Beautiful work. I especially like your wiring!

Having owned a Pinsound for both, This is absolutely true. But just get a second one for the TZ orchestrations!

Yeah.. I was with you until that last part... now I hate you

Get the real old timers here and they’ll tell you they paid less that a grand. The hobby has exploded in the past dozen years. It’s all good. Nobody is losing money like with other hobbies.

Yes I wouldn't suggest buying machines as an investment but it is certainly is nice that we're not losing money on machines. That said between the cost of mods and maintenance, there seems to be a constant stream of money flowing out of my wallet

Yep, I know, I know... I'm lucky I got in when I did!

Finally finished with a few minor things still to go.
The pinsound mixes although plenty don't seem to be set well gain wise. I'm not happy with them and going to have to redo and tweak some callouts etc.

Great to have it all playing.

Last thing was a full redo of the backbox lighting setup with some interactive flashers as well. Def was lost in zone last night!

image_160647 (resized).jpg

I seem to lose money on almost every machine I sell. I tend to pay fair prices and do the same when I sell. Typically there’s a few hundred delta between the two, not in my favor.

Worse is when I buy a machine that needs work. The creech I just bought is a great example. Paid $5,200 for it and already have sunk $1k in it. I suspect I’ll drop another $500 to $1k on it. I’ll never get $7k for it. Oh well, it’ll be a super nice players machine when I’m done.

My TZ has increased in value faster than inflation, so there’s that. But, I think pinball is at peak prices like so many other luxuries. Eventually, I think prices will fall again. I bet we’ll see nice TZs in the sub-$6k range. Mine is flowing right now. That’ll change eventually, unfortunately.

Yes. The front was on the lower holes already, and the back was on the top holes, so I couldn't get any angle. Fixed the back, and 6.5 was easy to achieve.
My fronts actually still had the 3 hole bracket on the inside, backs, I had to flip/move the two hole bracket down.

Was happily surprised that this machine has really clean original WPC boards (not sure if actually original to the machine, but not Rottendog). Still had batteries, so took them out immediately, a little oxidation on the ends. Need the NVRAM or remote battery holder. Any one kit/mod better than another?

Something that isn't a big deal, but bothers me (as I lay awake at night figuring out how to fix the most trivial things), my start button and extra credit button are not lighting. Switched out the bulbs, still not working. Everything else on the same color (row / column) works fine. I thought I saw a setting in a WPC menu somewhere to stop the start button from flashing during attract mode, but still think it would light up during the lamp test (which it doesn't). They are the only two things that are not working and it's sort of driving me nuts. Given that it seems like something somebody would have intentionally disabled (as they are the only things not working), any thoughts on what I might be experiencing or what I might look for (other than tracing the wires)?

And after even more play, this machine is great. A lot going on, a lot of great shots. Happy with my purchase, but I can report that I did not get it for $3k, lol.

It's a TREMENDOUS time-suck. I did a mix of stuff ripped from the original DCS mix, some new callouts, music, etc, and it is such a PITA to get the gain correct. Good luck to ya. I'd pay $10! A very patient pinsider PMd me a long time ago asking to post it, I need to do that. I think the only copy I have is actually in the game right now.

Sure post it up I'd like to try it.

There has been a steep learning curve with all the pinsound changes from the release of plus, motion control etc. Somethings are still a mystery but when it's all dialled in its sensational.

The lamp matrix in the manual shows this column as Yellow-Grey on connector J138-9, however all the lamps are on the PF except the start button and Buy-in button so these will typically be wired separately. Looking at the Power Board it shows the PF column uses J137-9 and the cabinet column uses J136-3 and this is confirmed looking at the Power Driver board schematic as J137-9 and J136-3 are the same. So I suspect that J136 plug is not connected or has a broken wire.

TZ Lamp Matrix (resized).JPG
TZ Lamp - Column connections (resized).JPG
TZ Power Board - Lamp Column (resized).jpg

Great info, thank you!

new to the club, where is the ball save feature? i looked through all the settings and can't find anything about ball save or freeze. thanks guys, this machine is exhilarating.

It's called "Free Ride" in the adjustments....

What's your ROM version? 9.4H added the ability to have ball save on beyond ball one

Need to have FREE RIDE TIME (A.2 27) set to non-zero.

Haha you beat me

Same. I wanted Addams Family as my first pinball but pinheads I spoke with stated that TZ was better. I bought a fully modded one with 3 magnets without ever playing one. I didn't even know about the powerball! I love the machine and will never sell it.

I bend the wire leads out on led bulbs (basically make a 'V' pattern). This insures a good connection. I find that a third or even half of the bulbs will not light without adjusting. You can also use incandescent bulbs to test those sockets to make sure it's not the led bulbs. It looks like you have a string out so check for burnt connectors or bad fuses.

Is there a definitive test for transistors while installed in a game? I've seen two different ways to do it, and it's a little confusing. My left main playfield magnet keeps blowing a fuse, and I haven't had a chance to address it. I'm thinking the transistor failed so I might go ahead and replace it. But looking up the tests, I'm confused whether I touch the red to the middle tab and black to ground, or if I'm testing the outside legs?

I'm on 9.4H, and have free ride time on, and it only gives me ball save for ball one. also no ball save in multiball. what gives? thx

I pulled the LEDs and put in bulbs. no light either. With the LEDs I have a very faint glow on a few.
I've read some of what emsrph linked (but need to spend much more time there).

What I've done so far:
- determined it is the orange / white-ora string
- Swapped J121 and J120 connections. (same issue as expected since I think they are just connected pins)
- Continuity test passed for Orange wire from connector to end of line (last lamp socket)
- Continuity test passed for White-Orange wire from connector to end of line (last lamp socket)
- 5v tp = 4.91v (12v and 18v also tested okay +/-. I didn't write them down but they seemed close enough and I don't think they are involved in this issue)
- Fuse F109 pulled out and continuity test passed
- put in regular bulbs and they don't work. LEDs bulbs are new and have tested as working.

Decided to see what J120 pin 2&8 let to. Well, about as far away as possible. Ended at mini-playfield lamp flasher (x2) (two flasher bulbs of 3 in the silver "street lamp" looking thing over the mini PF) Did a test of those flashers and no workie. So...

...at this point it seems it is upstream of the J121/120 connection and not the fuse since that tested okay.

What voltage should I be expecting at J121 (pin 2&8) Orange (do I connect DMM red lead to pin2 and black lead to pin8?)
What voltage should I expect at the last backboard socket of that orange string?
What voltage should I be expecting at J121 (pin 3&9) Yellow (this set of lights works)
What voltage should I be expecting at J121 (pin 5&10) Green (this set of lights works)

First, my snarky answer:
IPDB has the manual in a PDF format. I recommend downloading it, and reading it when you suffer insomnia. And then, while you're at it, check out my manual admendum for v9.4H.

The setting you're looking for, for the last ball to support ball saver is A.2 36 - Last Free Ride. For the main multiball and fast multiball, there is no ball saver. For powerball mania, there is.

Sounds to me like a problem on the Power / Driver board. Most likely a bad trace. You should be able to tone test J115 to J120 / J121. There should be 5 sets of pins that tone out (1 set for each light string). If one is missing you have a bad trace or solder joint. This is a very common failure due to the heat associated with these circuits.

Thanks Mad Dog! I did the beep test. 4 of 5 beeps. ya. I unplugged everything (what a pain) and pulled the board. Put it on my bench upside down and decided to retest to confirm what I found when it was installed. 4 of 5 beeps. pin 8 on J121 (if I recall) = no beep. Runs through F109 as expected. Time to trace the trace... no trace on back of board. Flips board over... Trace is on front and runs under other fuses... joy. For some reason I decide to test the fuses in place again. beep, beep, beep, no beep.... wait.... no beep? I pulled an tested F109 earlier and it worked. Pulled the fuse out still no beep. Smack on work bench, test... beep. Stupid fuse.

Dug in tool box for a new fuse. Reinstalled board. Lights for the win! Thanks all for the help. On to the next issue.

Do I go the flaky DMD or the double flipper = reset? (ordered the KAHR daughter board which will potentially differ needing to do the double flipper reset)

So I put brand new batteries in my machine the other day when I got it home and it seemed like it was keeping memory but then today I turned it on and said restored factory settings. I checked the voltage of the batteries and they are all good. any ideas?

Time to replace the battery box. Acid probably took out one of the battery contacts. Not that hard to do.

Or... If you didn't change them with the game turned on, this is normal.

Ya it was a bit corroded when I got it. I will have a look at it. Is it worth it to just switch to the nvram? I heard it doesnt save the time and date tho. It's cool how the playfield clock shows the correct time when idle

I like the reworked original sound library for Pinsound but the Serling call outs are crap. I would gladly donate to getting a better copy of this if/when available. Just posting here in case others are on the same page.

Short answer no.
To be 100% sure it needs to be tested of circuit but they can be tested with pretty high accuracy also when in the game.
How to do it depends of the transistor type, Tip 102, Tip 36 etc, but it is easy if you have a DMM.

Agree - I'd pay for a better pinsound package.

Thanks for the clarification! I think it's a Tip 102, but need to verify.

So after playing some of the new Sterns a lot, Jurassic Park and Avengers, both with very hungry outlanes, this game is a pleasant surprise, except it feels like it’s got a very hungry SDTM drain scenario going on! At first I was convinced the flippers were slightly further apart than other games, even changed out my flipper rubber. I suppose just a lot more vertical movement than horizontal ball movement. More of a comment than anything else, but really enjoying the game after learning the rules a bit more.

Agree but there are only really two options. Cleaning up each file for noise, clarity gain ad best as possible or a voice actor to re record.
Which package are you referring to? I only have one that the levels are working well to start with.
And no need to pay, I am happy to share anything I do as that is part of the whole ethos with pinsound orchestrations imo.

Different if you get someone to do a whole custom package for you I guess...lots of work.

There's really no way to "clean up" these low-fidelity sound files. The data is *gone*. There's not much you can do.

I ripped a couple of files from the TV show and they sound MUCH better than the game callouts - but there's not one for everything, a lot of the callouts are specific to the game.

There is also the IGT slot machine - those callouts were recorded by Mark Silverman (the guy who also did the Disney Tower of Terror overdubs). I don't know what the callouts say in that game exactly, but there might be something that can be grabbed. There's a bunch of video on youtube. It ain't great.

You are going to have to address the corrosion first, but after that regardless if you install NVRAM or not, but afterwards:

In my opinion ... just install AA lithium batteries and don't worry about it. NVRAM is nice as you don't ever have to buy batteries again but your clock will act as an hour meter, which is also not bad if this is the information you want to have.

Full disclosure, I have been using this type of battery in everything that takes 9v, AA, or AAA batteries ever since they came out. I never change them until they die and have never had one leak. I have also never been woken up at 3AM from a smoke detector chirping because the backup battery is low using these, this in itself justifies the higher cost IMO.

In 2015 I made a post promising to let folks know when the lithium batteries in my fully restored STTNG dies and gave me the "Reset to Factory Defaults" message, it could be tomorrow and it may be 5 years from now; I can tell you with certainty I'm not loosing any sleep having 5 year old batteries in my pin.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/avoid-battery-leakage#post-3403024

Yeah I have had a look at substituion as well but not all there without changing. Keen to hear and use what you have done!
You can clean the originals up a small amount - it was really effective in my Bop orchestration....
I think you don't want ultra crisp clear personally as it sounds out of place as well...like one of the Cftbl mixes I tried.

I have to wonder. With access to the source code, would someone also have access to the original (uncompressed) sounds files?

Got to LITZ tonight for the first time. Awesome, what a rush.

Fair enough. I'm sold on the lithium batteries lol

A "dirty" way of testing a Tip 102 is to set the DMM to buzz and then put one lead on the ground strap and the other on the metal tab of the Tip 102.
If you get a buzz the transistor is for sure bad.
Make sure to only do this with the game off!

If it checks out as good in above test then set the DMM to diode position and put the black lead on the metal tab and the red lead to first one of the outside leg and then the other.
You should get a reading of .4 to .6 volts on either leg. Any other reading and the transistor is most likely bad.
(When putting the red lead to the center leg you should see a zero reading)

Thank you! I should know this better, this is very helpful

Entirely possible. Would need to ask PPS.

No. Granner covered this on a podcast. The sounds were downgraded to 8-bit for inclusion in the code and the original DAT tapes which had the recordings are not availabe (not sure if lost or what). We do have the DCS recordings, but that's just music mainly

In the new White Water package, the creator invited Warren Davis, the voice actor to record the callouts in high quality.

Ah, I didn't know that. Sad to hear, sadly.

May be more difficult for TZ. While the voice actor is still around, he can't DO Rod Serling without getting Serling's wife's (or the estate's) permission, and that may cost or be hard to get, sadly. Though I would honestly love it.

That is correct. Kitzrow also doesn't really sound like Rod anymore. Mark Silverman is the "official" voice, and he *is* quite good. But he's also a Voice of Disney, so .. good luck. Stellar guy though. Happy to chat and very appreciative of his good fortune.

So check this out:

Remember Jordan Peele did the reboot recently - the last episode of the first season had a creepy CG-ish Rod Serling as the host (I bet Rod would have loved/been horrified by it). Silverman did the voice, but a guy named Jeff (a/k/a/ Jefferson) Black did the body language. A THIRD guy was Rod's face. I kind of blew off Jefferson Black's part, thinking (how hard can it be acting like somebody's BODY?). Then I saw this:

*nods* Agree with everything. Met Mr. Silverman once, back in the 90's when he was doing down to MGM Studios - The TZ Tower of Terror. Kinda wished I got an autograph or something, now. Heh.

Anyways, with enough money, sure, we could have everything re-recorded. But would be really, really steep.