Follow up question to the Lights on the path of the dead and mode lights, there is a row of lights at the top of the backboard, were they all clear incandescent's? I think about 8 of them?? I'm just trying to get that original lighting feel back. Thanks, Dave

I'm going to be doing a full LED treatment on my game. Do you suggest going warm or natural/cool white?

Yes

The game had green bulbs in POTD, and a red flasher on the right ramp. Everything else was clear.

Re: PinSound Wool Mix

I thought I remember reading months ago that he was grabbing all the center channel DVD audio to use for better call outs. But now I keep seeing people say the call outs are the same original low quality.

So did the movie call outs not get used? Or is it just the game specific ones like “jackpot”?

I’m still on the fence if it’s gonna be worth the extra hassle and cost for LOTR. I do love PinSound though!

Thanks for the info!! Much appreciated!

Hi, recently joined the club with a 2003 Pro. One thing I'm finding is that it's pretty tricky to hit the ring shot consistently from cradle. It feels like there's not enough power and I've seen this was a common concern in the history of the table. I've reread as much as I can but I'm not sure what to do. Here's the details:

1) upgraded LOTR coils in place
2) Playfield at 6.5
3) Has lightening flippers (shouldn't affect it i assume?)
4) was used in a tournament recently and had flippers rebuilt or at least confirmed

I'm not sure if I should mess with the Flipper Adj settings (increase setting 53) or if there's something else to try? Or if it's the old play better and make cleaner shots. I've read some stuff saying the magnet could be weak? I do know the magnet works as I can typically make the shot and it works around 1-2 times per game but I'm usually needing momentum or a bounce shot to make it.

Thanks!

If the flippers are rebuilt, the next thing to look at is the spinner at the entrance to the ramp. This gets heavily damaged quickly and can really slow the ball momentum. Also make sure the ramp alignment is correct, and the ball is hitting the center of the ring consistently.

FWIW this is difficult to adjust but its well worth your time to do it as it can have a dramatic effect on making this shot consistently

Just was looking into the menus/diagnostics and when I run the dedicated Switch test my Left and Right flipper EOS come up. It's not clear if that means they are activated. Running the normal activated switch test doesn't seem to mention the EOS switches. Does that mean I should check to see that they are not already closed?

Nevermind I see that stern EOS are closed by default and that's normal behavior. For what it's worth the ramp and spinner look to be fine.

Ultimately I guess the question is how hard should this shot be? Does it need everything to be just right or should it hit the ring and work like 65%+ times you launch it off the ramp ?

Any other tips on power are appreciated - is it worth playing with the flipper adjustments #53?

Can't say what the designer had in mind but I expect all reasonably powered balls to make the shot. In other words, this shot shouldn't fail very often. Say less than 10%.

Yeah, from the left flipper if the shot is hit clean it should go into the ring like nearly 100% of the time. The right flipper shot is angled a bit different but should still stick the majority of the time if hit cleanly. I would ditch the lightning flippers. It's not how the game was designed. There are other ways to make the game more difficult than messing with the most important part of any pinball machine. The flippers.

Yeah, ditch the lightning flippers before you tweak the flipper adjustment settings away from the standard settings in the software. This is a terrible application for lightning flippers, because the ring shot requires extra distance (crossing the entire length of the playfield) and elevation (launching up the ring ramp) to hit a target in the back of the cabinet. Even with upgraded coils, the shorter flipper length will not allow enough force near the end of the flipper to hit the ring shot reliably.

Mine has flippers with a lightning bolt on them, but they are the same lenght as the "normal" flippers.... So check that out first.

There are many game only voice call outs. I totally want to hear the pinsound wool mix. I heard that on a TZ and wow impressive.

Ok so I swapped out one (only had one spare) of the lightning flippers and also made sure there was a bit more up and down play. I think it's made a difference - more the slightly longer length just seems to give it a bit more force. Thanks for all the tips.

Next question, my Balrog was working, then stopped, I opened it up and jiggled the bulb and it seemed to work. (It's a replaced 5 SMD LED type #44) and I closed it up and it was great for like 1 game. Then it stopped again. I'm wanting to test with a different bulb to see if its the wires or the bulb but not sure if there's anything on LOTR that I can use to test as I think this is a special 12v LED where the others are lower power?

The copper conductor wires inside the Balrog wiring harness often break inside their plastic insulators, due to: (a) pinching from the cable ties on the vertical mounting post next to the Balrog, and (b) the repetitive twisting force on the harness from the rotation of the Balrog mech. This is difficult to detect visually, even if you remove the heat-shrink tubing on the outside of the wiring harness, because you cannot see the broken conductor wires inside their plastic insulators. The best way to troubleshoot this type of failure is to unplug the wiring harness connector beneath the playfield and test for continuity on each wire with a multimeter while twisting the wires to replicate the flex encountered during the mech's rotation.

If this proves to be the problem, replacement Balrog wiring harnesses are readily available...

ebay.com link: Lord Of The Rings Lotr Pinball New Balrog Wiring Harness

Bad reversed pictures because the back camera is broken on my phone but the mount doom mod looks amazing. I was going to take pics and do a write up on how to install but it is so easy there's really no need. Thanks and fantastic mod!!!

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Thanks QG - looks fantastic - that is some wild lighting you have going on... There is one thing I know after seeing this....

I gotta get me a reverse layout LotR!!

Great to see the mod made it to Canada with no problems, too!

Ok seems to in fact be a bad bulb - I'm thinking of just trying these as the Balrog flasher as they would be cheaper than trying to ship to Canada from the US. Would these work? They look pretty damn close to what I think I have removed currently.

https://www.amazon.ca/Super-White-BA9S-Light-Bulbs/dp/B0756HGX65/ref=sr_1_35

Those should work, they look just like the Comet bulb for Balrog. #44 and Ba9s are the same bulb base and they are 12v.

http://www.bulbtown.com/44_Miniature_Bulb_BA9s_Base_p/44.htm

So first the good part:

I did some minor moving around to get the PinSound to fit. All around, I’m happy with how it fit in after moving things.

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And then the questions. I’m getting a lot of cutting out trying to use the Wool mix. Little glitches in the sound that are really annoying. Like a sound will be playing and have a quick gap in the sound. Have people run into that?

Also I’m getting no background sound at the start off ball 2 and 3. Which seems really odd. So it’s completely quiet, then I’ll hit something and get that sound effect. Eventually I start getting a background track. Normal?

And finally, the call outs in Two Towers were pretty quiet compared to the music.

I’m just trying to see if it’s the mix, the board, or a bad download or something else.

I've run into this a few times with PinSound. The fix each time was to get a better USB stick. I'm not sure why it seems to be the answer but I have almost no glitches anymore. Maybe once every dozen or so games there's a tiny glitch but I barely notice now.

For what it's worth the bigger 32 and 64 sized sticks seemed to have more problem. I'm using 8GB USB 3.0 sticks in all my PinSounds.

My Balrog does not seem to be registering hits unless you really smack it hard with a straight on shot.

What's the best/easiest way to get access to the switch in Balrog so I can adjust it?

Also, when does the diverter at the top of the pf get activated? Should it be up during War of the Ents. I make the right orbit shot during this mode, and it just sent the ball around the full orbit exiting out of the left side. Should it be stopped by the diverter to be sent into the Path of the Dead?

Cheers

The switch or the wires running to it are probably failing. I have not opened it in a while. Start with it in the open position away from the ramp. Take of the 2 screws that hold on the small back cover. The manual has a good exploded view at the bottom of page 87.

Yes, that diverter post is up during War of the Ents, but the ball may be going past it because the shot is not strong enough to roll along the top of the orbit or maybe ball guide on the right is aimed under the post. Do left orbit shots hit the diverter and roll in to the tower? You can stand on the right of the pin and see when the diverter post is up. It is normal that a few balls get past it.

I saw the idea somewhere in this forum but I put a metal post rubber over mine and it fits perfectly and allows the diverter to stick out a few extra mm to allow the ball to stop it more often then not.

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Took the back plate off Balrog, pulled the switch out and bent it a bit so that it requires less of a gap to activate. It's not perfect, but definitely improved.

I'll play around with it more when I have some time.

I'll also have a look at that diverter. I guess it's not uncommon for the ball to whip around the right orbit and pass through the post.

One last thing... I have stock coils and I swear in the last few games I've played, it feels much harder to hit the ring. I understand that the coils heat up and lose power during gameplay but could they lose power in a way that the coil itself becomes weakened over time and just doesn't have the juice to make those shots whether you've just started a game or are half hour in?

unlikely, usually the only time you would see this is if the coil got hot enough to melt it's spindle; but it should completely bind if this were to happen. What you are more than likely seeing is a mechanical issue such as ... loose part, cracked/binding sleeve, mushrooming plunger, etc...

http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/SFLKIT
http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/545-5070-00

You're probably right. I bought a rebuild kit from PBL and also ordered the medium strength coils sold here on Pinside.

I'll change them out when I have some extra time. I'm pretty sure the game I have is HUO and by the looks of it, not a great deal of mileage. But I guess it is 15 years old, and that's definitely a lot of time for a flipper assembly to get some wear and tear.

warm white frosted LEDs for inserts & GI (greens for the Potd, amber for the ring) + LED OCD.

I didn't LED the flashers.

Installed my Mt Doom mod and had a friend over to play some LOTR and he noticed Mt Doom right away and commented on how he liked it. Kudos PinballCharlie

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

Just had my best game yet. Had 6 gifts, and was about to start Fellowship again that only required one more pass.

Sooooo close, yet so far!

Definitely one of the best pinball wizard mode journeys ever.

Warm white all the way!

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Led OCD in last night. Amazing difference immediately. Does anyone make any changes to the settings or just load lotr in the program and leave it alone?

How can I check if lotr program is loaded in my LED OCD?

Frosted or not for the GI? How about the inserts?

Hey guys... Looking for someone who wants to part with their minty modded game (Grin).... Looking around - let me know if anyone can have their arm twisted to part with their game. Have a good one !

My thread and build used a mix of mini and frosted - see https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/led-and-rubber-maps-for-lord-of-the-rings

I like to use frosted anytime there is a larger insert (arrows included) and two flex for even larger inserts.

Since I've largely switched to just using frosted everywhere instead of minis and trying to save a few bucks.

What are minis?

New owner looking for some advice, my inner loop switch (#42 - gate switch) has stopped registering (it may not have ever registered since I got it). Wondering where to start or what to look for to fix this. Is there a loose connector I should check or some other technique? The switch appears to be mechanically sound - I haven't taken it all apart though (yet!).

Thanks!

Inexpensive LEDs.

https://cointaker.com/t/mini

So what do I do with this file? I downloaded the .rar file directly on to my USB (not in any folders) and my Pinsound doesn't recognize it at all. I have the one from the Pinsound website already loaded and working, not sure if that impacts anything. Do I need to do something else with the file in order for it to be recognized? I can't remember for certain, but I think I actually downloaded the Wool file BEFORE I used the one from the Pinsound website and had the same issue, so I don't think it's a matter of just having the other file on the USB. It's just not recognizing it for some reason. Do I need to change the file format to something other than .rar?

Also, on a different topic, does anyone use the Pinduino with LoTR? I'm basically done with all my modding but the LED stuff, which I'm just learning up on now. I know it's expensive, but I really love the look of the PinballBulbs LED stuff and I'm going to buy an LED OCD, but wanted to check in to see if people have opinions on the Pinduino, whether it works fine with other LED kits, or whether it's good/bad on its own. I suppose it's a matter of preference, but I have no perspective whatsoever, so anything is appreciated as always!

Ok I've confirmed the switch for the inner loop is not working (swapped it temporarily beneath the playfield for another switch connection). Now I'm not sure how I can easily get at that switch. How much do I need to remove to get at it? Any tips on gaining access (order of part removal). This table has the white wizard with the blue LED mod which makes it awkward to see/get at.

Thanks!

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Removing the Gandalf plastics doesn’t take long at all, maybe 3-5 minutes. Recommend just doing that.

so I assume he's not glued in then? I didn't want to start pulling on it if it's just going to make a mess and I can't seem to find the details on installing him anywhere.

I mean you can probably leave Gandalf himself on, but remove the plastics around him enough to reach the switch. I’m not sure how Gandalf is attached.