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LOTR Ball Trap

JT.

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Has anyone had this problem with the ball bouncing up and then getting trapped behind Balrog, either in between the coloured and clear plastics as show in the picture, or just sitting on top of the clear plastic? Wondering if there is a rubber or post or something missing which should be stopping this from happening.

DSC02394-Edit.jpg
 
Looks like you are going to have to do your own mod to stop this from happening again. Either a post or an extended plastic to cover the problem area. Shouldn't be to difficult to do.
 
Mine doesn't get trapped there but sometimes that balrog "catches" it and it sticks between the head and the arm.
 
Has anyone had this problem with the ball bouncing up and then getting trapped behind Balrog, either in between the coloured and clear plastics as show in the picture, or just sitting on top of the clear plastic? Wondering if there is a rubber or post or something missing which should be stopping this from happening.

View attachment 1672

Has it happened more than once, and what happened for it to get there? I'd be more tempted to cure the source rather than fix the issue..... :)
 
Balrog has caught it once before like John described, but it gets stuck in the position in the photo once per gaming session I guess. I think it's bouncing off a cylindrical rubber on a post between two of the left lanes but it happens so quick I'm not certain.

John: would the ball even fit in that gap on yours or is there something there blocking the space?
 
Just had a look at mine. I've never had a ball trapped there. However, comparing them my post on the RHS of the ramp looks to be taller than yours. As such the bottom plastic (with the picture on it ) has been pushed up maybe 5mm at the front - never even noticed this before. I'm guessing the previous owner might have had your problem and done this as a solution. Seems to work perfectly as I've never had a ball stuck there in the last 3 years. Now I'm slightly worried that it may lead to the plastic breaking with airballs but it seems to hit the post rather than the plastic.

Where does the ball come from when it gets stuck, off the Left flipper?
 
The ball is coming from the right flipper then bouncing off the rubber in between the Gandalph and Legolas lanes - just recreated the problem. Don't suppose you could take me a photo of how yours looks? I'm not even sure the clear plastic on mine where the ball is trapping is original - for example, the grey post just visible in the photo I added, the one just about in between Gandalph's legs, is only attached to the clear plastic - it then rests on top of the lower plastic with the pictures on it, but that seemed a strange way to design it, a bit half finished.
 
Have you tried searching the Stern archives to see if they did a fix for this problem...???
 
Has it happened more than once, and what happened for it to get there? I'd be more tempted to cure the source rather than fix the issue..... :)


Aint had that happen on mine.Mine is from the first run-has Gandalf on a horse.Underneath the clear plastic on mine is a grey spacer like on yours but underneath the grey spacer is also a metal hex spacer
 
Quick update: adjusted the legs to increase the playfield slope and it hasn't happened again since. Fingers crossed this has sorted it now, so I won't need to do any modding to prevent it.
 
Great to hear that you have solved this by steepening the game, I have not had this particular problem with my LOTR.

Have you got the uprated flipper coils fitted to the game? Are the flipper rubbers seated on the flippers correctly? These are a couple of things that could cause the ball to become airborne. I had to steepen my game to over seven degrees once I fitted the uprated coils, and also to adjust the coil power settings down in the menu as I found the flippers were too strong with the new coils fitted. I was getting airballs too, although not as you describe.
 
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