Hello, I just joined the club! I read something about this pin, but it will take time ti digest all the knowledge contained only in this thread, so be patient if I ask something obvious - maybe just point me to the right link if you can.

So, I've seen at least 4 different translite for this pin, and my fav is Aurich's. Is this translite shipped togheter with the speaker panel? Is there somebody willing to sell it?

About translites: I saw another alternate version, which is almost the same as the original, the only difference being the Shadow instead of Baldwin (in the same position). I see there is a Bally/Midway signature on the lower left corner: is this a kind of official alternate translite?

yes, this is the one. well, not a logo, but if you look in the lower left corner you can see Bally/Midway in the text

I read something about playfield production: mine is TAG. Is it true SP are better?

Whats the difference between L6 and LX6 ROMs?

Also joined the club today (pics later), and also waiting for Aurich's translite to arrive ( Italy here). Let's see if custom is going to take longer than Germany!

Amazing pictures, congrats! It looks like a "world" more than a playfield. In fact, when we play pinball with enter an entire new world, and your pics perfctly catch that dimension.

Agreed. Some have it, others dont.

And from this viewpoint I have a rather unusual perspective: I am fascinated by "special"/ not so popular worlds, like TOM for example, more than famous successful franchises. The Shadow was a flop movie, but an interesting, bit obscure superhero: not too many people know him, and this makes this beautiful pin/world even more mysterious and attractive to me. Same goes for Johnny Mnemonic: at the time not a successful movie, but seen today it has a special/twisted/alternative take on sci-fi/cyberpunk that makes it even more attractive than Tron or Matrix to me. But Im not talking only about art and theme here, its the whole experience including great gameplay!
And whats better than the entire "world" ('60 series and rich and fun playfield) of TZ?
Can you suggest other similar pins with that magic touch, currently not too famous and good gameplay ?

Hello,

I got a Shadow sometime ago, but due to space just started playing it yesterday. I quite like hard pinball, I have a BSD and TZ. I had great expectations on The Shadow, but the start is not so good.
Well, my first impression is pretty shocking: ball time is ridiculously little (rarely above 30 seconds), balls keep draining in the middle and on both outlanes. Outlanes are already closed to the minimum, and I reduced the steepness of the playfield. Still, no luck (and no fun).

I have white rubbers: maybe better black?
Pinball rubbers is red: shall I go black?

Do you have some recommendation on how to ease this drain monster?
Not happy so far..

..basically the ball is bouncing crazily everywhere, control is nearly impossible. Even trapping a ball is not easy as usual!

ok, changed pinball rubbers (red again) and it is sooo much better. also set tilt more forgiving, and now it's much better.
don't know what was the problem with the original pinball rubbers: the ball was totally uncontrollable and veru bouncy, horrible experience.
Anyway, I will buy some black rubbers for total control.
Do you know if all type of vendors use the same color scheme? I mean, I buy from pinballcenter.eu. Are their black rubbers harder than their red?

and now changed all rubbers, also to black.

you know what? the difference is like day and night. I did not know that rubbers of different colors have such a hugely different behaviour. it's a totally different experience.

ok, I am still a novice to this pinball, but hey, now it feels soooo much better! ))

so basically I started out with crazy steepness and bouncy rubbers, the worst possible for a pin like this. got scared that all good stuff I heard about TS was wrong, but I am happy again!

thanks for the hints. I actually figured out since the first plays that the left ramp was very risky, hitting that the average shot ball time was really around 10s! I also realized that to be safe I needed to keep hitting the left loop. Still, with the white rubbers and original red flipper rubbers, it was a nightmare. really completely impossible to control the ball at all. I consider myself a very good player.
Now I have all black rubbers, also on flippers, and I am.... HAVING LOTS OF FUN!! The pin looks like a difficult one for sure, but when I have the feel of ball control nothing can stop me!!! I will defeat KHAN and save the world!! )

ok, an update:

as I mentioned I changed all rubbers to black, and learned all shots on this machine. Result: ITS AMAZING!!!

I like hard pinballs, and this is the perfect machine. I got the machine with white rubbers (very bouncy) and they created a type of gameplay I totally didnt like. I put STANDARD (not silicone) black rubbers and now things are so much better. With white rubbers the game was very random, with black now I can:

1. control the ball much better with the flippers
2. nudging on the pin of the outlanes saves much more balls. With white rubbers you can nudge correctly but the ball kept bouncing all around and back to the outlanes.

Anyway I found a simple idea: I put some toothpicks between the posts and the rubber: it only narrowed slightly the outlanes by a couple of mm, but that helps a bit. Set like this, my Shadow rocks!!! It's now a difficult game, but not punishing in an extreme, silly, random way. You constantly need to use soft nudging, slap save, bounce pass, especially dead catch, stay away from outlanes and so on.. but it's all up to the player's skills. With skilled play you can consistently achieve good results, no need to wait for pure luck around the outlanes, as it seems I needed before. No more frustration, and way more fun.

The game is still very hard, and once very experienced I can remove memory between balls relative to some adjustments, and go from 5 to 3 balls. It will be the perfect machine for expert players: great rewards for the skilled, failures for the unskilled. And not too much luck involved.

I AM IN LOVE WITH THE SHADOW!

I watched the movie before buying the machine. Visually very nice, but all the other aspects of the movie are very bad, even embarassing sometimes

HI, I have LX-2 ROM. IS it worthed upgrading to L-6? which worthed features will I get?

I realized I miss the plastic above the lock, but I cannot figure out exactly how it looks like. Can somebody post a pic? Any idea where can I buy it on its own (not as a part of a plastic set)?

My back targets on the minifield do not drop when hit by a fast ball. Is this normal? How to improve this wrong behaviour?

No, when hit hard they do not go down and do not register. If hit at normal or slow speed, they go down and back up super quickly, and register.

I found adjustment A.33: battelfield levels (1 to 7): default 3.

What is it?

any suggestion?

yes, only when hit straight from the pad and really hard. ok, I will try with Novus 2.

hello, not a native speaker, and i was wondering the meaning of "Any-one for Peking Duck?".

I understand it's a quote from the movie, but what is the in-context meaning?

Question about the Sanctum wall mod: I see it costs around 300$, which looks like insane.
Is it only a plastic, or does it make some kind of light effects? Is it worthed?

Up: can somebody help, please?

Ok, I found it comparing with some pics on the internet. Do you know where to find single plastics, instead of the whole kit?

the brick wall

this one:

very nice. where to buy it in Europe? maybe somebody selling it used?

sorry, forgot to attach pic. yes, I mean the illuminated onw, with bricks matching the size and color of the other plastics:

edd93103c0bdc26a7a317205f0203cec1ebb7e06_(resized).jpg

Hi Someoneelse,

thanks for the info. I do not speak German.. Can you please check if there is some discount now? If yes, how to claim it? The wall looks nice, but price is insane really. Maybe used, or at a good discount I can consider.

Anybody selling a used one?

The lightning is the cool thing. Otherwise I may just print the brick pattern myself as suggested above.

about the long microswitch, is it for avoiding the standard switch not registering fast balls (left ramp, right diverted)? It happens sometimes on mine. Which switch is the best one to help proper registration?

I have a problem with the minifield kicker: it starts ok, but it often slightly bends on one side and it become less responsive or slower on kicking or it does not kick at all. but suddenly it starts working normally, then again bit bent and not kicking well. all this within the same battle. I get the error dot "battle kicker opto not working". So it's the opto that it's not working reliably. can I attempt something to fix the problem?

On my Shadow I see I have red coil on the left flipper (FL11630) and blue coil (FL11629) on the right flipper. The manual calls blue for both.

The red one is weaker, right?
Is the manual correct, and the stock Shadow has two blue coils?

found another issue: the target to access the miniplafield is supposed to be hit once and dropped. Then the entry is open and you can shoot again to enter the miniplayfiled. But sometimes when I hit the yellow target for the first time, the ball manage to directly go past it. Its like the target is very sensitive and when touched slightly it immediately fall and let the arriving ball directly go past itself. How to adjust this?

question for the Shadow owners with full led setup: how is it when you play it? is it disturbing for the eyes?

I have several pinball machines, but none ledded. On my Shadow I only put led on the 6 six scenes inserts, and its fine. looking at the pictures here, I have to say that fully ledded machines look great. But I am a player, more than a collector, so I wonder how it is to play machines with so many leds in your face...

I also got a shocking start with TS when just got it and fired it up. I couldnt do anything good and ball time was ridiculously low. I felt very bad about it and thought the pin was over hyped, it played horrible.. In few days I set it up right and learned some rules, learned where and when to stay away from certain shots... At some point the game became amazing and now I think it's really a very TOP game.
I also have a BSD and in my opinion BSD is even harder. I prefer TS (hard pin!), I feel like its totally based on my skills, if I play well and i am focused I do well; when I am slightly off, I perform badly. While Dracula it's a drain monster and sometimes I wonder if when I have a very good ball it's me or I have been just lucky with the ball not abruptly draining... (although BSD not up and running at the moment, so it's possible I just become better at pinball in general).

A problem during the Final Battle: when enter the VUK to go the miniplayfield, around 5/6 lights are automatically switched off. This makes the Final Battle easier (although not defeated Khan yet!). I read that this shoudl happen if the target is broken. Which is not: I have first to hit it once, then I can enter the VUK. But for sure there is some problem there: any idea?

I used to do the same, then found the way to make modes interesting: I raised the timing to 45 to 60 seconds (and 45 million) depending on the mode. With default timing, in order to complete the mode, you have to shoot like crazy to the proper arrow shots in a big hurry, taking often huge risks: so you just end up ignoring the mode shots most of the time. But with longer mode time, you can set up your shots, having some more time, in a much more strategic way. It is still hard and quite rare to complete the modes, but in this way I find myself constantly engaged in different things to do and it's just amazing.

Farley: 45 secs
Guilty: 50 secs
Sphere: 60 secs
Escape: 45 millions

Question: I had to solder a wire and now can't remember how to re-assembly the 1 drop target assembly.

The dark rectangle goes on top, then the switch underneath, then the transparent rectangle underneath, and finally the tiny rectangle in the bottom. Correct?

The question is: where the iron part of the main assembly (not in the picture) goes? between the switch and the transparent plastic? Or between the transparent plastic and the small rectangle?

foto_(resized).JPG

wow!!! really, a pic is better than a 1000 words!!!

thanks much.

Super Vengeance: is it supposed to be achieved by playing the 4 ramps IN A ROW during Vengeance mode? I actually get it by doing the 4 ramps within the 30 seconds of the Vengeance mode, but not necessarily IN A ROW.

Is it correct? Or am I missing something?

I miss the plastic on the top-left of the Sanctum: does anybody have one to spare? Also, the very top part of the main big plastic (in the area top-right of the Sanctum) got broken and is missing. Does anybody have a broken one so that I can cut that little thin part in the top and add it in its place? It will not be perfect, but it will still look decent.

foto_(resized).JPG

this is the one I think I miss:

plastic-set-shadow-mop-3_(resized).png

thanks for the link. by the way, are those replicas official / approved? are identical to the original?

also: I see another plastic that I cannot find in my Shadow. Where is this located?

shadow_missing_plastic_(resized).jpg

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Amazing mix Julien42!!

Another reason to never ever let The Shadow go !!

Opto switches 31 and 32 are at the entrance of the ramps: what is their purpose?

Delete

Delete

I am new to plastic protectors. If I understand correctly, those plastic protectors need to be installed UNDER the plastics: being a bit wider than the plastics, they protect them from airballs coming from the SIDE. Correct?

In the Shadow the biggest problem is balls falling from the battlefield, so coming from the TOP. Do you think it make sense toinstall plastic protectors on TS below the plastics? Or are there some plastic protectors to be installed on top?

Yes, not identical, but still good.

Up

So they need to be transparent of course. I saw some set that looks like soft blue. Also, I saw one set of six and another of 12 plastic protectors. Which one do you recommend? Where to get it from?

sorry for the simple question, but better to avoid mistake:

New balls for TS: low magnetic or standard?

What about this switch, helping detecting balls on the right diverted left ramp? Does it work well as advertised? Is this a custom switch, or does it have a part number?

ebay.com link: Shadow pinball Left ramp switch fix to stop air balls missing made shots

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How to install those 12 set? I mean, usually the plastic protectors are installed UNDER the plastics, right? But the biggest risk in TS are balls falling down from the battlefield. Did you install the protectors on TOP of the plastics near the battlefield?

What is an hex post extender? So do you suggest to use two hex post extenders and no plastic protectors at all?

Can you please post a picture that shows the system you explained?

So are you suggesting to use two plastic protector sets, one above and one below? If this is the case, I am not sure it is financially worthed..

got it, thanks

Hi, I read before, both in this thread and others, that some people tried a modified switch for the left ramp right diverted, in order to consistently detect the ball going through. I tried slightly curving the stock switch, and things slightly improved, but when a ball moves very fast my switch still often fails to detect the ball.

What is the best way to solve this problem? Which type of switch should be used?

I found this on ebay: is this good? is it a standard switch, or a modified one? :

ebay.com link: Shadow pinball Left ramp switch fix to stop air balls missing made shots

I love soooo much my Shadow, amazing endless fun. It will never ever leave no doubt.

I agree its a tough game, but definitely not the most difficult either. When I got it was also nearly unplayable: drains after drains afetr drains in few seconds. The game needs to be set up properly, and in my case changing to all BLACK rubbers was the most effective change.

Regarding the mods, I increased the timing for each of them: such a pleasure to play them without having to shoot fastly getting exposed to randomness and un-strategic risk. With longer mode time, it's still VERY had to complete modes: but you can skillfully try to go for it setting up and choosing the right time to shoot, avoiding extreme risks. With this sofware configuration the game is really ABSOLUTE PERFECTION.

Another very important change: increase ball lock time during multiball (I think mine is around 22 secs): then you have first to shoot for the holes (again, having enough time to avoid stupid shots very risky), and then go for the jackpots. Especially in Shadow Multiball it's amazing when the Sanctum is open and you have to shoot there first, in order to get the ball released and then try to go for an inner loop shot (jackpot), while another ball(s) is locked in the hole for around 20 secs. And if you get the Jackpot the locked ball is released and you want to lock it again.. Multiball become a whole new game with a competely new flow and dynamics, and not just super fast semi-random shooting hoping for balls getting the jackpots semi-randomly while at best trying to trap the ball with the flipper..

Yes, it's difficult to trap the ball in TS, very often it's not possible. You can try only when the ball is coming from certain directions at certain speed. Definitely not when the ball is rolling down the inlanes, even quite slowly.

I manage to have pretty long ball times, sometimes even MB last a while. You have to learn the shots to avoid. The biggest offender is the left ramp: never shoot at it! Unless ball saver is on (skill shot or upper target), or when the ball is trapped on the right flipper or is moving very slow. I can also shoot at it (backhand) when the ball is trapped on the left flipper (the ramp must be left diverted to make it). Of course it's fun to go for Vengeance/Super Vengeance and keep trying to go for ramps. Sometimes I play like that too, but again: shoot a fast coming ball to the left ramp and you get punished often.
Basically when the ball is on the right flipper the bread and butter shot is the left orbit: this is also not an easy shot (yes, TS is hard!), but I believe it is essential to master it to do well in this game. It works fine even if not perfectly done: the ball does not make the orbit and comes back down, but it stays safe.

In TS it's also imperative to be good at dead catches: this is a way to reduce the risk when the ball is coming fast. Maybe you cannot catch it completely, but you can manage at least to reduce the speed and then shoot it back immediately in a safer way.

So, forget the left ramp for a while and see if there is some improvement.

About the Battlefield: I can say I mastered it. I repeatedly managed to complete it in one go (even from 70). In the beginning I position the kicker "half ball" away from the right end before the VUK throw the ball in the battlefield. In this way more than half of the space is covered. I almost do not move the kicker, the balls most of the time goes towards the right or the center area, so I do not even have to do nothing. When the ball goes to the extreme right is the best: the kicker (positioned as explained) barely manage to push the ball, so that the ball slows down a lot and then it's much easier to follow it. Yes, not so fun, but effective. Anyway it's impossible to keep hitting the ball with the edges of the kicker, so it will soon start to move fast again. But if you manage to do it sometimes, it slows things down and it helps recovering the control. Obviously the ball goes also to the left side sometimes, so you have to be alert to move there. But after hitting, go back to the explained starting position (unless the ball is hit straight up the battlefield, then of course its obvious it will be back on the left). It takes lots of practice, but I do not think the battlefield is super hard.

..and yes, the Final Battle is impossible!

yes, superjackpots are very hard to get. well, also supervengeance pretty hard, but not that much. superjackpots should be worhted twice as much.

A problem on the battlefield: when I hit a LATERAL target, the hit is detected and counted (-1 shot to complete the battlefield). That's fine. The problem is that the relative light, initially blinking, should then stay firmly lit after the target is hit (each time you complete all lights the scoring for completing the battlefield increases). But one of my lateral target light keep flashing even after the target has been hit (and detected and counted).

I mean, the goal is to have all lights stationary, right? So you are saying that if I hit a target, its light is not necessary going to become stationary? But another one?

Ok, I took the glass off and checked. Do not know if my machine has a problem or this is the normal behaviour, anyway this is what happens on my TS:

First of all: there are 10 lights and 11 targets, so clearly not all targets are related to the light in front of them. Also, the lights in the top corners are "in front" of both the frontal and the lateral targets..

Anyway, on my machine the frontal central lights work as expected, as basically do the left column lights. The strange behaviour is with the right column lights: when hitting the extreme right frontal target.. the right column BOTTOM light become stationary! And when hitting the right column bottom target.. the FRONTAL extreme right light become stationary! For the single light without a target in front (where the ball is ejected on the battlefield) I think you have to hit any right column target.

Is this normal behaviour? I am a bit puzzled especially about the two top and bottom right column lights, that look like working "inversely".

I really would like to understand how exactly it works (or if my machine have an issue) because understanding how it works is crucial during the Final Battle. I am very good at the Battlefield, I can even somehow manage to direct the ball on certain targets. Often, during the Final Battle, only one light is left on the Battlefield and time is very limited. So it would be very beneficial to know in advance where exactly to aim at.

I also used to be very conservative about everything in pinball, including software settings. I wanted to be a pinball wizard in the exact same conditions as a gameroom in the old times!

But after playing extensively and deeply studying all the rules, I realized that standard settings really, in most machines, were programmed to... herm... make money, and other settings would have fit much better for home play! But as you see in certain areas (video mode for example but not only) I chose harder settings, so it depends. What is really amazing is the very wide spectrum of software settings available, that open many possibilities really. I believe that in the old days operators did not spend much time on understanding all those subtleties. Maybe they were selecting the overall easy/medium/hard settings in the Utilities menu, but didnt go in depth perfectly weighting all the rules. Actually I suspect also not many players understood all this depth when machines were basically played only on location. But all this depth is available, since the beginning!! So it looks like the producers and designers felt that at some point somebody, at home, decades later, would have explored very deeply all the small nuances...! )

Pinball machines never stop to surprise really. What a great hobby!!

here my settings:

- Farley scene: 23 secs (this one shorter than default, here you want to reach the battlefield and hit few targets and the job is done or almost; 30 secs or more too easy to get to the battlefield and finish the mode)
- Guilty scene: 50 secs
- Sphere scene: 55 secs
- Escape scene: 45.000.000 (around 60 secs)
- Multi lock timer: 25 secs
- Mongol Hurry Up: extra hard (too easy otherwise and you get it too often)
- Battlefield level: 04 (starts at 50, enough challange since the beginning)
- Hotel ball save: 10 secs (a very hard multiball mode, divided in two parts. A slightly longer ball save time helps to reach the interesting second part (still pretty hard), otherwise you will not see it probably at all!
- Khan lit memory: NO (YES is too easy, you manage to get it even without aiming at it)
- Central hit ball save: YES (unfair drains otherwise)
- Who knows extra ball memory and skill shot extra ball memory: NO (awarded randomly, so you have been lucky! get the extra ball with the existing ball, otherwise you are asking for too much luck!)
- Extra ball percent: OFF

I checked my percentage of completing modes and they are around 4% to 8%: so it's still very tough to complete scenes, but the difference is I try it using skills and smart shots, keeping the ball under control. And not trying to shoot super fast hoping in a lucky series of shots, while getting instead many drains - hence stopping trying to complete scenes.
In this way the game is constantly super interesting, because you are constantly on your toes building up different tasks. And they all contribute building a high score, in a really balanced way.
Try and learn the subtleties of playing the game in this way: it's just amazing!

Yes, it's like that. But I am trying to understand which targets to aim at, according to the lights still blinking. And it looks to me that on the right column the logic is not straightforward.

Many of my settings are not actually easier, they are just different. First of all some has harder values, so they are... just harder. But also think about this: longer times for the mode helps a bit with finishing the mode itself, but on the other hand force you to keep the ball in play for longer, before you can start a new mode. So it may be harder to reach the Final Battle. In any case, TS really needs rules adjustment to be fully appreciated, no doubt!

Exactly.

What you describe is the most logic system. I also thought it worked like that. But a test with the glass off revealed a different logic, described in my previous posts. As I mentioned, no idea if this weird logic depends from a problem on my machine, or its really like that. Anyway, During normal Battlefield play is not too important to understand the logic, but on the Final Battle is crucial: you have to finish off that final light in few seconds, so better to know exactly which target to aim at!

Thanks much Blizburgh99! Hey, an Aurich translite owner here, so that's a big compliment It was the big love for this beautiful game that made me dig deep in the rules. It was a great pleasure to experiment with them.
I think that if more people will use those rules, suggestions for (slight changes are welcome. I think now they create a balanced game, that enables the player to explore all its intricacies. But maybe a few more (or less) seconds here and there could be tweaked.. Although it depends on tastes and possibly on the specific machine.

It looks to me that couple is common among TS as weel as BSD collectors...

In my collection of six there's only keepers, but those two are possibly more keepers than others.

About the translite, I own Aurich's one. I also think that the original is pretty good with its art deco style, but I could not stand the central huge Alec face.

Agree with you Someoneelse, I also have the original and it looks good. The main problem with it for me it's the SIZE of Baldwin face. Too big, too central. Aurich's is beautiful too, although of course the comic style is different from the movie.
The original speaker panel is a big mistery and a shocker to me: how could they originally allow that turd? I mean, I do not think it's even a question of budget. Somebody drew it in like 5 minutes I guess, and it does not fit at all with the rest of the art. It looks like it's taken from another machine and theme really. I am sure even in 5 minutes something much better could have been done, it's just ridiculous.

I have the same problem. How to locate something within 62 pages without losing an entire weekend?

Actually this is a general problem over the entire Forum. There's plenty of excellent infos here, but especially on long threads is very difficult to find them.

nice!

thay all work for me except the last one:
12LD, 15LF, 14RD, 5RF (LONE)
is this correct?

and what's the name after the code? (MAB, COWS, MARK...)

I see, thanks!

And what about the last one? Does it work for you?
On my machine does not work... maybe depends from the software version?

After several Khan multiballs (or maybe after reaching the Final Battle, cant remember exactly), the Khan lamp is timed. You can set the lenght of the timer.

BTW I would have preferred the Khan light were timed since the beginning of the game (with the timing decreasing after each multiball), more challange and fun this way.

When I lock a ball, the ball is grabbed by the magnet. Then the magnet launch the ball inside the Sanctum. Sometimes it happens to me that the ball (alway catched correctly by the magnet) is not thrown up the Sanctum with enough power, so it's not locked and it ends falling down the playfield. The lock is actually counted, but the ball is not locked in the Sanctum, so that's not the correct behaviour.

How to strenghten the mech that throw up the ball?

There is a 5th shot: to the mode starter. When the ball comes at quite slow speed with the right angle you can nail it.

The ball never get released by the magnet before being launched up. Its always held correctly and then launched up. But sometimes the launch is quite weak and the ball cant make it to the end of the Sanctum, so it falls back and down the playfield.
Can still be dependable from the switch?

Yes the ball drops slightly then its pushed up.

No, the problem was solved just adjusting the nut.

One more question: is it possible that the magnet looses a bit of its magnetic field upon continous use and need some time to recharge? When in test mode, after a while, it looks like over time it looses some strenght in launching up the ball. But during gameplay it works fine.

Another minor issue: sometimes the kicker in the battlefield, after hitting the ball, stays "forward" ( and slighlty leaning on one side). So when the ball comes back, it is not ready to hit quickly again. It does like that only sometimes. Probably something about the optos, but I cant understand what exactly.

My machine has no flipper staging. Is TS supposed to have stock flipper staging? How to install it if is missing: is there a specific kit?

I just upgraded to L-6 ROM from L-2. I can see quite a few changes.

The most obviosu change is that now Kahn mb is now a 2 balls multiball (before 3). Correct? Also some locgis have been improved and some scoring and bugs fixed.

Anyway, I checked on Planetary Pinball about the ROM revision history but not much is documented. Do you know where to find more detailed information about the revision history?

yeah, got some issue with an opto. Kahn back to 3 ball multi now.

anyway, details about the revision history? The Planetary Pinball one may be incomplete.

I have a problem with opto 2 in the trough. I found it not working, so I cleaned it, put in place and now in test all works fine. But during gameplay something is wrong with Kahn multiball: sometimes only 2 balls are thrown in mb, instead of 3. This happens only if there is no ball in the Sanctum. If one ball is in the Sanctum, then that ball is released and one launched by the autoshooter (plus the one already in play): so it's ok, 3 balls mb. But if there are no balls in the Sactum, then 2 should be launched by the autoshooter. And here is the problem: only one is launched. When this happens, it's enough to nudge a bit the machine, and immediately the third ball of the multiball is launched too. I think when I nudge the machine, the opto in the trough works fine and detect the correct number of balls.

But as I said during test all optos work fine. The issue should be related to the opto, but what to check now?

Spot on. Not related to optos at all. I checked and the balls are not flowing properly in the trough, and get sometimes stuck when a new ball is launched, so the logic of the software is confused.

No other workaround for magnetised troughs (and other parts in general)? Is there a way to demagnetize them?

I recently moved the machine to a very inclined floor, just thought about it. Now I adjusted the legs and everything is fine. Do you think there can still be some magnetization involved, or is it normal for the balls not to move smoothly in the trough if the machine is badly levelled?

What about Cliffy's protectors specific for the Shadow or general purpose worthed installing?

I' ve seen this previous pic posted by waynetrane and I really like the lateral blades.

Do you know where to get them? Are they kind of mirrored but with a graphic pattern ? It looks like they reflect light somehow.

fbdc985a2f459ad65bba142e8abae43c3c09e2e7 (resized).jpg

Your plastic looks mounted like mine, but I do not have a problem. It looks to me a problem with the wire ramp.

Up

image (resized).jpg

Is it the paper you use to wrap presents at Christmas?

From the pic is not easy to tell, but I like the overall reflection mixed with graphic patterns. Then of course if its a kind of paper, you can easily tell looking at it in real life, and surely it does not look fine as in the pic.

Now looking for blades, never bought before: I agree black mirrored are the best for TS. Is there a producer/seller you recommend? Or do all mirror blades look the same?

On my machine the two lower flippers coils are 11629 (blue color) on the right, and 11630 (red color) on the left.
The manual calls both 11629 (blue). Is this correct?

Thanks much Blitzburgh99. Actually I loved playing around with the settings. The standard settings really does not express all the potential of this great machine. Its so much better when all features can be explored properly (amazing by the way that back in the days the software programmers left such wide ranges in the adjustments menus), and at the same time achieving an overall better balance for the game.

I didnt play TS for a while and now the miniplayfield kicker moves slightly slower from right to left. From left to right moves fine. Sometimes the miniplayfield test gives an error. I can hear a different sound when the kicker moves, kind of fatiguing. Does it maybe need some grease?

Edit: I moved the mech right and left several times and now it works and test fine. Still, the movement to the left is not completely smooth. i read on the manual not to grease the 4 bronze bushings, rack and pinion, but it looks like my problem is exactly there. The mech just do not moves completely freely. To grease or not to grease? If yes, what shall I use?

Edit2: the more I play around with it, the more inconsistent it becomes. I do not receive any error and the test is passed successfully, but the kicker moves definitely slower than before, sometimes in both directions. May it be a power issue? Maybe the motor failing?

Who Is Balcazar? He also inspected my machine!

When I lock the thrid ball for shadow multiball, the video animation starts.. but the gate is not releasing the balls, so the machine tries to search the balls over and over. What to do?

The three switches of the lock area work fine in test, as well as the coil for the lock gate.

Ok found out. Third switch actuator not aligned correctly was not being pushed by the third ball.

the yellow drop target (to the miniplayfield) is not raising anymore during gameplay.

In coil test, it raises and drops fine. But when I start a game, if it starts dropped, I can see it kind of moving (maybe trying to furtheerly dropping?), but not raising. I keep playing, going to the miniplayfield, doing all sort of things, but the yellow drop target do not stand up anymore.

Correct. It depends from the switch. My switch works electronically actually fine, the problem is that the drop target sometimes (recently, always) do not push down the switch arm. See picture below. Its becuase I installed it on inner side by mistake. It goes on the outside.

image (resized).jpg

I followed vid's guide to fix the SANCTUM drop target (red). Excellent one. The target raises and drops fine in test mode. But during gameplay it does not behave correctly (raising and dropping at wrong times). I guess my problem is with the switch action, relatively to the bracket pushing the switch arm. The switch arm is bent and I also do not understand how it is supposed to work relative to the bracket that activate it. When the target is up, is the bracket supposed to fall down all the way, activating the switch? So it the switch "normally on"? Or more probably is the switch arm supposed to "support" the (light) weight of the bracket, and only when heavily pushed down by the dropping target activating the contact?

found this thread and realized I have the same problem. It's about the shape of the switch arm! It's not supposed to touch the bracket and support it at all! Do you have any pics of the arm and how it is supposed to rest?