Looks good.

I haven’t seen the yellow star posts before. I like it. Just a heads up, if you try red or orange star post illumination to the yellow posts it will like likely look very cool and create a golden luster gradient.

If you find pics of my pin on this thread I’ve done it with purple posts and blue illumination. So you can get the gist.

EDIT: adding a photo.
5392192D-6014-4F44-8929-5DD6C052934B (resized).jpeg

I’ll have to try some color combos. Right now I am addicted to lighting up star posts. Just finished doing all the posts on a TZ. Used glow in the dark posts for the mini pf and wired it to battle the power insert.

I want to experiment with making some flash when a coil is activated. I’ll have to figure out a Zener diode wiring with resistor for that.

I've been fighting with an intermittent issue for a while and I'm hoping some other owners might be able to help. Because it is intermittent, it's hard to really test.

My issue is, when I shoot the Sanctum shot (with the wall up) to lock a ball, the wall immediately falls, when that happens the machine gets confused and doesn't want to throw the ball into the lock using the magnet.

My current thinking is that something is causing the wall to fall prematurely and then the machine gets confused because the wall shouldn't be down yet and it assumes the wall down switch is malfunctioning so it doesn't "know" if the wall is actually up or down so then it just drops the ball (straight down the middle no less!).

So, is there anyway to determine, or does anyone know what exactly triggers the wall to drop when a ball is locked? The magnet catches and registers shots consistently so I'm hesitant to blame a faulty opto.

check this out https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/vids-guide-shadow-sanctum-target-repair

So I've got a bit more info to present that will hopefully shed a little more light on what exactly is happening. I recorded some Shadow gameplay a few months back and I just went and looked at it to see if it had a good example of my issues. It's only about 11 minutes total, but I've timestamped 3 specific parts:

First, a successful lock where you can see the wall doesn't drop immediately but only after a short pause after the ball is caught.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/zUip7WPLcxo?start=291&end=298

Second, a failed lock where the wall falls immediately.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/zUip7WPLcxo?start=445&end=455

And, Third, a time when the wall falls during Khan MB, is that supposed to happen during KHAN?
https://www.youtube.com/embed/zUip7WPLcxo?start=333&end=343

From reviewing this video, I'm kind of getting this feeling like the Wall Target might just be falling the same way a drop target does. So I'm going to check out that little wall down nub (that is actuated by the mini-coil) and see if maybe when the wall gets pushed by a hard-shot ball the nub also goes with it and allows the spring to pull the wall down and/or maybe the wall down spring has too much tension.

Is it the physical impact that knocks it down? Maybe the little piston that holds it up is worn or unaligned. Roll some balls at it with the game powered down.

I wouldnt have expected that to be possible without the coil firing to release the target but based on the video, that definitely seems plausible. Im hoping Ill have time to test it this evening. This issue has been bothering me for a while, not enough to ruin the gameplay or anything but more like an occasional slap in the face. Fingers crossed.

Take the glass off and with the machine off check how firm the wall is being held in the up position - I'm guessing it's not being held in place well enough and it's a mechanical issue. Note that the top small coil is used to drop the target, but I doubt that it's being triggered incorrectly; hence seeing if the target will drop with the power off will confirm this.

It could be a range of things, I'd focus on the area circled in red, ... it could be the spring (#6) is broken and/or simply isn't holding the plunger (#7) hard enough up against the target, or the bracket (#8 - it's where #9 is pointed) is broken (the plunger pushes the target up against this bracket to stop it sliding down), or maybe there is a problem with the alignment/position of the top coil & plunger.

If you can't figure it out, post some pics of the mech

TS Extended Target (resized).JPG

Hi, I read a couple of different posts on this but I’m slightly confused on what my problem could be. I recently bought a shadow and decided to upgrade the DMD to a color dmd. It looks like it had been replaced previously as there’s a vishay DMD installed.

The Colordmd works fine, but now the game will occasionally reset (did not happen before). In other posts it appears that I might have a power draw issue? I’m also curious if this wire from the Vishay DMD has anything to do with it (see photo) as it is now unused but still attached to a board somewhere (I can’t seem to trace the line all the way without removing a bunch of other connectors and cable ties)

Would appreciate any help. Thanks

0F7FA3CA-1900-4EB7-ADCB-72B043441546 (resized).jpeg

Does anybody have a spare battlefield mini-playfield they’d be willing to sell? I plan to clear coat it so I don’t care if it is rough looking.

Mine had mylar on it and what I thought was a big air bubble in the center of the red insert, but after removing the mylar it looks like it is some kind of crazing in the clear coat or insert itself. I don’t think there is any way to repair it without replacing the insert, which I don’t want to do.

CPR has some seconds available but thought I’d see if somebody has one that they replaced and would be willing to part with. Thanks!

Your color DMD uses a lot less power than the old one however it uses different power (5 and 12 volts) my guess is the caps are getting tired and possibly the 5 volt regulator is falling out of specs. These components are found on the driver board and require a certain amount of skill to replace. The easy fix is to just get a kahr board and keep an eye on things.

I will second that recommendation. Have used these on a couple pins to help with resets caused by voltage issues and very happy. Make sure you get the board from rkahr and not any copycats.

ColorDMD runs off your 12v so it shouldn’t cause a 5v reset unless something is very wrong. In fact as the Kahr board uses the 12v to “fix” the 5v I don’t even know if it would help unless your problem isn’t the 12v at all.

Also you can just unplug the old
DMD and leave the connector hanging. Most people (myself included) also unplug from
the HV display board but I don’t think it really matters. Just leave the old cables in case you ever need to switch back to a normal DMD.

Whats the deal with the "kahn" scoop? A "scene" will begin if the ball lands here. But Bally did not install a "start scene" insert here. Was this something that was added to the gamecode? Or a bug? Visitors seem confused when a scene starts from this scoop.

From the Color DMD website:

LOW VOLTAGE
In contrast to existing high-voltage plasma displays, the ColorDMD uses the low voltage 5V and 12V outputs from a power driver board. A keyed 4-pin power cable is provided for simple connection between the ColorDMD driver board and the existing power driver board. An expansion connector on the power cable provides support for other existing boards and devices.

My guess is they found that only starting scenes at the right saucer made it tough to advance through them so they made the Khan Saucer also start a scene. That's my best guess at least.

Thanks all, just went to the kahr website and bought the board. Appreciate the help and quick responses.

Anyone have an extra Aurich translite / speaker kit or one that they’d be willing to part with?

Hi, I recently fired up the old pinball for my kids to play and saw the all the earth strips are carrying 110v. I’m pretty sure it’s the PSU A-17540 (where the switch is) but before I start pulling it to pieces I wanted to check if anyone else had seen this before?

1D9F838B-08DC-4A00-A01C-3C17B7AF82E6 (resized).jpeg

You're in the UK (right?), therefore 230V input power - the only place in the machine I can think of that produces around 110V would be the high voltage section of the DMD controller. If you disconnect the DMD controller board and power up the machine, do you still see the voltage on the earth?

I just installed this mod.

My immediate impression was blocking the saucer was a vast improvement. I wasn't thinking about it making any difference, but it just instantly seemed better to me.

Watching the ball sit in the scoop and do nothing was anti climactic. Blocking it adds mystery.

Also, shooting a ball through the tunnel created by the radio makes the ball look like it's moving faster and the shot is more dynamic

I never thought the saucer area needed anything, but the radio fills it perfectly.

My only issue is the ghosting led bulb that came with the radio. It has a constant flicker effect. I'm convincing myself it adds authenticity to the effect of an old tube radio.

I think colored tiny led's for knobs indicating the specific function would be cool, but it would not be consistent with the era of the radio.

Very cool, can you please post a picture?

I replaced the provided white bulb with a spare amber bulb I had. The radio has an amber filter so the provided white bulb looks amber as well. I was just comparing. Both were similar.

20210503_173310 (resized).jpg

Looks beautiful! I like how it seems at home with the wall backdrop.

New to the club. Just got a Shadow in with some issues.

The first one :

Mini playfield is not working. Testing : Optos on the playfield are ok, optos beneath the playfield left /right from coil are ok.
All cables seems to be ok, reseated the 3 plugs.
LED 1 is on
Coil gives 11ohm...?? is this ok? I thought a coil only should give 5ohm ?
when I do the motor test left or right nothing moves...

How to test the motor and the coil?

other ideas ?
error error (resized).jpgerror mini bad (resized).jpg
mini playfield under (resized).jpg

Trying to recall, but I thought the motor controller board is at the rear (top-underside) of the playfield...have you checked that yet?

Is the mechanism moving freely? I think it will throw that error if it’s encountering too much resistance.

That's the one with the LED on I guess, the LED is on, what else and how to check?

It's not sliding from left to right sliding when I push it, you can feel small resistance from the motor but it moves freely and you can feel the gear turning. Think this is ok.

Ok it not the board you have pictured, there another one (I think there are two actually) next to each other...I'd check those connectors first.

There is only one under the mini playfield + 2 optos on little PCB's and 2 strips holding the lamps.
Is the one you speak off under the main playfield?

Ok look under the playfield(main not small battlefield) to the very rear...follow the wiring harness from the motor...should goninto a board...check that

There is indeed a small board but I think it controls the optos. the red black/wire goes to opto on playfield. The grey/black I think to optos under playfield. The motor has a red and white/yellowish cable.
When power is on, LED onboard is on as well and both optos seems to work according to switch edge test.

control board (resized).jpg

Ok, and the board to the right of that?...

This is the board you are looking for. Remove the board and look on the back side for cracked solder joints.

pasted_image (resized).png

Check the 2 rails on the underside of the battlefield that the arm slides on and make sure they are clean. If they are gunked up its hard for the mech to slide freely.

OK will do..

The LED on this little PCB is off when Pin is on, is that normal ?

There is no power on pin 1 and 4 on J2 (tested with motor on selection in test menu and motor off, should be 20V I think)
I reseated connector J116 and J126 on the PDB (they look ok and all cables are tight)
I also noticed LED 3 on the PDB is off, but no idea if there is a link, just mentioning...

Anyone have an Aurich translite / speaker panel kit (extra / not using) that they’d be willing to sell?

When starting a game without balls the kicker moves while in search of balls at game start... meaning it gets power...

I'm pretty confident that Aurich will be running another batch of translites. If you want one I suggest you add your name to the list:

https://forms.gle/HDPP9oTfghT9YBZq5

He posted an update in his thread earlier today: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/aurich-s-shadow-translite-final-run-last-call

Already on the list, but missed the latest update. Thanks!

I think Im over this excitement. When I first got the game, I wanted this. Once I had it a while, it doesnt bother me and seems unnecessary. Other fish to fry.

Hi, looking for some help, I can’t seem to catch a break with this machine. After installing the colordmd I had an issue with it rebooting during games. I installed the kahr board and everything worked great for a week.

I’m not having an issue with the lower GI (slingshots and plastics on each side). The LEDs all of a sudden started flashing continuously.

Appreciate any help as the game is not playable in this state. Thanks

All of the lower GI is controlled by pins 1 & 7 on J121. The easiest test is to swap plugs J120 and J121 (these are interchangeable).
If that doesn’t help, first check the J121 plug and see if it looks scorched.

If it looks ok, use you multimeter on J121 to test the voltage across pins 1 & 7 (set it to AC). If it is below 6V, test the voltage on each pin of J115 (put the black multimeter lead on the ground strap).
If some of those are low, the issue is probably in the large square GI connector next to the transformer - check that to see if any pins look burnt.

Thank you so much for the help. I’ll try this tonight

made a variation of turning the lights on the mini playfield when a ball enters, instead the backboard image goes from day to night , triggered by the flasher on the mini, it is not perfect as that flasher goes on at other moments too but most of the time the backboard effect is as intended.

Hi All,
Have any of you encountered these issues with the shadow. The game starts with multiple balls firing off from the auto plunger, and then the coin door message appears randomly during play. The f114 and f115 fuse message comes up. I have tested both fuses with a multimeter and they are fine.

Any ideas?

Stuart

20210510_065355 (resized).jpg

20210510_071231 (resized).jpg

That’s probably your cap at C2 failed and took out your 12V section. Inspect that cap for leakage and use your DMM to check your 12v at TP1 and TP3.

This will help give you some background on the issue and things to check

https://pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Williams_WPC#Check_fuses_F114_and_F115_message