Thanks, I figured it out. The previous owner had replaced the GI connector but didn't loop any of the wires, so only one of the GI lanes was actually getting power. I repinned the connector properly, and everything is good now. I'm still going to replace the LEDs that came with it because they're garbage.

Hey y’all I’m trying to get a re import party zone up and running…. Can someone take a picture of coin door wiring and the captains head wiring? I have a couple loose wires and some hack job repairs on mine. Pretty sure one of them is the culprit for cooking u20 on my CPU. Trying to get all the wiring sorted out and back to factory spec before I replace the IC. Thanks in advance

Anybody have an extra center plastic they can part with? The dj pointing at the record is broken on mine.

I have a decent one I will give you.
It's not perfect...but still pretty good.
I live in Greenwood IN.
If you're ever on the way to Indianapolis...you can just stop and pick it up.
Plus...you can play my restored Party Zone while you're here.

Wow, that is extremely cool of you @Jeffreyjonesbsme! I will definitely take you up on that sometime soon.

Has anyone disconnected the captains head and left it that way? It's a neat toy but doesn't do anything. Seems smart to avoid wear and tear.

You can turn off both the mouth and rotation in the settings. No need to disconnect anything.

Perfect, that's a much better solution! I just got mine up and running yesterday so I haven't gone through all the adjustments yet.

The only issue I'm still having is test report saying to check flipper buttons and flipper eos switches. I replaced the flipper button cabinet switches and cleaned the flipper eos switches with a contact file. All works as it should.

However, cabinet switches register in switch test but flipper eos switches do not. I have tried testing eos switches by manually pushing the flipper up while in switch test.

I can't make sense of this because if the eos switch wasn't making contact the flipper should be held up. If it was staying closed, I shouldn't be able to cradle a ball during gameplay.

Does anyone know what I'm missing?

I turned off the dj head and dancing dummy in adjustments but could not find dj mouth adjustment. Also, does anyone know what adjustment a2. 18 is? It says "PARTY ON!." It's not in the manual, the manual ends at adjustment 17.

You can't turn the mouth off, only the head rotation. "Party On" is ball save. Pretty sure only the latest code version has it. L-7 I think. It works on mine.

I'm checking out a set of Party Zone boards and would like to verify the ROM contents for the three EPROM chips on the sound board. Looked on IPDB.org and also on Planetary Pinball ROM site but could only find images for the Game ROM. Seems like the sound ROM's aren't posted. They should be out on IPDB with the game ROM.

It looks like the pinmame images may contain them so they may be out there.....

Does this help? I'm out of town but can dig through my picture files if you need anything else.
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Good to have the labels as reference bit I should have been a bit more specific. Was looking for the binary images of the EPROM contents.

Did find them on one of the Pinmame sites and was able to verify that the ROM contents were ok. All good.

Crap, I still owe you one for helping me out with Stargate. I'll get you back some day @robotworkshop!

Friend of mine's Party Zone is having a recent switch problem. Switch 31, back ramp switch, works fine in test mode, but during game play, it doesn't advance the ozone value. All the other switched up/down and across the switch matrix work fine. I've changed out the switch but that didn't help. Also the game has a replacement Pin-Tek MPU board. Any ideas on things to check?

I had the same problem on mine. Drove me nuts until I finally figured it out. I had to loosen the switch screws & reposition the switch slightly so the switch was triggered right when the ball entered the VUK. I've never had a problem with it since. Make sure you're using the ball to test the switch.

Colour for the Captain! PIN2DMD just went in. Looks great!

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I designed these a few years ago and I was asked to make one, send me a pm if you are interested. Party Zone Rocket Flame Dome

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So it turned out that the diode on the VUK switch wasn’t attached, so now the ozone bonus thingee works. Now the VUK won’t kick the ball, so I’ll be working on that next weekend. When we pulled out the playfield, one of the tabs on a GI light in the far back right snapped off so I’m thinking the part number is a 24-6421-4. Can y’all confirm?
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Has anyone found a good match for the orange down by the flippers? Mine needs a little touch up down there and I can't get a match.

I put new rubber rings and post sleeves on my PZ recently. Went with purple. Came out pretty well. Hard to take photos well. Replaced the yellow plastic star posts with new as well. Realized that the slingshot posts are slightly taller in many games of the same era. Hadn’t noticed that before. I was leaning towards orange rubber and then decided purple last minute. I think both would work as there are so many great colours in the PZ artwork. There is a cool glow from the cool white frosted dome LEDs through the purple rings as well.

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My recently acquired Party Zone has a TROG figure in the cabinet! (I thought it was just a random toy until I spotted him in the back glass and did some research.)

Anybody know this story on these? I assume some kind of promotional item with the TROG arcade game...

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Has anyone had issues with the mounting of replacement ramps from starship fantasy? I’ve seen a few posts in the thread of people having to make small adjustments, but the gap on the right ramp mounting is way more than a few washers.

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This spacer needs to be removed. The new ramps have very little flex.

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I saw someone else that had that spacer removed, and I initially tried it that way. It doesn’t affect the mounting in question, I think the round post up the ramp is affecting where that mounting tab lands.

I made a spacer by cutting down an old post and will probably just go with that. Hopefully it’ll work out… if not I may have to get the heat gun out

Edit: Mad_Dog_Coin_Op it was your posts I was looking at originally, the fix you made is t working on the ramps I got

AlexRogan84 what are the yellow spacers you used on the replacement ramps? That’s exactly what I need!!

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Haha... I thought that was my game!

Funny thing about those spacers... I didn't ask nor order them. They just came for no reason with a rubber ring kit for a Lethal Weapon I had at the time.

It's these ones though: https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/38-6551

And they worked great for my replacement PZ ramps. Was glad to have them lying around in the spare parts box that day!

Hey PZ'ers... looking for some help or suggestions on a problem I'm having.

It's the Cosmic Cottage entrance wire gate and switch area. I am getting a ton of rejects of late when trying to shoot the ball through there. It's like the wire gate is impeding the ball for some reason. I can't seem to tell if the wire gate is bent the wrong way or the bracket isn't secured correctly or the switch is pushing down on the tip of the wire gate too much or not enough. Unless it's an absolutely clean and perfectly aimed shot, it more often than not rattles and comes back down the way it went in instead of making it up around the loop into the VUK. It wasn't always like this and I'm thinking I must have reassembled something not quite right after doing rubber rings and post sleeves.

Any ideas? Pictures perhaps of how your game is set-up underneath the Cosmic Cottage?

Here’s my set-up at the moment.

Anything look wrong with that wire gate or switch positioning?

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Recently finished a full rebuild of a PZ. I had a problem like you described on one of the gates. I don’t know the technical terms, so bear with me. I found that the gate side that was flattened to keep it from coming out was actually getting into the through hole and keeping it from returning to down (opposite problem than you, but I think the same cause) I gave that end of the gate wire a little bend and it works perfectly now.

Apology if this is a repeat.

Would anyone have or has a good source for quality PZ cabinet decals?

Appears PPS is out of stock.
Thanks!

Hello,

I had added a color DMD and have an Arduino running the ramps off of J126 I believe. Could be wrong. The problem I was having is that when the machine would get crazy like for the big bang it would reset. So i just disconnected the Arduino and have been the color DMD. Recently I found no reset by PinSound. Plugged it in and guess what? No more resets. Now I need to hook the the Head, Arduino and Color DMD to this one Connector. The problem is I don't know the name of the male to male adapter shown in the picture or the connector name. I know its a 4 pin, but i am not sure where to get it. Any help would be apricated.

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That's a z connector. Probably this one:

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/5791-12235-04

There really isn't much to fail on those. If the pins are shiny it is probably good. The connectors that plugs into the Z are IDC connectors. You're problem might be from them.

That being said, the resets are most likely caused by an aging voltage regulator on your driver board. You're likely over taxing your 5v supply causing resets. I had to replace mine.

Yes that is the one thanks. Thanks again

I'm part of the club! Finding one of these in good condition is tough. I always loved these weird 90s dude pins Bally made and finally got to play Party Zone at pinball expo. I was infatuated with it. Finally found one in decent condition at a not absurd price but it does need some help.

It has a diamond plate playfield but someone painted over the rock it and the flipper area. Anyone know a safe way to remove the paint without damaging the other parts of the field? I'd like to do a better repaint or replace it with a sticker.

Is surprise multi-ball supposed to only give you 2 balls total on the field? The third just stays in the pocket.

This is my first game with a vertical kick and it sometimes just buzzes and doesn't kick. It always passes in test mode. Anyone got a link to a good method for testing/solution? It's definitely trying but sometimes it just fails to pop the ball up.

It's so weird to me that so many Party Zones have wear between the flippers. Alot have shrunken/chipped insert decals too. 2 ball multiball is correct. I would disassemble and clean the VUK.

The multiball in Party Zone is only a two-ball multiball. Surprise Party is the Comic awarding instant multiball without having to collect locks. Even though the game says to install three balls, it only uses two and will operate with fewer than three balls in the game.

Congrats on getting the game. It really is fun to play!

If you don't have a manual, here is the link: https://www.ipdb.org/files/1764/Bally_1991_Party_Zone_Manual.pdf
It includes descriptions of the rules.

Congrats on your PZ... I've owned mine for about 25 years. It's quirky & fun. Kids like it too

I'm lucky mine came with a pristine manual & schematics. Now it's just solving little problems. I have been trying to find that stupid cosmic cottage purple dome. Only source I found is sold out.

I also found that the right ball popper isn't working because the rubber grommet deteriorated. If you have an inconsistent right ball popper check if your grommet https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/38-6420 is missing. The game is unplayable without this so I'm making a 3D print version to get up and running until my replacement comes.

I am pretty sure Big Bang multiball uses all 3 balls.

Nope. Happy Hour multiball only uses two balls. When you shoot the Cosmic Cottage the third time (Party Dudes VIP Pass), it holds the ball and launches another into the trough. Once the second ball hits a switch, the one in the Cottage is released. Only two balls in play.

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I'm not talking about happy hour. I am talking about the big bang climax multiball. I am pretty sure all 3 balls are in play during that. The game is at my vacation house so I can't verify.

Happy Hour is the only multiball in the game. When the Rock-It Meter is full, big bang is lit. You lock one ball on the ramp. When you lock the second ball, Big Bang is awarded. Once you collect Big Bang, both balls are released and all targets score 250k.

100% verified that at no time during any mode playing Party Zone will there ever be three balls in play.

Big Bang is just the jackpot of the multiball where if you get both balls up the left ramp you get the Big Bang jackpot but it is only a 2 ball multiball both before and after you get the Big Bang.

I got all my parts and started working on refreshing the party. I'm having a head rotation issue suddenly. Everything was working fine now it won't rotate. Jaw moves with speech just fine. On head test all 3 optos fail. Nothing failed before. Not sure if the motor is dead or something went bad on the opto board or if it's a cable somewhere. It's weird it would go from fully working to all optos fail. Only major change was swapping GI to LEDs.

I did find a hack job on the MPU backside with a bunch of terrible jumpers and shorts so I'm not sure if this could have burned out something on the head route. I haven't dug in yet. This thing was covered in what looks like salt moisture corrosion. Not sure if I'm best off just replacing the motor and optos as I don't know how old they are but they are pricey to replace. I get the correct voltage and everything but is there a way to just brute test the motor rotation? Do I have to remove it for that? When I manually turn the gears sound fine and there's no heat on the motor so I think it might be gone.

I solved it but here are my steps in case anyone else runs into this. First off check J118 & J117 on the power board before you go searching for the cause. My solution was actually due to a black cable coming loose from J117 and it was really hard to see. According to the schematic I think the J117 placement was wrong but it's where it was to begin with so that's where it is.

I disassembled the head to give it adjustment and cleaning anyway. I ran voltage from a 9V battery with jumpers to the motor and it turned so all good there. So test the motor with a 9V or a low voltage DC power generator. I did a continuity trace and knowing motor works and mouth moves but it fails tests. Apparently the J117 cable not having both connections will fail all 3 optos as a false failure. Stabbing the wire back in fixed it. I thought it was the board that was the problem as it looked in bad shape but it's functional. From my research you can't test the opto board without a specific tester like some kind of arduino or something to validate their logic. Some you can view with an IR sensor or a camera but they're small enough it might be difficult.

So all is working again, the only problem now is I somehow put the motor back in wrong and captain isn't pointing forward so that's not going to be fun adjusting it.

I also bent the jaw mechanism to curve downward and make captain's jaw move fully. It was straight and that made his mouth move a tiny amount. Bending it made the movement far more pronounced.

I'm part of the club! Finding one of these in good condition is tough. I always loved these weird 90s dude pins Bally made and finally got to play Party Zone at pinball expo. I was infatuated with it. Finally found one in decent condition at a not absurd price but it does need some help.
It has a diamond plate playfield but someone painted over the rock it and the flipper area. Anyone know a safe way to remove the paint without damaging the other parts of the field? I'd like to do a better repaint or replace it with a sticker.
Is surprise multi-ball supposed to only give you 2 balls total on the field? The third just stays in the pocket.
This is my first game with a vertical kick and it sometimes just buzzes and doesn't kick. It always passes in test mode. Anyone got a link to a good method for testing/solution? It's definitely trying but sometimes it just fails to pop the ball up.</blockquote

I got a party zone that needed some love too. Previous owner had put an obnoxious sticker/Mylar over the rock it area and I hated it. Total pain in the ass to get the adhesive off it but rubbing alcohol works, you just don’t want to scrub too hard that you are making it worse. I have been looking for ways to fix my area, but I’ve more or less given up and just keep it clean as possible. There used to be stickers that you could buy from Europe for these areas but I don’t think they ship to USA anymore.

I had to replace a lot of switches and spend time on it but it now plays great, such a fun game with an amazing soundtrack.

Anyone have any suggestions for this area? Even if I did airbrush and match the colors, wouldn’t I still need a stencil or something?

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Speaking of rock it wear, previous owner had put an obnoxious sticker/Mylar over that area. Got it off with rubbing alcohol. I know there used to be stickers available in Europe for the rock it area, but they don’t seem to ship to USA anymore. Is airbrushing and getting another clear coat my best option? Any suggestions?

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