Oh, *Jeez*, I'm an idiot - apologies. I was talking about the lock cage, and after re-reading your post, I saw you were talking about the bridge diverter. Sorry. Ignore everything I said. Oops.

That is awesome! Just one short game. LOL!

HI Cyote,
I have a TZ problem on my sample TZ. I talked to you about the lock problems I have which is that the game thinks there is a ball in the lock when I shoot the right spiral: Well that still happens. Now, however, sometimes when I shoot the lock itself multiball starts. Do you have any suggestions on how to fix this?
Thanks very much,
Litz

Ha! You should have Seen my face reading that

First, before doing anything else -
Swap the two 7-Opto boards. Switch their position. See if the problem remains.

In test mode, when you trigger the right opto, does the lock opto trigger as well? (If so, which spiral opto, and which lock opto?)

As an aside - I *think* I figured out the resetting issue.

Baffles my mind.

Wasn't any flipper. Seemed to happen randomly - 99% of the time when flipping a flipper. Thought maybe a board was drawing too much 5v. The first thing I did was (accidently) unplug the Z-Connector that gives the WPC board it's 5v. That seemed to have fixed it.

That's just strange because in the 20+ years I've had this game, that connector was *never* an issue. Now, conviently, after stripping half the game to give it a full cleaning and waxing, it starts acting up? Hrm...

Sorry. I am new to trouble shooting. Where are the opto 7 boards? thanks

Quick question on the ball trough. I'm going to go through everything this weekend and replace all the switches etc as it may just be a switch thing... but the game occasionally will act like a ball bouced back to the drain... starting the bonus, then resuming the game mode momentarily before the drain kicker knocks the ball back over and it re-realizes the ball is drained and gets back to cointing the bonus.

I'm guessing the first switch in the trough is flaky but wondering if anyone else experiences this. Could the ball actually be bouncing back out? I haven't been able to directly observe that but seems to act that way.

Oh. Okay - on the underside of the PF (lift it up, rest it against backbox), there are two boards mounted down near the bottom (which is the 'rear' of the PF when the playfield is down) of the game, opposite of each other. Those are the two opto boards.

Production games have one board mounted there, and it's a 10-Opto board. Samples have 2 7-Opto boards. They're interchangeable, so unplug both of them, unscrew them, and put the left one in the right position, and vice-versa. Then, see if issue goes away (new issue may appear, but that's fine..) or the issue remains.

This test is isolating the issue - if the issue is on the 7-Opto board, or in game wiring.

DOES the ball actually 'bounce back' and need to be kicked back into the trough from the outhole? I'm going to guess yes, this is what's happening.
If so, then you're missing the gate - not a switch issue. Someone reassembled your trough metal guides without putting the gate back into place.

Ah ha! Those evil bastards! Lol. Ok thanks I didnt realize there was supposed to be a gate in there, adding to next order.

For anyone who doesn't know what Coyote is referring to: http://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Williams_WPC#Poor_Connections_between_the_Power.2FDriver_board.2C_the_CPU.2C_and_other_PCBs

german-pinball put my package in the mail within a day and was really good about sending me tracking numbers and emailing me updates as it went through the German mail system. It took less than a week to get to the USA, and then sat in US customs for two weeks straight. Your mileage may vary.

That said, I'm sharing your recent holdups with Ingo. Considering his years of excellent service to people on Pinside, I presume he has some personal or family problems.

Anyone else having trouble reaching Ingo?

Got a few mods I would part ways with. These were all pulled working from a game.

Camera- (believe it is older version of Pinball Decals one) $75
Car 1- Headlight LED's and LED under steering wheel $75
Car 2- Headlight LED's $75
TV- (believe from PinballPro) $100
UFO- (Pinball Decals) $100

PM if interested. Add $5 for shipping.

20170209_154509 (resized).jpg
20170209_154436 (resized).jpg
20170209_154531 (resized).jpg
20170209_154446 (resized).jpg

20170209_153424 (resized).jpg

Yeah, but he was marked on vacation for a month so I figure he's probably behind and catching up. About a week ago I did get a notice from paypal that my order status was changed to in process, but nothing else.

Not worried but kind of considering canceling as I have since gotten a rebuild boad from eBay that works perfectly fine. Might give it a couple more weeks though since everyone raves about his board.

Anyone have a photo or a part number for the gate that is supposed to be in the ball trough? Been scouring marco and the manual but coming up empty.

Edit: Nevermind.... got home and took the apron off, the gate is there. Will play for a while without the apron to see if I can better observe what is happening.

I'm not sure how you could cancel to be honest as there is no way to reach him right now it seems. I hope everything is OK on his end. It wouldn't hurt to send a quick generic reply that states "I'm running behind and catching up on orders." He's checking in at Pinside everyday but has overlooked his PMs I guess?

This post is in no way meant to be critical of Ingo. I was just hoping to get a little correspondence is all and wanted to know if this is typical of ordering with him. Thanks for sharing your feedback.

Figured out what I believe is happening. Didn't see it but found the followinf deformation on the edge of the trough. Looks like the ball tends to strike the edge and bounce back to the outhole.

IMG_5452 (resized).JPG

Edit: to correct it, i adjusted the kicker so that in its resting position it was more squared up with the ball so that the force would be directed straight into the trough instead of slightly angled.

I was gonna say, I think we're talking about totally different things. I was referring to fast shots bouncing out of the diverter thing on the wireform to the Power playfield.

By "diverter thing", do you mean this thing? Do you mean that the ball bounces off this diverter but remains on the wire rails, or that the ball bounces off this diverter and falls off the wire rails?

16061-twilight-zone-pinball-machine-the-clock (resized).jpg

For me, it bounces off the diverted and falls off the wire rails, usually slamming down on the PF

I made a magnet mod that fixed that issue on mine....

Yes, that thing. For a really hard shot, it slams into the cage and rolls back along the wireform. Then the cage tilts with the ball either outside of it entirely or sort of half in it. The magnet is supposed to keep the ball from rebounding and staying in the cage until it purposely diverts it off the wireform.

Hello all,
My TZ gets the powerball stuck in the piano from time to time. It has happened once with one of the regular balls, but several times with the powerball. I have to tilt the machine to get it to roll out from wherever it's stuck. I can't really tell exactly where it's stuck because as soon as I lift the playfield the ball rolls down? I have the machine level and at about 6.8 degrees. Anyone else have this going on?
Also, any cure for bounce outs at the lock? About 7 times out of 10 any shot I make up there bounces out.

TIA for any input on either issue.

Put your phone on video recording, start recording and then place it in the cabinet. Play a few games, recording it, and when it happens, then take your phone out and review the video.

Maybe some screw or other part fell in there and is laying in the subway, causing the ball to get stuck occasionally.

I just got a Pinball Pimp Twilight zone - his personal machine. It took me quite a bit of convincing to get him to sell it. What an awesome job Jeff did on the restore. It's amazing! He did a complete tear-down restore with a cabinet paint and backbox decals. He used piano-black on the head and really spiffed it up a treat. He had all of the armor powder coated in black and used it as a test bed for his decals. This thing looks and plays like new.

IMG_2993 (resized).JPG
IMG_2955 (resized).JPG
IMG_2981 (resized).JPG
IMG_2969 (resized).JPG
IMG_2973 (resized).JPG
IMG_2976 (resized).JPG
IMG_2983 (resized).JPG
IMG_2963 (resized).JPG
IMG_3010 (resized).JPG
IMG_2967 (resized).JPG
IMG_2962 (resized).JPG
IMG_2964 (resized).JPG
IMG_3003 (resized).JPG
IMG_3029 (resized).JPG
IMG_3028 (resized).JPG
IMG_3040 (resized).JPG
IMG_3021 (resized).JPG

HI Guys,
Can anyone give me advice for the following:
1) Strategy to get the highest score
2) Strategy on how to get to LITZ

Thanks
LitzDoc

this is awesome, check it out. I am very happy with it.

If you're the Litz Doc, shouldn't you be telling us how to get Litz?

New decals? Looks pretty faded to me?

Heres my huo cab.....20170505_020157 (resized).jpg

Piano, Slot Machine, Win battle the power, REPEAT... but not necessarily in that order, until all door panels are solidly lit

Just the head decals. The cabinet was in such great condition (other than the fade) that he left it alone.

Good point. I have gotten to Litz twice on the same day. Now a dry spell for 8 months. I am wondering what strategies people use. As you know TZ is very deep and there are many strategies that will work to accomplish the same thing.

I was just joking, but...

There are lots of different strategies for scoring, but if you're just trying to get to LITZ, it's pretty basic...start the modes but don't play them. Just hit piano/slot to start a mode and hit the corresponding ramp to re-light it. Rinse, repeat.

Anyone have a PF for sale? Doesnt have to be perfect but would like something nice. Mine has a lot of wear at the slot machine kick out.

Yup, were not talking WOZ deep rules here. The modes are by comparison to several modern games pretty flat... that is there are not tiers of modes that need to be completed to get you there. Which is nice as given enough plays any player can experience almost every single mode.

I think where TZ gets its debth is from the variety of really interesting shots, risk/reward options and scoring strategies.

When you're ready to up the challenge, change the settings for piano and slot lamps to only light by ramp shots and not to start ON with every ball. This effectively doubles the amount of shots you have to make to get to LITZ.

There are even further ways to make the game harder once you get used to that, too. That's not even approaching the standard PAPA tournament setup. That's where you start to separate the men from the boys.

Has anyone installed the GLM Mini-Playfield switch kit, and one of the 4 switches not register? I installed today, and the front left sign switch assembly does not register? I don't know if it's my solder job, or the little board the wires connect to. I have a feeling I'll need to take the mini playfield back off, and resolder the contacts.

Here's a look at the connections

Mini PF Left Sign Switch (resized).jpg

It looks like one wire is not soldered on!!

solder (resized).jpg

Nice pick up. I was thinking the same.

Doh, nice find!
I'll give it a closer look and do a resolder...after I get the mini playfiled back out....yay me haha

For anyone trying to get in touch with Ingo, it seems he might have ran into computer problems: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/wheres-ingo-kramer-german-pinball

Oh man that sucks big time and I feel bad for him if thats true and he lost all of his PCB work. I hope he is able to dig up a backup from somewhere. Not sure if he sent them out the manufacturer might have a copy still?

Reminds me... time to run backups.

Today is the day!
Joined the club!

IMG_4613 (resized).JPG

Welcome! How did you get that in there?

Yeah, holy cow! Of all the ways I could think to haul a pinball, I don't think that way would come to mind... especially for a widebody.

I also want to know this. Did it slide straight in?

He reached out to me a few days ago regarding an order I have with him for the Ingo TZ Clock board. He apologized for not being responsive as of late. He explained he had a car accident upon returning from vacation and he was busy figuring out repairs. He didn't mention any personal injury so that's good. I haven't heard back from him in the past few days though.