I ordered a shaker from Cointaker for my newly acquired TWD. When I got it there was no labeling on the box, but had instructions in it that said red tremor at the top. I installed it and the thing is strong! When it goes off at full strength I can feel air coming out of the cabinet between the lock down bar and side rails under my hands and it rattles my dmd glare guard loose that is a very tight fit; I have to put it in at the same time as the glass because it won't slide in if the glass is already in. I contacted Melissa she asked me what color the cover was on the shaker, I said white/clear and she said it was a standard and someone put the wrong instructions in the box.

I went over to my Aerosmith, looked and it has the same shaker with the same cover. I played a couple games and it is very soft to where you almost have to pay attention to it to know it was on, kind of too soft really in my opinion. So I am have two shakers in two machines at both ends of the spectrum. That brings me to my question if the shakers are that much stronger in SAM games compared to Spikes and if so why?

I am pretty sure both are right. The shaker in AS was in my GB prior and I ordered it for the spike system. It's been a few months since I installed in AS, but I do remember hooking it up to the board that was factory installed unlike how I added the board for the Sam system shaker. I don't know if I would say the one in AS is extremely weak as much as isn't just nowhere near as noticeable like on my TWD where you think the game is going to split in 1/2!

I wonder if there is some variance in these shaker motors though and the way they are made? My friend ordered a shaker for his GB, installed it and unhooked it because he said it was way too violent and thought it would damage his game, which is the way I feel about the one in my TWD. I thought it was a standard, but I will have to double check with him and report back. If the shaker were just a bit stronger in AS it would be optimum in my opinion. I really like the strength of the factory installed shaker in my Dialed In. You know and feel it when it goes off, but it's not so strong that it feels like the game is going to vibrate apart.

Thanks for sharing your experience and observation. for a little bit I didn't think I was going to get any responses.

I was told the shaker in my TWD isn't a red tremor even though it is very strong. I have a red tremor in my Metallica and honestly I can't tell much if any difference in the two of them. The pwm controller you mention seems like a great solution and something I would like. I think this is probably the thread you were referring to: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/how-to-tame-cointakers-shaker-motor I will have to read up on it. I, like you, like shakers but this thing is just way too much and I don't like it as is.

this was kind of what i was thinking that the spike system controls it differently.

I ordered 3 PWMs off of ebay last Sunday, they came in yesterday. I installed one in my TWD last night, it works great!! It was super easy to install using the directions here: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/how-to-tame-cointakers-shaker-motor#post-3060928 The only thing I wish was different was that it came with stand offs and screws to mount it to the cabinet, but I'll figure something out. I have it set at around 50% and it feels great, much more tame, and tolerable compared to unregulated.

You'll like it! I unplugged my shaker after about 2 games thinking it was going to rattle the game apart and it really might have caused an issue. I was losing all of my GI and feature lights. I was told which connector is problematic on TWD for this, I reset it and been good so far. I don't really understand why they make them so strong, especially the standard model. I could see the red tremor being extreme, but not the standard. I think they should either include the PWM or sell it and people would enjoy their product more.

They are specific to each system. I believe if you use the wrong one on spike it will blow a node board. You can't use the PWM on spike system, it will blow a node board. It seems the spike system controls the shaker differently and it's no where near as strong as the sam system at least with the cointaker system.