If Plalantir is lit then hit it for 10 additional seconds, shoot scoop to light it.

Hey guys out of the blue the ring shot just keeps triggering on its own. Just started happening. Basically as soon as you hit the start button one of the modes starts. Something to do with the ring magnet maybe? What should I look for when I look under the hood?

More than likely the opto transmitter or transceiver used to detect the ball going thru the ring, could also be the circuit board, but highly unlikely. I replaced the optos on mine and it solved the problem, ordered them from Marcos. I ordered the board as well, but didn’t need it:

520-5239-01 - Opto transmitter / receiver amplifier board
500-6775-01 - Opto transceiver assembly
500-6746-00 - LORD OF THE RINGS (Stern) Opto transmitter assembly

Friends of the Fellowship, I need to buy a figure mounting set for my LOTR LE, does anyone have a spare set laying around to sell me? Can't seem to get a response from Pinbits to see if they'll be available again. Thanks!

HI every one

I just joined the lotr club a month ago, and I ran to a problem..
the pop bumpers and balrog, Dark Riders flashers don't flash anymore.
I looked under the playfield, and the connectors and everything is in place.

Has any one here ever ran to this problem?
could this be a bad cap?

Thanks in advance

If it's at the beginning of a game it could also be caused by the switch inside the Balrog. This is a normally closed switch, meaning when the ball strikes the Balrog the switch opens. When you start a game the Balrog swings out and sometimes triggers the switch causing a mode to start.

Have you checked the fuses?

I would be checking all the fuses first.

I replaced my flaky Balrog switch and my intermittent mode start at the first game of the day vanished. I never put the two things together. Kudos!!

thanks for the quick replay guys,
I change all the fuses and still have the same problem.
is there a connector just for that set of flashers in the back box?

It's J6 on the power driver board. The fuse is F7. Do any of the flashers work? I would try replacing the individual flashers if you haven't yet. Check the 20vdc test point on the power driver bd. to make sure the 20v circuit is working.

cmon, somebody..... anybody??

When I go into test mode looks like OPTO SWITCH #47 keeps tripping itself. I'm guessing that the opto is somewhere in the back assembly. Just lifting the PF up and looking at the back I cannot see it. So which one of the below is for opto switch #47 then? Thanks!

Looks like I fixed it (for now) by just unplugging and plugging in the two connectors on the opto board. See how long that lasts. Thanks for the quick reply on the help guys! Pinside is great! Appreciate it!

all the fuses are good and all the other flashers work,
the only flashers that don't work are the ones for the pop bumpers , balrog, and the dark rider.
also have a OCD board install,
unplugged it from the OCD board and plug it to the main board.. and still that section has won't flash.
but there is power in those sockets just very low, I checked it with my volt meter.

Added over 6 years ago: All is working now , Thanks to everyone for the help!!!
you guys rock

Just curious which flipper coils come from factory in the game?

Is it these?
http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=156

This is what is in my game right now...
http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=1112

I find them waaaay too strong. I have a hard time keeping the ball from flying off the ramps with a clean hit. It's insane. Does anyone actually use these and find them okay?

LOTR did not come with super powered coils from the factory. They are an after market solution for an overheating issue on LOTR which causes the coils to get weak over time. Mine came with the super powered ones installed and I removed them because they are way too strong and change gameplay.

There's a company called APB Enterprises that sells a medium powered coil, that's what I use now and they work great... happy medium. Some owners have hooked up small fans to keep the original coils cool, that seems to work as well.

So it's not just me then? Good to know. Thanks for the heads up. Do you happen to know the part number for the ones that you have or should I just shoot them an email asking for a med. power coil for LOTR?

I recommend to any LOTR owner to download the manual. It's free!
http://www.ipdb.org/search.pl?any=lord+of+the+rings&sortby=name&search=Search+Database&searchtype=quick

Here is a snip from the manual that shows the original coils part number.

lotr coils (resized).JPG

They will know. You can PM here on pinside APB_Enterprises

Great, thank you. I sent an email but I'll shoot a PM over as well.

Just curious though, does anyone actually use the high power coils and find that they work well? I even tried playing around with the pitch on the game and the ball still whips around like a bat out of hell.

I couldn't stand them in mine and removed them after 50 plays or so.

Did you go back to the stock coils or something else? I never played on the stock ones so I have no idea how they play and the issues people have with them. Apparently they lose power after a few games?

I got a reply from Andrew @ APB Enterprises so it looks like I'll give those a try.

I read too much online and thought I was missing something so I bought the new coils, I never had an issue with the stock ones. I put the stock ones back in. Trust me it's not "a few plays". Some puns, would loose power after long playing sessions. LOTR was my first and only pin for about 3 years so it got quite a bit if play time and I never had the issue.

I actually used some stuff called plastic wood...by Dap, just a wood filler. worked out great. filled in groove then just slightly sanded until smooth. can't even tell there was a groove there... except for the graphics missing. Ive been playing it for over a year, held up nice.

Stock coils get weak relatively quickly, due to overheating. LOTR is a long playing game. For a good player trying to reach Valinor, it will take a couple of hours to make a few attempts at getting to the wizard mode. After an hour or so with stock coils, the flippers will become weak, making the ring shot difficult.

Had my LoTR LE for a year now. Definitely notice that the ring shot gets more and more difficult later in a long game. Especially when I want to destroy the ring. I hadn't heard about the coil issue until this recent discussion in this thread. I went ahead and ordered the medium strength coils recommended above. Thanks for the input guys!

So I picked up my Lotr a few weeks ago. I just finished the topside teardown, clean, and reassembly. It had a sound issue when I bought it and I was hoping it was just an o/s issue. Flashing to ver. 8 and that didn't fix it. Next step is to send the board to stern for repair. Anyone done this before? I'm wondering how long it took them and if they fixed it.

Just joined the club a week or so ago. Bought from another pinsider close by. The game is a beater - much more "used" than I realized, but when you drive 3+ hours you don't want to go back empty handed. a significant number of important plastics were destroyed (flasher by the shooter lane, some pops were "DIY Harry" fixed. ) Price was fair, I'm not complaining, just sort of stings when you get it home.

Anyway, I am enjoying the game but... damn, it's not "clicking" with me yet. I think it doesn't help too much that I have it right next to my MB, which has VERY similar shots. Didn't realize that before!

So the game just seems sort of ... clunky to me. I haven't gone through and tightened everything down yet but are there any specific adjustments one should make? this has been on my wishlist for a LONG time and i would really like to get it roaring.

Also, is the shaker motor still a possibility? I would love to add that.

Welcome! What specific parts/shots feel clunky? Maybe something can be adjusted.

You can purchase complete plastics sets.

Marco sells the plastic support posts for the flasher by the shooter.

There is a thread on the parts and work needed to install a shaker on a standard LotR -
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/how-to-install-shaker-motor-in-lotr-standard-edition

Wow! Thanks Neal. I love Pinside.

Mostly the whole game kind of feels clunky - I am going to tighten everything up and see f that makes a difference. I know the game wasn’t maintained the way I prefer to maintain them. Looks like original coils and sleeves (!!) for example.

I read the shaker thread - curious if all that stuff is still available? I’d love to make that a project.

Already bought the new plastics set from PBL, will install when they arrive; I will look at Marco if I still need the supports. Thanks a lot!!

I should also point out that this is my first Stern, having only owned JJP and B/W DMD games in the past, so maybe that had something to do with it, just a different “feel”

Jerry at Gameroom Service has the roms and PAL chip. I ordered the game rom, display rom and PAL chip from him. Everything worked perfectly.
Jerry's email is: [email protected]

I am in the same boat. I have a LOTR with a dead sound chip. During my research, I found out that Rob from lockwhenlit.com does repair these boards. I would contact him for pricing and repair times. I also discovered that if you install a Pinsound board, it completely replaces the old sound circuits. I am currently saving my pennies for a Pinsound board.

Good point. Almost a no brainer now. $200 repair plus shipping and being without the board for 4 weeks or 400 board that gives me better sound. Hmmm

And more:
-Upgrade from mono to 2.1 (stereo+sub) high quality power amplifier
-Full cabinet and back-box tone control (treble, bass, loudness…)
-Change from original sound package to HQ reorchestrated sounds on the fly during a game
-Headphone / line-out connector
-Plays any sound from the USB flash drive

So many mods, so little time!

But if I don't fix the whitestar board I can't take the pinsound board with me when I sell. I guess the solution is never sell. Haha, thanks guys

I also ordered a new balrog wiring harness from pinball heaven. It was reasonably prices even with shipping in case anyone's having balrog issues

Nice find!

https://www.pinball.co.uk/shop/game-specific-parts/balrog-wire-harness/

This may help:
Just got another Pinsound today...

I saw that. Sounds incredible. I wish a U.S. retailer had the whitestar adapter in stock. I'll be ordering one just as soon as I convince the better half

Wow that does sounds amazing! Just when I thought I was done modding this game...it just never ends, lol

Day one mod for me on any game now; most of the games I’ve installed it in already have KILLer updates (TZ, CFTBL, DW) but basically any game sounds better; your mileage may vary depending on the game, but even just doing stereo adds a whole new dimension. Missed out on a TFTC this weekend which came stock with stereo sound, and even THAT sounds better with pinsound...

Please help,
I think I have an easy Balrog question. I just replaced the wiring that goes to Balrog's switch and lamp socket. It seems to be working fine, but the light keeps blowing. The manual says it needs an 89 bulb, but the socket appears to be for a 44 bulb. I was trying to use a Ghost Busters led 44 bulb, but I've blown 2. I thought 89 bulbs are wider at the base and wouldn't fit into the socket? I believe it's either the bulb or I wired it poorly. Balrog's light works for 1 game and then blows. Any help is appreciated.

Balrog takes a special 12v bulb with a 44 base.
https://www.cometpinball.com/mobile/product.aspx?ProductCode=5smd12vba9s&404;https://www.cometpinball.com:443/product-p/5smd12vba9s.htm=

Thank you! It looks like they're out of stock and I haven't been able to find another good source for a nice 12v /44 bulb. Is there anybody else you'd recommend.

Looks like cointaker has a similar bulb.

https://cointaker.com/products/balrog-flasher

Here's the service bulletin for balrog incase anyone wants to see it.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.sternpinball.com/upload/downloads/sb148.pdf&ved=0ahUKEwjZ8YK-0eDXAhUm0oMKHevHAXEQFggmMAA&usg=AOvVaw0FIpJwuO4z9TXqKdcoNGpE

Do yourself a favor and hold out to get the 12v LED bulb. The standard bulb has a Very short life as that toy takes a beating! That I believe was one of the first Stern Service bulletins on LOTR and rightfully so. Changing that bulb can be a Pain in the Balrog, do it right the first time! lol Good luck on a Great game!!

Yes, I think that the Cointaker might work. I was looking all over. That appears to be a decent led bulb.

Wow, that LOTR topper at Cointaker is insane!