http://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Common_Flipper_Troubleshooting

May just have a broken wire.. or binding. Slow typically means lacking high power. Look at the link above to get some general understanding of flipper theory

Thank you, that's a big help.
I played around with the switches (the EOS switch was making contact before the full swing of the flipper) and by bending it back a bit it seemed to fix problem. the flippers look like they were rebuilt prior to my purchase, but most of the coils look old but pass the tests. All soldering looks solid.
I'll play around with the right upper flipper next.

on a side note - I've had the geneva switch error on and off since I acquired a few months ago.
I played around with trial and error with the two screws that bold the switch to the bottom of machine and just tiled it the plastic mount back and forth - after 3 random adjustments on the gumball test the error went away and the switch is reading on the test. Just posting that in the event anyone else has that switch error it seemed to work for me.

Hey i have an NOS twilight translite mint new never in a game signed by Youssi. What is something like that worth ?

In case anyone is interested, this is what a WPC Printout looks like.
Why here? Because these stats were taken from my TZ.

TZ_Print.pdf

Start with your flipper opto boards and connections, and the connections to the fliptronics board. The intermittent-ness makes me think you might find your issue here.

If not, check your flipper mechanisms, move the flipper manually and feel for any drag. If you feel any, troubleshoot. Might just be a loose coil stop or something.

If the flipper parts are worn or dirty, you can refresh with new stops and sleeves, but if your tips are mushroomed, rebuild. If they’ve never been done I’d do the flipper bushings while you’re at it. Lots to check!

Thanks for everyone's help. I cleaned the EOS with qtips and cleaned the opto on flipper board. Then I checked switches with test and all are working.
What seemed to be problem: the metal leaf that is pushed out of opto trough by flipper button was just barely clearing the trough when button fully depressed. I suspect this was causing intermittent issue with right upper flipper. I gently bent the leaf back a bit so it is clearing trough when button fully depressed and flipper now consistent with firing and the strength is much improved after addressing eos switch clean and distance.

Thx

Probably 150+

The repos are OOS currently - so those in need... that said I couldn’t sell my used original at all at Allentown.

They have a good reputation overall and the Mirco playfield in my WOZ is holding up nicely. I haven’t ever tried using one of ther TZ repos so can’t speak to the fit of it but I’ve seen them personally at shows and they do look bueatiful although a bit pricy.

That’s awesome! Pull that with your new interface board?

Yeah - you should be fine. It may not be completely correct (the one I studied had a couple dimples in the wrong location..) but they look fantastic.

Yup! Has a couple bugs in it, will need to have another test board made up, unfortunately, but, it worked!

I did a swap for a micro playfield on mine and couldn't be happier. You won't be disappointed. It's beautiful and the clearcoat looks and shines like glass. Also, I went with the 2 magnet version.

Is there actually any downside besides cost for going with the 3 magnet version?

I can't say that I miss not having a third magnet, but multiball grabbing all three balls sounds kinda cool.

Seems like 3 magnet would be much cooler, and more valuable if the time comes to move it. If you don't like the third magnet, you could just leave it disabled and have a non functioning core there, so I don't see any down side.

I haven't been able to get to the bottom of this, and I'm at the point where I'm even struggling to get someone out to actually diagnose the problem conclusively. I don't own a scope, I don't know where the traces begin and end, etc. Basically I need a professional.

The option I'm faced with at the moment is removing the power board from the game and getting it sent off for inspection and getting whatever might be problematic (traces, diodes, bridge rectifiers etc) repaired or replaced.

Not having removed a board before I'm very intimidated by this idea, but will do it if I can be sure that the problem is localised somewhere to the power board.

Is the ZC etc stuff all done there?

(sorry for my newbie language)

Yes - it's all contained on the power driver board.
If you really want to make sure, though, do this:
(1) In Test Mode, do a Factory Reset. (Or, pull batteries, turn game off. Wait ~5 minutes, turn game on, reinstall batteries.)
(2) Make sure the Allow GI Dim is set to 'Yes'.
(3) Try your tests. Run the GI Test in test menu, AND, start a game by hand, start multiball, and get a jackpot. Watch the backbox lights, you would see the three circuits dim, then one brighten, then the other brighten. (Again, incandescent bulbs necessary here..)

If after that, still no dimming, the the issue is likely on the power driver board.
(I say likely because the Zero-Cross signal does get sent to the ASIC chip on the MPU board. So, if you want to be 100% sure, add these steps:
(4) Replace the ribbon cable between the MPU and PBD.
(5) Try with a different MPU board.)

Good luck!

I bought the mirco playfield with 3 magnets.
If you want the 3rd magnet option to work a good idea is to get pinbits 3rd magnet kit. They are out of stock at the moment but they said they would make some more in June sometime. You will also need the magnet and core as these don't come with the kit.

I second this. I assembled my own optics and harness and .. whew I wish I’d bought it! At least my game had the screw holes pre-existing for the new optos

Free to first person to PM me. Just found it and TZ left a long time ago. PM me with a mailing address.

3BDA448A-E104-4AB5-93EB-9A6EAD90A92B (resized).jpeg

Thanks again!

Damn! Missed by a minute....lol!

already in mailbox waiting for the mailman to pick it up.

Well I'm finally in the club, sadly it hasn't been a week and problems are rearing their head....

How power hungry is this game compared to most? I have TZ, BoP, MM-Remake, and Shadow on one circuit in my room but now the dreaded reboots have started.

Here is the breakdown and what I've done

1. This morning I decided to put in the 9.4H rom, powered on only TZ and I noticed that the game was now rebooting when I hit both flippers at the same time.
2. All diodes measure fine across all 4 flippers
3. It looks as if someone has done the BR2 fix
4. I reseated every connector (in backbox and in cabinet) to no avail
5. Ensured all ground screws were tightened down fully (the were not, and some were completely missing)
6. Tried putting the game on an extension cable to a GFI outlet in the garage - totally separate circuit

Still resetting...

I decided to pull and reflow most everything on the power board , sadly this didn't seem to help at all so I moved on to

1.tested wall outlet shows above 115v at all times
2.tested service outlet while on and off - both read above 115v
3.I tested TP2 area and get 5v
4. I test/measure leg 32 on the game ROM - BOOM instant reset

So I decided to pull the CPU board, and there were a bunch of cold joints everywhere including most U areas and CPU

1. I reflowed everything that needed it and most for good measure, especially near leg 32 (solder side)

This appeared to have fixed the reset issue with the game - I can now play for hours and double flipping works fine. I swear after all of this I now notice "blinking/flickering" every time I flip on my games (all LED)

The bad news.....
Now I decide to turn on my other games - they all work fine except Shadow decides to do the same thing (both flippers cause a reset) but ONLY if TZ is on. TZ also reset once while Shadow was being played.

My only guess is that...
1. TZ is way more power hungry than most games and this is normal (I'll need to figure out a way to break them up)
2. Shadow has also developed the "reset" issue for different reasons

Sorry for the wall of text, I'm just pretty frustrated at this point as the games were all fine while being on and played for most of the week and this all started today.

I believe resets are mostly 5v supply issues or issues with the ribbon cable connection supplying the voltage to the CPU board, but that is not a bad idea to check the voltage at the outlet, but maybe your outlet or breaker box does not have a tight connection. Does the voltage drop when playing?

For the record..
Checking your voltage at TP2 on the power driver board does nothing to help you troubleshoot - unless you have ALSO checked the +5v on the MPU.
Get a +5v reading from L1 on the MPU board first, as that's closer to the issue (with a lot of potential resistance between the MPU board and the SDB board), and then if it's off, check TP2 on the driver board.
Since you've already got Tp2 reading, great - compare it against L1 on the MPU now.

I’m not sure that TZ is any more power hungry than other games from the era; for example I have a ColorDMD, LEDOCD, GIOCD and PinSound board in my TZ, and it has never exhibited resets. That is pretty weird about the other games resetting only when TZ is on though.

Thanks for the advice and feedback guys I really appreciate it.

Coyote , I can check L1 when I have some time later, Not sure where that location is off the top of my head but I'm a bit spooked to test as last time testing the ROM leg 32, the game decided to restart on me the second I touched it (could have been the main issue all along of course since the ROM swap seemed to coincide with the restarts)

I also talked to my wife and she said a few days ago she noticed the AC unit (outside our house not on the same circuit) struggled to kick on (she heard some buzzing as it was initiating) and a few of the pins restarted as a result. I'm not surprised that happened given the draw, but now I'm wondering if that incident exacerbated the reset issues I'm seeing on these two games now...

TZ is power hungry, but the 5v really gets stressed. I replaced my 5v regulator with one that has a pot to control voltage. Fixed my issue.

Not a fix to the cause of the resets, but handy to have in your toolbox:

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/shops/1013-kahrus-circuits/00092-wpc-power-fix-daughterboard

Resetting will not harm the game.

It WILL harm earnings, and piss you off when you're one shot away from getting LITZ. So, don't be afraid of it resetting. Just hold the meter lead to one leg of L1, and even if the game is resetting, grab a reading.

Hello,
Can anyone point me in right direction for a clock error:
The clock will sometimes run fine other times doesnt reset to 12 after game or on power on and get a clock error.
Now in test mode only running in reverse (fast and slow.) Optos appear to all register in test and the time marks properly in test.

I haven't touched the clock before so appreciate any pointers on where to start Roth this.

Thanks

Is it a new board or an original? Check your connectors. If they’re clean and well seated you should be good on a new board. On old boards the optics eventually will wear out and discolor, or could be heat damaged. My clock board is old and does the same kind of things.

I had a similar issue with my clock only running in reverse. Originally thought it was the motor but turned out being (Q1) on the motor control board underneath the playfield.

If you do change your clock board in the future, I highly recommend Ingo’s clock board.

I'm embarrassed to say dont know if new or original clock board. It has leds but not sure about board. Now the clock is working again. It comes and goes but will error within 10 games.

At some point I will have to take it apart and troubleshoot but hoping to get a sense of where to start before I undertake it...

Clock is pretty easy to take apart. If the board has leds probably not original. Might help to at least clean the optos. While you are in there you can see what board you have and visually inspect it. I also recommend Ingo's board unless you are keeping everything original.

Ingo's board is pretty distinctive because it has numerous red status LEDs along the top of the PCB (even if they are disabled you can see where they are)

The PSU5 is really amazing for addressing resets too. It’s a little scary to remove the old regulator but no heat = good!

Just picked up a TZ with a Pinball Decals Invader Topper. I'm not big on toppers and would just as soon part with it, but can't find any recorded eBay or Pinside sales so I have no idea how to price it. Any ideas?

http://www.pinballdecals.com/TZ_InvaderTopperPage.html

7 day auction, no reserve, ending on like a Sunday evening, and I bet you'll do pretty well.

Can’t help you on a price, but what i do know is that pinballdecals prices are outrages

Their interactive pyramid topper is $275.

Digging through archived versions of that page, it looks like the original price was $899... would anyone ever pay that much?
https://web.archive.org/web/20130403035503/http://pinballdecals.com:80/TZ_InvaderTopperPage.html

Price was later lowered to $749...
https://web.archive.org/web/20140729155226/http://www.pinballdecals.com:80/TZ_InvaderTopperPage.html

Hope this helps

Appreciate everybody's input!

Hi all,

So I have a TV mod that came with my TZ and I decided to install it last night.

Model of the keychain is here
https://www.insigniaproducts.com/pdp/NS-DKEYBK10/9376267

Guide that was followed here
http://www.edcheung.com/album/album08/pinball/tz2.htm

I did not leave the battery in the mod because to be quite honest 1. I think it was dead and 2. I don't like the risk of overcharging it

Everything works great except for the fact it doesn't respect the "Auto Off" settings. I don't want it to ever turn off however it does after 5 minutes, no matter if I set it for 0 minutes or 30 minutes.

It's a shame as the mod works great but I can't be pulling the glass and hitting the power button every 5 minutes. Has anyone else with this mod had this issue?

Thanks

Might want to try it with the battery installed

I was afraid someone would say that
The sad part was this keychain was new in the box, but it would not hold a charge even after 4+ hours so I figured why bother. Perhaps the software/firmware does a detection and still wants to see it inline somehow?

So, I haven't found anything too solid on this - some ideas here and there - but what I was wondering is what the best LED setup for a person who doesn't want the machine to *look* like LEDs would be...?

I like keeping my TZ stock. I don't have any toys or stuff glued anywhere, no blades or backboard, and I like the original look of the incandescent bulbs. I'm not entirely convinced I'd go LED, but there is a part of me that's interested in reducing the machine's power consumption and heat, while also not having to worry about replacing hard-to-access bulbs (or really any bulbs) again.

If I go this route, I'd be getting an LED-OCD and a GI-OCD and likely do it during my upcoming playfield swap.

Like, I know how to make it look like it obviously DOES have LEDs and how to make it look bright and intense and the way I don't want it to look -- but if I'm going for the stock look, what are some good options and things to avoid? I'd likely go with Comet LEDs, warm white - mayyyybe some sunlight in the backbox since my translite is already coming across fairly yellow/warm with the incandescents (I've put some GE 545 blinkers in the backbox and they aren't *quite* as yellow as the Eiko #555 bulbs, so that's what gave me that idea).

Is it best to just throw warm white pretty much everywhere if I want a stock look? Frosted? Should I be color matching some of the inserts/door panels or the piano/gumball/spiral rubbered lights for the best look? If I go LED, I ultimately want it to look pretty much like a stock machine with standard bulbs, so no cool-white or purple/blue/color-change anywhere.

Mostly, I'm hoping that someone has done this and has some tips or even some photos. I've seen a lot of photos of LED'd TZ machines, but not too many showing the natural look, and fewer still showing what a person went through to acheive it. Worst case scenario, I'm also perfectly fine leaving it incandescent unless it can be made to look really close - I'm already rebuilding a lot of the wear-parts and mechs, so my wallet wouldn't mind that option either.

Posting in the hope someone has had similar issue:

I thought fixed flipper issue but it's still there:
with increasing play time the right lower flipper coil gets very hot; right upper flipper starts to flutter.
When I test the switches all EOS switches register closed at appropriate times
When I power on the game and run test of the flipper coils all test fine for both power and hold as well as the flipper buttons.
With prolonged play the hold on the right lower flipper starts to fade then stops working (in test)

I checked solder connections and re-soldered the hold wire on right lower flipper - no effect
I've cleaned the optos on the flipper board
With a fresh start after cooling off everything is fine for a few games then the right flippers (upper and lower) start to degrade in performance (power on both, right upper flipper starts to lag and then flutter).

My assumption from reading prior posts is that likely it is the flipper opto board and I need to replace?
- is it a fliptronics 1 or 2 board? I've seen various websites listing both (or rebuilds of both) as compatible with twilight zone... My understanding is that I need to replace the board that is on the side of the cabinet by the flipper button? That is Type 1 Flipper Opto Board, A-15878, A-15894 ?

Thanks for any advice anyone can offer

TZ club ? What a really nice original TZ ,color dmd, leds. Some mods, worth ? Looks like TZ prices that are really nice are up around 8K ?