Every time I think about selling it, I slap myself once or twice!

IMG_7261.JPG

IMG_7266.JPG

Very nice I got pin stadium coming for mine too!!

do not make this mistake!

Question for shadow owners. Does anybody have a problem with the upper playfield mechanism becoming sluggish? Not a gradual thing either. Just suddenly maybe every three weeks or so during the test on startup. I wipe down the shafts with alcohol,turn it on and it works great for another three to four weeks. The shafts and gears were covered with grease when I got it , which has been cleaned. And the shafts had corrosion , which I tumbled and polished but still need replacing .

Also has anybody tried the "new improved materials" rack and pinion from Marco? Or is it too early to tell if these are better than the originals?

There was an upgrade pinion gear offered made out of brass. That gear is stronger and less prone to breakage - but - if you use the brass gear, it will quickly destroy the nylon rack gear. Then you have problems.

Best bet is to replace both the rack and pinion at the same time, and don't use grease on either gear. Nylon on nylon has the best wear characteristics.

Part of your problem might be that the pinion gear is split at the drive pin. If it is, your left-right movement will slow down.

Do you (or anyone) happen to have a picture of how this was done. I think I have a mental picture, but wanted to verify as I think I might try this too.

About to start begging to find a shadow plastic set

Sorry for "ignoring" a couple of you that PM'd me. Wrapping up a big work project.

I have posted an ad in the Marketplace for the used set I have.

Hi,

Can somebody help please... Where do these plastics go ? Pretty sure to the right under the mini playfield. But they both seem too long for the area they should sit in... Do they by chance overlap each other ? Which one goes top/bottom in that case ?

31-2002-9 and 31-2002-8

When looking at the pic of a complete Shadow plastic set at any shop there are three pieces of 2002-8 included (the one with the transparent tip on the plastic) but none of the solid one 2002-9..

Any help of location highly appreciated

Thanks
Matt

image_64115_1_484x484 (resized).jpg
image_64074_1_484x484 (resized).jpg

Under the upper playfield for the lower part, but I can't find the upper part anywhere.

_1010366 (resized).JPG

Does anyone have an extra Shadow lane diverter bracket for sale? I know people have tried to weld them, but looking to see if anyone has an extra they would be willing to sell to a super desperate, out of service pinballer ☺️. Please email me or reply, I would be forever in your debt!

#theshadow
Pinball

[email protected]
704-519-5404

Thank you!

I had the same problem with the bracket breaking, so I made a clear acrylic ball guard with 4 holes instead of two. it holds the sides together and even a broken piece will now work perfectly, without re-welding it. Has stood the test of time. Laser cut, here is what it looks like:

guard-shadow (resized).jpg

Which bracket are you talking about? I'm guessing the one that holds the coils? Like this:
http://www.planetarypinball.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=PP&Screen=PROD&Category_Code=DIV&Product_Code=PPS-A-18956-2

Assuming that is the part, do you need the left or right one?

Pinball Parts has this one (they have it label as the right one, but I think it is the left one):
http://www.pinballspareparts.com.au/a-18956-1.html

I don't know anything about this company but, they have this one as a set:
https://coinoppartsetc.com/product/parts-sale-pinball-machine-parts/shadow-pinball-machine-game-diverter-mech-assembly-18954

This plastic covers the diverter entry stainless steel ramp. It attaches each side to eachother, to prevent broken spot welds on the assembly. I think you're referring to the diverter mount?

I had repeated problems with the broken spot welds on the ramp and this seemed to fix it. The welds are broken, but the plastic with four screws holds it in place firmly, and the ramp works 100% even with the disconnected sides.

Nice!
How much for one?

Placed here. The right side of the ramp spot welds have broken (for the second time) so this plate keeps it positioned with four screws instead of the two screws that the factory used.

Been like this for two years, still held in place, no problems at all. Even with broken welds....
ramp_guard (resized).jpg

I cannot wait to get my laser cutter for things like this!

Has anyone installed a Color DMD LED Display on Shadow instead of an LCD display? I'm beginning to prefer the brightness of the LED more than LCD, and wanted to see pictures of a video of an LED before I pull the trigger.

no but its on my to do list. I have one on my Congo and i prefer it over my friends LCD

I ordered an LED Display for Shadow, I'll post pics and videos when I get it installed.

LED display pics are in post 3367. Here is a link.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/the-shadow-club/page/68#post-3489307

Thanks. Kinda hard to tell w/ those pics so I’ll try to rally and get a video up for anyone else on the fence.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/for-sale-the-shadow-loaded#post-4027953

shame-shame-got (resized).png

Finally got to join the club,
I noticed after shooting the left orbit the ball goes straight down the middle. is there a a lot of adjustments with this game? I haven't messed with the ball guide yet. I know a few other games from this era are really sensitive & have to be dead level, everything has to be set just right.

never owned one and have only played one a handful of times, anything I should be looking for?

Why wouldn't you use the upper flipper after shooting the left orbit? Are you talking about shooting the right orbit? I've had my Shadow since nib with the back legs up all the way and no tweaks. I can do a loop pass after shooting the right orbit no problem. Maybe your rail on the left is bent outwards.

It really does need to be level just perfectly. Mine did the same and tweaking the legs just a little made it change. Been meaning to level it better but having too much fun playing it as is Read: Too lazy to take off the glass

I'm also going to move the upper flipper back a bit so it's just flush against the ball guide. Now it's a few millimeters out and the upper loop shot is pretty hard, Khan saucer is VERY hard. With speed, damn near impossible.

My buddy got his battlefield bracket welded and now it's broke I'm trying to find out if any of my test results are expected behavior.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/shadow-motor-test-only-turns-on-for-a-second

Is it adjusted so that after you shoot the left orbit, if you hold the upper flipper down it directs the ball straight into the Khan saucer? That's a common way to adjust the upper flipper (but you end up with the flipper sticking out a bit, and it does obstruct the right orbit a bit).

Have a Surprise coming next week.................

grips6 003 (resized).JPG

I was mainly curious what happens to the ball after it does a full left orbit, if you don't do anything.
is it supposed to drain or hit the left flipper?
I've tried watching a few youtube videos and your right about 99% of the time they try and shoot for the inner orbit. not finding enough info to tell me anything definitive.

hmmm... definitely going to check on that adjustment tomorrow. didn't know that shot was so important in gameplay. I've only started playing and I have to say this game is a bit trickier to learn the shots then most other games from that era. lot of rejects and missed shots.

I installed a ColorDMD LED, it looks great!

7E6E2677-70B7-449C-BC9E-98E07428DB28 (resized).jpeg

Left orbit should feed the right flipper.

While all games should certainly be leveled properly, the upper flipper alignment is probably the cause of your issue. Sounds like the ball is hitting the upper flipper rubber and being pushed towards the center drain. Definitely not supposed to play that way.

right flipper?!? holy crap my game is messed up.

I appreciate the info.

What is the best way to bulletproof a Shadow?

No cliffys made for Shadow?
Do owners put Mylar over the sanctum lock? If so, is there a recommended size?
Plastic protectors
Mylar where ball drops from wire forms.
Anything else?

Thanks,
Brad

I think due to the design of the kickers, the holes dont get as much wear. Theres aftermarket ramps are one solid piece. That would be a must. I think you should have the plungers and brackets for the diverters welded and reinforced. It wont look pretty but better than breaking.

Get the shooter lane cliffy
I put an aftermarket decal over the sanctum lock (pic in my history), I also put mylar on top of it
Plastic protectors on every game, mylar on every ball drop spot
Long switch (or bend switch armature) on the right habitrail of the left ramp, rubber posts behind the N/G standup targets - to minimize airballs

Otherwise I replace all the bridges/electrolytic caps that have to do with power supplies (don't forget opto board!), convert to LED's, and play the shit out of it.

My right ramp diverter broke. It was repaired, but I noticed that the plunger for the diverter goes beyond the coil stops on each side. I am concerned the coil stop bolts will break again if I don't limit the plunger moving so far towards the stops.
Does anyone know of a fix to limit the plunger?

I am dialing in my Shadow and noticed that the Battlefield optos are intermittently firing when the glass is on. I had this issue on the last Shadow I owned and my fix was to cut down a black drinking straw and fit it over the optos. Since I ran into the same situation on my current Shadow, I found this article and felt I needed to post it here for future reference. I apologize if this has already been covered in the 85 pages of this Shadow Club, I didn't feel like searching through everything.

From This Old Pinball - Repairing Williams/Bally WPC Pinball Games from 1990 to 1999, Part Three

Problem: Shadow Battlefield Optical Sensors work intermittently. The battlefield would sense a ball on the sides of the battlefield, but not when the ball was in the center of the battlefield. Interestingly, the problem went away when the playfield glass was removed.

Answer: The ball is "seen" by optics on the battlefield. The beam of light provided by the optic transmitter is too wide/conical. So wide, the light was reflecting off the playfield glass and back to the optic receiver (that's why removing the playfield glass solved the problem). The solution to this is to put a piece of 3/8" long black heat-shrink tubing (without shrinking it) over the optic transmitter (and maybe the receiver too, if needed) to shield the light beam into a tighter pattern.

I will definitely mylar the sanctum and every ball drop spot, thanks.
Good call on the long switch on the right habitrail of left ramp, this was an issue on each Shadow I have owned.
I'll keep an eye on the N/G standup targets, do you have a part # for the rubber posts?
Time to order the shooter lane Cliffy!

Double Mylar. This way if you need to replace a layer in the future, you won’t pull up the paint.

Or just use one layer of mylar but wax the playfield before you apply it. That way you can remove the mylar without pulling up the paint.

Thanks for posting this.

I've had some odd intermittent behavior with my battle field and could never figure it out. I'm hoping that this is the issue and that some simple tubing will fix it!

So, after installing the 3/8" heat shrink this afternoon, it didn't fix it unfortunately.
I then cut down and fit a drinking straw inside the opto housings around the optos. Unfortunately it still didn't fix the issue when the ball is in the middle, which baffles me.

Update: I put in Non-Glare pinball glass and the problem is fixed! So the combo of the straws and non-glare glass should do the trick for you.

Check the wires to the optos for breaks inside the wires (put in switch test mode, then manipulate the crap out of the wires and see if the optos go intermittent). Seems to me this was a problem on one of the Shadows I had and it was a PAIN to figure out this was the ultimate problem.

Man, I had a break in the wire for the actual kicker motor on the battlefield, took me months to track it down, so frustrating.

Now that you say it, maybe it was the kicker? I just remember intermittent movement issues = check battlefield wiring for inside the insulation breaks.

This just happened... Does anyone have an extra one for sale? I’m aware of the gold repros which are too gold for me..
I have some extra plastics to trade or can buy outright.
Thank you

F0523134-BB03-48D2-AA56-EA816AD992A5 (resized).jpeg

make new tab from a wire tie, drill hole , paint gold,glue on

That's a good idea. If I can't come up with one I will go that route.
Thanks!