Party on dude!

Just picked this up yesterday. Second pin to go with the Lethal Weapon 3. PZ is one of about 5 or 6 I'm looking to get, all ones I played as a teenager. Getaway, Funhouse, Diner, Highspeed and Rollergames will be mine someday!!

I would very much be interested in buying a complete set of new plastic ramps if they are remade (saw the posts earlier in this thread about that... awesome!)

Also attaching a couple pics of the flipper coils underneath. My right flipper is weak. Feels like it's only flipping with the hold power and not the full power. Maybe the dual winding isn't working or getting engaged? I am not convinced the wiring is correct though as it is different than the left side and my left flipper is fine.

That capacitor there that's hanging (which I now realize is supposed to be zip tied to the little bracket) has for some reason gotten red wire extensions and was murretted together instead of being soldered. I don't think the extensions themselves are a problem, but if you look at the outer tab on the coil, it has too many wires terminated on it. Like the one red capacitor wire goes to that tab and yet it does not do this same thing on the left side. That capacitor terminates only right to the EOS switch tabs.

Any advice or suggestions? Thanks!!!

IMG_2265 (resized).JPG

IMG_2266 (resized).JPG

IMG_2267 (resized).JPG

IMG_2268 (resized).JPG

IMG_2269 (resized).JPG

Thanks a lot for those pics. Super helpful.

I did correct the wiring on the right side last night and it didn't make a difference.

Next up I'll take the coil out and inspect/replace the sleeve, plus look over anything else that might be damaged or loose while it's apart. A friend suggested checking for continuity on the HV lugs (checking Ohms for resistance) to see if the 50V winding is shot.

Worst case scenario I replace the coils. I was planning on doing a flipper rebuild kit and will likely put a parts order in after the weekend (as the parts list will likely get a little longer as I poke around further!!).

Well, giddyup! Got the flipper coil assembly apart and cleaned a pile of filth off the plunger. Put a new sleeve in and tried it out. Big Bang! Man, fun fun game when it’s all working as it should.

Thanks for the help!

9F680EFF-0F8B-4D03-97BA-E25D0B31A3C4 (resized).jpeg

EE772597-7307-4844-9070-1D17112F9B45 (resized).jpeg

Can someone tell me what this opening is used for at the rear of the playfield? My cover is intact, but only has a screw on the left side (I grabbed this photo of someone else's PZ because it was clearer, with less stuff in the way). I tried peeking behind it and I'm not convinced there is a receptacle of some kind to attach a screw on the right side. Or maybe it's just not aligned to let you put one in. I don't think it's at risk of falling out, just more curious as to why it is there?

Opening in rear of PF (resized).JPG

It seems common. I have seen a few pics online with only that left side having a screw. I think the right side was meant to have a screw, but that hole in the plastic doesn't line-up with the spot behind it that the screw would need to insert into. That's my theory anyway.

And I think you're right about accessing the mechanism behind it for service.

That's a good thing to know.

^^^^^ ...and Andrew! Holy crap! Nice score!!! I wouldn't want that one getting reset either.

A couple questions for the Party Zone crowd:

- the red GI string that lights up for the Big Bang... how many bulbs are on that string and what type are they? Would they originally have come with those little rubber bulb covers? And do we just get them in red as LED's now?

- my machine is missing the little plastic sign for the Cosmic Cottage. I don't have the little metal bracket either. The plastic piece comes in the full plastics kit (currently unavailable at the places I know to check) and the individual piece I did find here at Ministry of Pinball (also out of stock). Anyone have the plastic piece for sale or know where I can get one? I also can't find the little metal bracket on the parts pages. Anyone know of a suitable replacement?

The shopout image I attached shows it clearly because the Cosmic Cottage has been removed. I think it is supposed to mount behind the Cosmic Cottage though and not in front of it?

https://www.ministryofpinball.com/en/catalog/product/view/id/6329/s/party-zone-cosmic-cottage-plastic-31-1-20004-15/

The game plays very well overall. Really happy with it. My modest little collection numbers three now. Took 30 years to get the first... 3 more months to get the 2nd... and about a week and a half to get the 3rd! Gotta hold-off on getting anymore until at least the New Year, lol.

Thanks!!

44 (resized).jpg

image-16 (resized).jpg

IMG_2609 (resized).JPG

Beauty photo man. That’s perfect. Thanks.

Went through the last little nook and cranny on my PZ replacing light bulbs. Went with the same consistent style for each (frosted dome). The red GI feature looks incredible on this game. Love the lighting and how colourful it all is.

I noticed something underneath the Captain B. Zarr plastic that I wanted to ask about though. The two "request time" targets that are on either side of the DJ eject hole, it looks like those plastic targets will come back far enough to just come into contact with the rubber ring that is along the side of the Captain. And I saw that these rubber rings have slight cut marks in them. Enough so that it will eventually go right through and sever the rubber ring.

Is there a fix for this? Is it just a matter of putting a little extra thickness of padding in behind the plastic target cover and on top of the leaf switch end, so that it can't push back far enough to reach the rubber ring? I don't think it happens all the time, but probably does when you hit those targets hard. Anyone playing the game regularly I assume doesn't aim for that target directly a whole lot, as the ball caroms off at crazy angles. New players on my machine don't know that though and that whole Captain area sure does take a beating.

How much would shipping to Canada be for the left and right ramps? Postal code N1E 7L5.

Does anyone know the seller? I asked how much shipping would be to Canada and never got a reply.

Is there a link to this? I'd like to read those reviews as well.

I was wondering if anyone has a good technique for getting access to the components behind the back of the playfield that they could share? I would like to replace the sleeve in the coil for the ramp return upkicker and I'm not sure how to get at it. Pics or a video would be great if they're out there.

Awesome! Thanks. I will give this a try. Should I be doing this with a helper though? I'm on my own for the time being with the covid lockdown here right now.

I put LED's throughout my playfield and am really happy with how it turned out. I tried to be pretty thorough on matching the colours of the bulbs to the colours of the insert it was behind. I also got new red LED's in all the GI locations that come up under string 1 which lights up with the multiball and big bang sequences. It looks really good when that gets going all in red.

One way to do it would be to have working bulbs of any kind in all spots and then under test mode, turn on GI string 1. That's the one made up of entirely red lights. And yes, they originally had those red rubbers over them.

Good pic. If you were the one that shared this with me a while back, let me just say that I had a couple small differences in which bulbs were part of the #1 GI string and which ones were not. And it wasn't because the location seen from on top were wrong. It was because on my machine, a couple of bulb holders got inserted into neighbouring holes and then a left or right regular GI string was in the red bulb location. It didn't matter much, but made figuring it out a little more difficult for me. Until I realized you could turn on all the reds by themselves and figure it out that way.

Looks like you've noticed a lot of the same things I did on my game when I got it.

That's called the eject hole deflector: https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/01-6933

I saw both versions in different photos and mine had the one yours has. Until I put this full width one in from the Marco link. Both of them worked, but previously the ball would pop out and head pretty much straight for the left outlane, which was not ideal. With the full width one, it comes out and hits the bank of green eat, drink, B.merry targets, which is way better.

It is still a tough shot on the game, getting it into that saucer. It is quite close to the flippers and the ball can go all over everywhere quickly if you miss. Keeps you on your toes!!

Is there an official location for this sign post? Behind or in front?

My game didn't come with one, neither the plastic nor the metal bracket it's attached with. Does anyone happen to have one for sale? It doesn't have to be perfect. I would take the one you took off your machine if someone out there put an entire new plastics set into their game.

Here's a clip of my game in action.

I changed the replay award to extra ball instead of credit and then anytime you get an extra ball (like shooting the ramp a bunch of times) it fires off the knocker.

Where did you buy your replacement decals from?

WoW! Impressive sir!

Those new ramps do look really nice. As does the whole game. Nice job! Fun and quirky... love it.

Out of curiosity, the “2 for 1 play field scores” insert looks to be white when lit. Mine is green. Is this changing because of the bulb underneath or is the plastic actually a different colour?

Yea, green. You're right, the insert is white. Not sure what prompted me to put a green one in. Might leave it the way it is though... kinda used to it.

G'day... something I was wondering about and thought maybe one of you fine folks would know what the deal is...

I have seen images of a few Party Zone's that have a different backbox top portion than mine does. Or most of them do I think. In between the speakers at the top, there is a screen that lights up to say "REPLAY". At least I think that is what it says. I don't get the feeling it is another DMD, but instead is just that single message and gets lit up of course when you earn a replay.

Anyone know what these were all about? Prototypes or something? I have seen a similar thing on a Bally The Game Show where that top banner light thing says "APPLAUSE" which is really cool in my opinion.

Would love to know more about these and whether they were or still are available somehow/somewhere. Thanks!!

Right on. Thanks for replying. I think that applause sign on the Game Show machine is a great idea and looks totally right for that theme. I don't have a Game Show, but have been considering one. There is one for sale here in Ontario, but it is up there in price at $5,000 so I'm not convinced I'm going to spend that much. Prices have gone absolutely berserk here in Ontario since covid, but that's even more than I would think is ok right now for this game. Who knows.

Anywho, yea, that PZ with the REPLAY sign was in a photo from the Pinball Compendium volume 3 book. It is an amazing book and I highly recommend getting a copy if you don't already. No copyright infringement intended as I took a photo of the page for PZ. I wonder if this might have been a prototype of some kind? It doesn't say that in the footnotes, but it might be. Any ideas?

IMG_3518 (resized).JPG

Can someone confirm for me the correct positioning of the back ramp switch? This is identified as switch #31 on the switch location diagram in the manual (part # A-14860).

The reason I ask is that my game is not realizing the second ball has been sent into the Ozone ramp and so it won't give you the Big Bang Jackpot. I replaced my switch the other day as the old one had too much slop in the arm and was missing ramp shots intermittently. It still fired the ball back out because the switch (#41 on the switch diagram) under the VUK is working fine.

What I am wondering is if that ramp switch is supposed to be HELD closed by the second ball, and it is that extended signal that tells the game that indeed the second ball is back there and the Big Bang Jackpot has been won. I suspect when I go back there and look, it is going to be positioned just off enough that the ball goes past the switch and doesn't keep it engaged.

Is this how it is supposed to work? Thanks.

That's perfect, thanks. I followed everything you said there. When I was adjusting the switch before putting the new one in, I saw what you meant about it getting stuck and not rolling through with just gravity alone. Finicky. Pretty straight forward except the awkward place to work! I've tried that trick to pull the PF forward off the pivot points and then have it rest on a piece of foam. Works well enough to get in there and reach things at least. Looks like I have something to do today!

IMG_3678 (resized).JPG

IMG_3679 (resized).JPG

IMG_3681 (resized).JPG

IMG_3682 (resized).JPG

IMG_3683 (resized).JPG

Does anyone know what kind of screw driver or bit is needed for the screws that attach the bottom of the speaker panel at the top of the back box? They must be some kind of security heads because it seems like they’re a star pattern but with a little raised dimple in the middle and you need a bit with the star pattern on the outer edge but hollow in the middle.

I am getting the occasional rattle from my speakers and I thought I would make sure all the screws are snug but these ones I can’t do anything with without the right tool.

Beauty. That's what I was looking for. Thanks.

Is there a piece of masking tape on the end of the switch arm? What for?

Just wanted to give a shout out to Larry at Starship Fantasy to say thanks for a great new set of ramps for my Party Zone. Well made and really well packed for shipping. Installed now and looking good.

IMG_5593 (resized).JPG

IMG_5613 (resized).JPG

IMG_5624 (resized).JPG

IMG_5633 (resized).JPG

IMG_5634 (resized).JPG

Both flipper coils are FL-11630 (red label). And I need that same cosmic cottage sign and post... been missing on mine since I got it too. Seems like unobtanium that thing!

Here are a few pics of mine. I actually replaced the entire assembly soon after I got my game with new ones from Pinball Wizards in Utah.

...Although looking at my pics, it seems I never took any photos afterwards when I had the rest of the wires soldered in place.

Let me know if these are good enough or whether you need better ones.

IMG_2267 (resized).JPG

IMG_2278 (resized).JPG

IMG_3279 (resized).JPG

IMG_3280 (resized).JPG

IMG_3283 (resized).JPG

I think the idea is you just zip tie them to the EOS switch bracket.

If I'm not mistaken, the bracket is 01-10411. I don't have one though and haven't been able to find one. I don't have the Cosmic Cottage plastic piece either, but want to buy both. Only thing on my game that isn't complete.

Nice find. I’m jealous. Did they have more than one?

This is the best one I could find. Again, my game is also missing the plastic piece and bracket so I can't just take a picture of it for you.

44 (resized).jpg

Anyone know if Party Zone has attract mode sounds? I know it is in the settings menu, but mine is set to ON and it doesn't make any noise while in attract mode. Not sure what the deal is. Anyone know?

That's interesting. I am looking online at the vendor's that sell ROMs and it seems that Fliptronics versions of PZ are on L4 while non-Fliptronics versions (like the one I have) are on L3. I believe I am running this L3 version of the CPU ROM.

As for the sound ROM's, I see there are three separate ones that together make up the sound and music set. Unless I'm mistaken, they are all only at L1, which seems to me like they never changed. Is that right?

I was under the impression that L3 was as high as you could go with a non-Fliptronic game? And L4 was the highest for the Fliptronic version.

And that there weren't any additional sound rom updates, like L1 was all there ever was?

My game says Captain too, not DJ when you shoot it around into the cosmic cottage.

Welcome to the Party!

As the multiball mode sequence starts, the game can do an all red coloured lighting of the playfield. This is accomplished with one GI (general illumination) string being red bulbs. Back in the day, when it was only incandescents, the game had these little red coloured rubber cover domes over the bulbs. Nowadays, you just put red LED bulbs in those locations.

Someone previously shared this helpful photo of where those red GI bulbs are.

Red GI string (resized).JPG

PZ design just pivots, as mentioned. It doesn't pull forward and then swing up like some other games. The centre of gravity when up should keep it back and from falling forward. There should be a small chunk of wood in the lower left hand corner that this corner of the playfield will swing down to and rest against. That's how you know it's all the way pivoted.

Getting to the stuff at the back is a pain in the butt with this design. What you can do is carefully pull up the playfield (it's heavy) at about a 45 degree angle and it will come out of those hinges. You then pull it forward a small bit and set it down on what is now the underside of the playfield behind those pivot brackets. You can pull it forward about 6-8 inches this way and then you set the front portion of the underside of the playfield down on the lockbar catch area WITH a piece of cushion or maybe towel or something else soft paying close attention not to smush anything that can't handle this weight on it for a short amount of time.

Again, this is a cumbersome way to need to do things, but this is what you get with this pivot only design. A helper is a good idea for lifting the playfield up out of the brackets because it's hard to know where the release point is the first time you do it if by yourself. And it's heavy and awkward. Not impossible to do yourself though.

IMG_3678 (resized).JPG

IMG_6412 (resized).JPG

IMG_6417 (resized).JPG

Short answer is no. There is a flasher socket mounted right behind the head. I would check to see nothing is shorted together or wired up incorrectly.

I prefer cool white over the warm white. For GI and the inserts (and the backbox for that matter). I colour matched some of the inserts, but also realized some insert colours (yellow ones in particular) seem to look better with white under them than yellow bulbs.

Don't forget on Party Zone that one of those big GI strings is to run all red bulbs. It gives the multiball effect of all red. You can select which GI string you want to light up one at a time in the test settings in the menus. This photo was posted on here a while back which really helps see which bulbs were meant to be red and which ones were not.

Some of the best colours in all of pinball on this game, in my opinion

IMG_8442 (resized).JPG

Red GI string (resized).JPG

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

336011173_509840784695735_2742440334859117450_n (resized).jpg

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.

060899BC-625F-4F32-9BB7-A526D949F63E (resized).jpeg

3E452A8F-7070-42FF-A625-44FE284AAC7E (resized).jpeg

7A40A74A-539B-4B23-B200-A3A1A01C3740 (resized).jpeg

B65E0024-789A-4747-87AC-25C4445B4CDC (resized).jpeg

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?

152CA8FF-F391-4FC3-A31A-61AD8CF43755 (resized).jpeg

70A2B9D6-2399-4A3C-A2A3-E596F57C2E4F (resized).jpeg

F726D248-05A0-4FAE-A401-1E626ED310D9 (resized).jpeg

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

Take it out of the game, put it on your workbench and look to see what isn't right. Mine had a slight bend in the metal rod and this was enough to get it out of alignment. Figure out how the mechanism is supposed to work, move it freely in your hands and then get his head back on it and I have confidence it'll work again like you wish it to.

IMG_1371 (resized).JPG

IMG_1372 (resized).JPG

Post a video of how yours looks. Still sounds to me like it isn't moving as it should be.

This is how mine looks:

Please post some photos of the pivot points and brackets on the underside of the playfield with the playfield raised. This is where I feel your problem has to be from what you've described.

That Captain B Zarr shot is one of the hardest shots on any game in my collection. And that includes the dreaded scoop shot on World Cup Soccer. I've not figured out exactly how or what to adjust to make it easier either. If it were just a hard shot, ok, I can live with that. But when you don't get it to stay in the saucer, it so often richochets right back down the middle and drains.

One thing I think has a big impact is how strong your flippers are. Mine have been rebuilt and are crisp and firm and while this is ideal for any of the ramp shots, it means it gets to that saucer halfway up the playfield with a lot of pace, too much I find.

I did last night make an adjustment after reading this post. I had a slim spacer from my Diner that someone had made up and used on one of the saucers in it. It's nothing more than a piece of clear acrylic and goes between the red plastic saucer base and the underside of the playfield. I'd say it's maybe 1/8" thick, maybe only 1/16". What it does is pulls down slightly that landing area. So it is lower and there's more room and time for the ball to stay. It's helped from what I can tell in the games I've played since. You still need to hit it pretty centred as mis-hits into the stand-up targets still come back fiercely and out of control. Sometimes I think the best approach is to try for shots off of the side targets to get it in there on a bounce. Or to use the left flipper for direct shots at it and not the right as the angle is just ever so slightly different. It's a sharper angle from the left side, so you need to flip a little sooner and I find that can take some of the speed off of the ball.

Anyway, love the game, but when this shot is closer to impossible than just difficult, it kinda sucks some of that fun away.

If I'm not mistaken, that white / black wire terminates together with the other white wire on the switch side of that connector.

I don't remember all the details, but looking at a few of my old pics, I think I must have had the same problem you do. I took the whole switch and wire combo mess out of the game to clean it up and connect it all together better.

This is the before pic. At least I hope it's the before pic, lol, I don't seem to have an after pic!! Anyway, you get the idea.

IMG_3575 (resized).JPG

IMG_3577 (resized).JPG

IMG_3681 (resized).JPG

IMG_3682 (resized).JPG

IMG_3683 (resized).JPG

Have you tried to test the switch in test mode? I am asking because if you are seeing in the startup diagnostic errors only, it might be that it hasn’t been activated recently (in about 30 games or 100 balls approximately). You could start a game and leave the glass off and move the ball around with your fingers to test things. That rollover switch is also susceptible to misalignment when both balls are in there. The first ball in sits in the VUK and the second one rests against the first ball simultaneously activating that rollover switch. Terrible place to check alignment for such a thing.