Looks like there is interest to do TNA Challenges again tonight a 9:30 EST. Please feel free to join us! If you are interested please upvote this post or send me a PM so that I have a better idea on the number of people to expect. Thanks and looking forward to playing against some of you tonight!

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87904739948?pwd=ZmRBVWlYUmsxQjFvdUJlUDJzaysrUT09

Meeting ID: 879 0473 9948
Password: TNAFTW

I like it, but can i ask what do you do with pinshield when not on game? is it firm enough to stand against a wall somewhere or does it fold up like a towel?
thanks,

Mine rolls up like a yoga matt.

I just stack them up on top of other machines, or roll them back up or just drape them over a barstool.

Occasionally, during a game, my TNA erroneously adds a new ball to the shooter lane and then auto plunges it. This happens when I am not in the middle of a multiball and when ball saver is not active. Sometimes, it happens multiple times consecutively, leading to as many as four balls being in play at once. Note, I do not hear or see anything special (such as "Ball Saved") when a ball is added in this way.

Twice, I've even seen this happen after the game is over. That is, sometimes a ball will be fed to the shooter lane and auto plunged even when a game is not running (the game is waiting for the Start button to be pressed).

Does anyone have suggestions on what could be causing this problem? How should I go about diagnosing and repairing this?

Thanks,
John

Had a great time playing joelbob's TNA challenges last night. Highly recommend joining in and playing with us! Here is the live stream vod

Your jam opto is falsely triggering. Go into switch test and mess with the connectors for that opto on both ends to see where the issue is. You may have to re-punch an IDC or you can always replace the IDC connectors with Trifercon crimp terminals and housings. The issue is most likely on the power side (green PCB opto).

Trifercon Crimp Terminals: https://www.pinballlife.com/156-trifurcon-crimp-terminals.html
2 Pin Housing: https://www.pinballlife.com/156-396mm-crimp-stuff-2-position-housing-with-locking-ramp-17574.html
4 Pin Housing: https://www.pinballlife.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=PBL-600-0328-00
Crimp Tool: https://www.pinballlife.com/ratcheting-crimp-tool.html
Expensive Crimp Tool: https://www.pinballlife.com/molex-crimp-tool-for-0156-terminals.html

I would recommend replacing the IDC with the crimp terminals as they will be much more reliable. Especially with these low voltage optos.

--Scott

Great, I have this exact same problem, just started happening. Looks like I'll be re-crimping today...

Crimping can be a pain as it takes longer than the IDC, but just keep in mind while you are doing it that it will be the last time you need to crimp those terminals for life.

--Scott

Some of y'all need this shirt I guess

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OK, the first batch of the Upgraded TNA Shoot Again Displays are up on the Pinball Life website!

I do not yet have a video of these in action, so it will be a surprise for the first upgraders.

https://www.pinballlife.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=PBL-600-0471-00

Enjoy!
--Scott

i just ordered from Pinball Life !!!!

Damn...oh well. Was going to mention and not sure if it's related to the above posts.

I've had it a couple of times when restarting a game, it kicks another ball out - not at all a problem (i'm sure i've had rogue ball-save-like balls at times but can't be sure).

So, I think what happened was - crap first ball - held start to restart and plunged the ball away - then another ball kicked out which either I plunged or was auto-plunged.

The first time it happened though, the music kept playing - even though no game was running. Pressed Start and all was normal again.
As I say not a problem just thought you may want to know.

I have always had issues with that restart as it was an afterthought. I will look into this.

Dang. Shipping is pretty high at the moment. TheNoTrashCougar Any idea when the clear drop targets kit is going to happen so I can grab both at the same time?

Thanks for the detailed response. I tried this, but the switch test did not register anything other than the start button used to enter the test. I jiggled the wires near where they entered the IDCs on each end, but switch test stayed silent. I also made sure that the IDCs were seated firmly on both ends. I touched a few targets to make sure the test was working and it did register the targets.

When I start a game in debug mode and the ball drains, I do usually see the troughJam event appear. Is this expected?

For example:

Last Switch 1: shooter
Last Switch 2: trough3
Last Switch 3: trough2
Last Switch 4: trough1
Last Switch 5: trough4
Last Switch 6: troughJam

After the switch tests, I did see this problem occur again while playing a game with the debug screen up, but I couldn't look in time to see the events before new events occurred scrolling everything off the display.

Is it possible that the PCB opto is faulty?

Thanks,
John

Here's another issue with my TNA that just started happening.

When I'm in single-ball play and the locks are empty and ready for balls to lock, fast-moving balls will hit the back drop target and bounce completely out of the lock lane and back into play before the 2nd drop target rises to trap the ball. These same fast-moving balls were being trapped just fine earlier today.

If I roll the ball slowly into the locks by hand, the 2nd drop target raises in time to trap the ball.

I tried this with debug events showing on the display. Both opto 1 and opto 2 are registering even in the case where the ball bounces off drop target 3 and escapes back into play.

The problem seems to be intermittent, but if it happens, it'll happen repeatedly from then on. If I power off and leave it a while, I may not see the problem the next time that I power on.

Any suggestions for this one?

EDIT:

Mystery solved on this one. The problem goes away when DEBUG mode is disabled. Apparently, displaying the DEBUG event messages slows things down enough that the drop target can't be raised in time for fast-moving balls. Sorry for the false alarm.

Thanks,
John

+1

Scott, quick question - or anyone else that has them - i know the form factor is not quite the same, but would your tna mirror blades fit a system 11 game?
or could they be made to fit fairly easily.
would really like some in my spacestation, just to make it look a bit newer more than anything.

This will not work. Space station is a different shape and depth. The TNA cabinet is not modeled after anything and is custom.

Got my Pinball Life shipment today, and Covid has had a good effect on shipping times. According to UPS: P-Life posted in Illinois on 4pm Friday afternoon, by 3.30am Saturday morning (UK time) they were in my local depot (UPS are now everywhere), so the actual last location given was Philadelphia at 7am Saturday(obvs US time) as this was the most recent time!

The UK being the UK, I didn't get it for another 2 days but well....still about 2 weeks faster than normal.

Anyhow...I've got some pics with the "Green" protectors half in so you can see the difference.

These are on the yellow end of the green spectrum, they look great when fitted. I think this colour works really well as yellow is used on the artwork as an outline and this is effectively what the plastics are doing. The plastics on top do not look washed out yellow much at all (at day) like others have said - honestly i think they look great fitted. They leave the black wooden bits (near the left outlane and shooter lane) look a bit neglected.

Purple/pink flipper bats with translucent lime bands anyone?

As it is daylight it is very difficult to see the difference right now as the protectors are brighter than the GI, especially when blue.

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Somebody is a huge fan!
https://www.facebook.com/dmoncla/posts/10222182611136364

From Dennis Moncla:
"We made Kelly a birthday cake from her favorite pinball machine “Total Nuclear Annihilation”! Happy 18th Birthday Kelly Moncla!"

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We just purchased a total nuclear annihilation and we can not find predrilled holes for the shaker. Has anyone had this issue and how do you know where to install it? Thanks for any help.

Second batch is up!

https://www.pinballlife.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=PBL-600-0471-00

Does anyone know the part number for the flipper bushing and flipper bat for this game?

I had a set in the cart... but was wondering about the clear drops mod, wanting to put that in on the crazy freight bill as well ... ?

Or is that a very long way off?

It's a while out. The clear drops mod is not going to be an easy install and I am going to have to make it as easy to install as possible. Basically, you need to swap the plastic drop targets and add 3 new lights to the back side of the drops. The programming is all there though!
--Scott

Happy to be a crash test dummy if the parts are available

Does anybody have any video of the upgraded shoot again display in action?

According to UPS I will be getting mine today. I will install tonight and put up a video ASAP.

You guys will not be disappointed.

Sooo.... what does it do?

If you watch any of the R&M streams you can see there are two extra LEDs (one on each side) of the ball save timer. This brings the same two lights to TNA.

Yep, that.
--Scott

See...I know what your evil plan is, Scott. You wait until everybody buys the ball save timer, then you tell everybody, "Wait until you see what I did with the reactor timer!" Cha-CHING!!! Mo money, mo money, mo money...

That being said, I'm in.

I'd agree with you if he was charging $100+ like most pinball mods but at $20 he can't be making much profit.

I make $0 on every one of these that is sold.

I recommend NOT drilling holes in your playfield, just use 2 of the screws from the original and screw them into the wood, these do not need to go in deep at all and is super easy. If you drill, you run the risk of going too far and popping through the top of your playfield, which would be awful.

Now, you missed a cool feature in your video. Run the ball save timer down below 5 seconds and watch it.

--Scott

Are the side rail lighting kits suppose to light up even when not installed on the side rails? There isn't some grounding that happens on the rails or anything special is there? Reason I ask is that they were working when I took my armor off, but now that the armor is off and they are just laying loose in the cab they are no longer seeming to light up. Thoughts?

Okay...so just for clarification: I was kidding. Which was why I said I was buying one anyway.

Alright, Scott wasn't kidding. These two little lights actually add A LOT during gameplay. They warn you every time your ball saver is about to run out as well as add a bunch to the overall light animations while you play. I would HIGHLY suggest everyone add this to their machine.

It was obvious to me, but for some reason, I felt the need to clarify anyway.

Aside from the millions that Scott is obviously making off of these, are/will these be compatible with the reactor timer? I'd just assume go ahead and put both in together if there's any benefit.

This will not work in the reactor timer as it is not programmed. The lights will be stuck on blinding white and will never turn off. It would look very bad, dont bother unless I get around to adding programming support for it.
--Scott

Alright - finally getting around to installing my pink protectors and getting some glamour shots as best I could.

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My TNA got some hot pink love courtesy of @robertstone0407. Loving it and his work is top notch!

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That is freakin awesome.