Source for new clear clock housings? Only ones I was able to find were in Australia, if anyone knows where these can be bought please message me, TIA

Finally made a topper for TZ. Check it out.

If you locate any please let me know

Go Bulls !!

Obviously just my personal opinion, but I would've placed the robot in front of the sign. Seems like that's really the coolest element of the topper so why hide it?!

Ha... I was looking at it on my phone and just thought it was some flashing lights behind.

If I put Robby in front it would hide the sign,so it's either Robby behind the sign,or no robby at all.

Nah. I built the robby but it's kinda annoying. The sign blocks out the sound of it so it's a win win in my book

You admit it's annoying yet you keep it anyway? Ugh, people and topper-itis.

Wow! This guy….kick in the ribs when he’s down

Hi all, i changed the switchs of slingshots but i see there is one diode opposite side and i'm a bit lost with wiring . can someone do me photos or explain me wiring please. Thanks a lot

IMG_4593 (resized).JPG

IMG_4594 (resized).JPG

One switch each side gets a diode. Second switch each side is just jumpered to the first switch.

Switch with diode. Look at all your stand up targets - all wired the same. White wire black end of diode to a lug, green wire to a lug. Silver banded end of diode to a lug.

The jumper wires - follow the two blades that make contact at the top. Jumper wires go to those blades each switch.

LTG : )

thanks i will do that !

My micro switch wires in the shooter lane are deformed and the ball is catching and getting stuck on them. Only 5647-12693-32 is available. 5647-12693-53 and 5647-12693-54 are discontinued. Any suggestions?

not mine . . .

ebay.com link: itm

Got reacquainted with a TZ in near perfect condition yesterday for a few games - what a blast, now I need to get one. I am an admitted TAF zealot, but TZ is a better machine...

I am a committed TZ fanboy and was introduced to the B&W episodes at an early age. Also watched a lot of TAF growing up, but TZ has more sentimental value to me. I'm lucky enough to own both machines...and yes, TZ is the better pin hands-down.

I too own both TZ & TAF. I love them both.

I'll have my TZ up for sale soon, tho. I'm installing new RadCals shortly.

I'm in Northern Calif (40 miles East of San Francisco).

Kerry

Lots of shots, makes for a fun game.
TZ theme is timeless. I play some of my other games, a lot more.

Took 2 months, but the job is done and I'm playing the heck out of this bad boy! Amazing how those 25 year old shooting skills just come back without thinking.

Appreciate all the help from the forum members here (including all the archival stuff from search...invaluable)

For future searchers, here is all the goodness and learnings from this process:

Machine was in surprisingly great shape when I pulled it out of shrink wrap (thankfully I had remembered to remove the batteries before packing it up). There was some fuzz on the internal metal parts and dust and creak, but very clean. After a quick once over, machine started right up with only a couple errors in the self test. So far so good!

Found one solenoid shorted out (piece of metal from a gate had rusted out, broken off, and was shorted across the terminals). That lead back to a dead fuse, and some switch matrix issues on the CPU board (see

for Chris Hibler's documentation of the repair). Shooter rod was basically rusted out (only deteriorated piece in the pin...every else was very clean)

Strip down/cleaning/etc was pretty fun. Last time I had done this was 1995 when I got the machine. MUCH easier with digital cameras and the internet LED install process was surprisingly easy (my first LED retrofit) and the comet kit is outstanding. I was worried that things would be Las Vegas bright and garish, but game looks incredible. Cleaned out all inserts, etc. in the process, and the game looks new. Highly recommended.

The OCD GI and OCD LED kits are spendy but they are a must. They did an amazing job of softening up the look and making the LED lighting feel organic. The LED kit and OCD boards are truly a no compromise upgrade from the old bulbs.

Working with the old PCBs to installed NVRAM and new 5V and 12V chips was scary. PCBs looked pristine (like they were new from the factory), but my soldering skills are about as old as these PCBs. Thankfully, I didn't do any damage with the installs, but this was the most nerve wracking part of the project for me. That being said, between switching supplies for 5V and 12V, LEDs replacing all the lights, and moving to a LED display, the boards are running cool as a cucumber now. Hopefully they will be trouble free for many years to come.

Dropped in Cliffy's and a new set of titans. Rubbers were shot, as were the 2 complete replacement sets I had from Marco from back in 1995 (I had forgotten about those!). My slot machine scoop was an original with the broken weld. It was great to finally replace it with a Mantis scoop, and take care of the busted/bent back target as well (those airballs were my bane back in the day). I took advantage of having things stripped down to selectively install some PETG washers as well (my Guns 'n Roses has trained me well)

Everything was generally fine. Magnet cores were gnarly, but with a crow bar and mighty grunt I was able to loosed the nut and replace them pretty easily. Couple wires had broken off terminals over the years, but those were easy to track down with switch/solenoid/lighting tests.

Clock PCB was working but flakey. Time for a new one. After 6 months waiting on the Ingo board, I canceled my order and got a Casper one. Only trick was needing to reverse the polarity of the LED pins on the Molex to the clock (LEDs weren't working with the polarity coming out of the GI OCD board).

Once Chris had repaired my CPU board for me (I suspect the solenoid short had fried the matrix decoder on the board), most of my switch errors went away, but some persisted. I had a surprising number of opto failures (both the opto switches and the opto's in the flipper boards). Not sure if they didn't age well, or if they were damaged by the short that took out the switch matrix decoder on my CPU board? Chasing this stuff down took by far the most time during this effort (including chasing a red herring with the 10 Opto board and wiring), with most of the calendar time patiently waiting for the next batch of parts from Pinball Life as I tried to brute force replace things to find the issues. Anyway, all good now.

In terms of new goodies, I LOVE the ColorDMD (LED version). Wow, what a difference it makes with the game! Like LEDs, the ColorDMD is now on my "must have upgrade" list for these older pins.

Mini playfield was actually a lot of fun to be working on again. Added some Comet lights at the base of the posts (very nice...the mini PF was always too dark for me) and added Twister 's mini switch kit (cleaned up one of the hackiest looking parts of the original machine IMO). The LEDs and flashers make a particularly big difference on the mini PF I think. The mini PF was always a dingy dark recess on the game before. It is a full part of the game now.

Love the look of gumboils in the gumball machine (although finding a light kit for the gumball machine has been a PITA...I'm going to have to cancel my Pinbits order soon).

I haven't yet gone nuts with mods, but I am eyeing the piano mods and spiral mods as gateway drugs. I also have a red Tbird ready to go, but I'm not sure if I'm ready for that level of bling quite yet. I have not yet installed my Pinstadium Neo's in the machine, since I want to get a feel for the machine without the stadium lighting. I am tempted by mirror blades and speaker/sound upgrades as well. TL;DR - all the usual mod'itis is about to start

I really really enjoyed this project. Aside from the nostalgia factor, TZ is my favorite pin of all time. To come back to it and really get reintroduced to it after working on and playing modern pins for a while (Godzilla LE and GnR CE) has highlighted how software has overcome mechanical layout and components in modern pins. Progressing through doors is so much more intuitive and accessible than the 598 battles modes and song modes in my other pins. Having TZ stripped down like that really shows Pat Lawlor for the master of motion and connection that he is (you can see the orchestra conductor at work in the layout). These modern pins just don't hold a candle to that mechanical and physical elegance (although Godzilla at least hints at it). Can't wait to see what he does with his next (last?) JJP pin...hopefully the BOM gloves are off, and we really see the toys.

Time to go back and get some games in. Thanks again for all the help and information here!

Full inventory of what went into this (and yes, this all cost way more than the entire machine cost me back in 1995)

Visible stuff

PinGuard Cabinet Protectors (set of 4) Black
https://www.pinballlife.com/pinguard-cabinet-protectors-set-of-4.html
Black legs and levelers and silicone feet (pinball life)
Pinmonk black leg washers
Comet outhole drain lighting kit Sunlight
Titan lock bar finisher
https://www.titanpinball.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=133
Comet TZ LED kit (with flashers, upper playfield post light kit, and LED OCD board and bracket)
https://www.cometpinball.com/products/twilight-zone-led-kit?_pos=1&_sid=744c49014&_ss=r&variant=27680629456998
GI OCD board and bracket
http://ledocd.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=8&products_id=24
ColorDMD LED
https://shop.colordmd.com/led-replacement-display-for-twilight-zone-pinball-machine/
Door flasher PCB
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/twilight-zone-door-lamp-board-flashers-add-on/page/3
Mini playfield switches from Twister
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/twilight-zone-owners-club/page/129#post-4625780
Pinball Life gumboils for gumboil machine
https://www.pinballlife.com/twilight-zone-polished-seamless-opaque-glass-gumballs.html
Classic Playfields mirrored glass TZ backglass reproduction
https://classicplayfields.com/shop/pinball-backglasses/tz-backglass/
Decal for diverter
https://pinside.com/pinball/market/shops/1084-pinball-pimp/01802-twilight-zone-starfield-ball-diverter-decal-a-must-have
Custom instruction cards
https://pinside.com/pinball/market/shops/1084-pinball-pimp/04236-bally-twilight-zone-instruction-cards-custom-designed

And the invisible stuff

9.4H ROM
https://mattsbasementarcade.com/product/twilight-zone-pinball-cpu-rom-9-4h-u6-bally-williams-eprom/
Rob Kahr No Reset WPC Power Fix Pro Daughterboard and PSU5 and PSU3-12 5V and 12V upgrades
https://kahr.us/daughterboard.html
https://www.ezsbc.com/product/psu3-12/
https://www.ezsbc.com/product/psu5-nonoise/
Mantis slot machine scoop
https://mantispinball.com/product/twilight-zone-slot-machine-scoop/
Full Cliffy set + flipper ball guides
http://www.passionforpinball.com/tz.htm
Replaced full shooter assembly (rod, sleeve, springs, tip)
Keyless lock for coin door
Magnets on diverter
Full set Titan silicone rubbers, tip, posts, flippers, etc.
https://www.titanpinball.com/kits/index.php/view/id/1227
anyPin DMD+ NVRAM Battery Eliminator
https://www.pinballlife.com/anypin-dmd-nvram-battery-eliminator.html
New magnet cores
https://www.pinballlife.com/magnet-core-plug.html
New plastics for mini PF, including metal brace to protect Magna-Flip plastic
https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/31-1765-17-G
Repairs/hardening on MPU and power board by Chris Hibler
http://chrishiblerpinball.com/contact/

Caspers Clock PCB
https://www.pinballlife.com/twilight-zone-clock-pcb-assembly.html
http://www.installationinstructions.com/103501.pdf
Replacement 10 onto board (red herring, but I have it now)
https://www.pinballlife.com/10-opto-replacement-board-for-twilight-zone-a-16807.html
LOTs of swapped out switches and optos

pasted_image (resized).png

I found when replacing with NVRAM the clock would no longer keep the time, so I went with batteries.

Yes several games (including TZ) use the system time within the gameplay itself, which requires continuous power (whether that be main power when the game is turned on or batteries when the game is turned off). If using batteries it's best to move them off the CPU board with a remote battery holder and/or use lithium batteries which don't tend to leak (like alkaline batteries) and so can be used for a longer period

Indeed, learned this after the fact. I have a remote batter holder on order, so I'll end up with batteries as well I think.

What I'm really having trouble tracking down is a reasonably priced gumball light kit. Pinbits seems gone for good (website not working) so that order likely isn't going to show.

Anyone have a spare kit or know somewhere that has these in stock?

Pinballpro has one.
https://pinballpro.net/shop/new-twilight-zone-dazzler-kit/

I would recommend this one. Not as pricey and I have purchased many of his mods not only for the TZ, but many other machines.
ebay.com link: itm

Thanks for the pointers! I will check them out.

Practical play question since I've forgotten - when the game loads balls at the beginning, does it load the gumball machine with 3 balls or 4 balls? (mine is loading 4)

I'm having an issue when I lock a ball with extra ball lit. When the ball drains, machine is not registering the need for a new ball. It goes through the ball search a couple times then kicks out the locked ball. After that drains, get the extra ball as normal. I suspect it may be confused about the number of balls available.

All the switches in the trough are working, as are the switches in the lock area. Only thing I can think of is maybe it is loading an extra ball into the gumball for some reason, and losing track?

I haven't had to work on the gumball mechanism before. I'll dig into the manual and see if something may be going on there.

Other than that, game is playing amazingly well and we're loving it!

I remember reading recently there is a 7 ball setting somewhere in the menu, might check that first?

I did see a setting for number of balls in the gumball machine (I'm set to the default of 3). I do see balls per game (I'm at default 3). I'm not seeing a total balls in game setting, but I'll go through the manuals and amendments tomorrow in case I missed something (I'm on 9.4H)

Just to be safe, I'll also try a factory reset tomorrow, in case the game is in a funky state with the settings. I'm 99% sure the root cause of my issue is the auto gumball loader loading 4 balls instead of 3, although it isn't clear what can be causing that (gumball optos seem to be firing on load, but they may be glitchy or something?)

With the number of balls in the gumball machine set to 3 (default) then you should only have 6 balls loaded in the machine. With 9.4H you can set the gumball machine to have 4 balls and hence allows you to play a 7 ball MB.

I suspect that you have an issue with the trough switches or that the balls aren't rolling forward in the trough, so the game believes it hasn't successfully loaded 3 balls into the gumball machine. Remove all 6 balls from the machine, go into switch test mode and check that all trough switches on the DMD matrix display show as open (25 far left, 17 left, 16 centre, 15 right), then add one ball at a time and watch the display ensuring that the trough switches close for the ball added. The ball will activate sw#18 (outhole) before rolling over the trough switches and the first ball may trigger sw#26 (proximity sensor) depending if it's a metal ball.

Thank you Manny65 I had verified multiple times that the trough switches were fine (manually triggering switches, rolling a ball up the trough and confirm each switch was triggering, etc) but I agree that the issue has to be there.

This morning I went back, and found some flakiness on the left trough switch. After working it a couple times it was clean and the intermittentness had gone away, but initially it wasn't reading well. Time to swap it out.

Cracking the switch open, there is non-trivial gunk build up in the switch that must have made it intermittent (esp. after sitting around). Wild

During my initial sweep through the machine, my center trough switch was also intermittent, but not working more than working (also gunk on the inside). There was a bunch of gunk on the trough and playfield under the apron when I cleaned out, so I suspect a coke spill from 1993-94). Time to proactively replace all the other trough switches

Appreciate the sanity check on what is expected behavior and suggestions for debugging

Need a little help if possible:

I’m working on a friends twilight zone and all of
The opto switches on column 8 are out. All other switches in the game work as advertised. I verified the wire from the CPU connector J206-9 is good to the opto 10 board connector J5 pin 3.

The LED on the opto board is illuminated. Would it be safe to guess the opto board may require replacement? Presently I don’t have a way that I know of to test the Chip itself U20 pin 11 on the cpu. Only have a voltmeter at this time.

Thank you,

Check your sub way switches, when i had all sorts of intermittent weird stuff happening it ended up being a subway switch need a little tweak because the arm wasnt pushing the switch all the way closed.

Goodluck

A quick way to verify column 8 is working and your CPU board is ok, is to verify if the lower lock switch #88 (which is a micro-switch) works in switch test mode.

Are the column 8 IR opto LEDs working? You can check with the face-time camera on your phone, as it doesn't have a IR filter. Could be an issue with J3 connector not providing power to the opto LEDs. Alternatively check J4 which are the column 8 opto receivers

All the switches in column 8 are out in test mode. Opto and the micro switch.

Going back to February of 2013 I had an issue with my TZ where none of the switches on column 4 would register. The culprit turned out to be the U-20 (ULN2803) chip on the MPU board. Replacing the chip fixed the issue.

Perhaps a short zapped this chip on your TZ as well. It may be worth checking.

The link below from REC.GAMES.PINBALL details the troubleshooting and the eventual solution to the issue that I had back in 2013.

https://groups.google.com/g/rec.games.pinball/c/_4Iezuvz-ZU

Gord

Folks, I'm about to order some mirror blades. Has anyone seen the PDI black mirror blades in person? I'm wondering if those may be a better match to the look and vibe of TZ than the regular mirror blades.

http://pinballdecals.com/MirrorBladesPage.html

I have regular mirror blades in my TZ and love them. The black ones look super cool. Post pics when you get them!

Installing the blades wasn’t bad at all. And from a player’s perspective I find the mirror blades light the game up a little bit more than w/o. Which I really like also.

Then again, I have mirror blades on all my games. So that says something too!

Same here with my TZ. Had a column out, replaced the ULN2803 and all was good to go. Just make sure that when you get it done, you put a socket in there for the next one. It'll save a massive headache if it ever happens again.

I have these exact same ones in my GnR and can absolutely vouch for their quality and I agree the slightly dimmed effect would work well for TZ. I’d have the same clearance concerns as previously mentioned but if others have installed them then I’d certainly say go with the black over the regular mirror polish version.

They clear no problem. BTW - mine are the PDI non-black mirror. I really like them. And if you go black mirror please post pics so I can decide if I’m going to put those in!

“The OCD GI and OCD LED kits are spendy but they are a must. They did an amazing job of softening up the look and making the LED lighting feel organic. The LED kit and OCD boards are truly a no compromise upgrade from the old bulbs.
Working with the old PCBs to installed NVRAM and new 5V and 12V chips was scary. PCBs looked pristine (like they were new from the factory), but my soldering skills are about as old as these PCBs. Thankfully, I didn't do any damage with the installs, but this was the most nerve wracking part of the project for me. That being said, between switching supplies for 5V and 12V, LEDs replacing all the lights, and moving to a LED display, the boards are running cool as a cucumber now. Hopefully they will be trouble free for many years to come.”

Been thinking about finally converting to LEDs on my TZ. The reason I haven’t yet is early LEDs we’re too cool in color and bright for what I wanted in my game. Anyways I think I’m gonna go with frosted LEDs but will likely need the OCD board. My question, since I haven’t converted my other machines over to the OCD board is: is there more than 1 board that needs to be purchased. Does the GI board alone cover flickering of the inserts?

You’ll need 2:

LEDOCD for all the insert lighting, and the GIOCD for the general illumination smoothing to allow for flicker free dimming effects.

GoldenBear I went with the Comet LCD kit for my TZ (https://www.cometpinball.com/products/twilight-zone-led-kit?_pos=1&_sid=744c49014&_ss=r&variant=27680629456998 ) with flashers and the OCD board for LED's. I separately purchased a GI OCD board

The comet kit was outstanding. As a newbie to LED upgrades, it couldn't have been easier to follow. Each LED came in a small baggie, labeled for which lights in the game it was intended to replace. Upgrading became a paint by numbers exercise, cleaning inserts as I went.

I too was VERY worried about a harsh LED look, but the warm white/sunlight bulbs that come with the kit are actually very close to the bulbs I pulled from my system (just a lot brighter and cleaner). For the inserts, the LEDs are selected in the kit to match the color of the inserts, etc.

I would occasionally drop the playfield and check the look as I went, and things just looked better as they got swapped out. The game really came alive, without looking different, just looking brand new and extra alive. I couldn't be more pleased

With GI OCD, all the GI dimming effects are fantastic. Without it, it was pretty annoying for mw.

I have not yet fired up the software to tune up the parameters for the LEDs or GI bulbs. I'm pretty happy with the out of the box config, but I may fiddle with tweaking the configuration at some point

Tactical question for folks. I have NVRAM installed in my machine, but I was looking to add batteries (with a remote holder) so the clock keeps current time. Can TZ work with both NVRAM and batteries at the same time, or would I need to swap back in a regular memory chip to use regular batteries?

You can run both together.

Best to have a remote battery holder or use lithium batteries; or do both. Alternatively you can use a coin battery.

Thank you for the confirmation Manny65 remote battery holder installed!

I guess the OCD LED boards are out of stock until November. Looks like I have to delay the transition to LEDs once again

till Nov now...jeez...was hoping June ish....