I went gold on mine, black stood out too much. The gold blends in better.

Thanks - I’m 60/40 in favour of the brass.

Unless the brass is a perfect match to the powder coat, which it’s not, I would go with black bolts and feet....

Well the good thing is, you can always change them.

Thanks to the two people who chimed in on this. I finally gave up and set it to one ball dtr. I played for an hour this morning. Had the best game I’ve had on this new machine. Beat rotk (my nemesis) and tt. Couldn’t get fotr. 5/6 gifts. Got to dtr twice on the first ball. Probably ended with 5 dtr tries. Hit the ring no less than ten times that should have dtr. Before I had read the helpful suggestions about the switch behind the ring, I started to suspect there was a switch back there. Ran tests, yep. Not sensitive enough. Adjusted and solved the problem. You guys were spot on and I really appreciate the help. I was coming up with crazy schemes to get my old lotr back again...

Now I feel like I might have a chance at valinor. Funny thing is I was on my portable elliptical for this epic game! It puts me much higher while playing. It must help my play to be at a steeper angle. This was by far my best game on this machine.

This requires pics and video!

Its likely that the coils or flipper programmed strength is different on your newly acquired machine. Since it's now been over 15 years since Stern released code v8.0 along with Service Bulletin 151 which added flipper strength adjustments, here is a link to Stern SB151 as it describes how all 3 of the flipper settings effect the coils operation.

https://sternpinball.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/sb151.pdf

From Stern SB151
"The new code adds three Standard Adjustments 53-55, Flipper Adj. 1-3 (see below). This will allow the game to use the End-of-Stroke (Flipper) Switches where available, to turn off the power to the flippers earlier. This should generally result in the flippers staying MUCH cooler over a longer period of time and reduce player dissatisfaction on a heavily-played game."

I've had my LOTR since 2003 and remember dialing in these settings in 2004 which allowed the stock flipper to operate flawlessly; Unfortunately a year or so ago I decided to install NVRAM instead of replacing the 5+ year old Lithium batteries and had forgotten all about the flipper settings One of the main reasons I had not done NVRAM sooner is I had the ability to replace the Lithiums with the power on and never loose any of my scores or settings.

The First game I played (now with stock flipper values), I immediately noticed the flipper power was substantially stronger initially and then died out during the game, I'm still trying to find the ideal settings again since I know they are obtainable.

Anyone have settings that are really working to keep flippers cool? I was also wondering if anyone was using heat sinks to keep coils cool as well? I’ve seen fans used but it looks complicated.

There's a stern service bulletin on flipper settings for this.

Does anyone have contact info for the redshift guy? I want to buy his path of the dead diverter/ protector but his website has had his store "closed until January" since I started looking. No reply to email. Just wondering if he's planning on selling it again or if he's closing up shop for good or what.

Just emailed with Mike earlier, he's fine and his website store will be back shortly. He had some new pinball mods to work on and finish up, as well as some personal business as well.

Thanks, I'll stand by.

Black

Mine are on default settings and have the medium power coils.

Andrew

I didn't know about this - I need one of those too. Pinbits' protector is fine but that bounce out of the POTD doesn't seem right. I wonder what Gomez's thought about that was?

Not to take away business, but these are easy to make with a $5 piece of Lexan and a scroll saw. I hate the bounce into the Shire and think the game is much better and faster without it. Faster return to the flipper and it's only takes 1/3 of the POTD points away - I always seem to get Return of the King about on line with the other modes regardless.

Seems like the DTR problem is indeed the back trough switch.

However, I still had one ball go through without registering DTR. What is required to trigger DTR completion (rapid consecutive switch trigger on the eye spinner, then ring opto, then back trough)?

And what's the difference between the different DTR settings (one vs two ball), and what's the consensus in which is better? Thanks

Just to clarify, mine’s not the diverter. It’s the ramp that lets the ball roll down over the Arwen plastic and into the shire as designed.
And yes, store will be open again shortly.

The souls you collect from landing in the shire are huge, so I think this would be the type of mod you’d want. They increase each successive trip. By the end, I’m routinely getting 750 bonus souls. I think it’s a shame to change the way the game was intended as it’s SO good. But to each their own.

What is a matt mckee topper worth these days? Mine came with one, debating letting it go.

I bought one of the last ones I could find from a retailer about 5 years ago and paid about $230 if I remember correctly.
I would think you could get close to $400 from the right buyer that really wants one. There are worse toppers selling in quantity for close to that or more for present/newer games.

Post a pic? Not sure I know this one.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/wtb-matt-mckee-lotr-topper-1

Thanks man.

Thanks for all the opinions.

Went with black leg bolts/feet:
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Definitely the best choice... love the look! Now, I would also recommend a gold or black cooler to go with the them a bit more.

Here you go, priced as you'd expect for a pinball mod:

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Hey, first time here. Got a LOTRLE last month that had a few issues but fixed them. One issue I cannot fix is I am having a problem with the sword lock "post" that keeps the balls in place and releases them. When the "post" releases the balls it comes up too soon, bumps the back of the ball sending it off the ramp and directly into the out lane draining it. The little plastic piece in place on the backside of the sword that seems to have been put there to keep the ball on the ramp has no effect on this outcome at all. I took apart the mech and it appears to be working normally. I changed the pitch of the machine to be a little steeper so the ball crossed the post faster and that seemed to work for a bit but the longer the game wears on the worse it gets until it just sends every single ball into the abyss. I tried lessening the pitch and that made it worse. I love this game but it's driving me crazy that I just don't know how to fix this. Hoping someone can help.

Welcome!

Make sure your balls aren't magnetized, causing them to stick together a little and not roll quickly. Others have had the same issue.

The cheap carbon steel ones are normally resistant to getting magnetized, while the expensive shinny ones will magnetize in a few plays.

Hey, thank you for your reply. I will check that out!

The plastic you're describing sounds like a piece people install to help with issues caused by magnetized balls so it may not be sitting correctly, or you may be having magnetization issues.

In both of my lotr pins I’ve owned, the status report seems wildly inaccurate or at best unhelpful. Is this a known bug? Has anyone modified the ROMs (I’m looking at you ChadH ) to get the report to be more helpful?

Hey, thanks for your reply. The plastic piece is installed the only way it can be.

Also @neal_w, thought about it and realized that this has been happening since we got the machine and I installed brand new balls in it immediately when we got it. Can the balls get magnetized within the first few games? I took those ones out anyways and put some others I had in and there was no difference, every single ball down the drain. I don't have any of the "cheap" ones so I'll have to buy some of them and try it out. I am now sceptical about magnetization being the issue but until I try it with some of these other balls I won't be able to say for sure. Really frustrating to finally get a machine I have been wanting and not be able to play it. Thanks in advance for your replies! Really appreciate the help.

It could be that the sword ramp itself was installed incorrectly after a shopping, not having enough slope in it causing the balls to move to slow.....

Anyone bringing a LOTR to TPF to sell??

Might be helpful to post a clear picture so we could see if we see something wrong.

Hey, okay for those trying to help me with this swordlock ball issue here is a video of it happening. Uh okay, so I just took an iPhone video of it and apparently I can't post it. Can only be a picture. Not sure how I can send a picture of this thing happening. Okay, just took some screen shots of the video. Hopefully I get them in sequence properly.

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Are the sword switches registering correctly in Switch Test??

Yeah, check switches 17, 18, and 19. Make sure those are all good.

https://www.ipdb.org/files/4858/Stern_2003_The_Lord_of_the_Rings_English_Manual_complete.pdf

I'm sure you've bookmarked this already, but if not...Keep this on hand. I was looking to see if there were adjustments for that lock mech (see page 91 of the linked manual). I didn't see any, but I don't own an LOTR at the moment. Someone else may be able to see if there's a setting in the feature adjustment section or not.

Yes, checked them. They all work

Thank you for the link and yes, they all work. I just took the sword off and put it back on then I just adjusted the coil strength back from medium to hard and it seems the issue is resolving. The ball definitely wants to go that way but the post is no longer launching it so it is actually hitting that plastic and keeping it on the sword. We will play it more and see if it remains so. Thank you so much to everyone who helped out with this. Really, really appreciate it!!

I'm having this same issue. The forum figured out that the washer is the culprit. My machine has this large washer. I removed it, which should solve the issue. However, I'm curious as to why the large washer was there in the first place. Anyone have any ideas?

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Take out the balls, set them on a table and roll one against another and see if they stick. It can absolutely happen in a few games as long as the ring is doing its job.

I have toiled with that sword lock and though all the things already mentioned should be checked and re-checked, the actual lock mech should also be rebuilt AND repositioned. You can bend it freely and shift it on loosened screws. You can def add or remove milliseconds of delay in ball release that way.

Also make sure the switch rollers are super smooth for no rollover delay.

Your palantir target needs to be centered. Having it that far left makes it very difficult to shoot the ring from the right flipper. You will also have to tighten the target under the playfield to reduce the movement from happening again to the side.

Also, bending the bracket forward a bit will likely reduce airballs.

Gotcha. I just got the machine a few weeks ago, and figured the target was moved to accommodate the palantir mod. I'll shift it over tonight.

Any ideas on the purpose of the large washer that the ball is resting on in the above pics?

The washer is there to prevent ball traps. I will have to take a look at mine to see what is going on with yours.

Take a look at post #3376. The post with the washer is supposed to be holding the wireform down. I believe yours is on the wrong screw/threads.