I am shocked at how slow all my other machines feel after I play TNA for a few days!

Merry Christmas to you and RHG. Hope you and the family had a great day.

It’s ok. Not a bad game really. Pretty cool throwback design with modern touches, with a well-defined goal and fantastic rules that reward skill. Superb custom soundtrack and excellent, easily recognizable artwork. Terrific color pallet that fit the theme perfectly and with style. One of the very best “just one more game” pins, that feels simple enough that it should be easy, but it’s super challenging. Add in some dazzling animations, fun humor/Easter eggs and a beacon light to crank up the intensity when destroying reactors, and this game is an instant modern classic. I almost forgot to mention the co-op/team/competition modes, which make this game ideal for parties. I’m probably leaving some things out. Yeah, it’s ok.

Sorry been busy with the holiday.

Ok, I checked power to that coil but it’s still inconclusive because it’s a very fast pulse and my fluke meter does not pick it up.

I checked at all the coils (not just the middle one that doesn’t work) and I also traced all 3 purple wires from the coils to the board.Checking the voltage from the board connector is the same thing… inconclusive because of the pulse. The coils are stamped at 12 volts each so I'm checking that at the main wire to the coil and one to ground. I’ve got my meter set to AC voltage and when the coils fire (the two that work and the one that doesn't) I don’t pick up voltage on any them.

I also checked the resistance on the 3 coils again with power to the machine off. They all read about 6.8 ohms. (they should be good).
Lastly, I also manually checked the micro switches that are used with the drop target lever, through the test, and those work fine.

Any ideas?

12 volts is DC...

Well… I had thought that initially and when I checked it (twice on all the coils) I read 48 volts DC constant. So not sure what’s going on there. Hopefully Scott will chime in and help me figure this out.

Otherwise I guess I’ll have to wait until next week when spooky gets back from their Christmas break.

These coils run at 48vdc. Looks like you have a wiring issue or driver board communication issue unfortunately. See if you can get a seasoned tech out there to take a peek at it or have Spooky walk you through what to look for. I, unfortunately, do not know what is up with it without digging into it physically.

Also, check continuity on your signal wire all the way back to the board.

--Scott

Thanks Scott.

Is there a schematic available for TNA?

There's a manual of sorts...but no wiring diagram yet AFAIK. I might be willing to help draw one...if I EVER get my machine!

Thanks.

That sucks, no schematics.
I know Rick and Morty didn’t t have one either. Bummer…

All the info is in the manual showing which switches, coils, lights connect to which board/pin and even what the wire color should be and where the boards are located. No idea if the same wire colors apply to the CE version.

My CE did not come with a manual.

Was it supposed to?

I think its only ever been online. At Scott's site, scroll down a bit to documentation section. https://www.scottdanesi.com/?page_id=783

So it looks like at the very least, serials #144, #145, and #160 all are having power issues. That's a lot of closely sequential pins with similar issues. What was going on with the line that day? Can anyone at Spooky find the common denominator?

ETA: And #137 (https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/spooky-tna-rerun-are-you-in-or-out/page/33#post-7317947)

With the black light strips on my ceiling, even when it’s powered down, it’s ALIVE.

Put a powerball in tonight. Oh man……fast AF and air balls banging off the glass.

5F0DBF53-125E-493D-9BAB-F43589A4CE59 (resized).jpeg

..bad pics.. see other post.!!

premium "Dollar Store" connectors crimped by highly skilled techs (sarcasm implied)

seen so many people posting stuff like this for Halloween, my ACNC built last year, Ultraman, and TNA.

I am a triple victim myself.

Really unacceptable for any product to have such poor quality control and cheap parts used.

Especially since this is no longer a new company. #1 worst manufacture on the planet for pins.

Looks like#176 works perfectly. So maybe that narrows the issue down further. https://www.reddit.com/r/pinball/comments/zwsy3c/just_got_my_first_pin_and_im_loving_it/

This is kind of unacceptable, Spooky. Several of us have now had very expensive paperweights sitting in our homes for several weeks, and at least one of us has had a dangerous electrocution/fire hazard paperweight.

Hey Guys! I'm coming here fresher than fresh as I've never actually put a hand on a TNA, but have the opportunity to trade a BKSOR Premium (heavily modded w/topper) for a TNA CE NIB. Very curious what information I could get from some of the TNA vets! Is it a long-term household game? Is your interest still held by it after many years of ownership? If anyone's had a deep dive on BKSOR, can you offer up your opinion on one vs. the other in a home setting?

I hate to say it, but NIB feels less desirable now than a game that's been unboxed, checked for quality control issues, had a washed out backglass replaced etc. Something to keep in mind, you might have to deal with some stuff after you open it the way things have been going.

As far as the game itself goes when set up right? I think your collection would benefit from it.

All you have are new Sterns, and they're all going to offer a certain kind of experience. Might be different games, different vibes, but they're going to be longer play times, more rules, more stuff. Games with ramps and modes etc just play a certain way.

TNA rounds out a collection like yours nicely because it gives you a quick pickup game. It's hard to feel like you had a satisfying experience on a modern Stern if your game only lasted 10 minutes. 10 minutes on TNA can make you feel great.

There's a reason more mature collectors tend to stop just buying new games and start finding older games have an appeal.

I'd try and play it first though. Never a fan of buying blind because someone else told you it was fun.

exactly why i bought mine. something different in a big collection. i got the best of both worlds, a hobbit for 45 minute games or a tna for a 10 minute game.

is it your only game? is so i wouldn't do it. tna is a total ass kicker with short ball times, wouldn't be a good stand alone pin. not to mention, a tna is 9k nib, bksor with topper is selling for 10-11k

Thanks for the feedback! It wouldn't be my only game, (currently have 7) but I don't move them often. BKSOR is an ass-kicker, but in a different way and frankly it tells a 'story' more-so than TNA from what I gather. I also worry about build quality vs. a Stern as I've never owned a Spooky.

Play better. I always have long ball times and have beat the game.
Have you seen any streaming for this game? Nobody says short ball times.

While on the subject, and not to take away from @brandonlaw's question, but this morning I wondered if having a BKSOR Pro and TNA in a 6 pin collection would be insanity. Getting a TNA 1.0 soon, but my wife and both really like BKSOR too (she likes TNA just as much as I). Guess that confirms we like the modern single-level style, and maybe that answers my question for us personally.

Edit: To give some feedback for Brandon, I think Aurich said it well. TNA would add some welcomed variety to your lineup. Definitely play one first if you are able to (check PinMap app), but I can assure you if you do you will be instantly in love from the music and lightshow. Gameplay is basic, but that's not a bad thing. Co-op mode is also an awesome addition if you play with friends or family frequently.

BKSOR is one of the few Sterns i couldn't do without the top playfield on.

Oh man, totally disagree. I like fast in your face games and the Pro delivers! After playing the premium and the pro I had to go with the pro.

I've only played a Premium once, I guess I'll have to get more time on one somehow. Only pro's are on route near me. I actually thought the consensus was that it took away from the game, but maybe I'm mixing it up with a different machine?

I felt that way with Aerosmith, but not with the Knight. Everyone is different though.

<2nd Post - uploaded wrong picture ..sorry>

Using my TNA-CE = I have been working on "schematics" - if you can call them that.. .. and a parts listing among other things. I am hoping to have everything uploaded in a ONENOTE format on my Microsoft OneDrive very soon.
(using Circuitmaker which can be set as a community project for those curious).

I have seen several posts saying TNA & TNA-CE = are the basically the same.. But, looking through various pics and knowing how companies like to substitute things = I decided to go down the rabbit hole. Several bits of information posted on websites - are outdated and many links are no longer working.

I am hoping to get the Power Filter Distribution block laid out this week. I shudder to think about trying to figure out the layout for the LED/Switch ribbon cables
Would really like to have a FUSE CHART as well (location, size/type) = but I really don't want "crack" open the fuse holders (scared of breaking the housings..etc). Dip switch settings chart, Coil wiring..etc

The official "manual" does have 3 pages worth looking at. I hope to have a schematic showing a little better the relationship between the Coils, mosfet locations and which board they reside on.

Digging this deep - I have noticed a few QC issues (most concerning to date was wondering why the internal 120v service outlet wasn't working = BAD crimp job/wrong size spade connector used for 2 twisted together wires. It had come out of the spade connector and was just floating inside the box). SHEESH.!.. (I was curious to see if the top outlet was "CPU" powered on and if the lower was always "HOT"..needless to say neither worked because of the unseated wire..BTW - both hot all the time).. Also - the ON/OFF switch had a cold solder joint on one of the legs = the solder was just holding the wires together - but not "binding" it to the leg.

If someone creates a new TNA repair/hardware thread or sticky for this section = I have many pics to contribute

So far, this is what I have. ( I caution EVERYONE = Use at your own peril. Mistakes happen).

<use with CAUTION>
TNA_CE-POWERDISTRIBUTION-PAGE1 (resized).jpgTNA_CE-SWITCH-LEDS-COMS (resized).jpgPOWERSUPPLY_AREA67 (2)a (resized).jpgTNA_CE-PARTS-LISTING-1 (resized).jpgTNA_CE-PARTS-LISTING-2 (resized).jpgTNA_CE-PARTS-LISTING-3 (resized).jpg20221226_123958 (resized).jpg

..Just noticed this sticker the other day

Maybe they got the memo too late - and already had the stickers made.. lol

sn (resized).jpg

I have BKSOR Prem with the topper and all the goodies. It’s worth more than a TNA CE by 2-3k. I would never get rid of mine though, I love it. I also love TNA. Happy to have both in the collection! Would I have been disappointed if I traded? Probably not. Very different games, but both equally excellent.

CE #100 arrived safely in Melbourne today. All set up and running.

A couple of issues I need to look into though.

First is the display looking very washed out. Looking at the monitor settings, it has brightness and contrast set to 50 - is this what others have?

Second is holding the left flipper button in to trap up generates a coil hum (right flipper is fine).

I’m getting that hum from the left flipper too. But it doesn’t bother me.

Same here but only when both left flippers (top and bottom) are engaged.

Curious if everyone has this (original and CE machines).

Well… I’m not a hardware guy..so, what does it mean when the coil hums while holding down the flipper button?
My thinking is you’re activating the switch to provide power to mechanically move the flipper up. Holding the button would keep that button up and so would that not cause the coil to remain active? Hence, you hear the hum.

I’m a software guy asking hardware clarity here…. Never thought this was an issue.

I do recall my TFTC machine also did this…

hearing the pulse width of the power in the coil.

That's all.

It is not constant power, but a pulse. (bzzzzzzz)

Search "pulse width modulation" in this thread. Scott has explained it a few times. It's the reason why there are no EOS switches on the flippers.

Ok so I fixed the back glass issue where; it wasn’t sitting high enough and the speaker panel would not open or close properly unless you wedged your finger in and lifted the back glass by hand. Essentially the speaker panel was hitting the bottom of the glass.

So before my fix, I first disassembled it all and looked at it. I looked at the back glass to make sure the plastic strip on the bottom of it was in place properly, and it was.

The back glass sits on a wood support rail that is screwed into the back box and it looks like it was not screwed into the right spot (it was screwed in a little to low, causing the glass to sit to low). Only off by a little but enough to cause the issue.

My opinion is this had to be noticed in the factory because the back glass and the speaker panel were not accessible as they should be. You should be able to easily open and close the speaker panel with no obstruction from the glass. Interesting tidbit… when I removed the wood bar (on the left side) a small black flat washer fell out from in between the rail and small block below it. So I think someone tried to address it (this is speculation of course). Unfortunately it didn’t work.

So once I realized the the wood rail that the glass sits inside of just needed to be up slightly higher my repair was kind of the same as the washer attempt. But, I used two small pieces of wire tie so that I could cut the length I needed to fit perfectly under the wooden rail. Also, I did it on both sides to bring the rail up evenly. They are wedged in between the wooden rail and the small wood block below it. Not the greatest fix but it worked and I didn’t have to try to re drill anything. There is no adjustment up or down with that rail.

I think some others might have had this issue so hope this helps. My pictures show the zip tie fix I did and the proper spacing now between the bottom of the back glass and the top of the speaker panel.

4D5110AE-4FEA-4729-960B-B481A81FA749 (resized).jpeg8EB71FC4-D2BD-4C0F-9B1F-C8B5C049957D (resized).jpeg41160DA3-D87B-4389-9D55-F41CDC446EFA (resized).jpeg8567E2E8-C3B8-4929-9828-FB3F30F87DC5 (resized).jpeg

Another of the exact same issues I'm having. This is obviously a production issue to have the same problems sequentially like this. Getting real close to sending this turd back.

We’ll it does suck for sure to have issues. I still have some other issues and some mechanical or electrical issues that still need to be resolved.

*Ball goes airborne on a plunge due to the fork and screws that stick up at the bottom of the shooter lane ramp. They end up landing on plastics, hitting the glass or both!

*Auto plunge not working on ball save or in multi ball.

*Middle drop target coil for the finger that drops the target is not firing so the ball gets stuck there. Two scenarios; if the ball is locked and the 1st ball doesn’t bump into the drop target on multi balls… or if I locked one ball and didn’t complete multi ball. When the game tries to release the ball it’s just stuck there.

*The last issue I have is the playfield glass doesn’t slide into the plastic strip at the top of the game. I have to press the play field glass down very firmly to get it to go.

I’m trying to be patient because I know this game is great and I’ve wanted it for a long time.

Also the wait is partially my fault because I didn’t have the time to call them the week before Christmas because I was extremely busy at work and at home. My game was delivered the 16th of this month.

Same here. Tons of little fit and finish issues here like the pf glass and translite ones you mentioned also. All the standups are crooked, pretty bad cut jobs, etc. Even little things like torn stickers on apron...but I haven't even begun to address any of those because I currently have a crispy circuit board and can't even play it at all.

Ok you guys are scaring me now. Im still waiting for mine. If i get a mess of a game, can I send it back? I dont mind addressing a few minor issues but i dont want to deal with some of the stuff I’m seeing here.

How does that work? Will they take it back if its a mess?

This will be my first NIB game.

Well, there was that one guy with some minor issue with the coin door or somesuch.

.

I don’t own the game but I service it at the brewery by my house. The thing that’s pissing me off are the freaking slings. The damn arm being right on the rubber so if the ball hits the slings in the center they don’t fire because the rubber can’t push the switches. You can’t get a feel of the action the whole time you play because the slings have no consistency. Someone posted about this earlier saying you need to remount the mechs back a little because they missed the intended placement. Stupid shit like that on top of all the other crap is so frustrating.

Hello, I here am new, and I have a tale similar to others on this forum.

I have never owned any of these mechanized pin and ball devices before. I do, however, have some arcade machines (Star Trek, Stargate, Gorf, Pole Position, Neo-Geo 4-slot, Big Buck Hunter).

I received TNA-CE #169 on 12/19. It worked great for a week, with a couple minor glitches -- the right orbital stop needed to be bent down a bit to actually stop the ball, the ball was sometimes not being ejected from the left scoop, the autoplunger sometimes did not plunge in multiball. (EDIT: Another intermittent symptom was that sometimes the lock would think there were two balls in it when there was only one ball locked. This seemed to really confuse the machine during multiball when this error would occur.)

On Christmas Eve, I took the glass off and installed a decal set for the targets and scoops and suchlike. On Christmas morning, I turned the machine on and it was not working right at all. After pressing the Start button, it was repeatedly, and rapidly, registering switches that were not being actuated. In the menu, I went to the switch test and it was showing switch 38 (right inlane) and the trough switches randomly actuating. Pressing on other switches showed that the switches are all scrambled; for instance, the middle grid target was listed on the switch test screen as "pop bumper." Other switches didn't register at all when pressed. None of the opto switches in the lock register.

Under the playfield, there was nothing obvious. Checked connections. Restarted the machine. After it booted, and without doing anything, the lock drop targets dropped one by one and then rapidly popped up again, followed by three more quick pops from under the playfield. This process would take about 5 seconds and would repeat a couple seconds later. This would happen about twelve times.

Closed the coin door. Turned the machine off for a minute and then back on. Pressed the Start button. The whole machine power-cycles and re-boots. That can't be good and there's nothing I can do with it. It is a Spooky brick. At least the dogs are happy now.

On Monday, I gave a call to the phone number listed inside the coin door. The answering machine picked up and said, "Our hours of operation are 7am to 5pm, Central Standard Time, Monday through Thursday." I didn't really expect them to be open Monday since it was a federal holiday, but I wanted to at least leave a message so they could hear me explain the problem and hoped they would get back to me the next day. No one returned my message on Tuesday, so I called and got the answering machine again. Same message about the hours. Left another message. Wednesday, same deal, same message. Can't reach anyone during their normal hours of operation. So finally I tried the email address. They replied an hour or so later saying that they "are out on break for the week."

Hopefully they can figure something out for me next week, unless anyone here has any ideas for me to try. Thanks.

Max

So that's now #137, #144, #145, #160, and #169 all with significant issues/DOA. Was this run of machines built during Happy Hour or something?

They (Spooky) are off the entire week between Xmas and New Years.