so I figured out my battlefield issue, after much searching and probing, I noticed when I was putting the playfield back into place in switch test, I heard multiple switches activate/deactivate. so more jiggling of the wire harness to the battlefield and it continued to occur. I removed a large zip tie holding all the large molex connectors to the harness and went straight to the switch molex connector and it practically fell apart in my hands, reconnected and working good now...its the simple stuff that will drive you crazy...

simple fixes are good!

for fun checked the angle of the mini playfield : 4.6 degrees

main playfield: 6.8 degrees

looks good and thanks, happy to share ,

I got the idea from " holmastarunner" back in post #1399

Interesting - I'll have to check mine. In playing various Shadows I have noticed that my mini-PF plays relatively easier than some and some are that brutal you're lucky to get a few switch hits before the ball flies past the kicker and off the battlefield.

If others can check their mini-PF angles relative to their main PF it'd be interesting to compare

Has anyone converted their Shadow to a “Malice” or “Prelude to a Kiss” early 90’s Baldwin theme? I’ve got it! Miami Blues!!!

Just joined the club last night. I love this game.

20210122_222520 (resized).jpg

20210122_222856 (resized).jpg

Just wanted to follow up about my battlefield kicker issue moving to the right. First off, thank you all for the suggestions for a fix. I ended up cleaning the optos again, also cleaned the flipper optos this time, checked the bracket and it was fine. So I cleaned the rails it moves on really well with a little bit of wd40. I also tightened the screws attaching the bracket, they weren't super loose, but the did tighten a bit. After these fixes, it has been working constantly. So I'm not sure what exactly corrected the issue, but I'm happy it's working properly now. Thanks again!

Glad to hear you've got it working again.

There are very few parts in a pinball machine where lubrication is recommended, as it'll collect the dust in the machine and actually end up gumming up the part. The reason the bracket has brass bushings to slide on those shafts, is so that lubrication is not required for this reason. I'd suggest cleaning those shafts and bushings to ensure there is no residual lubrication on them.

In!

I’m having an issue with the battlefield entrance drop target. The down switch works, the up and down coils work. It just never resets in game and I have a credit dot to check the switch and the coils. All work in test.

I searched here and someone said they looking chip was bad? I have no idea what that means. Haha.

Also is there a source for the plastic that surrounds the battlefield? Looks like these might not be available? Mines all jacked up.

Also I need some replacement ring LEDs.

Thanks!

1CAD626B-C32D-47D7-9D6D-2378891A567E (resized).jpeg

Welcome to the club!

The drop target has a single switch to recognise whether the target is up or down - common issue and typically it’s just the switch actuator arm is in the wrong place or needs adjusting. Search my posts in the thread and you’ll see how the switch should be (out drinking atm).

The plastic shroud is not available however Chris at pinball plating has metal replacements https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/pinballplatingcom-chrome-brass-black-nickel-powder-coating#post-3316711

The shadow rings have small bulbs that are available otherwise LEDs require a bit of a retrofit

Yeah just looking to replace the stock ring bulbs. What are they called? Thanks again. I may go the metal battlefield guard if I cannot find a suitable stock replacement.

And my drop target switch is currently working, but I’ll check out your posts to see if mine is oriented incorrectly.

This was the issue with the battlefield drop target for me. Also, when I lifted the playfield I saw this

House of Pinball. Looks like they went out of business a couple of years back.

20210123_222529 (resized).jpg

Pinball life sells them for under $2 each https://www.pinballlife.com/7268-bulbs-sold-individually.html

Thanks!

Also I think my battlefield entrance drop target is set up correctly. For example. If I manually reset it, start a game, drop it, it registers and lights the battlefield. But after that it never pops back up. But in test it will pop back up and the coil that drops it works too.

Update: turn the game on this morning and credit dot is gone. Haha. Maybe one of those deals that when the playfield was lifted it looked fine then something got out of whack when I put it back down. Either way, seems I’m good.

That can happen when one of the four drop targets at the back don’t go down when hot (usually do to dirt or grime). The pin will eventually think the battefield is broken and start preventing the ball from going up there. Cleaning the drops will fix this.

Gotcha. In this case it was only the entrance drop target and it would just stay down so I could always go up there without hitting the drop. It’s nice that the game compensates if the issue appears again later.

Ah got it. Yeah, if you get anything weird with dots related to the battlefield, just check the drops at the back, and the switch for the entrance drop. I think when there is an issue, the entrance stays down permanently... But could be misremembering.

I just searched the group and couldn’t find how to remove the battlefield. I see it has a hinge on the backboard, but what do I need to remove first to be able to lift that up? I’m trying to replace a couple screws that hold the plastic on that surrounds the battlefield.

Thanks!

There is a thumbsrew on the left hand side of the battlefield, inside the rubber ring...remove that and it lifts up

Working on the battlefield went really well last night. I added a couple spots up there and I may finish it off with a LED strip to light up the kicker better.

My last question for this battlefield surrounding plastic. I found that mine just needs the one screw replaced on the back left side. But I can’t get to it unless I take the Bart field out of the game. How is that done? Thanks again!

78F64660-E7AD-4489-8070-45B4892F65B0 (resized).jpeg

does the ball hit the reflector in that placement ?

to remove the mini playfield disconnect all the connectors underneath the main playfield , unscrew the hinge screws from the backboard , take off the brass knurled screw and lift the whole mini playfield

I asked this question a couple months back and no one answered. In the past I have just pulled the entire playfield out to get to the screws. I bought one of those new metal guards and asked how everyone was getting to all the screws because I did not want to pull the playfield.

It’s a tight fit, but if I put them so they rest up on the glass, there’s enough clearance for the ball to pass underneath them.

Also I have them turned to the side as far as they will go so even less of a chance the ball strikes them.

I know there have been many threads concerning The Sanctum repair, but I figured I would just add my version here. I am currently redo-ing this Shadow for my friend and this is the method I chose to repair the Sanctum wear. This particular playfield Sanctum wear is not horrible but it is scratched up and has a small "divot". The playfield is out of the machine due to a complete cabinet overhaul and clearing the playfield. I cleaned the area well and drilled out the divot with a 3/4" Forstner bit probably no more than 1/16" deep. Taped off the area, and then filled the hole with Bondo Glass, sanded it and refilled with "Half-Time" Filler. I then sanded the area out with 180 grit and covered the area with Frisket film. I cut out the entire gray area that encompasses the Sanctum gray with an X-Acto knife. Cleaned the area with Naptha and sprayed it with Rust-oleum Professional Primer. After priming, I had intended on airbrushing the entire area with Apple Barrel Country Gray, but the match of the primer color was too good to take a chance with the Apple Barrel not matching. So I left the primer, and I added a waterslide decal of "To The Sanctum" (Thanks @Aurich) before clearing with SprayMax 2K. I have one more sanding and application of SprayMax to go, but I am very pleased with the results of this method at this point in the process.

20210117_142742 (resized).jpg

20210117_143011 (resized).jpg

20210117_143533 (resized).jpg

20210117_145906 (resized).jpg

20210117_152724 (resized).jpg

20210117_160903 (resized).jpg

20210117_161403 (resized).jpg

20210117_163603 (resized).jpg

20210117_190937 (resized).jpg

20210123_124422 (resized).jpg

20210125_104914 (resized).jpg

20210125_121323 (resized).jpg

If you're going with the new metal ones, watch out for the diodes/switch tabs making contact with the frame...found an issue today with one

I thought the plastic was broken on mine, but it’s good. I’ll stick with this for now. Thanks for the heads up!

So the ball is hitting my spotlights on the upper playfield. To fix I just dremeled off the bottom half of the spot light cover. All good now.

I have a thin strip light attached along the top edge of the shroud behind the paddle. It makes a huge difference. I had experimented with many spot light positions but this gave the most even lighting to the Battlefield and you cant see it from a players perspective.

20210126_163810 (resized).jpg

20210126_164101 (resized).jpg

I have some 7381 bulbs. Does anyone know if those will work? They look to be the same size and type.

Do you have any problems with the ball hitting the strip? I thought about doing this too, but in my game, the ball will sometimes hit the shroud hard enough that it bounces back onto the battlefield.

where the led strip is mounted on the shroud is lower than the miniplay field, , if you use the kind of standard led strip that has the leds encased in silicone I would not think a ball hit here or there would causes any damage.

to better light the playfield I put a black plastic L channel with the led strip inside that sits about 1/2 inch above the existing shroud edge. I have never had the ball bounce back to the mini playfield !

look like it would work

The first strip i used was too rubbery and yes, did cause bounce back. This strip is more flat. The ball hits it but that's it.

Turns out they were too big. I’ll order some from pinball life

Saw some having the same issue I’m having, but didn’t see a solution.

Some strong shots to my left ramp while it’s diverter to the right are jumping off the wireform. Anyone have a suggestion on what to try to stop that?

Thanks!

Based on a pic you posted earlier, you have the clear plastic on the left ramp however it's been mounted on the lower opto bracket screws - try moving it to the top screws and see if this helps. Some people have made their own version that has 4 screw holes (similar to the right ramp plastic) and extended the plastic right up to the diverter with curved the top edge (so the diverter can still move) to limit air balls.

Good eye! Thank you!

Does the L-6 rom revision have the led anti ghosting patch from Williams added in?
Thanks in advance.

I'm going to check out a Shadow tomorrow and planning to bring it home if all looks good. Are there any important things to look out for, beyond the usual for a 26 year old WPC game? I've been wanting to own one for a long time and have just had a slot open up in my lineup.

When the balls get kicked up, look to see the yellow sliding kicker moves smoothly. Thats the thing that gave me the most head-aches.

I'd be mainly focused on the standard things - PF condition (any damage or raised inserts - not that I've seen this on a Shadow), does the machine work (is there a credit dot), cabinet condition (is the cab base solid, any damage to the cab artwork). Most parts are available such as plastic sets, repro PFs, mech parts etc although replacement main cabinet artwork isn't available.

In regards to mech to check they are functional:
- sanctum ball lock: shoot the sanctum (straight up the PF) the magnet will catch the ball, the brick wall target will drop and the magnet will throw the ball into the physical lock and the wall will come back up.
- diverters: each ramp has a diverter and the second cabinet button (next to the left and right flipper buttons) are used to switch the diverters back and forth.
- mini-PF battlefield: knock down the drop target (to the left of the sanctum) and then put the ball in the VUK, this will kick the ball up on to the mini-PF. The flipper buttons will move the kicker paddle bat left and right at the front of the mini-PF. As the ball reaches the kicker, the kicker will fire and hit the ball. The back 4 targets on the mini-PF are drop targets which will spring back up if hit, until you've completed all the hits required, then they stay down and you put the ball over the back to complete that mode.

Good luck!!

The guys above covered the big things - the sanctum drop target and magnet, and the area above the magnet on the playfield which can be quite worn. The 2 ramp diverters, and the upper battlefield drops and kicker. Good luck!
This is such a fantastic game. This is the 2nd time I’ve owned this same example and it’s bolted down now. So many shots are perfectly designed and not easy - the ramps are steep, the Shadow loop is tricky to repeat, Khan multiball scoop is tucked away, the battlefield VUK is a great shot, the mode start lane/saucer is deceivingly hard. It’s just frickin’ awesome!

I've shared photos of my Shadow here before, I'll be trying an enhancement that I think might really add to that brass ambience. I've ordered brass coated screws and nylon lock nuts, and I'm going to replace in appropriate spots where associated with my Mike Chestnut wireforms and such. I'll post photos.

Could look really cool, or could look gaudy... We shall see.

Most of the critical parts for Shadow are available, and you can even get PFs now... but watch out for broken and missing parts on the sanctum wall, the battlefield and the ramp diverters.

The oft cracked/broken plastic shroud around the battlefield is NLA as far as I know... and the metal replacement ain’t cheap.

Where did you get the LED strip and part number? And where did you connect it ? GI string? Thanks

Thanks for all the great tips. I went to check out the machine and it is now sitting in my basement. The playfield is in great condition (it seems to have full factory mylar on both playfields). There is obviously Sanctum wear - somebody put down what looks like a 2” x 1” metal “cliffy” between the Sanctum text and the insert. I won’t try to remove it until I’m ready to do the repair, but I haven’t seen anything like this on any Shadow photos I’ve seen.

The right diverter sort of “vibrates” when it hits either stopping point - seems like there is some play in the actuator that I need to look at.

Did all Shadow’s come with factory mylar? I’m planning on removing it completely from both playfields when I do a full tear down. I’ll put mylar (one or two layers) in front of the Sanctum once I’ve done that repair - otherwise I don’t see a need for full playfield coverage in a home environment.

The cabinet is in fair condition but the backbox sides are pretty beat up. The machine came with a full set of cabinet decals and I’ll likely tackle that project at some point.

Battlefield seems to work well and the shroud is in good condition. All plastics seem intact and saucer holes don’t have any wear. Boards have matching serial numbers and the batteries have been moved off board. One of the GI headers has been replaced.

The first thing I need to do is to yank out the Clown Puke GI LEDs - I’m not kidding when I say the in lanes have one purple and one blue LED each, and the sling above it has orange. How anybody could think this looks good astounds me. I’ll eventually put in an LED OCD and will go with either Comet Sunlight or Warm White GI.

Purchased locally from an electronics store (Nutech). They have a display of all the available LED strips they carry.
Mine are just tied into the g.i.
Id originally wanted it to only turn on when the battlefiled was in play but that turned out to be quite laborious and the current always on setup makes a noted improvement.
I mostly did this for my non pinball friends who would get to the battlefield and do nothing before the ball just falls back down into the main playfield. Now it is much clearer what is going on up there from the moment the vuc kicks the ball out.

God bless for not giving into Clown Puke GI!

It's also OK for The Shadow to be a bit on the darker side, I mean that's the idea behind the theme! Enjoy it, it's just a damn fun game!