Awesome. It's always annoying when the ball doesn't return where it's supposed to and instead goes where it's unintended or SDTM...can be very frustrating. Glad you got that shot path dialed in!!

Thank you! Now here is the (I hope)complete and correct list:

Right slingshot: Frodo, Gollum, Sam
Left Slingshot: Mary, Pippen
Upper Playfield left: Saruman
Upper Playfield Center: Gandalf on horse (until mid 2005, then changed to Gandalf „with no horse“)
Left of Barad Dur: Uruk-Hai Ugluk
Beside the Shooterlane: Uruk-Hai Warrior, Uruk-Hai Mauhur, Aragon on horse, Ringwraith on horse

So all in all 12 figures on the playfield.

Boromir, Gimli and Legolas where not part of the original layout and are mods. As well as the army of dead like TrekTobbyGermany mentioned above.

To know the correct Name of the 3 Uruk-Hai I looked to the play along set - I think that should be the characters on the playfield (I am not 100 % sure):

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Hi all. I put the trough lights and a couple spotlights in as part of an LED switch over and they reflect off the color DMD glass pretty badly. I even turned off the trough light but would like to keep the spot lights. Tried angling them down but didn't really help.
Anyone else run into this? Any solutions?

Thanks for this I just realized I'm missing Gollum for some reason, I will order that set.
Where do you get the clear plastic that anchors the figures?

Yes, those are the correct three figures in the game (one on the left in that package in in the back by the tower, the two on the right in that package are situated to the left of the shooter lane).

Can't say I've heard of complaints of reflection off of the glass in front of the DMD before from playfield lighting.
Thousands of comments however as it relates to glare off the playfield glass from speaker lights and back box lights (to which the answer is usually some form of invisiglass).
Maybe you have some type film/grease/etc on the glass in front of the DMD that needs to be cleaned off?

thank you for That Information. Can you also confirm what I have written about Frodo, Samwise, Merry and Pippen. Do you think it is correct That Frodo and Sam are on the right Slingshot and the Merry and Pippen are left?

That's correct. Because gollum is on the right as well.

Yes, that is correct.
From near to far, the right sling holds Sam, Gollum, and then Frodo.
On the left sling, are Merry and Pippin (and they both look rather similar with slightly different poses, and to be truthful, I don't know who is who on that left sling, ha!).

Ok - maybe last update

Right slingshot: Sam, Gollum, Frodo (from near to far)
Left Slingshot: Mary, Pippen
Upper Playfield left: Saruman
Upper Playfield Center: Gandalf on horse or only Gandalf
Left of Barad Dur: Uruk-Hai Ugluk
Beside the Shooterlane: Uruk-Hai Warrior, Uruk-Hai Mauhur, Aragon on horse
In front of (right) Barad Dur: Ringwraith on horse
So all in all 12 figures on the playfield.
Boromir, Gimli and Legolas or other characters where not part of the original layout and are mods. As well as the army of dead on the mini-playfield.

I think there may be no rhyme or reason to Gandalf and they installed whatever they had on hand. The manual just states that the game may come with either.

My game is from 12/03 and has Gandalf the grey.

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You can try a glare shield ("bent plastic"). It all depends where your spotlights are...

I had the same issue with trough lights on my STTNG and had to remove them it was that bad and the glare shield didn't help. This is why I went with Pinstadiums. Folks bitch because they are expensive but they are very effective.

Thank you I changed it!

Got a wild hair this morning since I got off work early and fashioned my own plastic for the Path of the Dead.
Got the idea from a picture I saw from an overseas company (Pinball Center?).
I used 1 black straight and 1 black star post both with clear rubbers, attached to the path of the dead plastic with post studs (8-32 x 2-1/16" 6-32 top) with black hex nuts on top (to match the posts) to fasten the plastic to the posts. I then fastened the characters on with double-sided sticky tape.
I really like how it turned out!

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Thanks for the answer. Ordered one from pinballlife.

Can you post a picture of where you put the spot lights? I’m guessing you added extra spots over the two stock ones…?

I see you already ordered a plastic glare guard. While they work, they look very ugly in my opinion. I don’t know if it’ll help, as I’ve never seen the lights from the play field reflecting off the dmd. But, Comet has a polarized film that helps with dmd reflections on the glass. It is otherwise invisible and won’t detract from the look of you game. But, it is designed for a different issue, so it may not work for you.

Also, comet offers a “dimmer” for their matrix products that you could dim down the trough light, maybe?

The new spots are on the slingshot. I suspect dimming won't be a great solution as I tried with the trough lights and it was still very noticeable.

I ordered the internal glare guard so let's see if it helps or not.

Does anyone know where these wire brackets are sold? I have a few that are broken.

playfirldwirebracket1 (resized).jpg

Yup, the previous owner installed green trough lights on mine. The bent plastic works perfectly to stop the glare.

I was looking at my machines today and I think the problem is that the lotr dmd is facing straight ahead or maybe slightly down
If I look at iron man it's tilted back, no issues. At least could be part of the problem.

Used flex bulbs to add UV lighting under the characters and made a harness that travels inconspicuously to the side of the backboard and down under the pf to tie into GI. Also added 2 multi-faceted UV lights at the top of the backboard (in between the backboard GI lights, which are currently green incandescents).

I like incandescents in this game and I thought that UV lighting was a good LED compromise to light these characters. I did want to try this lighting scheme out and I'll see if it grows on me, but not sure if I'll keep the lighting though, but maybe...it does look pretty cool in person.

I also picked up some Titan glow in the dark small post rubbers for the path of the dead posts (not yet installed)...I'm thinking that'll look pretty neat in this UV light.
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Marco

TREE - WIRING HARNESS SUPPORT LARGE
#545-5253-01

I know because I have one in my cart as we speak!

I've been communicating with Franck (2-Niro pinball mods), who has awesome mods, amazing customer service and excellent communication, btw!!!
Anyway, I picked up a fire ring, but unfortunately I'm having a hard time getting it to function. He and I have discussed this problem and have yet to solve it.
Essentially, the issue is that I have a newer, aftermarket opto amplifier board, as well as 2 new optos (all from Marco, all functioning well). However, this fire ring mod was designed based off of the original opto board. I have ensured correct installation of the ring and molex connections (running in series at the opto amplifier board with his Barad Dur mod, which is also awesome btw). I have confirmed the little power box that sticks to the underside of the pf has light glowing from it when it's molex is attached. Could I have a bad ring??

Reversing the upper opto plastic plate at the top opto attachment on the board did not help (rendered the optos non-functional), and in all experiments, the fire ring mod has yet to work. Bummer.

Has anyone else with newer aftermarket opto amplifier boards and optos experienced problems with the fire ring?...and if so, has anyone found how to make it work with this updated board and opto? This mod is so dang cool, I would love to have it work on my machine. Any advice would be welcome!! Thanks!

I have the same problem. I worked with Franck (who is awesome) over a year ago and eventually I just gave up. Very interested to see if someone has resolved this with the new opto board.

Thank you very much for your reply. Yes, he was awesome to communicate with, very responsive. But after trying essentially every iteration, I also gave up and removed it from the ring this morning. Bummer, because that mod looks amazing.

Let there be fire!!!

Okay, so I knew I had a bad opto amplifier board and I exchanged it for an aftermarket opto amplifier board, however, this made me feel as though I had 2 bad optos as well (at the ring)... so ended up picking up two new optos as well and everything has been right with the world.

Fast forward, now I want to get the fire ring mod, however as above, when I installed it with the above new aftermarket items it did not work. Bummer.
There is information on the 2-Niro website about the aftermarket boards, and it recommends reversing the top opto, however, when I did that, my optos didn't function at all, and therefore the mod would not work either. Double bummer.

So, because it had been a while since I had cleaned my game room shop, haha, after being asked if I still had the original optos, I dug into the trash and voila, I found them!
I first did a switch test, except this time I reversed the plastic on the top opto, and guess what, it worked! Note: This is something that is *not stated* on the websites that offer this aftermarket opto amplifier board when still using the original Stern optos, so this is also just a point of reference.
It was at this point that I checked my fire ring mod and guess what, it also worked! So I eagerly hooked everything up and now I am good to go with the fire ring!!!

So in summary, this fire ring mod will work with the aftermarket opto amplifier boards, however, it will not work with aftermarket optos. For whatever reason, it needed the original Stern optos (with the top opto plastic reversed on the new board), or I would assume a true transmitter and receiver (as most of the current day optos function as both). Go figure!
PXL_20220617_203634896~2 (resized).jpg

That's awesome you figured it out... Now where can I get some original Stern optos?

And just to be clear... I need to find the ones where its a dedicated transmitter and a dedicated receiver right?
Original part numbers of 500-6775-00 and 500-6747-00.

I just searched all the normal sites. They only sell the all in one now.

Knows anyone if someone still making an air ball protector for the legolas ramp to place legolas figure there. Please see picture attached:

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If you cant find one, they're very easy to make with a piece of petg/Lexan from your local hardware store. I made my own with just a saw and a drill. Mounted it to the post on the POTD right at the peak of the legolas ramp.

First time I have seen that! [reaching for my spare plastic supply...]

Update: replaced the flipper leaf switch seems to have solved the issue. Thanks e everyone for the advice.

I've been tired of the ball jumping off of the path of the dead and bouncing to the lower plastic and sometimes who knows where from there, haha.
I have seen others acrylic ideas to divert the ball to the left ramp, so I gave it a shot.
Using two small black spacers and slightly larger black machine screws, I used some acrylic in the shop and created my own ball diverter from the path of the dead to the left ramp. I think it turned out pretty well and most importantly it seems to work.

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Did you know there are rules in the code for when the ball falls into the Shire? You get more souls when that happens.

First thing that came to mind for me as well. ChipScott is affecting gameplay negatively with his “good idea”.

There is also the ramp method to protect the plastic.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/lotr-resurrection-of-the-improved-arwen-plastic-protector/

I made my own plastic protector so the ball can still go into the shore. However I don’t think you gain enough souls to really matter. And you have the ball bashing into the plastic on the big scoop to worry about.

That looks very cool but looks like he isn't around any more. I just have the flat protector over the top of the Arwen plastic.

Here's a POTD protector for $10. Looks like the same seller is also selling a bunch of LOTR plastics and protectors as well.

sfbay.craigslist.org link

Nice figure placement. I have seen a lot of POTD figure mods that cover up all of the ball pathway and you can't see anything. Any issue with the figures covering the 100, 200, 300, or 400 lights?

Just wanna shout out to all the good folks here who help folks get their machines running. DTR was impossible to complete on the machine I picked up and I searched this topic and found the answers of magnet fuse and switch 48 adjustment. And bam, DTR completed. Thanks everyone!

Hello,

I am going to make another batch of Medium strength coils and list them to eBay this week.

Thanks everyone who recommended the upgrade and everyone who is interested.

Andrew

That’s a bummer, Chip. The fire ring mod is one of the coolest I’ve seen. I installed one on mine, but I’m sure I have the original opto boards (my LOTR is a 2004). I still had difficulties with mine, but it was user error. I installed something wrong and had to go back in and redo it. Once it was working, it was fantastic. The Palantir/Eye of Sauron mods are great too. The volcano mod is awesome too. The mod list is long on this pin!

These are really nice, I hope more of these can be made. I bought this “ramp” version from Australia twice, once for each of my LOTRs. Protects the plastic and the shire very well, but still allows the ball to randomly choose the shire or the wireform. Looks like they vanished about a year ago.

Actually, I did not know that.
For whatever the case, my ball, when it falls forwards can really be a haphazard and when it does fall forward, 50% of time it ends up bouncing out of the Shire and just feels a little bit more rambunctious than I want.
With this addition, I get pathway to the ramp 100% of the time. But, all that said, I do appreciate you chiming in because I did not know that you could collect additional souls by falling into the Shire.

Yes, I'm able to see all of the lights with this configuration. This is a pic that's essentially from the players perspective (pic taken with pf up, but gives the correct visual angle).
PXL_20220616_132359661~3 (resized).jpg

I was actually able to get the fire ring working!!...and it is so cool!
Communicated with Franck (2-Niro) via messenger to assist in testing the system and ultimately get things rolling. He was really great to work with, really stands behind his products! We both stumbled across some interesting facts ( and fortunately it was my poor housekeeping that saved the day, haha).

One thing they don't tell you when you get the aftermarket opto amplifier board is that if you are using the original stock optos, you need to reverse the seating position on the top opto attachment, or else you are going to think your optos do not work either and you'll ultimately pick up the new available optos (which work as both transmitters and receivers).
However, this fire ring mod was designed with the original optos and opto amplifier board in mind. That said, I had saved the original optos, and when I used them (reversing the top seating position on the auto attachment), it worked!!!

So, the moral of the story is that if you have the aftermarket optos and opto amplifier board, the mod will not work, unless you can source true transmitter and receiver optos (which I was lucky enough to have laying around in the shop in a trash bag, lol).

I suppose I have to concede that there is slight negative effect to this mod (didn't really know you could collect souls by falling into the Shire), true point that you make.
Although this was not necessarily my good idea, but others idea (can find a version of this on the Hooked on Pinball website, also on eBay and also seen on other pictures from historical posts)... I just made my own... and for me, I'm happy with the result because my ball travel ended up being a little too rambunctious.

Yay!!! Thats awesome!!
Thanks Andrew!!

Understood. It’s your game so you do what you feel like!

Me I’m more of a purist. I like mods but not when they affect gameplay from what was designed/intended. I think the time I got a game with drywall screws put in to block the outlanes traumatized me. Lol. It was a Batman Forever from some kiddie amusement place(indoor bouncy castle/ball pit type place).