Interesting.

I only use the premium ultra gloss balls in my machines, but it doesn't take very long for them to magnetize in my LOTR.

How long is "not very long" in your world?

I would maybe try other low-mag balls, just to see if they hold up better. My Lord has never managed to magnetize balls to a level I would notice it.

And yes, you can actually "shake off" magnetism from metal, you could also whack them with a hammer, but wither way the effect will not satisfy your needs.

You need Carbon Core balls for games with magnets. The "Ooh Shiny" balls may be Chrome Steel, which is NOT what you want. I've always bought my CC balls from this guy on eBay, and never had a problem:

ebay.com link: Ten 1 1 16 Inch Mirror Finish Carbon Steel Replacement Pinball Machine Balls

Have a weird problem, I haven't looked at it TOO much, but if anyone has experienced this let me know. Powered on my LOTR last night and hit Orthanc, the kickout bounced out of the vuk into the wireform above and back into the vuk repeatedly: it was trapped in an infinite vuk/wireform loop! Maybe the playfield got misaligned somehow, or the coil for the kickout? If anyone has experienced it, let me know, otherwise I'll hack through it.

As for magnetized balls: I added this plastic to my LOTR and have had zero issues since: http://www.pinbits.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_48&products_id=463

Roughly 4 months, ~100 plays.

Some interesting solutions above, thanks guys.

I'm slightly irritated that you are speaking about a "wireform above Orthanc", but if you mean the PotD, then this is what you're looking for: http://www.pinbits.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_48&products_id=491

Better look at the PinballLife product description again.

My playfield's got great color registration, though just a handful of tiny flaws that I've noticed, which don't effect game play at all, but are there...

The middle "frame" for The Two Towers on the lower right corner seems messed up? I believe it was like this when I got the game. Printing defect with the ink? Perhaps it could be touched up?

Another thing was hairline cracks around ring insert, it appears. Probably repainting could take care of it?

Lastly, I've got what appears to be some damage in the playfield above the right inlane. Had mylar protector installed when I got the game (I replaced it with some that I cut when it got really dirty). Never seen anything like it. I've just considered it to be another mistake from the factory line, but what do I know?

Still plays really fast and furious, and is in otherwise superb shape. Fantastic game.

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Sorry.. the wire ring ramp that is right above this vuk. I took a pic of the ball and it's trajectory. Back and forth it goes until it finally gets out of the loop. I'll figure it out and realign something. Skittles.

Edit: and.. that's not orthanc?

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It is the Barad-dur tower (Sauron's tower).

The VUK should not be shooting the ball up to the trail height. You might need to adjust the kicker angle under the playfield.

Wow, the eject from that hole shouldn't even come CLOSE to hitting the wireform. It's not even *really* a VUK. More of a kickout. WTH you got under there?!?

Haha! I don't know how it happened; I didn't play the game for about a month and came back and all of a sudden it was happening. I don't remember it jumping like that, either. I'll let you know what's under the hood once I figure out what was going on -- weird wild stuff.

That kick out has a self learning feature as to how hard it is supposed to kick. Maybe try a factory reset, then toss the ball in there a few times and see what you get.

+1 for you sir -- looks like we are in business!

They don't call me LOTR breath for nothing. LOL!

In case anyone wants to upgrade and hasn't seen my add for an LE for sale here is the link. Make an offer as in excellent condition all around with no signs of wear.

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/ad/36771

Looks like I will be joining the LOTR club this next week. Randy (beelzeboob) sold me his LOTR this past week (great guy, by the way). The one thing it does not have is LED's. I am an LED type of guy, so I would really appreciate any advice on LED packages for LOTR, or comments on whether I should customize it with my own LED bulb choices. I have custom LED'd my TZ and STTNG in the past, and have been very happy with what I design, but there may be LOTR LED packages that have it just right. I don't generally play in the dark, for what that is worth.

I have to admit to being pretty excited (along with my family). I have never played LOTR (none local and the one at HoF was out when I was in Vegas), but it clearly a favorite around here. Keefer is my favorite programmer, so I know I will like the style.

Stepped out of my Hobbit order to get it. I played Hobbit at a friends and it just didn't click for me, although I am sure it will be a fun game eventually.

LOTR looks better with incandescents imo due to the theme and artwork.

Make sure they are no ghost type. LotR ghosts badly otherwise.

I see Randy "approved of this message", so I will give incandescents a try first. His LOTR sounds amazing, and I don't want to wreck the look. I just hate changing bulbs and love intense colors.

Look...here's my take on this: I loveloveLOVE LEDs in pinball machines. I have them in every machine except LOTR. I put them in there and it looked like unicorn puke. Then I ordered a whole huge bag of the retro LED bulbs from Cointaker - I think I spent over $100 on all the bulbs I got. I put them in and I hated them. They were too yellow.

In my IJ, I have warm whites in all the inserts, but the GI and backbox is done with incandescents. It adds a nice warm glow and fits the retro feel. So, too, with LOTR. It's middle earth, not Funhouse, and it should have a dark feel with some warmth to it. There are LEDs in the POTD mod, and inside Balrog (because that's a bitch to change out...now you never have to worry about it!). And I think I have a green one under the Legolas ramp by the POTD to light that corner up green. That's it.

It's your machine now, and you can do what you like, of course. This was what I came up with after a lot of experimentation.

Every machine is different!

If he plans to get an LED OCD card for the machine, he would have to get the ghost type bulbs (which are a little cheaper). LED OCD doesn't work too well with non-ghosting bulbs. But at least the LEDs will behave more like incandescents, even if they don't look the same.

I think the hobbits should have been pink and blue anyway in the movie. Aren't they just variations of the munchkins in WOZ. Perhaps they would have destroyed the ring faster if they had Glinda instead of that ole wimpy Gandalf.

Thanks for the comments. I will heed your advice ... at least as far as you know.

Anyone have a line on some cheap pink and blue non-ghosting LEDs. Its for this other pinball machine I have.

My Little Pony?

Naw, I sold that one already. Don't you remember, you were the high bidder on eBay and then flaked out on me and made me sell it to this 10 year old in Iowa

LED OCD all the way for sure, looks great with LOTR.

Make sure you leave the Ringwraith flasher as an incandescent (red looks good). You get some cool effects with the bulb dimming and pulsing at different times.

I'm very happy with LEDs in my LOTR LE.

Me too. LEDs are not necessarily an automatic color bomb. Keep it to white, reds and ambers, with some hints of green for shireness. Comet sunlight, as always, in the GI. In the end, firm but tasteful. And still feels warm and middle earthy.

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On my LOTR, Balrog doesn't quite go all the way to horizontal when he comes out and thus also seems to tuck in a little tighter when not out. This can lead to a more frequent ball trap than I care for. Is it possible to readjust the Balrog mechanism angle so it gets fully horizontal? Or is this possibly a manufacturing/installation defect?

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You likely need to adjust the switch that registers the horizontal position of Balrog. You can do this without taking out the whole assembly.

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Great tip! Thanks.

When you say adjust, what exactly do you mean? I'm having similar issues with my Balrog at the moment and would love to get it sorted.

Just replaced this switch and diode and my Balrog works nearly perfectly for the first time since I've owned it.

Done a TON of work to mine, but I have one last issue I'm hoping people can help me with. The only damage on the playfield is a little crescent scratch from the right side of Balrog grinding against the playfield when he opens and closes. How do I adjust Balrog to eliminate this problem?

Do you have that big white plastic washer under the bracket that holds him up??

So do others get this ball hang-up? I get it every few games when ball is being kicked out of the Gimli saucer. I thought the Balrog was tucked in too close. There's not a second switch for tucked-in position I imagine? Trying to figure out what the problem with this hang-up is. I'm considering cutting off protruding piece of the habittrail.

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Never. Maybe an issue with the VUK? Everything looks normal in the photo.

I would start a game with the glass off and just keep dropping balls in the saucer, and watch how they end up there.

Never seen that before, not on mine, not on others I've played.

From the VUK it should travel straight in the middle of the arc heading to the wiggle ramp.
Is it bouncing back and getting stuck there or is the VUK itself kicking it in a wrong direction?

You nailed it, that flipper bushing is missing entirely. Luckily Balrog didn't work for quite a while so the damage was minimal. I'll order one from Pinball life when they open back up tomorrow. You rock, thanks!

I would start by slightly untightening the two small machine screws that hold the switch in place and seeing if you can move the switch closer to the gray cylinder. When this is done, the cylinder will need to rotate a bit more to open the switch. If not enough, remove the switch and bend the arm a tiny bit outward.

Then put in the game in test mode and run the Balrog test to verify.

I just got a CQ LOTR that had been in storage for 10 years and it is like it just came out of the box. I have been going back and forth on weather to mod or not and add LED's. The incandescents give a "golden" look and I think they tie in with the theme well. I only have a few games without LED's now- Elvis, The Rolling Stones LE, WOF and now LOTR. For some reason these games just scream for incandescents. One thing I would like to find is Jay's Palantir mod for my LOTR. Anyone have one for sale?

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/lotr-eye-mod-wanted

Yeah, that's why I was asking, to see if it was worth fiddling with the VUK plunger. Thanks for verifying that it's not common. I'm guessing it or the arc is slightly off alignment. I played a few games yesterday and saw it bouncing back rather than staying in the arc once in a while. I'll do as Neal_W suggests and do some more manual tests and try to make some adjustments. Will follow-up when I've done that.

That wireform over the Gollum VUK has a LOT of room for adjustment. I've seen several machines have problems with the VUK getting the ball up onto the wireform due to simple misalignment, causing the VUK to fire 3-4 times on each ball before the ball transfers to the wireform.

The first thing I would recommend is to remove the glass, loosen the nuts holding the wireform above the VUK, and manually move the centerline of the receiving scoop directly above the centerline of the plunger on the VUK, verifying the final position visually from directly above the VUK. You might be surprised how far off the two centerlines are. When everything is centered, simply tighten up the nuts and test the VUK manually with the glass still off.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Great, thanks for additional info, good to know it's more likely the wireform than the plunger.

And of course... make sure the machine is level and at proper pitch. Best wishes.

Rerun of the improved Arwen plastic protector ramp now available..

http://www.redshiftled.com.au/new-store.php#!/Lord-of-the-Rings-Arwen-Plastic-Protector/p/66446126/category=19440026

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This looks great TimeBandit! Just placed my order.

I am still learning the rules and strategy for LOTR. I ordered the pinbits POTD diverter to make the ball not fall on Arwen plastic and into Shire and always go to habittrail. Is there an advantage to have the ball divert into Shire instead of habittrail return to flipper. Was the game originally designed to go either way? I have always thought it was a poor design with the drastic drop. Any feedback is appreciated.