I have recently picked up a Black Knight 2000 as my first pin. I didn't see a club for it so I created this one.

Please post your Black Knight 2000 Pictures, stories, mods, issues or anything related to Black Knight 2000.

Here's My Black Knight 2000. It's currently a work in progress. I have some mods planned to light the drawbridge and add some lighting above the lanes under the upper playfield.

EDIT: And I need to remove that crappy diamond plate sticker on the sides from the previous owner.

IMG_3992.JPG

_{Post edited by NextoPin: Changed topic name}

Thanks Wayout. I searched but it didn't show up, it's even tagged with Black Knight 2000. I guess I'll remove this topic if I can.

EDIT: I see no option to delete the topic. Maybe a moderator can merge or delete them.

Well, I think I'm going to stick with this thread, Tried to edit my previous post but can't.

I'd like to see what other owners are doing with their BK2K's and how they handle some of the issues with the machine.

Some of my issues are:

The ball doesn't always start lightning wheel when dropping in from the hidden hole on the upper playfield, it's about 50/50 whether it comes out the spin lane on the lower playfield.

Sometimes, if there is alot going on, or modes like Knights Challenge start when another sound is playing, I get weird audio, is this normal for a system 11 or could there be issues with my sound board?

I need to take a picture of this but at the upper right corner of the upper playfield I have 3 pegs with a rubber around it but I looked at another BK2K and it has 3 pegs but the rubber is only around 2 of them on the pop bumper side and the 3rd, by the loop switch is a rubber peg like between the lanes on the lower playfield. How is this supposed to be set up? Currently loops are hard because the ball sometimes (most times) hits this rubber and drops the ball in the WIN lanes, usually 'N'. As a consequence getting multipliers and RANSOM letters is easier than I think it should be, this rubber also stops the ball from going around the loop to the upper flipper when the ball is launched.

According to Steve Ritchie himself (Attached), the ball should come out of the wireform and around the bend and pass in front of the upper flipper on launch. This happens maybe 1 out of 10 times on a full plunge.

I love my BK2K, I don't think I'll ever part with it. Please share your BK2K pics,stories and questions!

Williams_1989_Black_Knight_2000_An_Important_Message_To_Operators.pdf

Link Please! That's awesome!

SilverUnicorn, That's a nice looking BK2K!

Anyone else have the issue where kickback hits the drop target and goes immediately back into kickback then back into the target then back into kickback?

Also, reading the PDF from Steve it says that there is an adjustable post on the right outlane near Magna Save, has anyone adjusted this post?

My 7 year old son asked me this last night and I didn't know the answer, we are going to try it next time we have the glass off.

If you get 3 ball multiball and spell WIN and light RANSOM and you have RANSO and jackpot is lit, what happens if you make the drawbridge ramp? Do you get anything extra for getting jackpot and RANSOM at the same time?

So what settings does everyone use?

Since the kids play a bit we have it set to easy with magna save set to 3 seconds, ransom disabled on the lightning wheel and ransom mode set to 30 seconds instead of 25. My son commented the other night that he would like to change it to medium. Special is set to extra ball with a max of 3 extra balls.

Eventually we want to set it so you have to earn kickback and magna save and no free spin. Redeyes machine was set up like that at allentown and for some reason the kid wants ours like that. It will make the games shorter for sure.

Has anyone pulled their Mylar off? I hear there are some restorers who won't even attempt it on a BK2K.

After visiting PAPA we decided to set it to hard.

No Magnasave at start
No Free Spins
No WAR memory
Drawbridge closes after every lock
Magnasave set to 3 seconds
Replay and Special set to extra balls, Max 3

The BK2K at PAPA was unplayable and arguably in the worst condition of any game that wasn't already turned off. I was very disappointed. In speaking with some folks there it appears it's been like that for years. Lights were dim and the upper flipper was so weak you couldn't lock a ball. On Sunday I was able to get a tech to look at it, he believes that the upper flipper has the wrong return spring but wasn't interested in changing it out.

I get that they like to make the games challenging at PAPA but this was unplayable and had none of the flow that BK2K is supposed to have. If they want to make it more challenging, using the settings above would be a good start (I believe it is already set to the above settings), there is a movable post by magnasave that can make the outlane larger also.

It's a shame, It's such a fun and exciting game when it's playing right but it seems like they almost neglect it on purpose given it's condition, it really just needs a good shop job and have the flippers properly rebuilt and maybe a little board work. As it is now, it should be removed from the floor as it's a horrible example of the game.

The default auto replay is 10% and works just as SilverUnicorn explained. If you make it, the next game is 10% more, if not, it's 10% less, I think there is a minimum though.

I changed my settings to hard and enjoy the game much more now (and it pisses me off much more now also).

Download the manual, you can see what all of the settings are, and what they do.
http://mirror2.ipdb.org/files/311/Williams_1989_Black_Knight_2000_Manual.pdf

I also lowered my magnasave time from the default 5 seconds to 3 seconds to try and reduce the wear on the magnasave graphics, not sure why they didn't put a circle of mylar there.

I know this is somewhat ghetto, but I took a small piece of aluminum tape and traced around a dime with an exacto knife and placed it in the center of the magnasave to keep the ball from wearing out that spot any worse until I could get to restoring it. The sticker would do pretty much the same thing, but I didn't want to have issues removing it once I went to restore it.

I don't think the sticker would alter play any more than the edges of the mylar do.

Here's one I can't find an answer to:

Did they ever come with black legs?. I have the illuminati plastics version and black legs. I thought that someone had replaced them, but the legs on the BK2K in pinball arcade are black and it also has the futuristic plastics.

Is there any way to see how early in the manufacturing run a machine was made using the serial number?

Since we are comparing, take a look at this pic. See how one of the legs on the ball track is longer than the other by about 1/8th inch? Mine were even. I think this adds rotation to the ball twards the sling as if falls off the end of the chute.

I think this change happened when the plastics were redesigned. This pic is from the BK2K at PAPA HQ that has the castle plastics. Mine as I said, has the 'Eye' Plastics.

Sorry for the blurry pic.

IMG_4313.JPG

Sorry, I didn't mean it went into the sling, just twards it. Do you have the castle plastics?

Strange.

I was able to locate a technical drawing of this part in an attempt to recreate it and the blueprint shows these as the same length.

Are all of your star posts clear? Mine are blue except for the ones behind the left targets, a couple next to the knights challenge hole under the upper playfield and the 2 behind the drawbridge.

Funny all the little differences.

If you can't find them, you might be able to make a set, there are a few guides on making them with a color laser printer and water slide decals.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/my-guide-to-making-your-own-reproduction-plastics

it should go in line with the ball guide. if it's against the wall it won't have enough travel to get the ramp the way it should. You should be able to put it into the bumpers with the upper flipper, though you might not be able to with how fast the new flippers will rip the ball around the loop, but on a plunge or out of the bumpers you should be able to get it to both sides of the ramp.

Here's a setup guide (I think I posted this above)

http://mirror2.ipdb.org/files/311/Williams_1989_Black_Knight_2000_An_Important_Message_To_Operators.pdf

It show's the flipper against the wall, but that's not how I have mine, but I haven't upgraded the upper flipper.

You will have a bit less travel until the stop breaks in a little also. It might get better as it breaks in.