It also is missing "flip here" above each magnet area.

Finally part of the club! I picked up this original TZ last week. No mods, no leds, just pure awesome!

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Will u keep it that way?

If I do anything I might put leds in it. I never have been a fan of mods.

I'm in. Time to shop

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Somewhat out of the blue, my game developed the dreaded reset. Started resetting when cold and when both flippers were pressed. Went through pinwiki and couldn't quite find the exact fix, but I think it's a bad br2/c5. I systematically and individually went through and unplugged j101, 102, 114 and the z connector, no change. Thought it might be the thermistor, but I swapped in a spare board I have that was repaired by John wart and the resets disappeared so far. The br was registering below 5 for resistance, which pinwiki suggests is too low so I think that's at least one issue. I don't have the proper tools to remove the rectifiers and capacitors (just a crappy solder sucker I use for transistors) nor much experience so off the board will go to John.

Seems like just a matter of time before we all start having reset issues.

Happened to my TAF recently....so far the TZ is intact.

That said, Rob Kahr has developed this unbelievable fix:
http://www.kahr.us/daughterboard.html

fixed our TAF reset issues, no sweat. For me, definitely better than repairing the board poorly, which is likely what I'd have done!

The kahr board is a great tool, but it doesn't resolve the underlying problem. I send my boards out when issues like this arise. Costs me about $100 to get the board fixed, I consider it maintenance. On a $6k game, that's nothing, plus when/if I ever sell it, buyer has piece of mind the board is solid. I think I could fix it, but a board specialist can do it so much better and be more thorough finding anything else out of spec.

I just picked up what I feel is a pretty nice TZ. It was purchased by an older couple who, from the looks of it rarely ever played it. When they passed away, their kids left it for the new owner. Thankfully he wasn't a pinball guy. So 1100 miles and 4k later here it sits.

Im super excited to get it back to where it needs to be. The machine is not modded at all and looks completely original.

I do have a few questions about best practice that I was hoping for clarity on. So please feel free to chime in, the help is appreciated.

First Glance (what doesn't work),

The ball diverter does not appear to work properly, meaning that it looks like it is out of alignment.
There is a clock error, though the clock moves so it may just be cleaning
Upper right flipper is not working
DMD appears to have a ghosting effect (video attached)

Questions,

Apart from general maintenance i.e flipper rebuild, ring kit, deep cleaning, and wax, what is recommended?

I have read a lot about bridge rectifiers, rebuilding of the high voltage section. Is this stuff needed? ( i am capable of doing it if so )

The DMD ghosting... I have read that there could be a loose chip on the CPU board. I have re-seated all connectors and pushed in all socketed chips. I have not removed and reinserted to be fair.

The playfield looks really solid. The only blemish is on the left in-lane around the switch, it is not near as bad as it looks in the pic but I am curious how to restore it or at least protect it from further damage.

Ghosting Video -

Without further delay She is a dirty girl but, looks to be in great shape.

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I wouldnt touch the boards unless its needed.

Is there a mantis style in hole protector?

A quick search says no. I thought cliffy had one but I can't seem to find it.

Yes Cliffy has one but without wear I like the inner only version.

***
I emailed mantis and they "never seen enough wear to merit it"

Sounds good to me

***

The wear is minimal.. I am just concerned about it chipping and getting worse.
I really appreciate you taking the extra step for me though.

I'm in the market for one myself.

I can confirm that my machine mirrors what you described...I hope that's what it's supposed to be doing! My assumption is that this is controlled somewhere in the menu settings (i.e. easy, medium, difficult).

Those are the Spiral Awards, and yes, by factory default, it starts at '4 Mil', and then the first time you complete them, they drop down to '2 Mil'. You can change the difficulty.

What ROM version are you running?
The only bug known (which means, everything else should work fine) is that the Buy-In HSTD will always award the wrong amount of credits, instead of what's configured in settings.

Your probley gonna need a new dmd from what it looks like and others ive seen doing the same thing id just put a color one in it. Also put a cliffy switch protector at the switch where it comes off ramp/wireform. Id also recommend a ingo clock put as that usually eliminates most clock issues. My friend was gonna get that tz that u bought from west virginia .

The DMD problem might be caused by a bad DMD controller board, I had a similar problem but a bit worse
Check my topic here: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/dmd-cloudy

Color DMD will be a future upgrade unless absolutely needed. I can swap one with another to test. It was a long drive to get it and a nightmare to get it out but, well worth it.

Invader

Your DMD sure does look like mine just way worse. I will visit the HV section to ensure there are no issues and report back. I am planning on tearing the machine down Mid Nov for a complete shop.

I'm thinking of getting this gumball machine mod but was wondering if it would look right without adding the fake gumballs?? I like the stock look to match the backglass picture. Thanks

http://pinballpro.net/shop/twilight-zone-gumball-sparkle-kit-tz-4/

I have that one in my TZ and I do not like it. It came with the machine when I got it . It really does not sparkle,it more or less flashes.

The backglass picture has silver balls while the stock gumball machine is empty? How does that match? Are you thinking of adding silver ball bearings to the gumball machine so it matches the backglass pic?

I would not add anything.

Is there a gumball machine mod that has the sparkle effect?

You might want to take a look at this one, looks great in my machine.
https://www.pinbits.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_2&products_id=4&zenid=01cd494ff773ecd0f83c4df891534f88

I read some things and maybe it just woundn't look right without the colored gumballs.

The nice thing about the Pinbits mod is that it is interactive. During normal mode it lights the gumball machine white, then when Load gumball machine is active it changes to red. Not sure what it would look like without the gumballs but I would think the two colors would be nicer.

Hey there, Great purchase. My favorite overall game. The one weird little thing I'd suggest is a $1 mod that has to do with the the shooter that the ball drops into after the initial skill shot to light the different levels on the pop bumpers. Just replace the lower screw holding the chrome guide with a post. See the picture. The ball has the annoying habit of bouncing out of there on many machines and then you don't get the hitchhiker. If you have this problem, this is a cheap fix and worked great for me.

I also did a few mods - Rather than the typical Robby the Robot, which is pretty cool, I added and lit a fortune teller from a famous TZ episode - the one with William Shatner. You can get these on eBay for a few bucks and mount it on a Cliffy Robby plate and wire it up [or not]. I added the LEDs. The metal clock below is nice too. Other than a piano mod and a gumboil light kit - that's all I did with toys. I'm iffy on the gumboil mod, but the others are small and not too obnoxious, although that is rather relative.

The big thing I did was to replace all the opto boards with new stuff, including the clock. Best money ever spent. I also replaced the flipper opts with magnetic switches. Way better, less problems down the line - all easy to find on line.

I went a little nuts and made a twinkling starfield backboard and a topper. These are just scree shots. They both look cool on video, but I don't know how to add a video.

All this is not for everyone, but that's what I did.

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Do I have the latest game ROM but not sound?

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You don't have the latest any..

Thanks, wanted to verify before I order. I have a pinsound board to install so likely do not need to get the sound rom. Is the home game rom the way to go?

Yah, you won't need sound ROMs with the PinSound board. For game, really that's up to you. IMHO, I'd go with 9.4H..

Well, haven't played my TZ for weeks and it didn't like that very much. It now has the dreaded double flipper button reset problem. Time to start running down the list on the PinWiki for things to check. I hope it's just the thermistor since I want to rewire my power box anyway. Since mine was an export, it doesn't have the outlet in it. I'd like to put that back in now that it's in the States again.

Start with measuring across c30 on the MPU. Make note of the voltage. Then inspect and reseat your J101, J102, J114 and J210 connectors. Try one at a time to see if there is a particular one that makes the issue go away and measure the C30 again. Anything over 4.9v should be good.

The new plasma pop bumpers have been brought up before in other posts but does anybody know if the light pattern changes when the ball hits the pop bumper?

How much are they?

Wow, those are cool. Who makes them

I did and looks good... have bunch extra also

Cool, but with time those plasma stuff stop working. I know because I already had two of these in my SS...

You can actually see in the video that the green plasma is fully working, while both blue already present issues, just compare!

Pic? I am thinking of switching from my colored balls to silver ball bearings...

Long shot I know............but does anyone have an idea where I might be able to get the trough board that recognizes when the powerball is in the trough. Been actively looking for a few months now.

You check here yet?
https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/tz-power-ball-sensing-problem#post-29285

Yes, a while ago. My tech buddy says' the board is toast and needs to be replaced.

http://www.tiltgraphicsinc.com/twilight-zone

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Well, my game is fixed. Sadly it was just the Z-connector that goes between J114 and J210. Well, either that or J114 or J210 themselves. I pulled and reseated that whole thing at the same time, then everything was kosher.

I say "sadly" because I really wanted a good reason to replace parts in, and subsequently redo, the power box, installing the service outlet at the same time. Oh well, I guess I'll just play it for now…

I had to repin my J114, J101, J210 a couple of months ago because my game sometimes did not boot up. Though, I likely need to replace the female connectors on my Z-connector if it acts up again.

I thought about checking the pins for solder cracks/loose pins, but after it didn't reset on the next game, I figured it can wait until after I move into my new house. Then again, if it happens again before that time, then it's time to pull the CPU and that Z connector and put it under the microscope, so to speak. I'll probably even just eliminate that Z connector as it's just a huge mess of potential corrosion, resistance, and failing joints.