encouragement? I really want to get the game back together and start playing it again.