Has anyone else ordered the Art of Pinball Hobbit topper from few years ago and heard anything??
its been like 3 years.

I suspect you are referring to the "elitepinballtoppers.com" topper. They were a limited run and long sold out.

There was/is a Lior topper also that about 10 of us have been waiting for.

Yes that one, Ive been asking him on facebook about it, but he hasnt been replying lately. not sure if he is out of town or something. Is our money safe?

That was a really cool topper, pricey, but really cool. Can’t believe those haven’t all been shipped by now. Hope you all get them and can post pics. GL

Just time consuming. I'd take some pictures before and as you go. If you aren't sure you can compare it to the other drop target assemblies.

If the little black piece is still there, broke in half kind of. Super glue gel it back into place. Then Gorrilla Glue type duct tape along the side and bottom. ( not the top where drop target rests ) Works great, lasts years.

LTG : )

Did they look normal after around 20 plays? I think they are too expensive to have wear like that in that short time.

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Wow, that stinks.

I don't think the stock ones showed any signs of wear on the game I had.

I have 500 plays and no noticeable wear on my original ones.

That sucks, you should reach out to TAOP with this. They stand behind their products.

The originals really leave a lot to be desired in the looks dept. and I had one break after 100 plays or so. However, I haven't experienced paint loss with the originals.

I already did, let’s see what’s the solution here

I could use some help with a beast mech issue.

Started as mechanical, but I think is now electrical.

Issue was the Orc mech being "sticky" in going back down. Not sticky at all of course, was a mechanical issue. I played with that mech for several hours doing various adjustments until I got it so the mech moves smoothly up and down AND fits properly for installation using the existing holes in the playfield. It took numerous tries and several removals / installs to get it right. What an "interesting" mechanism, must be a couple dozen screws in that mech not including those holding the mech to the playfield!

When doing final testing I could swear the mech worked properly, but maybe not?? What I do know is that now it makes an extremely weak attempt to rise, as if only a very low power is being fed to the coil. In test mode, the Orc barely budges while the other 3 beasts have much more of a "jump". With the glass off I can lift the Orc mech just fine, and it returns down when released using only gravity. So it doesn't appear to be a mechanical issue. All 3 connectors (solenoid power and the two switches) are connected properly.

So, I removed the Warg mech and installed it in place of the Orc mech. The Warg mech exhibits the exact same symptoms when installed in the Orc position. The Warg mech worked fine in its regular position. So, the problem isn't in the Orc mech.

Could the machine have "disabled" the Orc mech in some way that I can reverse?

Can I test for proper power at the Orc solenoid harness? If so, exactly how do I do that using a multimeter? I know the coil is getting some power in both game and test mode since the Orc does wiggle a bit when activated.

Something else I can try?

Thanks!

Check wiring from coil to coil back to the I/O board. A weak joint along the way could cause this.

And you can have continuity and still have a wire hanging by a thread. Not enough to power a coil.

LTG : )

Tracing the wiring in that thick bundle looks like a daunting task! Any way to know what coil is immediately before and what coil is immediately after the orc coil?

Coil chart in the manual.

LTG : )

Beta 9 is out

LAN is working now and we got a audio equilizer

Thanks to jjp!

Hasn’t this been out for almost a year?

Yes

Hm the last update shown on my machine was about 2 -3 weeks ago and that was beta 6

So I thought it was a new one ‍

Got my first real problem with my Smaug apart from the springs coming off. The W in the DWARF drop targets won’t stay up. Looks like the plastic retainer screw at the bottom has fallen off and put strain on the plastic stopper at the top of the mech. Unfortunately gave up removing the complete mech out for a proper inspection. But see the small broken plastic pieces on the bottom of cab. Any quick fix on this. Apart from removing the 4 screws either side of the mech and unplugging it. Any other truck I’m missing in removing this..

I am in the process of fixing the same problem with the ELF target mech. I bought a new bracket from pinball life and will attempt to swap the components over this weekend.posts #12950 and #12956
This is copied from the response from JJP tech support:
Hi Sir - unfortunately those pieces are riveted on so the only way to change them relatively painlessly is to swap the 3-bank main bracket. It isn't as difficult as it might appear and over the years we have had many customers do it without problems. We no longer have the 3-bank main brackets in stock but Pinball Life has them.

Here's the link -

https://www.pinballlife.com/the-hobbit-3-bank-drop-target-main-bracket-assembly.html

Thanks, Steve

Thanks Steve for the quick response. I’ll shuffle my machines back as getting a similar part to the uk will take a while..

Keep me posted on your findings!

So I need this part..

https://www.pinballlife.com/the-hobbit-5-bank-drop-target-main-bracket-assembly.html

Any update on this? I purchased them about a month ago but haven’t installed. Now thinking I should sooner rather than later to make sure they don’t have issues.

My friend has the same problem.

So not sure if we are the only two unlucky guys. I was hoping some other who have installed them could give some feedback. I also started an extra thread about that problem.

If it’s the little black tab (Circled in my attached pic) that is broken - yes. The whole bracket is the part.
And my name is not Steve lol. That is the JJP service guy I quoted.
Also LTG suggested, a few posts down from my original query, to glue and tape the broken piece back on…

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I have had problems as well. Mine are chipping. I just need to take the time to force em all up and take pics. I am starting to wonder if they just had a bad batch. I purchased mine about five months ago. Others say they have never had issues. Mine are chipped up pretty badly though.

In all fairness I haven't given them an opportunity to fix the problem, so that is my first step.

Post pictures here please

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/art-of-pinball-hobbit-beasts-quality#post-8115529

Sorry Steve .. I did think of glueing it as I’ve kept the small bits of plastic. The mech didn’t seem to want to pull out much. I removed the 2 screws either side of mech and the one connector. Anything more I should be looking for..

Take pics as you start plugging Molex connectors. For the ELF bank I had to snip a few zip ties as well as the wiring is very tight around these mechs. Once I pulled the ELF mech out (4 screws for that one, I sent it off to a pinball repair guy to do the actually component swap with the bracket.

New update beta 10 showed up

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They just released code updates for all their games, don't think it does much of anything.

I wonder if this is embedding code for their proprietary online Insider Connect killer under ‘minor tweaks and fixes’. They are also optimizing the wifi dongle support.

Let's hope as it is long overdue at this point.

Is it normal that the kickback get weaker after some time ?

Its randomized a bit.

Can you adjust the strength at all? Mine seems way too powerful and is super inconsistent when shooting up to the upper right flipper. Makes killing Smaug quite difficult.

Page B-36 in the manual. yes. Or dig through coil settings in your game.

LTG : )

My Diverter plastic from the left Rampe broke, anyone know where to get a replacement. Or maybe someone have a 3d printfile for this ?

Thanks

I need one of those too!
I haven't found one yet and it's been a year.

where we can find those updates? on JJP official website?
Thanks

Start a internet connection with your machine, set the updates to beta in the menu and then you will informed for updates/ beta 10 will showed up.

Can't find a beast/pop up wiring schematic in the manual. Wonder if on recent work I got the two wire connectors on one mech reversed. Is this in the manual and I'm just not seeing it?

Switch matrix in manual. Page C-123.

Or Tests - Switches - Matrixed. One is for up/down switch, one is for character face. You won't hurt anything if switched. If the wrong one triggers, switch them.

LTG : )

Can someone confirm that it’s only two screws either side of the dwarf drop targets to remove this mech..

4 screws and connectors.

LTG : )

Hobbit Book Screen was going Dark red.

Usually On Video screens that means it is losing the Green signal.

I decided to take the book apart and give it a once over.

I detached and examined the ribbon cable and sure enough a wire had come off of a pin and another wire was about to do the same.

Reattached the wires and now have perfect images once again.

If you have a color issue with your screen check the ribbon cables at the pins.

My camera didnt get good pics of the repaired screen but you get the idea.

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The connector in picture #1. Where is that located?

Flipper coil / diode question. Replacing right flipper and the new one (Pinball Life) has two diodes, original lower right has one and the OG lower left has two but appears to be the second one was added later. Any advice or references on the correct setup are appreciated. My machine is an early build LE for comparison. Photos of original factory setups would be helpful I know this game was routed and has some creative field engineering work within. Thanks all!

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