If it were me, I'd remove them and restore them, there are many options to restore them, you can use "Evaporust" to remove the rust and then polish them to a shiny finish, or if the rust did too much damage, wet sand them with an electric sander, start with 200 grit, then 400 grit, then 600 grit, then 800 grit then 1000 grit, then 1200 grit, then 1500 grit and finish with 2000 grit, finish the job with polishing paste.
When you are finshed, clean it real well with hot water and dish soap, dry quickly, add a coat or 2 of Tremclad oil based spray clear so that it does'nt rust anymore, no one will ever notice that there is clearcoat on those metal parts, even if you tell them, they won't see it....
Restoring is always cheaper and much more satisfying than buying new.
Just my 2 cents.

Forget about my last post, you can do that for other bigger metal parts but it's not worth it for flaps. I just did'nt realize it was flaps you were talking about.
I feel so stupid......

How much in-out play should there be in the center shaft (long metal one) of the clock?

Rebuilt it with a new housing as the old one was cracked. Clock works 100% in the service position, got it registered at noon correctly (thanks Ed Cheung!) first shot. As soon as I put the game in play position, though, gravity is enough to pull the minute hand out towards the player just enough for it to not register anymore (the minute hand interruptors don't reach deep enough into the optos.)

If I push/pull on the center shaft at the back of the clock, there's at least a quarter or a third of an inch of play to it in and out. I don't *think* I left out any e-clips, but ... maybe I did? Or is that center shaft somewhat loose on other people's games too? Any ideas before I tear the whole thing down again? Ugh.

Replying to my own post - finally found a discussion of this exact problem, on page 224. The suggested fix appears to be extending the minute hand interrupter arm using black electrical tape? Ugh. There really isn't a better fix?

Opto board issue... My TZ was in storage for about a year. Was working fine when it went into storage. Now the game boots up but the ball won't kick out. You can drop a ball on the PF and play. So I start looking around and find the opto board in the through is dead. I check the opto board under the PF and the one cap on there exploded. Took out the LED next to it as well. Of course I get the cap that pops and is corrosive!
So I replaced the cap, stole a led off an Asteroids board I had laying around, re-flowed everything while I was there and still the same. The LED does come on the opto board. I also noticed the opto at the top of the gum ball wire form is not working in switch test mode. Seems all the other optos are working. Gum ball wireform and through. When the cap and led was off I did tone out all the traces as well. All toned out good. Figured I'd post for some next steps if anyone has ran into something like this on their TZ. I'll keep testing... Thanks!

52930317297_faf6aa856f_o (resized).jpg52930317317_8259e717f6_o (resized).jpg52931059419_43c68073bc_o (resized).jpg

Wow. I have now completely lost faith in Mirco. First it was all the playfield issues and now the radcals are not what they are advertised to be. I haven't installed any yet, but the main draw was just being able to peal and paste with little or no cabinet prep. Like this:

https://www.facebook.com/mircoplayfields/videos/installation-of-rad-cals/780324335632215/

Yeah, I keep reading how much trouble these Rad Cals give to people..... I already wanted to clear coat my cabinet, since it's already perfect but not glossy, but now I'm more determined than ever to clearcoat rather that add these.....

I have a spare opto board if you need one

Happy Memorial Day Everyone!

We’re happy to announce that all BATCH 1 orders are being shipped as of this week! We want to give a huge thanks to all of you that have supported this effort so far, and for those of you that have been kind enough to share feedback and post pics of your new topper additions. Suffice to say, you all have great game room taste and we’re loving seeing our topper being displayed in these amazing collections!

We’re also pleased to announce that BATCH 2 orders will officially open on June 6th. We will be notifying our waitlist members soon to finalize your orders and get everyone squared away. In addition, we will have a limited number of units available for purchase as “first come, first serve” on our website, so if you weren’t included in this batch you can always head there for a chance to still get in. Officially on-sale time will be Tuesday, June 6th at 12pm CT / 1pm ET / 6pm GMT.

Also, in case any of you are interested in seeing what’s next from TEP, we’ve just started a new thread for our latest topper for Godzilla. All product details and waitlist information can be found here: https://www.teppinball.com/store/p/gz-topper

Thank you as always for your continued support and we look forward to getting more toppers into the world soon! Oh, and please keep those pictures coming!!

Re: slop in the clock center shaft leading to the minute hand not registering. After disassembling it and staring at it for a while, finally managed to figure out where a spacer can go that removes the slop and (crucially) keeps the shaft as “in” as possible (clock hands towards the optos.). I made it out of a clear round plastic protector, and drilled out the hole on it to 5/16 which is the exact size it needs to be to sit on the shaft of the hour opto interruptor correctly (the large black round thing).

Took me a long while to figure it out, mostly because it goes BEHIND the clock board (from the perspective of the gears etc). It sits right up against the blue clock housing.

Hope this helps someone else with the same problem!

(The photo was taken testing without the front face but this doesn’t change the alignment and I confirmed it works just as well with the front face reinstalled)

IMG_0591 (resized).jpeg

I think there was a metal washer there when they originally shipped.

I was gonna say they're like less than 10 bucks haha

Interesting! Doesn't show it in the manual, but I totally believe what shipped and what's in the manual could be two different things.

I have joined the club. Well, once I pick up my machine. Lol. Excited.

Are the 3rd magnet kits still a thing of the past and all DIY now?

I read through it, bookmarked it for future. Thanks.

Was surprised to see no pin2dmd support for this. Guess I'm ordering another colordmd lol

Pin2DMD does support TZ.
Where did you get your information?
I have a Pin2dmd in my TZ.

Anyone here know what type of bulbs go in the original clock board, you know, the 4 mini bulbs behind the clock face?
Can I get these type of bulbs in LED's ?
Thanks.

If you go this route ( I did it- not too bad), consider dumbass' replacement opto board with the extra opto header built into it...vs the stand alone board he also makes...

never mind.... I found......

https://www.pinballbulbs.com/products/86-small-wedge-pinball-led

I believe my information is pretty current that the color file isn't finished for it.... Do you have one that is?

I may do this but it'll be down the road a bit, will keep this in mind. Thanks.

That is correct, only 70% complete, but it does'nt show much, the color files that are not complete are for the most part files from LITZ, a few others but not very noticable when playing.

That's great to know. Thank you.

Any other options anyone? I can't find anyone else that sells #86 LED 6V bulbs, I won't pay 49$ USD to ship a 16$ order that's for sure.

Comet or absolute pinball up in CA?

Thanks, I'll check absolute Pinball, Comet has them but they're out of stock these days.

No, Absolute Pinball does'nt have #86 LED bulbs.
I really don't want to put incadescent bulbs, they get too hot and I don't want to cause further damage to the clock board.
Thanks.

My TZ's spiral optos don't work, not even on switch test.
They started by acting out really crazy, alway activating during game play and after a few games, nothing......
Could it be the optos board? the auto plunger opto beside the plunger works great.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

Do the other switch on column 8 work? The lock switches will be easiest to test....

pasted_image (resized).png

I don't know what happened between 45 minutes ago and now but I just turned the game on and everything works on switch test, maybe something gets hot on the opto board after a few games and the 2 spiral magnets don't work after......
I'll do some more playing and I'll see.
Thanks for chiming in, I appreciate it.

.

For what it's worth, I had a very similar problem recently with my clock optos (Ingo board). They'd act up and eventually quit altogether. In my case, there was very old battery damage on my CPU that finally ate through a trace. I jumpered it out for now. Longer term I need to replace the board.....

Of course, what you describe could be a handful of other issues and not battery damage.

Thanks for the heads up, I checked and no battery acid damage what so ever on the CPU.
I've been having a few small issues that seem to come and go since I installed some connectors to remove my PF more easilly.....
If these small issues keep up, I'll remove those connectors and put it like it was originally after clearcoating my cabinet in a few weeks.

IMG_9829 (resized).JPG

Or if you want to keep them, do the old wiggle test. Put it in switch test and wiggle the wires around and see if anything is flaky. Kinda like the "pound on the playfield" test that I've used so many times over the years....

I've been so lucky with my TZ, it's been a rock aside from the CPU damage.

"pound on the playfield", I'll remember that one it's a trick I use to do when I started about 20 years ago but forgot along the way, you are really helping me a lot, seriously.....
About the connectors, I don't think they have a bad contact, what I think is that some of the wires are bigger than others and I think the connectors are not giving the "flow" of current they need causing bugs in game play, so, if the ups and downs go on, I'll have to remove them, they are brand new connectors so they are surely not giving issues because of bad contact.

Oh man that IJ would bug the hell out of me. With my ocd, I'd for sure re-do it.

The led diodes were out on my rotten dog clock board so I replaced em today and matched the colors to the clock face. I like how it turned out

IMG_5945 (resized).jpeg

I say my game is a rock, and it has been. I’ve owned it for well over 20 years, my pride and joy.

The actuator wire for my powerfield diverter broke last week. I replaced it today. Damn pinball, where it takes an hour to replace one little part. At least I’ve learned over the years to not rush and do things like put rags under where your working to catch the parts that fall down as your are trying to origami your hand to get them back in place, lol.

My boys are 7 and 9 - and are really starting to dig TZ. It makes me so happy!

IMG_9179 (resized).jpeg

Another interresting trick that I had never thought of, thanks , when I use to lose a screw, I would search but mostly go get it with a telescopic mini magnet.
Yeah, those are the years that they dig pinball..... I wish you the best for the later years, starting at about 11 or 12 they get bored, well that's what happened with my first 4 kids many many years ago.

Forget about what I assumed here, I found the issue...... it was 2 yellow wires that I had reversed by mistake at the connectors, the "Powerball" insert and the "Extra Ball" insert, giving me the issues I was talking about, after soldering them back at the right place, game plays perfect.

I have a question about flipper opto boards on my TZ.
What are these "diodes" called on the flipper opto boards (see picture) ?
Are they supposed to get hot after a few games?
If not, what does it mean that they get so hot, what are the repercussions of them getting hot?
Thanks.

IMG_9875 (resized).JPGIMG_9877 (resized).JPG

Resistors

No. But they look like after market boards, so something ain't right.

Won't work. Big fire. Nuclear explosion. Nothing major. I'd get rid of them so they don't cause other problems.

LTG : )

Thanks, those resistors getting hot after a few games did'nt bother me much in the past 2 years, but now they cause the magnet optos to suddenly stop working, but before they stop working, they go crazy at every flipper button press, then, and only then, they go out, I turn the game off for 15 minutes, time to cool down those resistors and everything works great.
I just bought these for 71$ CAD shipping included for a pair.
https://www.pinballspareparts.com.au/electronics/boards/bally/a-15894.html

When the resistors get hot they probably draw too much current, making other things worse.

LTG : )

Yes, Lloyd is correct (as usual). If resistors are overheating like that, they are likely getting more current than they're rated for. This means they will wear out quicker and will let through more current than that portion of the circuit was designed for. You can test the inbound current based on the schematic and fix it or replace the hack with OEM circuitry. Who knows, maybe you just need new resistors, but it looks sketchy...

Thanks for the advice, I'll try that.
Could it be a cracked solder joint that causes the magnet opto problem when they get heated after 15 minutes?