Quoted from Coyote:

I will go through my teardown pics tonight. I have one somewhere.
Bother side front starposts should have a bracket attachment, yes.

Quoted from Coyote:

Looking from the back of the playfield. (Front of playfield towards top of image.)

Quoted from Scotty_K:

As had been mentioned to me by Coyote, the recommended fix for this is to cut off the connectors at both ends, twist the wires, and solder the wires directly to the pins. I did this with my glitchy sensor, and I have not had a problem since.

Quoted from jgadzia:

Where does this plugin I cant find a plug
[quoted image]

Quoted from Durzel:

I would stick him in the base of the cabinet, right at the back.

Quoted from jgadzia:

tried an original 555 bulb and does not work. used the light in the start button and it doesnt work in the buy in button slot. when i measure the voltage in the socket i am only getting abou 1.5 volts max. If i measure the voltage in front of the diode i get 7 volts. I used a 1n4004 diode is that the correct diode. not sure what else to check here? any help greatly appreciated!

Quoted from jgadzia:

tried an original 555 bulb and does not work. used the light in the start button and it doesnt work in the buy in button slot. when i measure the voltage in the socket i am only getting abou 1.5 volts max. If i measure the voltage in front of the diode i get 7 volts. I used a 1n4004 diode is that the correct diode. not sure what else to check here? any help greatly appreciated!

Quoted from jawjaw:

Hmm... Didn't know that Rottendog mpu's had a history with draining batteries. That would explain why my Congo went through fresh lithium batteries in less than a year lately. Expected them to last a long time but only went around 9 months.
If you are having worst problems with batteries, I would look into nvram. Not sure if that is a pain to put in a Rottendog board but it sure is nice not to have to deal with batteries. You loose some features like the clock telling the correct time but I wouldn't call that a big deal if you have to change batteries often.

Quoted from jawjaw:

Your clock is still going to work with nvram. It just won't show the correct time in attract mode since the time will reset every time you power cycle the game.

Quoted from Ben38:

Hi
The vertical wood plate at the end of the playfield is missing on my TZ.
Can anyone give me the dimensions of this plate?
The height and thickness. So I will be able to build a new one.
Thanks

Quoted from Ben38:

Thanks a lot for the informations ! I will have a look to the post you suggest.

Quoted from MMP:

I don't think its so bad... it's not like detailed board soldering. It can be done with a basic soldering iron and basic skills. Youtube has some tutorial videos.
Hey, I have a question for anyone who has rebuilt the clock mech. I am assembling now after cleaning and I am wondering if the plastic gears should be lubricated or if they are better left alone.

Quoted from Pesmerga:

Hello guys my TZ is missing the bracket that goes under the mini playfield. It is this two-part assembly in the attached pics, do anyone has a spare that could sell to me? Or can you suggest a website that sells it?? Thanks!!
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

Quoted from Scotty_K:

As someone may have mentioned before, that might not be sufficient. It will work perhaps in the short term, but as time goes on, with vibration and all, it might work its way loose again. See how it goes, but the only true solution is to solder the wires directly to the pins on one end, twisting the wires, and then soldering the other end.

Quoted from mathiaswallin:

My mini-playfield stopped working all of a sudden, magnets doesnt move balls anymore. Entry-switch as well as magnets works in test. I'm clueless.
Could it be something as simple as the balls or where should I start?
Also the gum ball Popper doesnt work, How do I check if the Opto is broken or clogged or whatever the fault might be?
Could it all be connected and its something with the opto-board?

Quoted from Durzel:

I might be going mad but I turned on my TZ this morning to check something, and whilst the Grand Champion score was right, the other ones were default scores. I'm almost certain they weren't the last time I used it as it would be pretty fantastical to have a GC score with none below it. The game booted without complaint or error (so not "Factory Settings Restored" or anything). Any ideas?

Quoted from harig:

IIRC the diode is on the PDB board thus not needed on the coil though does not harm if installed there as well...

Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

Started a tear down today. WTF was I thinking ?!?
How do you guys deal with the plastics that have rivets? I don’t have a riveting tool; thinking about just doing nuts & bolts to replace the plastics that have embedded light sockets.
Also: how in THE HELL are you supposed to remove the gumball machine? I can’t figure out the plastics and the gumball itself to clean what looks like 20+ years of grime.
Also also: since I don’t have the flasher sockets and my plastic set didn’t come with any, I may have to leave the existing plastics to the left of the gumball. That’s gonna bother me!

Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

I appreciate the encouragement. Are pop rivet tools available at Harbor Freight, for example? (Just noticed an ACTUAL store near me). I don’t care quite as much about authenticity but if it’s low risk to destroying the plastic I’ll give it a shot - otherwise it’s nut & bolt combos from here on out..

Quoted from lpeters82:

Picture of the cards installed. This is just standard stock paper cut to 6" x 3.25". I'm quite happy with these.
[quoted image]

Quoted from Rydhia:

I messed with it for a bit tonight. It looked like the lamp was cut off and never soldered back. The molex connector was still plugged and the yellow and red wire was there. I soldered it into a lamp. It works, but when a bulb is plugged in, the slot machine and gum all lights stay lit or get brighter, so I’m kind of lost.
Attached are the two connections I’m referring too (image from google)
[quoted image]

Quoted from iamabearsfan:

Need some quick help. For some reason I disconnected this molex connector from the power driver board. I can't seem to figure out where it goes and don't want to guess. I think it looks like it would go into J122, BUT the board connector seems to be one pin bigger, so that makes me think that isn't right.
Anyway, here are the pix. Any info would be appreciated...
[quoted image][quoted image]

Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

I have one of those. It's not fiber optics though; it's EL-Wire shining into holes punched in a piece of black metal glued on top of the routed-out backboard. That looked GREAT when I first got it. A few years on, you can't even see the light, because the wire has dimmed too much. It is a royal pain to replace, so I am considering just getting a backboard sticker.

Quoted from Happy81724:

I added new sound and cpu Roms today but my display slowly get squiggly after about 30 seconds of leaving it on. Any idea why this is happening and what to check?
[quoted image][quoted image]

Quoted from HC2016:

Having an issue with ball getting hung up leaving mini playfield ... Dropping down getting hung up on top of the metal flange . Seems like it’s not moving back to its original position. I bent it back and was working for a few days .. now it’s hanging up again . Looks like the metal gate is hanging up . Maybe needs lubrication ? Just wanna see if anyone has have the same problem

Quoted from uncivil_engineer:

So installed the push rod on the correct side, and now it works. My only complaint on the diverter now is the fact that it doesn’t sit as low as I would like. It works ok, but it looks like the rod is about an 1/8 inch too short. I wonder if this is the difference is because I’m using an after market playfield?
Also...MY CLOCK IS LOUD!! any tips for quieting it down?

Quoted from ramegoom:

The opto design flaw was due to inferior semiconductor materials used on the original 1990s components. Electronics have come a long way since those days. The adaptation of RoHS (non Pb content) has forced semiconductor design to accommodate higher temperatures for normal operation.
Current design opto couplers have overcome the reliability issues. Also, one of the biggest problems with the original clock board was the use of four socketed incandescent lamps mounted parallel to the circuit board; they collectively produced excessive heat which damaged the glass epoxy PC board material and copper traces, and prematurely aged the opto couplers, resulting in electrical failure.
That's all been prevented by the use of LEDs. This design uses 12 LEDs to evenly backlight the clock face, with minimal heat being generated. They have been in operation for years now, with near zero defects. The simple design is efficient, without the use of additional components and poses no issues with setting failure codes.

Quoted from Ben38:

Hi
The backboard is missing on my TZ. (the wood board at the end of the playfield)
Does anyone can send me the size of this part? I will cut and paint a new one.
Thanks

Quoted from ceterumnet:

I have a question regarding my TZ's bridge diverter. I was having problems where it was ejecting balls sideways 25% of the time, and then they would get stuck because of my robot mod...I've attached a pic.
I was able to improve the percentage to something more like 10% of the time by adding a washer next to the c-clip of the shaft that the diverter rotates. Also, I played with bending the shape a little of it to see if I could improve it.
I'm starting to suspect that it might be inconsistent power from the coil. But I'm definitely not sure.
Does anyone have any additional suggestions?
PS> My game is level in both directions per my digital level.
[quoted image]
EDIT: I forgot to mention one more thing: There are 2 of the horizontal steel supports for the wire form right before the diverter, and the ball rolls over those almost like speed bumps...this occasionally causes some weird motion. I wanted to also validate that the ball should be hitting those or if that is something that needs to be adjusted as well.

Quoted from bikefreak:

I pulled the LEDs and put in bulbs. no light either. With the LEDs I have a very faint glow on a few.
I've read some of what emsrph linked (but need to spend much more time there).
What I've done so far:
- determined it is the orange / white-ora string
- Swapped J121 and J120 connections. (same issue as expected since I think they are just connected pins)
- Continuity test passed for Orange wire from connector to end of line (last lamp socket)
- Continuity test passed for White-Orange wire from connector to end of line (last lamp socket)
- 5v tp = 4.91v (12v and 18v also tested okay +/-. I didn't write them down but they seemed close enough and I don't think they are involved in this issue)
- Fuse F109 pulled out and continuity test passed
- put in regular bulbs and they don't work. LEDs bulbs are new and have tested as working.
Decided to see what J120 pin 2&8 let to. Well, about as far away as possible. Ended at mini-playfield lamp flasher (x2) (two flasher bulbs of 3 in the silver "street lamp" looking thing over the mini PF) Did a test of those flashers and no workie. So...
...at this point it seems it is upstream of the J121/120 connection and not the fuse since that tested okay.
What voltage should I be expecting at J121 (pin 2&8) Orange (do I connect DMM red lead to pin2 and black lead to pin8?)
What voltage should I expect at the last backboard socket of that orange string?
What voltage should I be expecting at J121 (pin 3&9) Yellow (this set of lights works)
What voltage should I be expecting at J121 (pin 5&10) Green (this set of lights works)

Quoted from Clizifer:

So I put brand new batteries in my machine the other day when I got it home and it seemed like it was keeping memory but then today I turned it on and said restored factory settings. I checked the voltage of the batteries and they are all good. any ideas?

Quoted from bikefreak:

My KAHR board comes today. But still managed to go through pinwiki and troubleshoot the double flipper reset problem. Did most of the easy stuff and things checked out ok enough. I didn't change pins/connectors and fully expect them to be the issue. (or at least a strong contributor to it) Kept plugging through the list and read about the Z connector. Then kept going down the list. Getting done/checking all the easy stuff. No fixes found yet... Now needed to consider doing the harder steps... Then recalled I never reset the Z connector. Did that and "fixed" the issue. I know connector resets are temporary fixes. Removing the Z connector would fix it for good.
Here are some of the readings I got.
TP1 14.14v (12vu) (what does the vu stand for? unregulated voltage? if so, what does that mean?)
TP2 4.912v (5v)
TP3 11.96v (12v)
TP6 75.5v (50v but 75 is "normal" per wiki)
TP7 22.45v (20v)
TP8 17.6-18.2 (18v) this floated around quite a bit. Not sure if that is normal or not.
CPU pin 32 4.872v (5v)
BR2 8.5v (top left lead) I didn't know how to hook DMM up for other BR test(s)
My understanding is 5v feed is main driver for double flipper resets and 4.9+/- is probably cutting it close to the cutoff which is why it has been resetting.
Some solder joints were touched up on driver board so those are looking good.
So, based on the above, anything I should check out further? My thoughts are:
1) Replacing pins/connectors would be a good course of action
2) Remove Z connector and hardwire
3) Reassess
4) Replacing the LM323K 5V regulator with more modern one sounds like a good idea
5) I do have some of the blue capacitors (Philips) (not on MPU board but on Power driver (and sound? board)) Sounds like they are a common failure point but I don't know what failure behavior results in.
With this all said and about to put in the KAHR board, is any of this necessary? (sounds like no based on my reading)

Quoted from Parker_tz:

My Twilight Zone restore is almost done. Faded to great
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

Quoted from Johncare07:

Anyone have an unused, no fade, right side cabinet decal they would sell?
[quoted image]

Quoted from The_Pump_House:

My TZ arrives in about 6 hours!
Can I join the club!!!

Quoted from Matrixnetuk:

hey guys is there a way of stopping or slowing down the rebound from the slot machine target
I have replaced the old bent and battered target with a new re-enforced target it has reduced the number of air balls but im still getting rebounds that i cant even see with the naked eye
Also rebounds are hitting the glass and in some cases are hitting the outlane backboards and straight out its pretty vicious
cheers
Stef

Quoted from atg1469:

I recently purchased a TZ and overall the game plays pretty great, but the more games I've put in the more often I've had an issue come up with the ball getting hung up in the piano trough. Every time it gets stuck its just resting on the inside right hand side of the trough and I have to take the glass down and nudge it into the hole (the game can't find it otherwise). It's tough to get a pic of but I did my best to capture what's going on. Still, I have no idea how to correct this issue, any thoughts?!
[quoted image]

Quoted from THJM:

Thanks. Any ideas as to how to start diagnosing this other than swapping boards? I have read through each of the club forums for my three machines and I don't recall anyone having a similar issue.

Quoted from PinballAir:

I am looking to put all LEDs in my game.
Do i need to add OCD board(s)?
I want all LED, so do i need a board for GI and Feature lamps?

Quoted from Clizifer:

i would love to buy the pinbits gumball light kit but the website says its always out of stock and i never get any replies back when i email them. has anyone had any luck contacting them?

Quoted from damadczar:

Anyone on here know where to get a new repro or NOS Twilight Zone speaker panel plexi screen?
Mine is beat to hell and before I go experimenting with sanding it to make it better wanted to see if there were any way to get a nice replacement, just in case.

Quoted from Seatmandan:

Classic Arcades sells reproductions on Ebay for 100 bucks. I bought an Indiana Jones one from them when restoring, they are exact replicas.

Quoted from ParisPinballAdct:

Cheers to yours answers guys.
Well, there is no (apparent) broken weld.
However, YES the screws may be the issue: it's not that they are loose so to speak (they aren't) but more that they turn in a vaccum.
I have a pre-series TZ and there are 3x screws (i think the "normal" TZ have 2). well the middle screw is fine. however the other two, although not loose (can't turn them with my fingers for instance), turn in a vaccum if I am to use a screwdriver on them.
I have tried filling the holes with toothpicks many times and it works great, but after a little while, back to square one: I have to fil in the holes once again, re-tight the screws and the kick out is perfecft for a while...until next time.
it's not a killer, just a bit annoying to have to pop up the hood after every other game to do this procedure

Quoted from SantaEatsCheese:

Just occurred to me to ask here.
So I moved my TZ into my friend’s house on a temporary trade for an Avengers LE yesterday. All was good prior to moving, once we got the TZ up my hill, into my car, 30 minutes away, down his steps, and set up, the sound no longer worked. No start up tone, no noise at all coming from the speaker. Everything else seems to be functional (a 3 ball silent game). After 2 hours of troubleshooting. We determined all LEDs on board worked according to manual, all fuses were good (removed and tested with multimeter, all connectors reseated. Finally we discovered no power was coming off of J114 on the P.C.B. to the audio board. We tested on the pins on the PCB. Well crud, moving the TZ is a pain, so how to fix remotely. He is a pin guy. We removed the TZ PCB board which had visual repairs on the back, but had never given me issues. I took the P.C.B. out of the Twilight Zone home and put it in my ST:TNG. It worked flawlessly, to include power coming off of the J114 connector. If I unplug the J114 connector in my ST:TNG the sound stops. So there was power coming off of J114 in the ST:TNG but not in the TZ using the same board. I left my known 100% and working perfectly PCB from my ST:TNG at my friend’s work this morning and hopefully that works tonight.
My questions are, is there anything I am missing? In the event that 2 separate boards (will test tonight) when inserted into a machine do not have power coming off of J114, one of them a known 100% good and tested 24 hours earlier, what is my next troubleshooting step? What step before the PCB that could go wrong would cause J114 to not get power but only J114? Other than throwing in the known good board, what else is there?
Thanks for your troubleshooting help!

Quoted from ramegoom:

Wondering why those leads were swapped in the first place?

Quoted from Seatmandan:

Everyone has different experiences. The upvote & downvote button is there for just that reason. It's not a "Bible" LOL. Reproduction translites and speaker panels are just what they are- imitations of the original, therefore they will never be the original. To expect that they would be is setting the bar too high, and setting yourself up for disappointment. IMO. If it's really that important to be exactly like the original, then hold out for an original to pop up somewhere.

Quoted from Jason_Jehosaphat:

Legs:
Please advise me on replacement legs. The stock legs are rusty. I can't polish them back to life.
The Service Manual in section 2-3 shows a cabinet parts diagram and C-10843 for the "metal leg assembly."
Looking on Pinball Life for this part number shows leg sets for System-Eleven games, not WPC89. Are these legs sufficiently tall? Standard length should be 28-1/2", correct? No mention in this listing of length.
https://www.pinballlife.com/williams-system-11-chrome-legs-set-of-4.html?Category_Code=

Quoted from bikefreak:

Does anyone know if the led on the larger board is supposed to be on or not? Mine switch 26 is failing. resetting the connections isn't fixing.
Isn't there a better fix out there? (and maybe a replacement product)

Quoted from PinballAir:

Finished shopping out my machine.
Everything works well except the lower left flipper.
Starts out strong but warms up and gets weak.
Is this coil wired correctly?
[quoted image]

Quoted from Zigzagzag:

Yes, the black sockets should be 545 blinkers.
I bought these : https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/152953759556

Quoted from Scotty_K:

I actually put rainbows behind the clock on the translite to match the playfield clock, which is running rainbows on Ingo's board. Looks really nice.
At any rate, you can get LED versions of blinkers and the rainbows at Comet.

Quoted from Manny65:

Looking at the door PCB those header pins still potentially have issues. Do a connectivity test on your DMM between the pad and the header pin - I think you'll find some pins need to be reflowed

Quoted from Jason_Jehosaphat:Measured at the pads.
Having the same issue with this board.
I reflowed solder at these pins, too, but the procedure makes me nervous as each solder point is perilously close to its neighbor. Risk of shorting seems high.
Also, voltage test on the connector shows a variety of voltages, but there *is* voltage at each/every pin for both of the problem boards.
[quoted image][quoted image]

Quoted from Jason_Jehosaphat:

Developments:
Magnets:
I brought my mini-PF to Lloyd's and connected it to the harness in his game. Switches, opto, and lamps: yes. Magnets: no. Does anything in this photo jump out at you? I have continuity from the main magnet connector to each magnet connector (violet and violet/white). Remember, my Spiral magnets work, and I already tested my 8-high power driver- and power-driver boards in Lloyd's machine. Is it a grounding issue? I assume that if the the mini-PF weren't grounded properly the switches, opto, and lamps wouldn't be working - but they *did* work in my test swap. It still seems so unlikely that *both* magnets have somehow failed. I mean, I would expect a magnet to fail about as often as a standard coil - which is to say rarely if ever.
Lamps:
I brought my ailing lamp boards to Lloyd's and they work fine in his machine. I guess I have to clean my connectors somehow.
Flippers:
I borrowed Lloyd's Fliptronics board and installed it in my game. Flippers worked normally. I then put my own board back and they did not. Lloyd's inspection of my board pointed to the bridge rectifier - which he then graciously replaced - but it didn't revive the board.
Thoughts?
Thanks.
[quoted image]

Quoted from cconway84:

Twilight zone blacked out with rainbows end prismatic metallic. Looks mostly black with flake indoors but shows it’s rainbow effect when it catches the light.
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

Quoted from McDoom:

No balls are left in the trough when I achieve multiball (I removed the apron and looked? It’s empty)
The balls are locked and not releasing when multi ball is achieved. What’s my next step in fixing this issue.
(I did a test and the lock seems to function correctly (releases ball during the test).[quoted image][quoted image]

Quoted from McDoom:

6 balls are in the game.
I disconnected and reconnected the wires to the “10 opto switchboard” the game behaves the same as mentioned above but now, during multiball, the lock will release the balls about 3 minutes after the mode is started (so no balls on the playfield until the lock randomly decides to release the balls after 3-4 minutes.

Quoted from McDoom:

I believe it's 3 balls.

Quoted from horseflesh:

I finally joined the club, and by that I mean the club of people with a 5V problem. My TZ was a little flaky with resets for a long time but re-pinning and re-connectoring J101 helped... then wiggling J101 helped... but now the game won't even boot and the 5V LED is out. So, maybe J120 was a red herring, or just one of the problems, as 5V is now completely gone.
Several years ago, this game did have BR2 replaced, and it didn't seem to make a difference in the occasional resets I had at that time. (Yay shotgun solder-and-pray fixes.)
The game has NOT had the Z-connector removed.
I do have a Kahr board knocking around.
Of course I will study the wiki resets article but if anyone has additional suggestions I'm all ears.
(I don't have a passion for maintaining the original circuits, so if there's an easy way to add a reliable external 5V supply, that would be interesting too.)

Quoted from RobbyIRL5:

All this talk about Novus is making me think I need to spend a day waxing playfields .
Are you using Novus 2 as the primary wax, or to clean the playfield prior to waxing?
I've heard that Millwax is not good on new playfields (but heard some people still use it?)
I've been cleaning the playfield with Naptha, and then waxing with one of the auto/mirror finish liquid waxes (not the paste).

Quoted from Manny65:

As jawjaw posted the ball can clip the support brace under the wireform - here's a pic of the ball actually resting against the cross brace. A slo-mo video would definitely confirm if this is where the ball is coming off the wireform or at least unsettling the ball causing it not to enter the diverter correctly.
[quoted image]

Quoted from arthurrag:

Hi,
Does anyone know what type of paint to use to touch up the inside of the cabinet? The part that gets scratched from lifting and lowering the play field. Is it flat black or semigloss or something else?
Thanks

Quoted from bakerhillpins:

That's a really bad idea if you ever plan on painting that again. The shoe polish is going to soak into the grain and make a paint prep mess.

Quoted from PinballHaven:

Thanks LTG. Plunger looked good and I replaced coil stop since I was in there already. EOS is not catching with manual activation and I cleaned it again to be sure.
Doesn’t seem to be binding it has play up and down.
I just went into the flipper test menu and right flipper hold makes the buzz noise but doesn’t activate the flipper.........what would that indicate?

Quoted from Davi:

Mirco is the only source.

Quoted from Lhyrgoif:

I've put nvram in 7 of my 8 wpc games, only TZ missing it now. I'm aware of the playfield clock won't show the current time in attract and that midnight madness won't be at 24.00 but are there any other downsides of nvram in TZ?
Normally I remove the battery holder (on board or external) when putting in nvram but maybe I should keep it in just in case me or a possible future owner want the above features back again?!
What's the general consensus about nvram and TZ; do or don't?