Rai, try giving your game just one coat of wax if you haven't already. I bought a HUO low plays game and could make the ring just fine from both, but still felt it should be a little cleaner/easier of a shot. After the wax the ring shot was much more makeable and all others felt a lot smoother. Plus of course the playfield protection is nice.

How does everyone replace the two bulbs under either inlane guide? You know, the ones you can't access from under the playfield because the flippers are mounted there...

If the magnet locks on at powerup you have a shorted transistor for it. Do not overfuse it you will fry something. There are many threads out there on this subject. Replacing the transistor is an easy job in Whitestar and SAM games.

This has to be what he's hearing. I can hear it while playing with the glass on.

Out of random curiosity, does the LE use a bidirectional relay board to control balrog like the standard version does?

This. Called the bidirectional relay board. It's a 2" by 2" board with a relay on it. Almost certainly your problem.

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!

Two ball destroy the ring is a really great thought, but even with like-new flippers it presents some challenges. Switch to 1 ball, have more fun and save a lot of headache if you have standard coils. There's no reason that mode should be so difficult and it's just as fun with 1.

Again with the Gimli VUK Switch topic haha:

My super low plays LOTR LE has an intermittent gimli switch. Maybe 60% of the time it registers but otherwise can sit in there with no response. I'm guessing the micro switch is fine(but maybe not?). I have a spare switch. But would rather adjust the fork actuator and save $10 if I can. Anybody had luck with adjusting the original actuator?

Is there a trick to adjusting an actuator like this? I always seem to do more harm than good trying to adjust actuators.

Aha ok I'll give those things a look. Hadn't seen the binding issue mentioned, thanks for reiterating that.

Interesting. I just reseated the connector to the Gimli vuk Switch and it has registered 99% of the time since. Wasn't loose or anything.

FWIW, I have one installed in my Tron and have no plans to remove it. I honestly forget the protector is there until I'm reminded for some reason. I'm an experienced player, I feel like I'd notice if it actually made the game play differently or less fun.

I wouldn't overthink this. Bad flipper cabinet switches can make a big difference. Replace the cabinet switch with a good new one and see if the problem goes away. From what it sounds like, your flipper cabinet switch seems suspect.

I had a whitestar game once that would flip strong, then barely flip at times, filed down the switch contacts and it flipped 100%.