I am officially hereby joining the club. Looks as if I've got me some reading to catch up on here! :]

Out with the old:
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In with the less old:
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-Jason

New TZ owner. Got it in a week or so ago. Spent my spare time doing thorough cleaning/polishing/waxing/touchup/etc. before plugging it in & giving it a whirl. I have a few issues, which I bet are common ones, so I figure there are easy answers on the tips of your tongues! :]

1 - Robot ramp lock accepts the ball almost never. I think I got 2 locks out of a couple dozen solid shots. The ball seems to jump up as it enters the ramp & bounce right back out. I tried bending the "back" wall up or down to keep the ball in, but no dice. Suggestions? (I've got the angle & level dialed in--left-to-right lean is good, & the pitch bubble's nose is at the second line.)

2 - Diverter on cross ramp (that stops the ball before it enters The Power mini PF). Ball often bounces off if going too fast, or, after capture, when it releases, it often throws ball in a strange direction (back, up, on plastics, etc.). There was a weird piece of tape on this face when I got the machine, which I removed. Inspired by a "fix" I found online, I double-sticky taped a magnet to the assembly, on the face opposite where the ball rests. Recommended also to put a small pad or dot of tape or something on the face that the ball contacts? Also, during solenoid test, the "dump" motion is way more violent than it is during game play. Normal?

3 - When the autoplunge (to the left of the springy shooter lane) kicks out a ball & it loops around into the right orbit & comes down in front of the upper left flipper, if I don't flip the ball with that little flipper, it drains right down the middle of the bottom flippers. I bent the end of the metal guide that's just above the upper left flipper, & it directs the ball to the bottom right flipper now. Where is the ball supposed to go? Left or right flipper? Sometimes, on slower passes, it will bounce right, perhaps grazing the top of the upper left flipper.

4 - Sound. When I power up, there's a LOUD *bump* driven through the speakers. Occasionally, during gameplay or between games, the speakers spit out another loud *thump*, as if an amp is being switched on. I've got the game volume low (8).

Thanks,
-Jason

Thanks, bigd1979. I've had me a few trials & tribulations with this TZ so far...the right flipper white plastic opto interruptor/"spring" snapped about 3 minutes after I got fed up w/ the robot lock ramp tuning & decided to just play it. Figures...

Got a replacement interruptor + added a spring steel flap.

Hooked the harness back up one pin off (no key in Molex connector!). Let the magic smoke out of the opto PCB.

Fashioned some keys for both flipper connectors so that I don't kill another.

Ordered a Great Lakes magnet flipper PCB. In the mail. *sigh*

Well, this down time has given me ample opportunity to:
- swap all rubbers
- swap most bulbs for LEDs (need to order some more--didn't have enough)
- tighten up some loose things here & there
- replaced all stationary switch foams
- fill the gumball machine w/ plastic balls (indeed, pushing in the first one is scary!)

As for the diverter magnet thing, I employed a used Sonicare toothbrush magnet. Those things are handy. Kinda gross after a tour of duty, but handy. Double-sided tape to the upper corner of the diverter, opposite from the face where the ball contacts. Seems to be well-behaved after 8 or so quick tests with various ball speeds. I have some beefier Neodymium magnets that I can try if needed.

Thanks,
-Jason

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Excellent comments here!

The first thing I do when I get a game that isn't new/babied/HUO/very young/recently shopped is to vacuum/blow out the cabinet, remove & clean everything under the PF where the ball can go, change all the rubbers (if needed), and *then* clean/polish/wax the PF.

Note--definitely save the PF clean/polish/wax step for very last, especially if you're removing old crumbly rubbers--that rubber dust can make quite a bit of a mess, especially when prying (or sometimes cutting) the tiny post rubbers off the posts.

Only then will I throw in some new balls & play.

-Jason

Quick question on sound. There are a handful of quiet sounds on my machine that have just a very little bit of pop or crackle with them. It sounds a little like what you might hear if your iPod headphone jack is a little loose--just a little crackle.

One is the first 3 notes of the TZ theme that play when a ball ends & the bonus sequence starts. Another is the crescendo of the rocket launch after plunging the ball.

I've run the sound tests & hear no issues with all songs/sounds played in the service menu.

I've gone through & wiggled the connectors/solder joints/wires between the speakers & the sound board--nothing loose there--I can't induce the crackle.

My guess is that those few quiet sound files just have little inherent flaws in them. Has anybody else noticed this?

Thanks,
-Jason

I've seen an errantly reported Powerball a few times on mine, but then it's shortly followed by a switch matrix meltdown, blown F115 fuse & U20 chip on the MPU...or worse...blah...

But, I did start losing balls in the game somewhere at one point--they were nowhere to be found--I was down to 3 out of 6!

Turns out that that the ejector to the right of the robot lock ramp was launching the balls *up* & they were getting pinched between 2 pieces & suspended, dangling in a pinch hold above the PF just to the right of that hole! It was a region that I couldn't disassemble to tweak, so just a little filing with a jeweler's file gave it just enough clearance that the balls don't get stuck up in the air there anymore. It was amusing when I found where all those balls had been hiding...

-Jason

Pinging the gang on this again. Still some niggling sound issues. A bit of semi-consistent crackle & pop on quiet sounds, especially end-of-ball sounds (probably most noticed at this time b/c music is off). And, as of a few days ago, the volume sometimes varies significantly, even going silent occasionally, or being consistent & well-behaved for a day or two.

Gotta love the inconsistent issues!

What I've done, which hasn't made any difference:

1 - Swapped sound board
2 - Swapped sound & program ROMs (9.4H)
3 - New 4ohm 5.25" left speaker from Marco, matching the original. New speaker had powder-coating on housing--I scraped some off to get continuity to the ground wire ring terminal.
4 - Wiggled speaker cables
5 - Wiggled sound power cables
6 - Wiggled ribbon cable going to sound board

Any ideas?

Thanks,
-Jason

My TZ is fully LEDded out. Nifty frosted, color-matched under every insert, with a few exceptions. LED flashers all around as well.

No ghosting using 9.4H ROMs. I turned off GI dimming to prevent them from flickering.

Also added the 2-flasher door kit & the gumball sparkle kit, both of which were priced reasonably & easy to install & nice products--they're both really sharp.

-Jason

Tech tip o' the day:

My game has had a history of switch matrix weirdness. It's been behaving for a while, though.

I got some very specific weirdness the other day, & it took me a little while to troubleshoot. Heads-up if you're seeing this weirdness.

Game played fine, but it would get "stuck" in a specific situation.

If I was playing with the Powerball, shot the Powerball into the gumball machine, started Powerball multiball, & then put a ball or two into the subway, then the game wouldn't spit them out. Rather, it would just keep cycling the shooter lane diverter.

A trip through the Single Switches test menu revealed that the Right Trough switch was sticking. It was rubbing on the trough ejector arm. So, apparently, the game thought that there was a ball in the trough but assumed it must be the Powerball b/c the proximity switch wasn't registering a ball, so it kept trying to kick out a nonexistent ball.

A little bending of the switch arm & the kick-out arm, & all's well.

Oy, easy fix. Was scared there for a little while...

Thanks,
-Jason