Hi all, just became part of the club a few days ago. Have been ironing out some issues and I've got it working 100% except for the clock. Looks like the 12 o'clock opto is not registering when the minute hand spins when it's in test mode. Is the opto replaceable? Where can I find the parts to repair the clock?
P.S. I'm absolutely loving the game, so much fun

Best bet is to spend a little extra and get the bulletproof ingo k clock board... its basically a must for any tz owner and will save many headaches down the road

I just rebuilt the clock boards in my TZ machine. I found correct optical switches at Mouser - conventional phototransistor optical switch, but the leads are short, so I used a machined pin IC socket on the board to mount the switch. Front board uses elevated optos, the rear board uses flush-mount optos, but they're all the same basic switch.

Also, converted to high output LEDs for the lighting. Simple to do; change the zero ohm resistors out for 470 ohm resistors. You only need to determine which pin is positive, which is negative, on the board.

Check for cold solder joints, corroded jumper pins and look for burned resistors. The boards are very easy to repair.

Thanks for quick response guys. I enjoy doing board work and I want to keep my TZ all original (at least for now) so I would like to repair it before I bought a replacement board. I'll look at Mouser for the optos. Think I'll keep the incandescents for now but it's good to know how to switch it. Just curious though, isn't there a direct replacement LED without having to swap out resistors?

There is, you can use the 12 volt midget bayonet socketed bulbs. I tried that, but wasn't bright enough, so I removed the sockets and soldered the LEDs directly to the board. Simple procedure to replace those parts. Be sure you use a desoldering machine, or braided solder wick when removing the components.
tzpcbmods_(resized).jpg

I'll get a picture this evening. I'm still trying to decide what color for the flipper rubbers to put on it (so they are still red for now) and see what else I want to change on it sooner or later.

Thanks for doing that. Yea.... I have the usual red flipper rubber but was thinking about doing something else. It will be fun to see what's out there. I'm bad at matching colors.

Ahh I see. Nicely done. No worries, I have the whole set up.
Did a little digging last night. Marco has the replacement optos but they cost about double what Mouser has.

You should remove D1 thru D4 and replace them with 470 ohm resistors. When you install the LEDs, be sure the anode (long lead) of each is placed on the board properly (I put a red dot on each anodegv4 location to properly install them).

Here's the assembly with sockets and diodes prior to the mod.; I tried red and blue LED wedge bulbs. Not bright enough.
tz-led-bulbs_(resized).jpg

How in the hell is this even a mod? Or even related to the show?

ebay.com link: itm

It relates to the translite...

So they want you to put it on the backbox? But I'm still confused.. just because it's in the artwork, it can be a mod? I don't like mods, and this.. is a great reason why.. $50 for a toy cannon that had an led hot-glued to the end of it.

Wow I have the same cannon that I paid 2 bucks for ....I'll have to add a led and sell it for 45.00. I bought a bunch of those diecast toys once but necer used them . I may just add some lights and sell them for cheap.

Sitting on a mint! Especially if it can be doubled as a mod for CC or MM, too.

The cannon would look good on a AC/DC.

...for those about to mod, we salute you?

Yea apparently im in the wrong business..... I work all week mowing/weed eating 30-35 customers just to make 700-800 a week. Maybe i sld be making mods ftom the comfort of home lol. I actually enjoy doing lawn care and it's great exercise

One cannon is enough imo

To get you started with your new business, I'll let you in on a little secret about most mods for TZ and TAF and many others…. they're all just repainted diecast pencil sharpeners.

Here's your start:
http://www.pencilthings.com/SearchResults.asp?searching=Y&sort=13&search=sharpeners+die+cast&show=100&page=1

You can get them even cheaper on eBay and other places, too.

This would make a good looking TZ piano if you add a DIY scroll and it were the right size.

Approximate Size 2 1/4” x 2 1/2” x 1 5/8”

piano_(resized).PNG

When the ball is plunged the audio seems different at the end & it takes a long time fir the ball to come out of the slot machine scoop.(the machine does a ball search & the ball comes out of the slot scoop.

Also when the ball is shot into the slot machine scoop it takes several seconds to shoot back out or sometimes not at all. I replaced coil sleeve with no change.

I hope the 9.4ch ROM isn't causing these issues. Any ideas? Thanks

Go into switch test. Check all your switches.

This is strange....The Right Trough, Center Trough, Trough Proximity, Gumball Geneva & Left Trough are closed. Is this just a coincidence? Thanks Coyote.

Check switches. Check ball locations. (i.e. A ball in the center position will activate the center switch...) Depending on where your balls *are*, that MAY be normal. But you need to check - Rocket Kicker, Slot Kickout, and the skill switches.

Right... would it give a accurate test if all the balls were removed?

Switches can be "normally open" or "normally closed". Most are normally open, and close when the ball is over the switch arm or sensor. I like to roll the ball over the switch trigger to see, as compared to just lifting the play field and manually triggering the switch (a switch can be good but needs to be adjusted to actually work). So having the balls removed does not make it more accurate, testing the switches by using a ball to activate them is. If the balls are in, you should see the trough switches closed. Take a ball out and roll it around it test mode. The switch will be named as it is activated on the screen. If doesn't activate, check to see if works manually. If it does, adjust the switch. If it doesn't, buy a new switch.
I had a problem with VUK because the switch needed to be adjusted underneath. My guess is the switch where the ball drops into scoop after launching is not registering the ball was there. It just sees it in the slot scoop and fires it out. Hope that helps.

Thanks vilant & coyote! I took out the balls & rolled a ball over each switch & found the slot machine would not register unless I really messed with it with my finger so I will be making Marco oder.

Did you try adjusting it first? There are 2 screws that hold the switch in place. Loosen the screws and you can move the switch around. Push it up closer to the trough and see if that works. If not then buy a new switch.

No I didn't try adjusting the switch but just did & IT WORKS!!! Thanks sooooo much.

I did make a Marco order but hopefully I can cancel since it's Sunday & they probably haven't packed it yet..... they have enough of my $$

What is the "VUK"? I've seen it used in many threads, but could never figure what they were referring to.

Stands for vertical upright kicker. (At least, that's what I've always seen it used for..)
In TZ, it's usually used to indicate the gumball popper, not slot kick out..

What did you order? just a few new microswitches and diodes? If you don't have any on hand, it wouldn't be a bad idea to keep the order and have them on hand for when that switch, or any other does need to be replaced. A few things about those switches- when they start becoming intermittent (flaky) it's usually the actuation button on the switch body itself that gets gummed up, and in my experiences it's just better to replace them. I like to stick to the original cherry switches that Pinball Life still carries because you can interchange the wire actuators, and use the "switch body" as a replacement on different microswitches. The Marco ones are the newer style where the levers cannot interchange.

Here's the Pinball Life one I spoke of: http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=1860

You will also need new 1N004 Diodes for those: http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/1N4004

Hope this helps. -Dan

re: flashers - the gumball flashers, and the rocket kicker flasher are controlled from the aux 8 driver PCB, not the main power driver PCB. Check the ribbon cable from the CPU to that board, and make sure it isn't connected backwards, also check transistors for shorted transistors.

re: switches - mechanical switches are always normally open. optical switches are always normally closed.

Spot on, I always thought it was a bit of an oddity they refer to this in technical terms - in LOTR during the Escape the RingWraiths mode the first shot is to the VUK, and the DMD literally displays "Shoot VUK" - Joe Public is going to have no idea what a VUK is

Yeah, this is a terminology thing ...

VUK = kicker that goes straight up
Kickout = scoop style kicker (slot machine, electric chair, etc)
Kickback = horizontal kicker (rocket kicker, laser kick on JP, etc)
Eject = saucer kicker (Merlin, Thing, etc)

Kickbacks are typically a horizontal plunger style kicker (like the guns on TNG), but can also be a lever action kicker, like the autoplunger and rocket kicker on TZ

Eject holes can either be small plunger style (like top saucer on SC), or a lever kicker (like a trough ball eject on older games)

Oh my.... how may times I messed it all up!

I ended up putting in a new switch & diode. It works with the steel & powerball going in the slot scoop (makes correct sound/video) and when the steel ball goes in the skill shot scoop it works right but not when the powerball goes in this scoop... does the switch need to be adjusted a certain way?

nudge....

You're talking about the switch on the slot scoop, right?

I'd remove the slot from the game, and roll both a powerball and a metal ball in it, listening for the "click" of the switch.

Could be the powerball just isn't heavy enough to trip it.

Thanks litz.... I'll try that and see if I can adjust the switch.

Where can I buy some small pieces of mylar to protect the areas where the ball drops from the metal ramp onto the inlane? Thanks

I think Marco carries mylar spots.

You can also get cliffy's for switch slots (which will also protect against ball drops)

You can get these for 45 cents.

http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=305

But I prefer these for 59 cents, because you can cut them for anything like shooter lanes, ball drops, etc.

http://www.pinballlife.com/index.php?p=product&id=304

scampcamp, the ball eject trough has a powerball sensor that detects the powerball BEFORE its shot into the skill-shot scoop and ejected out of the slot scoop. your problem may be the powerball detection sensor/board which is
near the shooter lane under the playfield

Thanks Seatmandan - It does recognize the powerball whenever it's in the shooter lane. This is strange but when I switched back to the original powerball.... it worked correctly but did eventually stop. So... maybe lifting the pf & messing around caused the difference. So I'm thinking if I adjusted that switch some may fix this.

The powerball sensor position adjustment is critical, and often the connector there can have cold solder joints.

my game has the harness plug wires that are notorious for causing intermittent powerball detection soldered directly to the pins on the header. it works great, I do have the aftermarket replacement board set (red boards) but haven't installed yet since the soldered original is still working fine

The trough powerball sensors are funky ....

Every single sample game I've ever touched, it's rock solid ...

Almost every single production game I've ever touched, the darned things just flat don't work right.

Same parts ... so what gives?

I'm not sure if I made it clear.... it has/does detect the powerball when it goes in the shooter lane. Is there even a powerball sensor in the slot & skill shot trough?

The power ball sensor detects the absence of steel when parked in the exit of the shooter lane. When the ball is launched, the game will indicate "Power Ball" if that sensor does not sense a steel prior to launch.

The trough also uses an Eddy sensor assembly, located just past the trough switch. When the ball travels through the trough, it contacts that switch. If the Eddy sensor does not sense a steel ball immediately after the switch, the game assumes "Power Ball". If it senses a steel ball though, the game will operate normally.

An Eddy sensor at the shooter lane which is defective or positioned improperly will either tell the game that EVERY ball is a power ball, or it will never sense the power ball at launch.

In the trough, a sensor that's defective or positioned improperly will likely never recognize the power ball in play.

The shooter pickup has two wires on it, and a short cable. At the end of the cable is a tiny connector which is known to fail. On my TZ, I cut off the connector and soldered the two wires directly to the pins on the Eddy sensor PC board, to eliminate a potential connector failure.

trough_sensor_(resized).jpg
shooter_sensor_(resized).jpg
shooter_position_closeup_(resized).jpg