New Left Apron Decal Women of LOTR

Replaced the left apron decal with a picture of ringwraiths (5th link down on the left) from this excellent site. (The link 10 down is fun too Van Halen 'Jump' + MAME).

Printed it out actual size, using best quality with glossy premium photo paper.  Cut out and stuck over the original decal with tiny blobs of Museum Gel, which should be removable. Perfect.
Provided on the site are decals of a Felbeast and Mt. Doom. I'm really happy with the result.

But don't get me wrong about the Women of LOTR, first look at the images.

Installed 9 of the #44 green bulbs made yesterday: 4 x GI sockets along the left side of the PF, 4 x GI under the slingshots.  Wiped the tip of one bulb clear before drying, went under the ring ramp.

Green glow on the left now and more golden on the right.  Need to play some games this weekend to see what I think, not sure about the slings but the rest is good on first impression.

Replaced the Shire VUK switch,

Replaced the Shire VUK switch, part number 180-5116-01. Spec on side of switch says Cherry .1A 125v E63.

How to remove the Bottom Left VUK coil and bracket from under the PF (playfield) to change the "forked switch":

1. Take out the two largest bolts first, using a cross-head (phillips) screwdriver on the top and 11/32" nut runner (or socket) on the bottom..  Remove the metal VUK "arch" from the top of the playfield.
2. Remove the two lower wood screws (1/4" drive) leaving the one on the corner near the T-nut.
3. Supporting the Coil Bracket, remove the last 1/4" screw.
4. Unclip the connector from the coil and VUK.  Remove coil and bracket assembly.
5. Microswitch small screws are 3/16".  As before, to remve the switch right you need a nut driver (or socket) that size.

You should be able to slide the heatshrink tubing all the way up the wires, solder on the new switch and then slide them back down in place. If not, use new heatshrink tubing.
Assembly is above steps in reverse. Test in switch tests and throwing a ball in there in attract mode. Job done.

Noticed that a ball had hung on the bottom Legolas ramp for another player when struck very lightly.  Caused a ball search and "chase ball" to be served.  I had seen this before, so while the PF was up, I tightened three 11/32" bolts at the bottom of the habitrail.  One (on right side) seemed very loose, which may fix it. (didn't work)

Put a #555 bulb-style color changing LED in the Palantir Insert to try there.  Seems to have a different flash rate to the Palantir LED.

Dipped 10 x #44 clear bulbs (recovered on 23rd March) in "GlassART Light Green" to make green bulbs.  These are for GI along the left side of the PF and under the slingshots.

Re-wrote a comic strip on Monday to be more about me, although the drawing is not mine.  Called a mash-up.  Had an argument with my wife (we are usually compatible, even on pinball related things).  I got angry, took a (D-ahem)Gilbert comic and had fed her to the Pinball Orcs by Wednesday.
Enjoy!

GI Colored Bulbs a "How To"

Installed 10 x #44 yellow bulbs
P4P order arrives including the VUK forked replacement switch, I like that description as in "Your VUK switch is forked, get a new one"!
Also 10 yellow #44 bulbs from P4P which were an easy fit: 9 along the shooter lane for the controlled lamps that "strobe" in sequence.  The other bulb is a GI further in under the sword lock.
Planning to change the sword lock flasher for an amber/yellow bulb.  Once I figure out how to do it without taking the whole sword ramp apart! An LED flasher would be better there, too.
Update 25 Mar 2010: I did this with fingertips from each side, but it's not easy.  Now an Amber/Yellow #906 flasher.

• Tip: Change G.I. bulbs from the underside more easily without taking apart slingshots or plastics. Use a small power screwdriver with no bit, the 1/4" drive is exactly the right size.  Stern put in black "post beads" which act as gromets to hold the screws in place.  All these tips work on other games.

I usually make my own colored bulbs with "Marabu GlassArt" glass paint, but didn't have any yellow. It's for painting vases or lightbulbs,
a guy called "Modding Stan" in the UK taught me how. Use a clothespeg to dip them, hold glass bulb downwards and wipe the excess back into the jar.  Hang them over the side of a table with a weight on top of the peg, glass bulb down.
Wipe any excess with the edge of a kitchen towel before it dries if it forms a drip. Dry for 24hrs and done! Lots of green ones on the GI of my AFM, better for GI than LEDs as the triacs dim them up and down right.

I use the following colors ( from www.artdiscount.co.uk probably available near you, too)

• Green Bulbs - GlassART 50ml 463 Light Green
• Red   Bulbs - GlassART 50ml 434 Bordeaux
• Blue  Bulbs - GlassART 50ml 498 Turquoise
• There is a Yellow (420) and a Lemon (421) listed but I haven't tried them.  The darker of the two is Yellow.

A 50ml jar costs £3 in the UK ($4.50) and does a lot of #44/47/555 Bulbs or #906 Flashers!

PinballPal Stealth protectors for cabinet and playfield arrives.  Mylar protectors fit nicely around the Start Button and Flipper buttons.  I also like the extra lockbar foam strip with the leg protectors, as you can get wear on the brass siderails and cabinet paint under the lockbar without them.

After working on the game, I had other things to do!  So I didn't get around to fitting the Shire VUK or playing any pinball today. :(

Palantir Glass Ball, Backbox Warming Filter

• Left VUK switch does need replacing ASAP

Still not registering 100% and have to wait for ball search. No part yet. Replaced a #906 Flasher behind the ring.  They don't last as long as in my other games, is this caused by vibration?  Impact when the playfield bumps back into place from the extended position?
If so, it really needs a spring loaded hinge. Tried a Yellow #906 Flasher bulb behind ring, but couldn't see much difference.
Should order a "9FLUX Super White" or even a "9FLUX Matrix Amber" LED flasher for there.  Maybe Amber Flashers for inside the ring and below the sword lock would look good.

• Fitted a Palantir glass ball that was sent to me as a gift by Steve Marsh, a fellow LE owner in the USA.

He buys the 30mm globes from Christalier in Washington 98002 (the State WA).
Best things about this mod: Inexpensive, perfect size, easy to fit and no more screw threads in the Palantir! With a colour change LED behind it's bright!
Leon's site shows fitting the globe, so follow his steps.  Fairly sure that site is by Leon Borré based in Belgium, we've been using his “Pinball test ROMs” for years!
Can't read it in Dutch, but Google can (almost) translate and it says screw threads "It is like an ugly worm in an apple"  Nice one Leon! A fantastic mod idea.

• Next up, the PinballPal backbox warming filter finally arrived and was easily fitted in minutes. Spent more time taking the pictures of it! Thought a backglass wouldn't need a filter, but missed the difference between backglass bulbs (lots of #44s) and a Stern fluorescent tube. The gold effect now looks way better with the warming filter.

Used one of the supplied "film gels" to get the warming effect I wanted.  Worth the $10 + shipping.  It helps tone down Korn's famous "black outline" and "HD" effects, if you follow that.  If not, Google rec.games.pinball for HD and then regret reading it forever.

Both mods fitted on my game.
It's very hard to take an accurate picture of the blackglass and warming filter, and looks much better in person. I'm using a single "film gel". Enjoy!

Left VUK (or Shire) switch has issues

Noticed a few times the VUK switch was slow, waited for a ball search in multiball to kick out of Shire. Wife played it and complained about it too, she's a better game tester than me. Less forgiving if it goes wrong. Sure enough, I watched her get 3 balls all stacked up in the Left VUK until a ball search.

Switch wasn't sensed at all in the diag switch test, even though I could hear it click. Took apart game to get at switch, which is not fun. You have to drop the VUK mech to get at it. The switch wasn't working on "N.O. and press to close". But it was working on the "N.C. and press to open" side. Strange. After messing with it on a DMM set to buzzer, it started working again as it should. Put it back on the switch matrix and it was fine. Put it all back together and it works. Have ordered "2 x 180-5116-01 Stern Fork Switch VUK" from P4P*. I pay GBP £5.40 a switch in the EU, so double the USD $4 that Pinball Life charges. I need to have a replacement, as this switch will get flaky again at some point.

Tweaked the sword ball lock mod I made on 10 Mar 2010. The 2nd locked ball was resting on the wireform and not rolling down the sword correctly when released.

Drilled another hole about 1" further down from the top of the lock shield for the wireform to go in. The idea is that the wireform sits on the lock shield closer to the right angle turn.
The hole is around 3/16" from the edge, a bit closer than the original mounting holes. This gives the balls more clearance and moves the guide up the sword.
Rounded off the edges on the base at the top. It's still held by the wireform and double sided tape, but now more from the middle. This seems to work as expected. Update: This extra original ball guide was removed on April 5th.   It works fine with one when set up correctly.


Put the correct swords on the figures, and posed them. Noticed that the example slideshow quoted in 11 Mar 2010 has the Merry and Pippin facing the other way.

On my game they have their backs to the inlanes. My wife thinks I'm like the "40 year old Virgin" will the AOME collection action figures!

Birthday wishes do come true. Game is repaired.

Game behaving as it should, not changing stuff today too much on my brithday! Will stay away from boards if at all possible.
Did confirm that the Orbit pin coil is getting fouled by the wires running from the backboard /playfield to the head. Found that some rerouting and tucking them back under the playfield before putting it down stops this. Must remember to check fire the orbit pin from Coil Diags each time I close the playfield.

Only mod today was to add 2 GI Red LEDs, one by Orthanc where it was shining in my eyes- you get the red from the optos there anyway.  I also put one under the ring ramp.

Note: These LEDs have since been removed and replaced with #44 colored bulbs on 26th March.

Another good tip from Steve Marsh is to unscrew the lamp sockets from underneath:

"I think the yellow bulbs along the back and under the ramps, and green bulbs under the slings and along the left side (incl. under the left ramp) really look great. Bulbs are easy to switch by unscrewing the sockets from below. Takes seconds with a power screwdriver, and each socket has a rubber grommet holding the screw to the socket."

I ordered some yellow #44 bulbs today, I have the glass paint to make green ones.