Can someone take a picture of the wires leading into the white controllers just to the left as you open the coin door on the LE. Mine were disconnected and I want to see which goes where. Thank you.

Does anyone have a reliable fix for pinballs not settling into the Barad-dur saucer? Mine pops out if hit with any speed at all and it leads to frustration. I’ve heard about putting in foam, but where would this go? Thanks in advance for the help

Before adding foam; what pitch is your game at? I would try making it a bit steeper to see if that makes a difference. If that doesn’t change anything make sure there isn’t something that is causing the bounce back. The coil assembly might not be seated correctly or a guide could need adjustment etc

I’m having an issue with my diverter by Orthanc not always closing all the way. It’s not failing fully, so the fuse and connections should be ok, it just struggles to close or open all the way like something is too tight? Anyone see this before?

Thanks for sharing your experience with fixing the Barad-dur saucer. I have the pitch at 6.5, are you running greater?

Mine is about 6.5 as well. I was just throwing out ideas. I personally haven’t experienced any issues with that shot. Maybe a picture would help show what’s wrong?

Inside the cover of the LOTR manual is the adjustment steps to get the diverter to open and close properly.
page2:
https://www.ipdb.org/files/4858/Stern_2003_The_Lord_of_the_Rings_English_Manual_complete.pdf

Don’t know if this gives any detail about the ball reject issues, but thanks for taking a look.

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Hey @Lazar, please check your PMs....

Good evening, y'all.
I'm about a month into owning a LOTR! Love it.

It's seen some action, but in pretty good shape.
The machine is still running on the 9.0 ROMs. I look forward to updating it.

I have one question. As I haven't played many of these out in the wild, is the Ring magnet normally LOUD when it initially engages the ball?
This one buzzes very loudly. Reminds me of the sound of a transformer, or power supply, starting to die.
The buzz / hum only lasts for a second or two as the magnet fires up, during the initial power draw. It does not continue the entire time the ball is being held. Am I reading the symptom right, or is this normal?

In advance, thanks for any insights.

Thanks!

Just received an amazing topper courtesy of Dan at Tilttopper and the new palantir mod from Frank (@AUKraut). Really sets the game off...

This one is everything it's cracked up to be - awesome game I love it.

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Just got my Sting topper for $8 from Aliexpress. I might add a blue LED strip to the back to have it glow during certain modes.

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Awesome!! Your pic really does a great job capturing the look of the Palantir Mod.....Glad to see you are happy with it!!

If anyone else wants to get one, please see the following thread:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/palantir-eye-of-sauron-crystal-sphere-mod-for-stern-lotr

That topper looks great! It’s very tempting. It’s too easy to spend a LOT of money in mods on this game.

Ok...for $8 I'll bite...but how did you attach it to the top of your pin?

Also....could someone let me know what the witch-king switch does? I have confirmed that the switch activates in the menu's switch test...but how does it affect gameplay? And further....I don't think I've ever seen the witchking flasher go off.

I wanted to try and test it in the menus, but the "flasher" tests don't show any flashers activating? Maybe because I have a LED OCD board?

(in this picture it looks "on" ...but...it isn't)

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Flashers are disabled when the coin door is open, you have to "cheat" the interlock to perform this test.

Well, learn something every day. I wouldn't have assumed that flashers needed high power but...you were right!

Yeah, just a dead flasher bulb. I still don't see the use of the witch king switch...besides lighting that flasher. Aren't ramps counted as successful with the switch on the sword lock anyway? Oh well.

If I remember correctly that switch adds to the souls you can collect from one of the switches on the path of the dead. They start at 100 and can be bumped up to 250 or 500 by hitting the white switches in the shire, palantir, spot ring, and the sword ramp.

I put the same years ago as a topper and put s blue el wire to make the sword glow blue.

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Since we do a topper show off.... I'll have to pull mine up again. Lighting for the dragon and castle are seperately controlled.

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I also put up a sword, but it cost me considerably more than $8. Also added some characters and lighting. I was super nervous of putting a metal sword above all that glass, but have it secured well. Looks better in person, but you get the idea.

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I will probably redo it at some point, but I happened to have one of those cheap acrylic stands on hand. I cut off the top and drilled some holes in the back to mount the sword. Probably took 10 minutes, but if you look at the back it shows. If more room above your machine, you could also spend an additional $8 and just get a sword mount.

Sword:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32867031277.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.68e5bed4MrlViR&algo_pvid=0028fdda-a888-4b4a-b3fd-0724eca4fef0&algo_expid=0028fdda-a888-4b4a-b3fd-0724eca4fef0-0&btsid=f120f782-bcf2-4e25-85bc-68c36fff7e34&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_1,searchweb201603_55

Mount:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32953602886.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.71db5416ma3bMu&algo_pvid=d64d35d1-da1e-4da3-8714-e88590cd82b9&algo_expid=d64d35d1-da1e-4da3-8714-e88590cd82b9-3&btsid=28ee719f-2e5b-4a99-8c16-05b7d164757b&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_1,searchweb201603_55

I'm in the same boat, looking for the best way to mount my United Cutlery "STING" sword. https://www.unitedcutlery.com/ProductDetail.aspx?itemno=UC1264&cat=LR Not only does this have decent weight, it's also came sharpened on both edges.

I found time to install the Fire Ring mod!!!

This mod looks great, I highly recommend installing this. The mod instructions tells you to remove the ring flasher, which I did...but then I put it back in as I immediately missed it.

Picture of installation with new parts/connections circled in red.
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The ring activates as soon as a the opto is blocked and gives that nice fire glow:
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Side note: This machine is an adored item in my collection even though I don't play it much anymore; I was shocked to find that after 15+ years of ownership that this machine still has that new pin cabinet smell.

I'm installing this mod now and forgot to label the wires. Can somebody please tell me which one is J1 is it the longer wire or the shorter one?
Stupid rookie mistake

Never mind guys I figured it out. Such a cool mod, great effect! I too left the flasher in the ring I've got the one from Steve at MI Pinball Refinery, the effect is really cool with both

Got the palantir mod - Ministry of Pinball version.

I don't like it. A smaller ball and one LED. That's it.

I like the ball without the screw, but it is difficult to mount over the enclosed LED. The rubber grommet is just a bit too small to stay in the hole where the original light with the condom came through.

Anyway, with a little glue I got it to stick, but that was not going to last forever with the vibration present during normal play. When I powered it up to check out the LED it burnt right up. Probably a bad bulb or maybe another issue. The old bulb did, and does, work fine. Maybe the pin that holds the gasket against the bracket made contact with the LED and shorted it right out. Thing is, it shouldn't be that tight.

But whatever....

I ended up drilling out the smaller hole where the original ball sat, and installed it there with the condom bulb in it's original position.

I have no issue with Ministry of Pinball on this item, they did their part, but it's not worth the thirty-three bucks I spent on it.

As to the original ball, I tried hard not to, but it got destroyed trying to remove it. So I had to make this work. It looks better, but I'm not happy. Not sure why this is a popular mod, but to each their own

That’s because you got the wrong one. Search pinsider AUKraut. He makes a great palantir. I forget the name of his thread but a simple search will get you there easily.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/palantir-eye-of-sauron-crystal-sphere-mod-for-stern-lotr

+1 for AUKraut‘s Palantir. It’s awesome.

This is a very cool mod, however if you have kept your LOTR stock with incandescent bulbs for their more classic feel then AUKraut's Palantir mod may not be for you. It uses a very bright LED that brings a different vibe to the playfield. Basically all the reasons why you haven't changed over to LEDs are all the reasons you may not like it. Super bright, abrupt on/off, flickering, and a cooler color temperature.

Here's an idea. Other than a certain powder coat the only thing I'm aware of that will glow blue under a black light is quinine. If a person can get their hands on it (it is a prescription drug) you could either grind it into powder and mix it into clear coat and paint the blade or after rattle canning clear coat onto the blade you dust the blade. Now that would be cool as hell.

If you do use LEDs in your LOTR, herg’s LED OCD is a must. When used with warm white LEDS it gives you the classic look of incandescent bulbs without putting the increased power strain on the power driver boards on incandescents while also giving you a brighter playfield to see better. It is also the perfect compliment to the Palantir mod, giving it the perfect look & feel for your LOTR.

Due to the space limitations, needed brightness, and the lack of an available flat faced incandescent bulb the Palantir mod can only be made with a warm white LED bulb, which I do defuse and rectify to bring it down to an appropriate brightness for this application.

You can buy Quinine on Amazon or you could evaporate a lot of tonic water and get it that way...

What is the application? If it’s for a glowing blade topper, or something similar, blue LEDs would be the way to go.

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I have seen that palantir, it is cool, but I am not very receptive to going LED and I am not as into mods as some of y'all.

To date, the only mods on the game for me have been a four ghost POTD mod, the flashing eye in the backbox and the twilight Frodo in front of the riding wraith. That AOME kit also came with two wraiths (attack on Weathertop fashion), which I put on the plastics at the top of the sword. They look pretty cool.

Anyway, the biggest issue I had with what I bought was the rubber o-ring. In my opinion, it should be a grommet, and slightly bigger than the "o-ring" included with the kit. That would have been perfect.

I do like the new crystal, and it doesn't look bad mounted in the stock palantir frame hole.

I don't think it was an LED power issue with the bulb I received, I believe it was so tight in that back hole that the retaining clip made contact with the LED and shorted it. I could tell it was a tight fit, when attempting to secure it during final installation. Shouldn't have needed the glue. I may try to find a rubber grommet and attempt the installation again.

thanks for the replies, much appreciated

edit to add

the o-ring that came with the kit fit inside that back hole.... loosely.

I'm very happy with sunlight LEDs for the GI in LOTR. If you just want to keep things simple, I think you could improve most games by just using the 2SMD frosted bulbs from Comet. Order them in bulk and then add in red, green, blue, and purple when you really want inserts to pop.

I joined the club on Sunday with a slightly tatty machine but everything plays great. My Palantir target is leaning badly, does anyone know if the "Stern pinball target support" on Thingiverse fits it?

Another new owner type question that I'm surprised I can't find the answer to in a search... What's with the volume on LOTR? I have to turn it down to 2 or 3 to not be really loud and then it fluctuates between comfortable and really loud in game. I think I read somewhere that it does increase in the game but it's quite extreme.

26, perhaps?
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I believe the setting was in the LOTR adjustments, not standard. It’s volume effect or something like that.

26 in feature adjustments is the automatic adjustment of volume effects based on what modes are happening. I turned mine off pretty early on when I got the game. I did not care for the fluctuating volume.

It sounds like an OK idea but the levels are just too drastic.

My modified Palantir is a tad bright!

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DIY or purchased from someone? If so who?

When I got the game, the glass ball was stuck in place with white tack and the LED was shining up from the hole. I modified the ball and brought the LED up behind it and it's nearly blinding from a certain angle, although it actually looks fine from the player's position.