I saw you post this 6 months ago, but does keeping the remote battery holder in a baggie (I assume a Ziploc type kitchen bag) have any negative effect? I don’t see why it would, but I think that’s a great solution and just wanted to see how it’s working for you.

Not finished yet… actually if any other experts can help - I self made the camera - it is currently just an LED… I want this to flash with the Camera flashing light - but Williams flash circuits are AC. Any advice on how I run the LED? Is there some kind of Mini rectifier or something?

Modern pinball LEDs should work just fine.

Sorry - I think I need to be clearer. I have a customer made Clock mod - it cannot use a pinball LED. It has a 3.3v standard LED in it - with a resistor to get the right voltage. But it needs a DC voltage. The TZ lighting is AC.. Has anybody overcome this issue and could let me know the components they used?

Have you tried it as is? I think it will still work, but probably dimmer since it's "off" half the time.

A bridge rectifier should work, but if you are tying it to a flasher, it won't be on long anyway, so a smaller resistor may get you what you are looking for in this case.

Yeah - I tried it. Dead.. I will double check to make sure it isn’t a cable or something…

Casper's Clock Board Woes: Optos Won't Consistently Register in Test

I have just installed my second Casper's Electronics clock board. My first one seemed fine, but the game wouldn't boot without the error message "Clock is Broken," so I took a chance and bought another one. Nope.
Same problem.

In Clock Test, the clock hands move forward or reverse, fast or slow, and as they pass 12:00, 3:00, 6:00, and 9:00 they open (close?) the optos. Not so on my board. The optos will register now and then, but infrequently enough that the MPU apparently concludes that the clock is broken.

I've read that others have had this issue and they suspected the hands weren't passing through the optos quite right - too high perhaps. One fix was to add washers to the clock stack to somehow change the relationship between the hands the optos. I don't see how this is possible as the stack of clock parts is rather precise and not really open to restacking.

I've owned my game for about three months, and, despite working on it diligently in that time, it has never not had a credit dot - thanks mostly to the "Clock is Broken." Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

If the Casper's board is a bust, is there a chance this board from Europe would work better?

https://www.ministryofpinball.com/en/twilight-zone-clock-board.html

Thanks!

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One Less Bumper:

I just removed the interesting, early-game pop-bumper bumper from the PF of my TZ.
When I bought the game, I was pleased to discover the presence of this bumper, as I'd read that it was Pat's desire to have it there, and I wanted to experience the game as he intended. Of course, as most of you know, this bumper was pulled from the production games fairly quickly after people complained about it.
I'm not sure what they were complaining about, exactly. I mean, the bumper forces the ball to exit the pops into the mid-PF, and sure there's a possibility of a SDTM drain, but without the bumper, the ball is free to exit the pops downward, toward the left outlane, where the possibility of a drain is just as real.
In any case, I took this bumper out just to experience the game without it. I figured the pops might be even livelier without it. I installed a carefully shaped piece of mylar to protect that swath of the Town Square that sits just to the left of the lower pop, etc. I don't have plugs for the bumpers holes yet. I will find some generic nylon ones eventually. For now, my mylar is covering the holes and I'm looking forward to more pops action!

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My original clock was acting up off and on. So I also bought the Casper clock board. It would not work for me either. For whatever reason the hands did not trip the optos. So I just cleaned up my old board and put it back in. And it now works fine.

Oh, no! That's discouraging! Now I have $240 tied up in boards that may never work! Oof!
Time to post a Wanted ad in the Classifieds for a used/original clock board!

See post 9877.
Then look in that vicinity for yzfguy remedy for casper clock.

Thanks.
According to the yzfguy post below, my clock hands aren't interrupting my optos in the resting position because my gears are worn, but why then do the optos open unreliably in test? In test, the hands sweep through the optos, so the gear slop isn't a factor. And yet my optos fail in test.

"Lol, not really a mod per say. When I replaced my clock boards, a few pages back, I also replaced the clock face and had a bitch of a time getting the optos to register properly. After extending the interruptor on the hands and having it fail, I ended up figuring out that the gears had play in them and when the playfield was in normal position, they weren't holding the clock hands back far enough to interrupt the opto sensors. So if you held them back in place, the interruptor was in the right place to work. Ended up cutting off the top of a pointed clear mini post and crazy gluing it dead center on the clear clock face so it holds the hands back a tiny bit as they rest against it. It has worked perfectly for several months now. It's clear and exactly centered, so it's not noticeable. There is a pic a few pages back."

Shooter Diverter Assembly Woes: Anemic, But Can't Service/Rebuild

The cute little shooter lane diverter flaps around slackly and sometimes fails to get out of the way when a ball is auto-fired up the shooter lane. I've checked the assembly carefully and it has no obviously loose/worn/failing parts. It appears to use a magnetic pulse to move a plate which in turn turns the shaft, etc. The two set screws that hold the shaft are tight and the shaft is oriented properly in relation to the playfield.
If I lay my fingers gently on the "paddle" in test and let it pulse, it can barely push my fingers aside.
Can this mech be rebuilt or must it be replaced? Ordinarily I do *not* suspect a bad coil when something feels anemic, but perhaps this mech and this coil are different and I should start by replacing this odd little coil.
Ideas?
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They're not opening unreliably in test because your MINUTE hand isn't interrupting the minute optos properly.

I do not see where you are having an issue understanding this, honestly, I'm kind of confused.. But -

Just because the minute hand (not HANDS - one hand, the minute hand) sweeps 'through' the opto does not mean that the interrupter is BLOCKING the beam. If you look closely at your minute hand, you will see a small piece of it extends back, towards the optos.

The shaft that the minute hand mounted on, when it starts to wear, the shaft will start to slip forward. (You can test front-rear movement in this shaft by putting one finger on the back of the clock in the center, where the minute shaft is exposed, and the front of your minute hand, and slide it forward and backward.) Once the minute shaft - and therefore, the minute hand with that interrupter - moves far enough forward, when the motor is spinning the minute hand, it is more than possible that the interrupter - despite ppassing through the opto - is not blocking enough of the opto's beam to close the switch signal, so therefore the game "dosen't see" the minute hand pass through that opto.

If this happens in game startup (power-on, exiting test mode), the clock will me marked bad and never used. If it happens in game, the clock will reset to 12:00 and be attempted to be used the next mode.

You can also test the 'slop' by, while in Clock Test mode, GENTLY holding your finger against the front of the minute hand, thereby removing that 'slop'.

I had this problem with the interrupter on the minute hand not always blocking the opto beam on my TZ about 13 years ago. I took a small piece of black electrical tape and stuck it on the interrupter of the minute hand to extend the interrupter 1/4 of an inch or so and pressed the electrical tape together to flatten it a bit.

That was over 13 years ago and I have not had a problem with the clock since then and it functions perfectly. Below is the link to my original posting for this issue on the RGP newsgroup.

https://groups.google.com/g/rec.games.pinball/c/OEPlD-yjm3w/m/--tvt02gZ1oJ

Gord

I will try this.

Strangely, my credit dot will sometimes disappear mid-game. Like, the game will end, and the credit dot that was there when the game began is then gone. I guess the clock board's optos are closed often enough by the minute hand in the course of the game that the CPU changes it's mind.

Got it. Thanks.
This is troubling. I don't know how to rebuild the guts of the clock to beat the slop. Perhaps no one does. I may try yzfguy's fix, or I may just buy the Pindora board from Ministry of Pinball and wait four weeks for it ship. Perhaps its optos are mounted higher and can work with even drooping minute hands. I could try to modify the minute hand's interrupter nubbin. Maybe dip it in epoxy, then shape it into a longer finger. I don't know. Just another thing to fix on this delicate machine.

Gosh. Electrical tape? Applied thirteen years ago? Still holding/working? Wild! Thanks for the suggestion.

Proximity Sensor Woes: Balls Heaped Into Shooter Lane

I reached LITZ on ten balls. Afterward, the game loaded two balls into the shooter lane. After I plunged them out, it loaded another before the plunged balls even drained. At some point it just heaped balls into the shooter lane, three deep. I immediately turned off the game, removed the glass, dealt with the balls, then booted the game to see the Test Report. It complained about "Trough Proximity Switch." I realize this is a special opto that sits millimeters from the right end of the trough. It has its own board nearby, the proximity sensor. I went into Switch-Edges and noticed that the trough proximity switch was closed, so I thought I would "open" it by parking a ball in the right end of the trough. This changed nothing. It remained closed. Does it only open if the Powerball is detected?
What happens when this sensor fails? Will the game heap balls into the shooter as mine has?
For the record, I don't have an conflicting switches in my trough. All switch arms can move freely/independently, as can the ball-release kicker.
How do I "reset" the trough proximity switch? I can't actuate it manually like a leaf switch or a micro switch, and I can't open it like an opto by breaking its beam with my finger.

Once LITZ is complete, the game needs to reload the balls in the gumball machine before it lets you play your ball. It should eject a ball into the auto launch area which then launches into the gumball machine. After the gumball is full, a ball will eject into the manual shooter lane.

If the balls ejected into the Manual shooter lane, make sure your diverter gate is working properly for auto or manual launch.

If the balls were in the auto launch lane and not auto launched, make sure that switch is detecting a ball there and auto launch is working.

awesome1 has addressed why the game was kicking out balls into the shooter lane, but I thought I'd address the proximity switch - what you are calling a special opto is actually an inductor. The proximity board uses the inductor to sense a metal ball, if the board (not sure if you have the original board) senses a metal ball the diag LED on the board will turn on. The game uses the proximity switch to determine if the ball about to be ejected into the shooter lane is the powerball (if the switch didn't detect a metal ball then it must be the powerball). So if the switch fails the game could for example think that every ball is the powerball, but the proximity switch has nothing to do with the number of balls being ejected into the shooter lane (please refer to Awesome1's post on why that was happening and the possible cause)

hello all.
I'm searching for NOS original plastics (or set) on TZ early version with big SP characters.
If anyone has changed his plastics with new one and is ok to sell the old ones, please PM me, thanks !

here is a sample of what it's looks like

RIB_HSBC_Benoit_Courant (resized).png

Thanks for the explanations.
It appears that my Trough Proximity switch isn't working, since the game no longer announces the Powerball when it's released into the shooter lane. The Powerball is only recognized by the Slot Proximity switch in the subway. Only after a plunged Powerball finds its way into the subway and past the Slot Proximity switch will the game announce it as a Powerball. The confusing part is that you said the game will announce every ball released into the shooter lane as a Powerball if the sensor has failed, and yet my game does the opposite.
My Trough Proximity switch appears fine, but apparently it's not. Should it be closed or open in test? Mine is closed. How do I know if I need the sensor or the board? Marco sells the sensor but not the board.
Looking online for a replacement sensor or driver is turning up nothing. Action Pinball in Utah has instructions for a DIY repair/modification and it looks challenging.
http://www.actionpinball.com/tech/tz_prox.php
My Test Report is telling me to check the Trough Proximity switch. Okay, fine, but how?
Thanks.

Mine would stick in the on position. I went to Ebay and bought new sensor and adjustable board from a fellow in AU. My game works fine now worth it.
Like RS and STNG you can adjust it.

Thanks, Awesome1, for your help. I think my problem was/is my diverter. After LITZ it should have swung over to guide the balls into the auto-launch pocket (to feed the Gumball Machine) but it did not and the balls instead piled up in the shooter lane. I don't know how to service my Shooter Lane Diverter assembly.

Thanks, Tony, for the suggestion. I do see one eBay seller in AU offering a Slot Proximity switch/board, but nothing for the trough.
I still don't know how to check my Trough Proximity switch.

Your game doesn't know what the f*** a power ball is. The sensors only detect steel balls. So if a non steel ball goes by, but micro mini switches before and after it are hit but no steel ball is detected, then the game thinks POWERBALL.

Go into Tests - Switch Edge - roll a steel ball by the inductor and see if it works. It most likely is, or you'd have POWERBALL for every ball, steel or not.

LTG : )

He is probably just out of stock. Reach out to him.

I understand that the proximity switches don't detect the ceramic Powerball; they detect the absence of a steel ball in spite of the tripped micro switch nearby. Thanks though for explaining it again.
My Trough Proximity switch was closed when it should have been open. I don't know how it got "stuck" closed, but it apparently was as the game thought *every* ball released was steel, including Powerballs! I needed to "flex" the switch, to open/close it, to eliminate it from the Test Report's list of switches to check. The first thing I did was to reposition the sensor's bracket, aiming the sensor at the resting ball slightly differently. This apparently helped. Then I did as you suggested by going into single switch test, locating #26, noting its resting position (open), and then parking a steel ball in the trough by the release kicker. Doing that closed the switch, thereby flexing the switch enough to persuade the MPU that it was working properly. Now the game has no credit dot. (Fear not though; it will get the credit dot back as soon as the clock's minute hand fails to interrupt an opto on the clock board!)

No, I said an example of how a failed proximity switch could behaviour - this is if the switch is in the open state. You have indicated that switch #26 is closed, so if this case your game thinks every ball is a metal one (until the powerball is recognised in the subway). Either way you have an issue with your proximity switch.

I have some of Malcolm's eddy boards - this is his direct website

https://www.tanglestech.com/Twilight-Zone--Trough-Proximity-Eddy-Sensor--Replaces-A-16534-and-A-16528-Switch-26_p_36.html

My apologies.

So it seems. It's been a couple of days since the Trough Proximity sensor "detected" the Powerball. Only the Slot Proximity sensor can do that for the time being. This mucks up gameplay for sure.
The game struggles with ball location/recognition in various ways, and it gets completely flummoxed after LITZ.
I have reached LITZ a few times now by setting the game to ten balls, and each time I do the game ends up all confused ball-wise. After the timed mode ends and the balls drain, it loads one ball into the Gumball Machine, then it releases one into the shooter lane, then it goes into ball search, then it expels the ball in the Slot scoop, then it releases a second ball on top of the earlier one in the plunge lane. It's a mess. During all of this, the screen says Player One, You're Up, but the game is silent and the flippers aren't live. It never rights itself so that a new ball can be plunged and the game can go on. Is all of this attributable to the wonky Trough Proximity sensor? Buying one from the AU seller will probably cost $130US with shipping and take weeks to arrive. Thanks though for the link.

No probs

No. I'd say you potentially have another switch issue somewhere. After correctly loading the first ball into the gumball machine, which shooter lane does the next ball go into - the auto-plunger (left) or the manual plunger (right)? Also did the gumball machine release a ball for it to end up in the slot machine scoop or was it left in the subway are LITZ?

Haha welcome to our life I think people in the are buying Tangle's boards because no one in the US has replacement boards in stock (not sure if that is still the case)

A wave washer on the gear shaft will pull it back to minimize that slop. I like the electrical tape idea, too! Simple and effective and difficult to see it in the game.

Really happy to have join this club reallly recently with a proto/test game. This game is amazing.
I love it

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merci ! et je suis d'accord

Those Subways look super clean Welcome to the Twilight Zone

Hello,

I am trying to find a Blue Clock Case for my Twilight Zone. Would anyone happen to know where I might be able to locate one or have one for sale that you are not using?

Thanks,

Chris

Mantis is the only place. I know of that sells good ones. I bought a warped one from a place I won’t mention. Causes problem with clock hands. The center was bowed. Wasted a lot of time figuring it out. I bought one from mantis. It is perfect. Also a nice Ingo clock board with led color changers. Also the best, hands down.

Thanks. Unfortunately Mantis does not have them in stock and they appear not to be producing them anymore. So I am still on the hunt.

Agreed on the quality Ingo board, but i like the more uniform blue LED's over the color changers. They are out of sync and that's pretty annoying on a white clockface. IMO

You're correct!
I modified the nubbin on the back of the minute hand to lengthen it and now it interrupts the optos enough to satisfy the clock. No more credit dot! Whew!
Thanks for the suggestion!

Great.

The game tries valiantly to load at least two balls into the Gumball Machine via the auto-plunger. The flaky diverter poses a problem here because the paddle can't get out of the way before the ball is auto-plunged (see earlier post). This means the ball is interrupted mid-plunge and therefore fails to reach the Gumball Machine and instead trickles sadly down the right Spiral to the drain. It struggles with this for a few balls and then gives up and does a ball search. Sometimes the shooter lane diverter will move to divert a ball into the auto-plunge lane but the ball when released will vault over the diverter into the manual shooter lane. This causes confusion as the game is waiting for the ball to trip the opto in the auto-plunge lane but it of course isn't there!
If I leave the ball in the manual shooter lane, the game remains confused and never resumes play.

I realize it's tacky to quote your own post, but my game is still on the fritz with its anemic shooter lane diverter. Does no one have any ideas? Has no one dealt with this problem?
I think most would agree that coils typically don't fail, so replacing the one involved would not be my first choice. Is that a mistake? What else can be done to address this diverter? The shaft is straight/smooth. The bushings are fine. The wiring is fine. The coil appears fine. But put your hand on the paddle in test when it fires and you can barely feel a thing. It's sick/ailing/anemic. How do I revive it?

I'd take a meter set to ohms. And check each wire from the coil to the driver board. See if one side is drawing ohms. That would point to weak connector or solder joint along the way.

LTG : )

Focus on fixing the shooter lane diverter issue before trying to troubleshoot this any further (as the behaviour might be entirely due to the diverter)

Green jumper to solenoid 16 (shooter diverter)
Yellow jumper to 9-position of connector J-127 on PDB.
Meter set to Ohms "200" (lowest).
I'm assuming 0.5 Ohms is negligible resistance.
Ohms between coil lugs is 100'ish, or about fifty less than that of each of the flipper coils.
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How far above the coil is this metal plate ?

LTG : )

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Open/closed

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Please post a picture of the top.

That metal plate isn't setting on the coil right.

LTG : )