(Topic ID: 63352)

Twilight Zone Owner's club

By Caucasian2Step

10 years ago


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Topic index (key posts)

8 key posts have been marked in this topic

Display key post list sorted by: Post date | Keypost summary | User name

Post #5897 Updated 9.4H manual with corrections from Coyote Posted by Coyote (5 years ago)

Post #8716 Have your picture taken in the translight Posted by Neal_W (3 years ago)

Post #10381 Switching to stereo sound. Posted by hawknole (2 years ago)

Post #11803 How to Add 3rd Magnet. Posted by mbaumle (2 years ago)

Post #11810 Third Magnet Parts List Posted by mbaumle (2 years ago)

Post #13048 Board replacement options. Posted by DumbAss (1 year ago)

Post #14049 Flipper cabinet opto board data Posted by DumbAss (10 months ago)

Post #14166 More key board data Posted by DumbAss (9 months ago)


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#5035 6 years ago

What a restoration! Happy to say I am also officially in the club with a nice example. So happy to finally have TZ. It's my favorite game. Are there key posts for newbies in this thread? Hard to catch up on 5000 posts. I don't need help with mods, game already has a lot of those. An opto is out in my clock. I understand there are better clock boards out there but not really not really sure what I need. I just want everything to work right. Other problem I have is line out in the dmd. Good excused for a colordmd I suppose.

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#5037 6 years ago
Quoted from PinballManiac40:

I'm sure I can give you a hand with that issue. Which one is it currently flagging?

Game reports clock is broken. Fast clock test shows bottom opto stuck closed.

#5042 6 years ago
Quoted from AlexSMendes:

I really like that Talky Tina doll!

Not sure I like that one. Not a big fan of the whole toy mods stuck all over. TZ is the one game where it does work given the theme and packed playfield. Last owner said they were all high end mods with many no longer available. Seems like most of them can be found on websites and ebay. Thinking of selling some of them but not sure they are worth all that much. Are there any hard to find mods in demand?

1 week later
#5059 6 years ago
Quoted from LitzDoc:

I recommend Ingo clock board. Highly reputable guy from Germany. Many of us in this forum use this board. Easy to install. I even did it and I am all thumbs..
http://www.german-pinball-modular.de/final-tz-clock-pcb-english.html

I've been researching clock boards and that seems to be the way to go. There are cheaper alternatives but looks like the Ingo board will hold up better. Should I lube the gears when I take the clock apart? I read somewhere recommendations of which product to use. Mine is pretty loud on bootup but I don't mind that. Just don't know if that is an issue.

#5134 6 years ago

Anyone selling a plastic replacement for the carboard mini playfield bottom cover? Mine is a little beat up and not looking so good.

#5137 6 years ago

I prefer something not hand cut. There are so many mods and parts available for TZ so surprised there isn't more options. I guess it's not a big deal. Just thought it would be nice to replace it when I remove the mini playfield to shop.

#5160 6 years ago

I'm selling some of the mods removed off my game. All have leds and work. Prices include domestic shipping. PM me if interested.

Talky Tina - looks hand painted and very well done - $200
Dead End Lamp - looks like real metal and detailed - $100
Camera - hand painted but kinda rough looking to be honest - $30

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#5166 6 years ago
Quoted from PinRob:

TT on eBay $120 ebay.com link » Twilight Zone Pinball Talking Tina Mod With Interactive Led Ball

Prices are negotiable of course. I don't know the history of these mods or how easy they are to find. Just got the game and it had too many mods for my tastes. The Tina mod looks a lot better than some I have seen online. It's really well done. I look around and don't see anywhere where you can buy one. Your link is to an ended listing. The lamp also looks pretty good and more detailed than ones I found online. Previous owner talked up all the mods on the game saying most were high end mods no longer available. I think that was a bit of a stretch but some truth to it.

#5178 6 years ago

Dang. Not trying to rip anyone off or anger the pinside price police. There's not much info on these mods so that's why I put up several pics to show everything about them. Not trying to fool nobody. I don't see the Tina mod for sale anywhere. All out of stock. The point is that I have them and looking to see if anyone is interested in buying them.

#5183 6 years ago
Quoted from PinRob:

And props to you for removing some mods from your TZ.

What's funny is that the game has all these mods but not the two that I the most - Robby the robot and the car. Sucker for car and robot stuff. I guess I am keeping the rest of the mods. I wouldn't buy them new but since they are already on the game why not.

#5258 6 years ago

Leds make all the difference to me. Games are so much more enjoyable better lit with richer colors in inserts. I am in the middle of adding leds to my game. I'm also lighting star posts and adding spotlighs. Going to be awesome. I keep hearing how TZ really needs the ocd board. I have all the inserts currently led and they look fine to me. I have the home rom so maybe that helps. Is there a big benefit to getting the ocd board? I don't mind my other games with dimming turned off. TZ seems no different. If you get the ocd board do you need the one for gi, too?

#5278 6 years ago

Not sure of others but the piano mod that came on my TZ is not fastened down. It just slides out. Same with the lights that insert into the back.

#5281 6 years ago

Clock question. I got my Ingo clock board today and just put it in. I followed the instructions step by step. The thing is that I believe the previous owner had the clock rotated 90 degrees. I had it at 12 o'clock when I took it apart. However, when assembling and making sure motor at bottom the hands were either at 9 or 3. I think I guessed correctly putting it back together. When you power on the game or exit menu, it goes to 6 o'clock. After a few minutes it moves around and eventually goes to the correct time. Does this sound correct? Seems like it is since it is showing the correct time.

I also got two extra sets of leds with the board - one rainbow and one cool white. I ordered it with cool white but looks like warm white was installed. Hard to tell since the clock face has warm colors. Do you get an extra set of leds or are you expected to install the ones you requested? I could just swap leds but hate to go through all that trouble for nothing.

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#5285 6 years ago

I did get it back together as it is supposed to. Clock test works. It moves the clock the right direction and optos work. I guess I was more confused than anything how things got turned around.

#5287 6 years ago
Quoted from Durzel:

Your setup sounds weird. When I power on TZ it goes to 12 o'clock (well, more like 11 - I need to resolve that) and then after a period of time it changes to the current time. I can't understand why yours would go to 6 o'clock on startup yet still be correct during attract mode?

I'm assuming the game using the optos to determine where the hands and how to get to the right time. If so then it might not matter how things are orientated as long as the board is installed right way up.

#5293 6 years ago

Think I got my clock sorted with the new board. Anyone interested in my old original board? It looks pretty good as in not burnt up or hacked. Bottom opto is flaky and only worked occasionally in test mode. Not sure if anything else is wrong with it but other optos worked in testing. I have no use for it now but figured someone who likes keeping things original might want it.

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#5295 6 years ago

Finished up shopping my TZ tonight. Still have a few things planned but done with most of it. Borrowed lots of ideas from others. I lit all star posts and upper pf lights and have them on their own dimmers. Upper pf was a challenge with all the lights. Tried several different methods to light signs. I ended up getting 2" corner braces from hardware store and bending them to fit with a light strip. Works perfect. I also have three spotlights. Spotlight by slot machine uses two head flex which does a decent job lighting up the whole back area. Used Comet matrix stuff and didn't have to solder one thing. Everything uses connectors and can easily be tweaked or removed. All new Titan rubbers both clear and blue.

Big thanks to rviguet for the tip on using small button head fasteners instead of rivets. That made things so much easier.

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#5306 6 years ago
Quoted from ryanwanger:

jawjaw Your Twilight Zone looks incredible! Really clean and bright look. We actually just launched a kit for TZ (http://www.cometpinball.com/product-p/kit-tz.htm) that looks remarkably similar to yours. For mine, I used post lights only on the upper playfield, have double spotlights on the slingshots (aiming both at the flippers and up the playfield), and also added a long strip in the back (which I recommend dimming most of the way down so it only adds a small bit of extra light).
The illuminated signs are genius. Having post lights right behind them does help, but yours is a whole other level.
What did you use in the streetlight bulb that shines down at the top of the upper playfield? I had a really hard time trying to get rid of glare from those.

Thanks! I used all Comet stuff, of course! Lighting those signs was a pain. They do light pretty good from the post lights if full bright but I have them dimmed down quite a bit. I didn't want to add any holes to the mini playfield and there is very little room below signs to clear the one jet bumper. I first tried using sockets like someone posted earlier in thread but couldn't get that to work. I used a frosted light strips cut down to 5 leds dimmed down and really happy how evenly it lights up the signs.

For the mini playfield lamp, I tried several different kinds of bulbs. Brightness and glare was a big issue. I settled on 1smd frosted ice blue bulbs. There is still a little glare but I can live with it. That lamp could really use a diffuser to cover the bottom.

The back does need the light strip like you did so that's on my to do list. Looks so dark now that the rest of the game is lit up. Almost seems like a gi string is out.

Quoted from AlexSMendes:

I'm definitely NOT a fan of spotlights. Most of the time they block the ball view... I removed each and every spotlight from my machines.

Something blocking your view is an annoyance of mine as well. The spotlights over the slings don't block my view. All new games have them and I am pretty used to them. The one I put in the back next to the slot machine does somewhat. I am planning on tucking it down, out of sight. It would be cool if there was a slimmer socket and bulb combo for spotlights. They stick out so far and that seems so unnecessary with leds that are so tiny. That would sure make it easy to tuck in spotlights in tight places and make them more hidden.

#5308 6 years ago

Is it a common issue for the ball to fall of the right ramp when the upper playfield is lit? I'm not talking about the diverter catching the ball. Mine has a magnet and that works perfectly. This is when the ball should go straight across to the upper playfield. Mine is falling off halfway just about all the time unless ball is traveling very slow. The diverter strength seems to be the cause. When it dumps down to let the ball go past, it seems to be shaking the ball off the ramp. You can see it shake the ramp and upper playfield when it slams down.

#5320 6 years ago
Quoted from ryanwanger:

I believe this was happening with mine years ago, but I can't remember now what the fix was for sure.
I think it might have been readjusting the habitrail. Try loosening the screw where it attaches to the upper playfield and see if you can get it to settle differently into place. Or just wait a few minutes...I'm sure you'll get a more concrete response fro someone with a better memory.

I believe everything is secured down well. With the mini playfield in place all the way back, the ramp is pretty much locked in with that one screw. I will check into it more tonight. I just want to play at this point but it bugs me when things don't work right. I'm also getting the brick outs of the lock shot but I know there is a lot of info on addressing that. I remember one being pretty simple without taking everything apart. Mine isn't that bad so will deal with it later.

#5328 6 years ago
Quoted from ryanwanger:

True, but it can still be both tight and misaligned at the same time.
I believe there is also a nut halfway across that keeps it in place? You can loosen this and adjust the rail outward or inward...or even bend it so the the habitrail is at a different angle.
Drat...I'm sorry I don't remember. I do think having a violent diverter can impact this as well. I would check the alignment of that as well so that hopefully it's as smooth as possible.

Right, there is a screw in the middle. It was a bit loose but tightening it didn't seem to help. The diverter seems smooth enough and has the right coil looking at the manual. Only questionable looking thing is there are two washers on the top of the coil shaft instead of one listed in manual. That doesn't affect the movement, though. Looks like I just need to play with it some more to get it right. I just never seen that before on TZ's I have played. The problem is usually the diverter not catching the ball and not the ball getting knocked off the ramp when the diverter moves.

#5340 6 years ago

That plastic pivot since only held done by that one bolt. I have an aftermarket lamp but positioned it so the lamp part is flat across the playfield. That meant turning it all one way at the base.

I'm new to the TZ world but isn't the pitch of the mini pf adjustable? On the right side, the playfield is suspended by a spring and looks like tightening/loosing the nut will raise/lower that side of the mini pf. I was just messing with that last night since I forgot to change out the post rubber under it.

#5344 6 years ago

I didn't know sample games had so many differences. Can you use washers as shims instead?

#5349 6 years ago

That mini pf is a pain to get in and out. I really hate how short they made the wires. I also did the trick of plugging in all the connectors with the playfield raised and testing the leds first. Good thing because several needed adjusting. I didn't hot glue but that's a good idea. Those leds have a tendency to wiggle out.

#5353 6 years ago
Quoted from Durzel:

Is it normal for the trough switch 26 to throw a wobbler every time you remove the balls and put them back in again? When I'm working on my TZ I empty the balls using the menu (9.4H ROM), lift the PF and do whatever, then add the balls to the game one by one whilst using the Gumball Test to fire them back into the gumball machine in the right order (2 regular + PB).
Every time I've done this after a couple of games it throws a "Check Trough Proximity 26" error or whatever that switch is. I cleared this the last time it came up simply by getting the Powerball back into the trough so that the eddy switch sees it again.
I have an upgraded eddy switch in place already that the previous owner installed - I think it's this one: http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/A-16533-PP
Any thoughts?

Does everything work in the game including powerball detection? I've had games throw errors for what seems like no reason. Those errors usually clear after a few games. How often do you remove all the balls? Most of the time I just shove a rag into the ball eject when lifting the playfield.

#5376 6 years ago

I think Pinrob's art blades match up pretty good. Be cool to see more pics with betting lighting.

#5422 6 years ago
Quoted from billsfanmd:

TZ mod question...Torn between buying an original TZ with almost no mods or spending the going market price for one loaded with all the nice mods....THe answer is prob obvious that getting one modded saves money and time.....If I get one that I mod myself are most of the popular modes (robbie, slot, rocket, tz etched lamp, thunderbird, led lighting kits) sold by one person and you buy a bunch or do you end up buying 1 each from 6-7 diff places?

I would just look for the TZ in the best condition with a fair price. Mods do add up in costs so best to do a little research and see what the mods you want will end up costing. I don't think there is one place to get them all since there are so many mods. Lermods, mezelmods, pinbits, and pinballdecals are good places to start. Some things can only be found on ebay.

#5429 6 years ago

Best to use the manual as a guide and take inventory of the rings on the playfield. I used Titan dark blue for post rubbers and translucent rings. The blue matches up with the blue in the playfield. The translucent look pretty good with all my lit star posts. I put up a pic not long ago after I shopped out my game.

Speaking of rings, does anyone have an issue with the ball hitting the post in the shooter lane just above the upper flipper? I had to take the rubber off the post because the ball would hit during auto launch. Works better now but you can still hear the ball hitting the metal post on auto launch.

#5445 6 years ago
Quoted from yaheath:

I recently acquired a TZ, my first purchase of a pinball, and I’ve been having a blast fixing stuff on it. My family and I have been having a blast playing it too.
I need to tackle the clock at some point, the minute hand optos aren’t registering. But while working on something else, I had the pf pulled forward and resting on the handles, and turned on power. The clock passed the self test! Apparently just from sitting at a different angle, the optos were registering the minute hand.
I also have an issue where sometimes during play I’ll hear a solenoid fire under the pf, when there’s not a ball under there. Always twice, separated by a second or two: “thump” ... “thump”. I’m pretty sure it’s the solenoid that kicks the ball up out of the slot machine. And sometimes the diverter on the wire ramp will flip for no apparent reason (even if the ball was nowhere near the ramp). Any troubleshooting tips?

Congrats. TZ is an awesome game. Just got mine not long ago. I also had issues with the clock optos. Instead of wasting time on the old boards, I bought the new Ingo clock board that is engineered better so should never have a problem again. Easy swap and new board has swappable leds.

Coils firing like that are usually the result of a faulty switch - probably an opto. Open the game menu and go into the switch test. Hand press every switch and break the beam on every opto in the game. You should see that switch and only that switch trip on the display. If a switch triggers multiple switches then there is a short issue. Also bang around the playfield and see if any opto's trigger off of vibrations. For a complete list of switches, look for the switch matrix in the manual.

#5456 6 years ago
Quoted from yaheath:

Another thing that's been happening is occasional airballs when the ball hits the target right next to the slot machine scoop. Sometimes really bad airballs, like off the glass, over the sling and landing in the left outlane. I already tried bending the target forward but that didn't help. Do I need to replace the foam stuff behind it?

Best thing is to get a reinforced target like the following. They seem to be out of stock often, though.
http://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/A-18530-6R

I had the same problem with a few targets on my Shadow and those fixed the problem. For now, you can shove some more padding behind the targets.

#5468 6 years ago

Left flipper always felt weak or sluggish on mine. Inconsistent, too. Cleaning the opto helped but replacing the opto board finally seemed to fix it.

#5479 6 years ago
Quoted from billsfanmd:

Ingo clock board swap. Easy? Looking at a tz with bad close Clock so may do this first. I like the blue. So do I need blue leds and clear case or blue case?

I just did it and it's easy. There are clear instructions. Make sure hands are are at midnight at the start and keep everything straight when you take it apart. I somehow got things turned around in process but think it was not put together right before I got the pin.

I used natural white leds with the stock clock face. I wouldn't use blue leds since they are pretty dark in color. Leds are easy to swap on the board so you can always try.

#5489 6 years ago

You mean 9.4H rom? I just put a colordmd in my game. Only funny thing I saw was some distoration during mb start animation when a friend was playing. It had a bunch of random lines all over the display. Only saw that once. On my other colordmd game MET, I have seen it loose color for a bit and then go back to color for a second or two during animations. Thatis pretty rare though. How often does that happen on yours?

#5502 6 years ago

Are the two proximity sensors linked together? Both of mine stopped working at the same time. I checked fuses, examined the wiring, fiddled with the connectors, and now they seem to be working again. Researching proximity errors it seems like the connectors are a big problem. Would one connector affect both sensors?

#5506 6 years ago
Quoted from Coyote:

It's possible that you lost the +12v. While the boards are on different row/column switches, they ARE powered by +12v and GND. A break in either *could* affect the other. (I'm not sure the route of the +12v or GND wires between the two boards.)

Good to know. Don't know too much when it comes to these things. Next time it happens I will know what to focus on. Thought maybe I did something when I repaired a broken wire to a target last night.

1 week later
#5538 6 years ago

Any tips for exactly how to lube the clock gears? Mine is pretty noisy. When I swapped out the board a little while ago, I tried to apply a little Super Lube to the different gears but it made no difference.

3 weeks later
#5603 6 years ago

They made something like 15000 Twilight Zones. Monster Bash and Medieval Madness came out when pinball on downturn so not nearly as many made. Simply supply and demand. I would rank TZ as one of the best. Loaded with features, great theme, and great code. Those other games are overpriced for what they are imo.

#5612 6 years ago

I usually like more flow games but TZ makes it work. It feels good to stick the shots and hear the ball smack metal. The stop time gives you a chance to look up at the dmd, appreciate the animations/info, and quickly look for what to shoot for next. Game will definitely punish you if you are just knocking the ball around.

TZ has always been my favorite game but I was also afraid of the maintenance. Once I got more comfortable working on pins, that fear went away. I've only had my TZ for 3 months and most of the problems have been very simple. Most of the time something just needs adjusting. I'm still trying to get things to play better but I am pretty picky about how a game plays.

#5626 6 years ago

Tough to stay away from the mods. TZ is just a magnet for them and so many cool ones out there. Not sure they are all worth the trouble though. Mine came with a bunch of mods which some are pretty nice. Problem is that some don't stay in place very well and often need adjustment. I added two mods - the robot and tbird. There were issues with those and had to get replacements and refunds. Eventually got it all worked but what a pain.

1 week later
#5666 6 years ago

I don't recall getting much communication from him but got my board in a fair bit of time earlier this year. He did reach out to me through PM's when I posted a few questions here on pinside. Very helpful.

#5678 6 years ago

I wouldn't be happy with that either, durzel. I've seen the same sort of thing on reproduction translites and other stuff. Some people seem to not care but it's pretty obvious to me. I would contact Marco and just see what they say. You never know what to expect from places like ebay but I would expect better from Marco.

#5703 6 years ago

What is the recommended slope for TZ? I know the standard is 6.5 degrees or the bubble touching the 2nd bottom line. I set mine up that way but had to extend the rear casters all the way out and the front all the way down. Hard to imagine it was designed to be setup like that. None of my other pins are like that and can be setup to pretty steep angles.

#5711 6 years ago
Quoted from Durzel:

What he said ^^
If you're having to extend the legs that far, you've definitely got two or more of them installed in the wrong holes. You shouldn't have to extend them that far to get to and beyond 6.5 degrees.

I definitely have all 4 legs in lower two holes. That's where the legs have always been mounted looking at the wear. I cannot even put them in the top holes if I wanted to unless I flip the backing plate.

#5753 6 years ago

Talking about the age of these games makes me feel old. I was in college when TZ was new and doesn't seem that long ago. I get the frustrations with TZ. I've only owned my game for around 4 months and had the glass off more than on. I don't even put the keys away like I do the others. I always leave it on my desk right next to the game. I hate seeing credit dots and TZ loves to throw one every few games or so even though game seems to be playing well. Still love TZ, though. Best game ever!

#5771 6 years ago

I have lithium batteries in a remote battery holder. Battery holder was like $20 and no modifications necessary. Battery holder sits where the coin box sits so easy access and far from boards. I don't really care about cost of batteries. Any battery should last a long while so it's not like you change them out often. Better to just get what works best. Nvram would be ideal but I do like the clock feature showing the correct time.

2 weeks later
#5839 5 years ago

@mercat - Your game looks awesome. Like your contrasting flipper bats and blue star posts. Looks slick.

One question - what LED are you using for the slot machine? Is that an LED without a lens with a yellow condom over it? I am using a regular LED bulb with a frosted lens but it's a little too tall.

#5845 5 years ago
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

Does anybody know where I can find a clear TZ ramp? I need to replace mine and would like to swap out the smoke ramp so you can better see the back plastics

How about this? I bought a ramp for my Congo from them and happy with it.
http://www.starship-fantasy.com/ramps/Twilight-Zone-Clear-Main-Ramp

I'm curious how that would look. Not sure I like the tinted for same reasons but not cheap.

1 week later
#5863 5 years ago

I had that problem after getting the robot mod. It was always the powerball and would get stuck by the right foot. Took a metal bracket I had, fastened a star post to one end, and glued other end under robot metal base. Doesn't look to out of place.

2 weeks later
#5936 5 years ago

Clock is pretty easy to take apart. If the board has leds probably not original. Might help to at least clean the optos. While you are in there you can see what board you have and visually inspect it. I also recommend Ingo's board unless you are keeping everything original.

1 week later
#5953 5 years ago
Quoted from DW3000:

So, I haven't found anything too solid on this - some ideas here and there - but what I was wondering is what the best LED setup for a person who doesn't want the machine to *look* like LEDs would be...?
I like keeping my TZ stock. I don't have any toys or stuff glued anywhere, no blades or backboard, and I like the original look of the incandescent bulbs. I'm not entirely convinced I'd go LED, but there is a part of me that's interested in reducing the machine's power consumption and heat, while also not having to worry about replacing hard-to-access bulbs (or really any bulbs) again.
If I go this route, I'd be getting an LED-OCD and a GI-OCD and likely do it during my upcoming playfield swap.
Like, I know how to make it look like it obviously DOES have LEDs and how to make it look bright and intense and the way I don't want it to look -- but if I'm going for the stock look, what are some good options and things to avoid? I'd likely go with Comet LEDs, warm white - mayyyybe some sunlight in the backbox since my translite is already coming across fairly yellow/warm with the incandescents (I've put some GE 545 blinkers in the backbox and they aren't *quite* as yellow as the Eiko #555 bulbs, so that's what gave me that idea).
Is it best to just throw warm white pretty much everywhere if I want a stock look? Frosted? Should I be color matching some of the inserts/door panels or the piano/gumball/spiral rubbered lights for the best look? If I go LED, I ultimately want it to look pretty much like a stock machine with standard bulbs, so no cool-white or purple/blue/color-change anywhere.
Mostly, I'm hoping that someone has done this and has some tips or even some photos. I've seen a lot of photos of LED'd TZ machines, but not too many showing the natural look, and fewer still showing what a person went through to acheive it. Worst case scenario, I'm also perfectly fine leaving it incandescent unless it can be made to look really close - I'm already rebuilding a lot of the wear-parts and mechs, so my wallet wouldn't mind that option either.

Best thing to do is buy some sample warm and sunlight bulbs with different lenses and see what looks good. I would stick with 1smd bulbs unless you want something brighter the 2smd. I used sunlight bulbs in my Congo and like the results. It's a warmer white without being too yellow. For inserts, color match for richer color except yellow and orange. Those look better with warm white bulbs. I use clear lens for all except where bulb visisble then frosted. Not exactly stock looking but much easier on the eyes. I also like using the flex heads to light inserts where the bulb is not centered well. For large inserts, I might use a 2smd bulb or even a 2smd flex. That said, I like my games on the bright side like newer games. Keep the stock flashers. LED ones are very bright and stock works fine.

#5977 5 years ago
Quoted from gjm7777:

One thing that seems common in many of the playfield pics I see of this game, the inserts on the door panel, and for the black squares underneath, they appear to be raised, almost looking like a decal sticker - is this common? I'm not sure how they did it back in the day during production, say lay those down and then shoot clear over them for instance.

Artwork gives it a 3D effect but it's all flat and under clear.

#5985 5 years ago

Definitely buy colordmd instead of another dmd. Go with LCD. LED too bright imo and only good for games where the LCD does not fit. I think the LCD just looks better plus you get display options. Like a lot of people, I like dotsXL. It has a natural dot look but updated with color.

1 month later
3 weeks later
#6182 5 years ago

Anyone know where I can get replacement led for the Ingo clock board? I got one going bad. I contacted Ingo with same question. He said he was going to mail me a replacement but that was a long time ago.

#6189 5 years ago

Thanks, Ingo. I shot you a pm but no big deal. I don't want to be a bother over an led. I can wait and no stranger to long shipping delays. Funny thing is I thought I received it yesterday when I saw a small overseas package in my mailbox. Turned out to be some cheap, little thing I ordered for my daughter off Amazon 6 weeks ago.

Love the clock board! It's been working perfect. Wish I could say the same for the trough proximity sensor. Dang thing is always finicky.

#6194 5 years ago

Think I do need to directly solder the two boards. I keep thinking I have it good when it works right for a while but doesn't take too long to get that stupid credit dot. It just seems so wrong cutting off connectors and directly soldering wires like that.

1 week later
#6238 5 years ago

I didn't know about the slow blink bulbs. Mine came with regular leds and I never noticed other games flashing. Pinball life says there are supposed to be 8 slow blink bulbs in the backbox. Where do they go?

#6253 5 years ago
Quoted from Squeakman:

I'm sure everyone knew this but me, but was playing my TZ tonight and when you are in the multi-ball where you hit jackpot with the piano shot, if you hit the Powerball in there it doubles your jackpot. Got 70 million tonight from that. Just another cool thing I never knew about the game.

I didn't know that!

#6262 5 years ago
Quoted from Duvall:

I’m confused too. I thought to beat the power you need to drop the ball through the top of the mini-PF?
How do defeat without doing that (or more simply, how do you defeat the power with the ceramic ball?)

I do know that you can shoot the camera shot when a ball is on the mini pf to collect the jackpot. There is no exit switch on the mini pf so the game thinks you beat it. Thus you could shoot the powerball in the camera and the game might think you beat the mini pf with it. I don't see how it would be designed that way since it would impossible to legitimately do that.

2 weeks later
#6312 5 years ago

Is there any scoring strategies for LITZ? I get there now and then but never can come close to the default high score of 300m.

#6320 5 years ago
Quoted from Coyote:

Depends.
The BEST strategy? Muhaha..
On your ball, be sure to get GREED, Clock Millions (+ Clock Ten Millions, if you're *good*), TSQ Madness, and go ahead and get a Powerball Multiball going as well.
Okay, got that done? Start LITZ!
In LITZ, if you're good with the Powerfield, keep a ball up there - make sure it hits the upper opto often. All the other balls, shoot into the Dead End or Camera. 50m Jackpots for them all.
At the end of LITZ, your score will be the modes I mentioned above, added to the score you got in those modes DURING LITZ. Including the Powerball Multiball total.
Get really good, and you can have a LITZ score over a quarter of a billion. If not more.

Are you trying to say that if you do well in those modes then point values will be higher in LITZ if on the same ball? I don't remember seeing any additional scores being added in LITZ payoff. It shows you all the shots and things you hit in the mode where each is worth what seems like a default amount of points. For example, I think you get 10m for every left ramp shot. I probably need to let some of the balls drain and focus on making the camera shot, piano, or upper pf.

Cool thing is I replaced my right ramp last week and that made making that shot so much easier. Embarrassed to say that I never noticed my right ramp had a broken weld on the bottom left for like 9 months. It just looked natural being wide open at the bottom. Never understood why it was so clunky getting a ball up that ramp on my game and so smooth on other TZ's.

#6323 5 years ago

Man, so much more to TZ than I previously thought. Thanks for explaining that, Coyote. Lots to think about. One strategy is to ignore all the modes and just try to complete all the door panels. That gets you to LITZ fairly easily but you miss out on a lot of points. Playing out everything can get you a lot of points and extra balls but often high risk in draining. Such a good game!

#6335 5 years ago

I need to learn the rules better. I don't really know of any strategy with playing the modes other than trying to bring something into multiball. What are some examples of what not to do? I usually just try to plow through door panel modes and shoot for things like gumball, camera, or upper pf when lit.

I've always love TZ and feels awesome to own one. My university center had a large arcade in the basement back in the early 90's. Sometimes they had some of the games on free play and that's when I played pinball the most. TZ always stuck out as my favorite even though I had no idea of rules. There is always something to shoot for in TZ and plenty of shots with 4 flippers. Modes are fairly simple and short plus you can stack any number of them. You don't get stuck playing out long modes and having to complete them to progress like a lot of modern games. There are just so many crazy combination of modes to get going at once. The stop and go style play is usually not my favorite but just seems to work well with TZ. You get a chance to look up at the display and think about what you need to do next.

#6340 5 years ago
Quoted from Rdoyle1978:

the diverter on my mini playfield wireform has started doing crazy things with the ball lately. Sometimes it throws the ball down hard, toward the left ramp. I have the robot mod there, so it just gets caught. Sometimes I hit the ball hard and the diverter doesn't get out of the way in time, and the ball, which should go to the mini PF, kind of crashes around until it lands on the main playfield. I don't remember this being an issue before - and I have the little magnet on the side of the diverter. Is this type of behavior common? or do I have an overactive diverter?
thanks all!

I have similar problems. Diverter slams hard and sometimes knocks ball of wireform. Even when the ball stays on the wireform you can see it hop a little. Part of the problem was the screw kept coming loose that holds it down wireform between ramps. Threadlock helped keep it in place and helped the issue. I just wonder if the magnet on the diverter adds a lot of mass and might be a cause. At least it always catches the ball. I did put a star post next to the robot because had same problem of balls getting caught there.

1 week later
#6398 5 years ago

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.

#6405 5 years ago
Quoted from Mad_Dog_Coin_Op:

It does seems like the Rotten Dog board is eating my batteries. The batteries are testing weak after only a couple months. Got to have my clock working so NVRam isn’t an option on TZ for me. Has anybody tried a memory capacitor on a Rotten Dog MPU? In theory I think it should work.

Quoted from Mad_Dog_Coin_Op:

It does seems like the Rotten Dog board is eating my batteries. The batteries are testing weak after only a couple months. Got to have my clock working so NVRam isn’t an option on TZ for me. Has anybody tried a memory capacitor on a Rotten Dog MPU? In theory I think it should work.

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.

2 weeks later
#6453 5 years ago

My right ramp, crossover wireform, and diverter are energized when the power is on. I was doing a little maintenance and kept getting shocked when touching these metal parts. It's not a lot of current but still concerning. Only issue I have with the game right now is the sound. Sound volume keeps dropping off. Slapping the cab brings it back. I tried reseated the audio board connectors and press the chips in. That helped some. Not sure if that is related. Maybe I have a major ground issue? Never had a problem like this. Any ideas of what to check?

#6458 5 years ago

Thanks for the help lyonsden and coyote. I spent more time with it this afternoon. Noticed it only shocked me if I touched the side rail and metal ramp parts. It must of been a coil issue because it stopped doing it when the coin door was open. I checked all the coils under the playfield. Some coils were a bit twisted but didn't look like any terminals was touching metal. I must of did something pushing wires around because problem went away.

One connector on the sub was a little loose. Tried making that a little tighter and sound problems seem to have gone away as well. Two for two today!

1 week later
#6483 5 years ago
Quoted from arcadenerd925:

Quick question: The only airballs I get are off the target to the left of the slot machine scoop. When i picked up my machine, I replaced that target with a reinforced one because the original was bent back. But I am still getting pretty regular airballs there. Are there any tricks to tweaking the angle there to reduce?

Only thing I know is extra padding to keep the target from bending back as much. I have a reinforced target as well and get some air balls. Not as bad as my Shadow where I was getting air balls over the flippers.

#6487 5 years ago
Quoted from Tranquilize:

Just need to support the Shadow standups so that they point downward. No more airballs.

I replaced the switches with reinforced ones. That really helped. Still get some hops but nothing crazy. Curious, though, what do you mean by pointing them down? Like bending the mounting bracket?

1 week later
#6544 5 years ago

I never read instruction cards but gotta have them. That's the rules lol. Same reason you have to have coin mechs. Don't need them at home but you gotta have them.

1 week later
#6568 5 years ago
Quoted from PtownPin:

Is it challenging to take off the upper play field?

It's pretty straightforward. Hardest thing for me is dealing with the connectors. Mine have pretty much no slack which makes it difficult getting everything back together.

#6575 5 years ago
Quoted from Scotty_K:

x1!! I did this exact thing, and fried my optos real good!
Take a marker or paint pen or something and mark the connectors before taking them apart, so this way you'll get them back to where they belong.

Dang, that sucks. Someone marked all the connectors to the boards on one of my pins. I thought that was a great idea. I do that now if there is any doubt where something goes. Pictures are good as well but things can happen to pics.

2 weeks later
#6616 5 years ago
Quoted from allsportdvd:

I have seen some pics on this thread of post Leds in the upper Playfield. Anyone have any advice?
I also have a question as to which rubbers fit here
I bought a kit from Titan but none seem to match this spot[quoted image]

There should be 4 rubbers there - 2 on each post of 7/16" od. Same as on the post to the left of it. There should also be a plastic lane guide.

Is this what you mean by post leds on upper playfield? I lit all my star posts using Comet matrix stuff. It all connects using connectors so no soldering. I also used a dimmer since lights were very bright. It wasn't that hard to do but had it's challenges. I also lit the two signs using light strips and custom brackets.

20180128_215532 (resized).jpg20180128_215532 (resized).jpg
#6621 5 years ago
Quoted from allsportdvd:

Yes, that Comet Matrix sounds perfect! Sounds much better than me trying to solder a bunch of lights up there, however still mentions hooking up to a GI socket but there isn’t one under the upper Playfield. What did you do?

I used a bulb splitter in the payfield gi that was out of view in the rear. I then ran an extension cable from that down under playfield and back up to the mini playfield that could easily be disconnected. Splitters and short extensions used under mini pf. I used other bulb splitters for other added lights around pf so not to overload one circuit. I tried to plan things out on paper but recommend just buying a bunch of extensions in different lengths and splitters.

Comet sells lighter star posts as a kit but I never tried them. I just bought their post lights and sourced star posts from somewhere else. The problem I had was the post light led never fit under the star posts. They were always too wide. I had to use an exacto knife and remove material from the inside of each star post to get a clean fit.

https://www.cometpinball.com/MATRIX-1-SMD-5050-FLEX-6-3V-QUICK-CONNECT-p/mtx1smdflex.htm
https://www.cometpinball.com/MATRIX-Wires-p/mtxconnect.htm
https://www.cometpinball.com/MATRIX-2-and-3-Splitters-p/mtxsplit.htm
https://www.cometpinball.com/product-p/mtxbriteadj.htm
https://www.cometpinball.com/4-SMD-6-3V-LIGHTED-POST-LIGHT-p/mtxpost.htm

#6624 5 years ago
Quoted from DW3000:

Is there anything to look for on the skill-shot scoop that might make a person want to replace it? Say, if my welds are undamaged, there’s no reason to upgrade it, is there?
Reason being, I’m going to do an order from Mantis and figured if this is something to look into I might as well add it and only pay shipping once.
I can’t see that this scoop would take much damage generally, so figured I’d check if this is something preventative to get, or only needed if the original is trashed.

Never hurts to have spare parts but I wouldn't replace it if functioning properly and looks good.

#6643 5 years ago
Quoted from Antennaejim:

Does anyone have a spare plastic like this that they could part with? Please pm me mine is toast. Thank you!!!
[quoted image]

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/31-1765-22

2 weeks later
#6693 5 years ago
Quoted from allsportdvd:

Here are some pics. The Playfield is on a slight angle when looking straight on in the third picture but it has no movement down near the pop bumpers
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

Do you have some kind of blade like mirror blades? Looks like it if the white is protective film. Even with that, you should have plenty of clearance and the sign should not hang over edge of playfield. For one thing, try adjusting the bracket the sign is held on by.

#6703 5 years ago
Quoted from flynnibus:

you can still have other switch matrix issues causing the clock fault that would not be reported in just the clock test mode because you aren't seeing all the switch hits in that test. Broken clock comes on when it sees opto triggers when it doesn't think it should, or they are missing. It's not just a matter of 'switch hits' in test, but that they come on WHEN expected, and not any other times.

This. Check all switches and optos. In the switch test, activate every switch one at a time and make sure no other switches trigger at the same time. I just had a problem like this on a FT I am working on. Pop bumper hit was also triggering a sling. Turned out to be a loose wire on the launch button.

I would also bang around the optos and make sure optos do not trigger on vibrations. I have seen optos work perfectly in testing but trigger randomly during gameplay due to vibrations of coils firing or ball hitting things.

#6722 5 years ago
Quoted from Tranquilize:

Seems to be a lot of pumping up on replacing a perfectly fine board. Strange. I pulled the board, reheated it, wired the sandwich connector, pulled the sockets, wired 555 LEDs directly to the board and put it back together. It's been running with no issues whatsoever for over 3 years. My buddy did the same with his, and his is just the same. The process takes about an hour if you wire the connector, but you don't have to do this, so it could be as short as half an hour.

Sounds great if you have the skills and know what you are doing. It's nice to have the option of getting a brand new upgraded board with leds for reasonable cost for those that lack in skills.

1 month later
#6803 5 years ago

I find that odd but yes that is normal. I don't recall my game ever kicking out balls out of the lock between games.

2 weeks later
#6844 5 years ago
Quoted from Murphelman:

Tech issue and question. My sensor proximity boards in the trough and subway are working properly. LED goes on and off when it should. Powerball is not behaving properly in game. It is giving me random powerball mutliballs and does not do anything different when ceramic ball is in play.
Yes I have checked the settings. The only problem with the game is a credit dot for thw gumball diverter for some reason even though it works perfectly fine.
could they be related? Any ideas?
TIA

When the powerball is kicked out of the trough, do you get the Powerball animation on the dmd? Same should happen when the powerball is ejected from the gumball and before kicked out of the slot machine. Those would tell if you the proximity switches are working correctly. If you are going into powerball multiball, the game must think the powerball is in play (powerball inserts should be lit) and right orbit opto is triggered. That opto may be bad which would mean the diverter never activates. When something doesn't get activated over certain number of games, you get a credit dot for it. I'm hardly the expert at this stuff but I would check all switches and optos. Bang around the pf and see if optos trigger. Had that happen on one game. Opto worked fine in testing but triggered on vibrations.

#6847 5 years ago
Quoted from Murphelman:

Boards appear to work. LED turns on when Metal ball touches them and stays off when ceramic ball touches them. Diverter is not a switch. it is a coil and works fine. Never had a problem with it so confused my the credit dot.
With boards appearing to be working properly I am confused why the game is not doing what it is supposed to with the powerball.

I said check the opto. The diverter coil will fire based off of the opto. Everything in the game is controlled by switches/optos. If the powerball does not go back into the gumball machine when in play and the multiball starts randomly, it sounds like switch issues.

1 week later
#6881 5 years ago
Quoted from nightsearcher:

Option is a new backglass from CPR

Anyone buy one yet? I am curious how they look and worth the price.

2 months later
#7053 4 years ago
Quoted from BenB:

I picked up my TZ a few weeks and have been going through it. I am wondering where the best place to get the newest Home Roms would be. I still have the original game roms currently.

Quick search:
http://www.pinbits.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=30

#7059 4 years ago

If everything works then I wouldn't worry about it.

1 week later
#7086 4 years ago
Quoted from mrf_pa:

Be very careful, I made the mistake once of cleaning a translight using just some warm water applied to a soft rag, 10 seconds of barely touching the back of the translight and there was more white paint on the rag than the translight. A very costly error. If it looks OK from the front, you may want to consider just leaving it alone.

I've cleaned translites before with just wiping down with mild cleaner and rag. However, I did try to clean the one on my FT and the white paint came off. It was a spot that was already stained with something. Thing was filthy and nasty so had to be cleaned or replaced.

#7096 4 years ago

You could just replace the flipper opto boards and rebuild all the flippers. That's what I did when I first got my pin. Flippers didn't feel strong and no obvious problems. Adds up in cost but doesn't hurt to make sure everything fresh and correct. Also check to make sure correct coils installed. The last game I got, FT, flipped okay but had wrong coils and incorrect parts.

#7100 4 years ago
Quoted from Tranquilize:

Poor advice imho.
<soapbox> Replacing boards instead of learning to service them needlessly adds to the landfill and doesn’t help the owner learn more about how his game works. The more you learn, the easier future fixes will be. There is a pride in running old machines with old boards that you and others have cleaned and serviced. Reject throw-away culture!" </soapbox>

Uh, ok. Woe is me for throwing away a few small old grungy boards and worn out flipper parts. How will I ever sleep at night? Please. Time is a factor in everything and not like I threw away the entire pin because one switch is out. I got full time job, 3 kids, aging parents, and a house to run. If I can replace a part cheaply and get things working right quickly, I am going to do that. It's a blessing you can buy so many replacement pin parts.

3 weeks later
#7185 4 years ago
Quoted from Adipocere:

It does not. Its weird that the tests don't work, but it works just fine in game.

Maybe because high voltage to coils cutoff when coin door open? Try pushing in the door switches when trying to empty the balls.

1 month later
#7284 4 years ago
Quoted from Flipper_McGavin:

For my first pinball machine, I was previously looking at only buying a brand new modern machine as I prefer fresh and new , but the Twilight Zone caught my attention just because it's #4 in the top 100.
How does the number of game modes, actions, and mechanical complexity of the playfield on a Twilight Zone compare to something new from JJP or American? I was looking at something like Wonka or Oktoberfest.

TZ really can't compare to new games when it comes to code depth, display quality, light shows, etc. JJP games even take all that to a higher level. That said, modern games tend to get pretty complicated and quantity is not always equal to quality. TZ is from the golden era of the early 90's and a huge classic. Modes are pretty basic but there is a lot more to gameplay than just playing out modes. It's my favorite game but not everyone loves it. I recommend playing any game first before deciding to buy one.

1 week later
#7320 4 years ago

Anyone get the clock broken error with Ingo's board? I get it now and then but error goes away. Clock seems to work fine so not sure if that is just a TZ thing.

#7324 4 years ago
Quoted from Thor-NL:

Ingo's clock is a must , besides that, did you check if the hands are not warped?
When warped or loose it does not always close the opto, giving intermittent errors.

Don't think so. I did just take it apart to replace another flaky opto on the clock board. Second time that has happened.

#7329 4 years ago
Quoted from german-pinball:

Oops, that should not happen. You are one of the very few who reports such a "problem".
What optos did you have to change? One on the bottom- or top side of the board?
I have used more than 10000 Optos TCST1103 in the last 15 years, and very very seldom an opto failed, these are very reliable. Mightbe, we had a bad charge of a few optos.
If that should happen again, we will change your board on my costs. Simply send me PM then!!!!

Appreciate that. I don't recall the clock ever not working but have seen the clock broken error message a handful of times. The last led to have a problem is the top right one. I can't remember which one it was before. They start to flicker and then go out but come back on once in a while. I have extra spares from what you sent me last time so I am all good for now. If another goes out, I will send you a PM.

2 months later
#7539 4 years ago
Quoted from McSquid:

I'm down to my last couple problems with my TZ restoration, which is saying a lot considering where I started. My pop bumper lamps are all significantly different brightnesses. The one in front is bright as expected, the one on the right is dim but passable, and the one on the left is VERY dim. Ive quadruple checked the wiring, all connectors and boards are new and wiggling them has no effect. wiggling lamps, wires, diodes, etc also all have no effect. As far as I can tell these are the only lamps I'm having this issue with. The lamps behave normally in that they are off when expected and on when expected without ghosting. Only the brightness is a problem. I am running an LED OCD board, but the problem is still there if I plug directly into the driver board bypassing the OCD.
Any troubleshooting advice?
Only other issue at this point is the occasional false positive powerball mode on the subway sensor, but Ive read that this can be caused by not enough incline of the game (mine is still on the shop table with only a 2x4 providing some very floaty gameplay testing.)

OCD LED is only for the insert lamps only. Should have nothing to do with GI lamps. Have you tried a different bulb? I would try another led or even an incandescent bulb. Maybe the one led bulb is bad. I would also check to see if the lamp socket is corroded or funky.

2 weeks later
#7619 4 years ago
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?

Check the High Score Reset Every setting in HSTD Adjustments.

1 week later
#7662 4 years ago
Quoted from Durzel:

Does anyone have a reliable list of bulbs (GI and inserts) for the game? I've learnt not to trust the Williams manuals for accuracy.
Thanks!

I might still have my notes at home somewhere. I make my own list for a game breaking it down with inserts, gi, backbox, and flashers. I write down each insert, bulb base type, color, and lens type. Flex head leds work really well in some spots and sometimes a brighter bulb is better on a large insert. GI is easy since they are all the same. Just count the bulbs and get a few extra in case you missed a few in counting. Backbox also easy to count. Helps to buy a few extra of common bulbs just in case. I then make a order list counting up all the bulbs and bulb types. It's time consuming but you get the best results with ordering just what you need.

3 weeks later
#7751 4 years ago
Quoted from -ZZZ-:

Can anyone direct me to a source of stainless steel ramp flaps for both the plastic and steel ramps?
Much appreciated!

https://www.pinbits.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13_2&products_id=16

Says sold out, though. Wouldn't hurt to contact pinbits to see if they can get some more soon.

1 month later
#8044 4 years ago
Quoted from Green-Machine:

Looks great... I’ve been procrastinating about buying one trying to justify the cost. In all honesty my want in the case is over my need

If you bring a game to a show, you can get a colordmd with a discount plus free shipping. Bringing a game to a show also gets you in free so added bonus. Pretty much saves you over $100 so well worth it if you are able.

One other advantage of getting colordmd that people don't talk about much is the colordmd display does not need high voltage. Common for the high voltage av to be faulty and some of the dmd's hum/buzz. Colordmd uses low voltage and makes no noise.

2 weeks later
#8157 4 years ago
Quoted from Navystan:

Well, I joined the club as of this Saturday. Will post pix soon.
It was a high-end restore. Restored cabinet with new decals and a cleared new playfield. The playfield is far better than those of modern pins. Looks like a sheet of glass. My only effort was to fix the clock. Took a couple of days, but it's fully working now. I will post a separate post on that effort to help others in the future.
Wanted to get folks opinion on a few mods I want to do:
1. Vote for Pinsound? I'm really going to do, just wondering what speakers you recommend. FF? Pinsounds speakers?
2. I want external volume control. Recommend pinnovator volume control with Pinsound? Does it work correctly? I'm referring to the one that goes in the door.
3. Color DMD. Yes. Just curious if you prefer setup for smooth LCD or dot matrix look?
4. Vote for LED OCD? Seems mixed on this thread.
5. Magnet for ramp "catcher." whatever you call it. Seems like an easy inexpensive mod to keep ball from ricocheting off the ball "catcher."
6. Some form of a non-glare glass. PDI or maybe just Voodoo. Thoughts? Preferences?
Those are the key upgrades I want to do. After I get these key upgrades, then might look into some of the other mods.
Thanks for your advice and tips in advance.

1) Never heard pinsound difference. My opinion is stock sound fine for what it is. Gets expensive buying all new sound stuff.
2) I set my volume once at home and that's it.
3) Colordmd nice but not absolutely needed. I got one since dmd had issues. DotXL for best setting and most agree.
4) I bought both LED and GI OCD boards for TZ but not installed yet. I have the boards on WH2O and what a difference. I debated getting the boards for TZ since it looks acceptable. I put a lot of effort in my lighting so I decided better go all out and get it perfect.
5) There are several mods worthwhile on TZ. I recommend the magnet on the ball catcher, the extra plastic diverter thing in the gumball machine to keep balls from jamming, and gumball door flashers.
6) Anti glare glass is expensive. I've seen it on games and while it's nice, not worth big bucks to me.

#8168 4 years ago
Quoted from Tranquilize:

Roman glass is probably the best upgrade in all of pinball. Eliminates having to add lights on darker games, and you can keep good glass when you sell if you like. Seeing the game is pretty important in pinball.

I see my games perfectly without fancy glass. Never had an issue seeing games at a show or on location. I bet the average person wouldn't notice the difference if you had two games side by side - one with the anti glare glass and one with normal glass.

3 weeks later
#8319 4 years ago
Quoted from Coyote:

Powerball Mania and LITZ. Not regular Multiball. The former two have no Piano shot and HAVE a Powerfield Jackpot so magnets are activated. The latter has a Piano Jackpot, but the Powerfield Magnets are never activated.

In LITZ, isn't the piano shot a jackpot? I recall it being 40-50 million or something like that. Thought pretty much everything is worth something in LITZ - ramps, jackpots, targets, etc. I find it hard to do anything in LITZ. All the balls end up colliding in the middle of the playfield making it hard to hit any shots.

#8329 4 years ago
Quoted from Coyote:

* - During Beta-testing 9.4H, a friend was playing and got LITZ. Somehow, he DID ALSO have the Piano Jackpot shot lit. I have never seen it happen again, and Ted was never able to reproduce, so it was.. "a known incident". If someone ever here figures out how to reproduce it, let me know!

I just tested going straight to LITZ with glass off and confirmed you only get odd change for piano shot. Tried it several times and no jackpots. I swear I got a jackpot one time long ago but no way to say for sure. Good to know next time I get to LITZ. Instead of trying to get piano shots, I will try to get balls to upper pf. Amazing that there is still things to learn on a game I have owned for a while.

#8347 4 years ago

That piano mod looks awesome. I don't think $80 is crazy for something hand crafted and detailed like that.

I have a very similar one, maybe the same. How did you fit the yellow and red bulbs into it? Bulbs fit very loose in mine and don't like to stay in. I tried wrapping the base of the bulb with a bulb condom. That helps give it a little extra width and grip but still a pain keeping the bulbs in place. I would hot glue them in but that would make it difficult to service the clock.

#8356 4 years ago
Quoted from monkeyboypaul:

Think I used some M4 socket button screws and equivalent unlock nuts underneath. In the grand scheme of things they don’t look out of place and were a shit load easier than riveting!
[quoted image][quoted image]

Absolutely. Saved me a ton of trouble on replacing a few plastics on TZ. I bought a bunch of ebay for cheap a while back. Even on something very visible like the signs on the upper pf, you will never notice the difference between these and rivets.

#8366 4 years ago
Quoted from Green-Machine:

The Time!
In Attract Mode, it can indicate the current time. During gameplay, it counts down timers for various rounds and modes, and is used in special ways in some rounds

Clock Chaos is one where the clock moves and when you hit the clock target it awards you what the clock is pointing at. Sometimes it just spins like it does in the TZ tv show intro. It's a cool feature but to be honest I never look at it. However, I do like to make sure that everything in my games works properly including the clock.

#8379 4 years ago

For a while, I thought my clock was going to 6 instead of 12. It's just easy to mix up since the clock hands and optos are same color black. When both hands face up, it still looks like a hand is pointed down because of the lower extension of big hand plus opto. It would of been nice if BW made clock hands red or something that stood out better.

#8390 4 years ago
Quoted from yzfguy:

Got the 9.4H going, and I could swear somewhere about 356 pages back, someone mentioned you could remove the "free only" displayed under the score.... Or was that a dream? Anyway, I like having a ball save on all 3 balls, it was worth it just for that. Haven't really noticed much else different.
New flipper bats and a new reinforced target installed so I don't have to keep bending back that damned greed target near the slot scoop [quoted image]

9.4H is home use only. There is a hacked version for coin drop but that is frowned upon. It pissed off Estes and he stopped doing updates.

#8396 4 years ago
Quoted from Adipocere:

Mine came with the "hacked" version when I bought it in 2006 and I've used it ever since. It's your machine. Do what you like.

True but why run a hacked version with bugs that offers no benefits?

#8411 4 years ago
Quoted from Durzel:

How easy is it to get those signs off? They're riveted on the OEM ones

Look back a page. We were just talking about replacing rivets with button screws. Getting rivets off is super easy. Just drill off the back part a bit and it falls right out. Unless you are a purist, just use the button screws. They look almost exactly like rivets and easily removable in the future.

1 week later
#8445 4 years ago
Quoted from misterman:

Just switched to 9.4h from 9.2 and I'm liking it but having something odd happen. During the player piano animation and from start of multiball to the door explosion every light in the back box flickers really fast. No other times, not litz, not slot machine etc...Those are the only 2 times I've seen it. Never happened on 9.2, wondering if anyone else has this.

Do you have dim illumination enabled and led bulbs? I could be wrong but think 9.4h has updates for leds.

#8448 4 years ago
Quoted from Coyote:

Those with High Score issues, can you PM me? There's a link, but I'm not sure what it is yet and want to be able to pin it down.

No, 9.4H was made before LEDs were a thing. You can manually patch it using that patcher that's out there, but raw 9.4H didn't change anything for LEDs.

Good to know. Thought I heard that somewhere. I have leds in mine with dim illumination enabled and it seems to handle it fairly well. Not perfect but no flickering, ghosting, or any of that sort of thing I've seen on other games. Maybe mine was patched at some point.

#8462 4 years ago
Quoted from monkeyboypaul:

The GI OCD product fixes that. Not the cheapest, but it definitely solves the specific issue of using LEDs in the GI of WPC games and therefore enabling correct GI dimming. Or just use bulbs!
http://ledocd.com/cart/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=8&products_id=24
My TZ uses the LED OCD and GI OCD boards - because i'm an LED person, and i don't want any compromise in my lighting effects.

I actually have a set of ocd boards sitting in a box for TZ. Not sure why it's taking me so long to get them installed. When you add up the costs of bulbs and these boards, it is a bit ridiculous but I love the end result.

Quoted from Coyote:

So it's looking like those that are reporting an issue bought in an extra ball.
Yes, this is a known bug in 9.4H - if you buy in, you (likely?) won't be able to enter in your initials, or get a credit. The high score table for buy-ins, and the credits awarded, is buggy.

I just had a huge score last night with a buy-in and put in my initials. I have 9.4h and never noticed anything buggy about it.

1 month later
#8687 3 years ago
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.

Use button head screws instead of rivets. Pic shows the screws rivets on the left and the button head screws on the right. Pic makes them look more different because of the lighting. From players perspective, they looks almost identical. Bought a bunch off ebay and used them multiple times.

ebay.com link » 5 40 Button Head Socket Cap Screws Allen Hex Drive Stainless Steel 18 8 Qty 100

ebay.com link » 5 40 Coarse Nyloc Nylon Insert Locknut Ntm Thin Stainless 18 8

20200524_225239 (resized).jpg20200524_225239 (resized).jpg
1 month later
#8771 3 years ago

Hope you are not going to regret selling such a nice TZ. I would sell one of your other games before TZ but that's just me. I'm not really sure what the price is for a really nice TZ with tons of mods. There are definitely people out there looking for top quality pins and will pay. I would keep your price and be open to offers. Realistically, I think you are going to have to come down in price a bit but you never know.

1 week later
#8798 3 years ago
Quoted from DaveH:

I’m finally in this club!!! I’ve wanted to join for a while, but never got to it. However, this showed up in my garage yesterday. A couple of good games had to leave to make space and money for it, but now it’s here. This copy is stunning. And the guy that did it up did a really nice job on it. The one thing I don’t like is the colored lights, but I’ll pop them out soon enough.
The big benefit is that although I’ve played the game over the years, I honestly don’t know it that well. So this is a journey of discovery for me. And so far, I’m loving it.
[quoted image]

Congrats! TZ is an incredible game to own. Incredible how detailed the game is. I've owned mine for several years now and still learning things about the game.

3 weeks later
#8862 3 years ago
Quoted from iamabearsfan:

Man, just finished doing a playfield swap on the mini playfield. HOLY CRAP is that a PITA. There is ssssooooo much stuff packed into one tiny space on that damn thing. Plus I had the hair brain idea to put those post lamps under the posts. Like I needed more wires! Then layer on the mods and it was nuts.
Okay rant off now. Just thought I would throw it out there for anyone who is thinking of taking such project on

I also had the same brilliant idea to light all the star posts. Looks cool but what a pain. Now one is not working and I really don't feel like pulling the whole mini pf just for that.

1 week later
#8902 3 years ago
Quoted from sliprose:

I'm thinking of adding a TZ as the second pin in my collection (Stern JP Pro is my other).
What are the critical areas I should be inspecting when evaluating a machine? I know that the clock can be problematic, but what to look for exactly?
What would be the issues that make you run like the wind from buying?
I'm reasonably capable in diagnosing electrical issues, but I'm a newbie to pinball and have never bought a used machine, so I'm little nervous. When I bought my JP Pro, I was looking only at NIB because I was scared of maintenance issues. Since then, I found pinside and gained a lot of confidence and that if I do have problems, I can get advice in how to resolve.
Any advice or thoughts from those that own TZ would be appreciated. Thanks!

JP pro and TZ would be an awesome combo. TZ has a reputation for being a maintenance nightmare but it's no different than any other game from that time imo. Original clock boards can be problematic but you can buy an improved board that fixes all issues. Since TZ is such a popular game there are plenty of parts and lots of support for the game. When looking for a TZ, just look for the things you normally look for in a used game - condition of pf and if everything works. Only specific thing to look out for on TZ that I can think of is mods. Some mods are great but TZ seems to have a magnet for them. You can easily spend thousands on mods and that often reflects in the inflated selling price. I would educate yourself on TZ prices so you will know what to look for. Prices can be from around $5000 to over $8000.

3 months later
#9193 3 years ago
Quoted from Green-Machine:

I added a custom made clear plastic guard. I have never had a problem again.[quoted image]

I used a clear star post to fill that void next to robot. Looks like it belongs. I had the same problem of the ball hitting the wireform support bar and falling off. I just bought a replacement and was done with it. Magnet works well to keep ball from bouncing back out of the scoop.

#9204 3 years ago
Quoted from ceterumnet:

Do you recall what size / where you bought the post from?
I don't have any spare parts accumulated yet as I'm relatively new to the hobby.

Star posts are common and used in places like the slings. Search for them by name at any pinball part website like pinball life or marcos. I screwed it onto a metal plate and then glued metal plate under robot bracket.

I do agree with Coyote that most mods cause more problems than they are worth. Mine came loaded with mods when I bought it. Already removed some but thinking of removing a few more that are being a pain.

20201113_072046 (resized).jpg20201113_072046 (resized).jpg
2 weeks later
#9319 3 years ago
Quoted from bikefreak:

Still working on a rebuild... (Working through multiple issues)
Getting only a portion of my LEDs to display on the back board. Thoughts on where to start?
I'd expect them to all light.
[quoted image]

I bend the wire leads out on led bulbs (basically make a 'V' pattern). This insures a good connection. I find that a third or even half of the bulbs will not light without adjusting. You can also use incandescent bulbs to test those sockets to make sure it's not the led bulbs. It looks like you have a string out so check for burnt connectors or bad fuses.

2 months later
#9790 3 years ago
Quoted from PinballAir:

I pulled the face cover off the clock, cleaned exposed optos and got 15 min and 30 min tones in test.
Nothing from 45 min or hour.
I pulled it all apart. Looks like things got pretty hot one day
Is there a way to test optos out of the machine?
What is the correct bulb for these?
[quoted image][quoted image]

I don't see why you cannot put the clock back together without the hands and face to test. That's one of the problems with the old boards. Those four bulbs do a good job heating up that small area. Optos just go bad over time. I imagine you could replace the optos and fix the board but I would just replace it. Replacement bulbs are around. Quick google search found these:

https://www.marcospecialties.com/pinball-parts/04-0086

#9795 3 years ago
Quoted from insight75:

Hi all.....I'm officially part of the club. Just picked up a TZ the other day. You'll see I'm in the middle of finishing my basement....great time to fill it up with more machines!! haha. Real nice machine that has pin stadiums and incandescent bulbs throughout. I think I like the look of the incandescent bulbs on this machine but every other machine I have switched to LED. Any thoughts on if I should swap any to LEDs that would be much better for the longevity of the machine? (Less heat, reduction in amp draw, etc.). [quoted image]

It has pinstadium but incandescent bulbs? Strange mix. Hope the pinstadiums have their own power supply. I'm a big fan of leds. If you go with warm white and ocd boards, it will look stock and have all the benefits of leds - less power, less heat, more brightness, etc. Only downside is added cost.

1 week later
#9927 3 years ago
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?

OCD boards are nice to have but you really don't need them. Buy regular 1smd or 2smd bulbs. Turn off dimming in the game menu to eliminate flickering.
You will not have dimming effects but game will look fine. If you decide later to get ocd boards to get the dimming effects, you can just plug them in.

2 weeks later
#10040 3 years ago
Quoted from ParisPinballAdct:

dear TZ owners, I have a Slot Machine eject/kick-out question for you:
here's the deal:
Despite having checked the mecanism underneath about 1,000 times, having changed the usual parts that need to be changed etc., also despite tightening the screws underneath also 1,000 times I STILL have some inconsistent kick-out of the slot machine every now and then.
Not every time granted BUT, (to be fair it all works like a charm most of the time. say 40-50 kick-outs in a row) after a while, something seems to happen, and the kick-out noise will sound slightly different (bit more metallic), also maybe a tiny less power, and instead of kicking the ball down to the flipper it will kick onto the right slinghsot. This will do for about 4-5-6 times in a row when ejecting the ball.
Usually by then I stop playing and look underneath the playfield.
I check the screws and every time it seems like nothing's moved (still i always re-tight them nonetheless, but they seem fine as they are). I leave it a couple of minutes and then try another game on and usually it all works back to normal and fine after that.... for about 40-50 kick-outs... and then here we go again...same inconsistency for a bit.
And so it's been like that for several months now.
Does this make any sense to you? a sudden inconsistency that disapears either because the game has had "a rest" for a few minutes or because i have re-tightened screws that already seemed tight as they were.. ?
I really have no clue what to look for.
thanks pinheads!

Have you tried taking the scoop off and inspect? Could be broken weld or something just snapped that is not obvious looking at it assembled. I had this problem on a Congo I used to own. Volcano would throw balls all over. It wasn't until I actually removed the stack that I discovered a mounting tab was broken clean off.

2 months later
#10328 2 years ago
Quoted from DuffysArcade:

Wanted to share a project recently completed. Using an 8x32 LED matrix array of WS2812 LEDs which are driven by an Arduino Nano, I backlit the doorway area behind Rod Serling with an animated pattern found in the Arduino IDE FASTLed Library. The power consumption of 256 LEDs is quite high, so I needed to install a stand-alone 15A power supply (5vdc) under the playfield to power the array.
The great part of the mod is that the lighting effect can be tweaked on the laptop and uploaded to the Arduino in a matter of seconds to change the effect. Eventually, I'd like to make it reactive with the different door modes but this will take some time to sort out. The LED panel is secured to the backbox panel with velcro so it can be adjusted.

[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

Pretty cool. I recommend using a diffuser over the leds, though.

1 month later
#10494 2 years ago
Quoted from awesome1:

Love the low profile switches! A little bit of work to install, but well worth it!
[quoted image][quoted image]

Does your upper pf lamp have a diffuser?

1 week later
#10570 2 years ago
Quoted from nerdygrrl:

Hi Everyone, not an owner, but about to start a PF strip and clean for a good friend of mine. I'd like to make this as nice as I can for him, but truth be told this is not a table that I have a ton of familiarity with. Are there any must have mods/recommendations that y'all recommend?
I plan to spend tomorrow reading through this thread and getting myself more familiar with everything, but figured it also couldn't hurt to ask. I thank you all in advance.

The magnet for the upper pf diverter (dumps the ball down above upper flipper) is highly recommended. There is a separator plastic piece for the gumball machine that keeps balls from jamming up in there. The lock panel flashers mod is nice but not really necessary. Reinforced target needed for piano target. Stock one takes a beating and gets bent back, causing air balls. With all games, I highly recommend ocd boards with leds.

#10580 2 years ago
Quoted from drummermike:

Did you mean slot machine target needs to be reinforced?

Sorry, yes. Slot machine target.

#10581 2 years ago
Quoted from nerdygrrl:

That's going to come down to your tastes. I have terrible night vision, anything dim and dark is miserable for me so I like my pins bright. I go natural white for: white, yellow amber and then the associated color for blue, green, red, purple. And much to the dismay of Taxman (RIP) I go 4 SMD.
I've read through the first ten or so pages of this group and must say it is one of the better and most helpful ones out there. It seems like a really solid and passionate group of pin owners. I cannot wait to get this PF started. It's great when you can help get a friend's pin back up and running.

4smd is super bright. I usually stick with 2smd for gi and 1smd for inserts with maybe custom spot lights. I also like bright games and that's bright enough for me. If you are not sure what color white to use or what bulbs to use in general, buy samples and test them out. You can put something like warm white on the left side of slings/inlanes and natural white on right.

2 weeks later
#10837 2 years ago
Quoted from nerdygrrl:

Making some progress. I hoped to have this wrapped up and delivered to my friend this weekend (fingers crossed). Quick question, he bought the Comet pinball light kit complete with upper PF star post lights. Has anyone installed these? If so where did you run their lines through and to?[quoted image]

I did not use any kits but did light my star post lights. I love the Comet matrix stuff. I used different extensions and splitters to run everything neat as I could under the upper pf. Some wires had to go down the side of the upper pf but you can use black heat shrink to make the wires less visible. I have everything connecting to one connector under the pf for easy removal.

3 weeks later
#11094 2 years ago
Quoted from Coyote:

Keep in mind - LITZ is a WIZARD mode. Back in the days, wizard modes were not meant to just be gotten 'often'. It was supposed to be a rare occurrence, when you had just an outstanding game - or you're a damn good player. My first ever LITZ was after playing TZs on location for a couple years.
To this day, with the TZ in my collection, I MAY get LITZ once a month or so.
You can make the game easier, sure, but.. then that takes the fun out of it, IMHO.

True. Getting to LITZ is a lot easier if you just focus on starting modes. You don't have to play them, just keep stacking them. I don't find that very fun and like playing modes so rarely see LITZ.

#11104 2 years ago
Quoted from Bundy:

My personal best is three LITZ in one game with a total of just over 4 billion. If I remember correct, the best LITZ score in that game was just over 650 million.
Only managed three LITZ in one game twice in the 15 years I have had the game. Two on several occasions and one I can get pretty regularly if I am going for LITZ.
I am just an average player at best normally but there is something about TZ that suits my playing style and make me a better player than I am.

I would say you are better than average. How do you get so many points in LITZ? I have yet to beat the default high score and only get around 270m or less.

#11131 2 years ago
Quoted from Bundy:

That is far from my regular score in LITZ. More normal is 350-400 million.
I can´t say that I have a clear strategy, too many balls flying every were for that in LITZ
But get a ball or two up to the power is always good, otherwise just make sure the balls are on the playfield all the time and not in the ball trough.

I haven't played TZ in a while. Two games in a few nights ago and I'm in LITZ. Nice but only 200m. Try playing LITZ using the home rom cheat many times. Absolute best I can do is 270m. I don't get it. Only thing I can think of is my flippers feel a bit JJPish- sluggish and a bit weak. They have always been that way. I have the right coils (155411), rebuilt flippers, and new flipper boards. Should I try replacing the coils? They look to be replaced at one point but don't remember if I did that. Any tips for snappier flippers?

#11135 2 years ago
Quoted from awesome1:

They definitely aren't as snappy as new Sterns, but if they are rebuilt, they should have decent power to make all of the ramps with authority. Make sure the pawls aren't worn and have slop in them. Keep the playfield cleaned and waxed as well.
Part of the semi floaty feel can be because TZ is a widebody. Sometimes when I jump back and forth between games I can tell TZ is wider... but not usually.

Widebody definitely changes the feel. Still, mine just feels less snappy than my other B/W games and other TZ's I have played. It was real bad when I first got it and you couldn't even make the ramps. Rebuilding flippers and new opto boards got it playable where you can hit ramps but still a bit soft. Plays ok. Just wish it was a little better. Love this game!

1 month later
#11363 2 years ago
Quoted from LTG:

No. TZ was a commercial flop. Had nothing to do with the game's complexity. They were too hard and didn't get much play on route. That is why when Williams closed you could find nice ones cheap. As in under a grand.
And became a boon to collectors who could get a great DMD pin cheap.
LTG : )

Keep hearing that but they sure made a lot of them. It was the 2nd best selling game of the 90's with TAF being #1.

#11383 2 years ago
Quoted from OSUBuckeye98:

So so much better..TAF never hooked me like TZ did. I think the upper playfield my be my favorite mode/toy of all time.

Same here. I was in college when these games came out. They had a TZ right next to TAF in the student center arcade. I don't remember playing TAF all that much but TZ was definitely memorable. I had no clue about rules but it was just exciting to play with so much going on. Hard for me to imagine players passing up TZ to go play something else. Early 90's was full of great games so guess that had a lot to do with it.

1 month later
#11464 2 years ago
Quoted from pinhead_jack:

Hello TZ club members! I am currently working on a scratch build (literally started as just a blank playfield) and I am in need of a lamp board for my backbox. Does anyone know if someone has reproduced these or does anyone have the dimensions of board, maybe with the lamp sockets laid out?
I am sure this has come up before but I have been trying various searches on the forum and web but I cannot find a PDF, cad, etc.
I appreciate any help you can offer![quoted image]

Have you reached out to other scratch builders? I would think that would be a good place to start on tips and resources.

3 weeks later
#11544 2 years ago
Quoted from misterman:

My TZ recently has not been sensing the powerball in the trough, therefore not triggering powerball mode when the ball is served to the shooter lane. What is the usual cause of this and some tests or things to look for. Starting to get annoyed with playing with the challenge of the powerball but not getting the extra points out of it. Thanks.

Does it not recognize the powerball after full plunge? There are two eddy sensors. One in the shooter lane and the other in the subway. Like others said, it triggers by steel balls and not the ceramic ball. Usually the shooter lane one is the issue and not the subway one. You want to make sure it's close to the ball without touching and tight so it does not wiggle loose. Most recommend soldering the two little boards together if it keeps being an issue. This eliminates the connector which appears to be source of issue.

1 month later
#11676 2 years ago
Quoted from Mad_Dog_Coin_Op:

I have never really been concerned with the ball bounce back on my game. It works as it should 95% of the time. Only a hot shot will bounce out. To be honest the bigger issue is the ball flying off the ramp before it gets there. I just figure it is part of the game. "Hey - it's only pinball"

Mine works pretty much flawless with magnet. I did have the problem of ball flying off ramp in the past. Discovered the ball was coming in contact with one of the ramp's cross beams when it rolled across. Replaced the ramp and never had issue again.

#11681 2 years ago
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]

Yes, that's exactly the problem I had. Ball should travel smooth across entire ramp, hit diverter, bounce back, and then settle in diverter. Game delays the diverter dump to give the ball time to settle. Mine works great even with strong hit up ramp with powerball. Replacement is fairly cheap if you have any issues.

http://www.planetarypinball.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=GS-TZ12-7104&Category_Code=RMPW

3 weeks later
#11794 2 years ago
Quoted from horseflesh:

My original slot scoop has finally been beaten into submission and has some broken welds. Is there any consensus on the best replacement? Marco, Pinball Life, and Mantis all have what appears to be the same thing at different prices.
Everyone who has posted about the Mantis slot weldment seems happy with it ... except Jason_Jehosaphat who had a pretty reasonable critique.

I have bought several things from mantis and very happy. Perfect fit.

3 months later
#12215 1 year ago

Someone put a centerpost in a TZ? That sucks

2 months later
#12503 1 year ago
Quoted from Purdue:

You're wasting your time cleaning unless you tear it down. I know from experience
The subways hold a ton of black dust and unless you remove them the dirt will immediately come back.
I ended up doing a topside teardown, not everything, but upper playfield, ramps, etc. I also removed all the subways and cleaned them throughly. Clean trough too!
Its a great time to replace all your rotten rubbers and update the lighting. Don't be scared it was my first go round with a teardown, just stay super organized. I'lll add a picture of what worked for me in a bit![quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

+1. These subways are rarely if ever cleaned. Your TZ was sure filthy.

2 weeks later
#12638 1 year ago
Quoted from Gorgar666:

Sunlight White except blue at the word twilight zone!
[quoted image]

Nice work! You should post before and after pics side by side.

3 months later
#13207 1 year ago
Quoted from Kerry_Richard:

Scoot, IMHO that operator ID tag sticks out like a sore thumb
If this was my TZ... I would remove that ID tag, and consider filling holes, then paint (easiest) or powder coat apron, then install new decal stickers and make it go away.

That's what I call a hassle. Just leave it as part of the history of the game.

4 weeks later
#13299 1 year ago
Quoted from ray-dude:

I'm having an intermittent issue that tedious to try to tweak up, and was hoping someone here has a recipe they can share.
When shooting the right ramp to battle the power, about 1/2 the time the ball gets knocked off the rails when the diverter opens to let the ball through.
For normal shots (diverter down to catch the ball), it is smooth as butter.
I suspect I need to tweak the rails, but it is challenging to do this sort of thing in test mode, and tedious to be playing games to test out tweaks.
Does someone have the magic formula for getting the rail to the mini playfield tweaked up?
Thanks in advance!
(as an aside, I finally got around to installing magnet liners on the path to my lock and it is a literal game changer: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/the-definitive-twilight-zone-lock-shot-fix-thread After cursing bricked lock shots for 28 years, I don't think I've had a single bricked shot since installing the magnet strips....MANY thanks to those sharing their experiences here, it works amazingly well)

I had a very similar issue a while back. Take the glass off and roll a ball down the rail to see if it rolls free. Mine was hitting the one of the support braces that run side to side. Ball would either bump over it and stay on ramp or get knocked off. I replaced the wireform ramp and that fixed it.

#13300 1 year ago
Quoted from EZ-Rhino:

Couple of questions:
2. So I have LEDs and my TZ but no LED OCD / GI OCD Board. It looks like I'm getting some "ghosting" primarily in the Door insert (particularly the "Fast Lock" insert and the "Lock Inserts"). Also, to be clear, when I say "ghosting" I mean the bulb still appears to be lit but very dimly even when that insert is not engaged. The effect is most noticeable during attract mode when the door inserts cycle rapidly. It doesn't affect gameplay and the LEDs otherwise work fine (i.e., are lit when supposed to be lit). If this is a normal issue when not using the LED OCD / GI OCD boards on 90s B/W games than so be it. Just wondering.
Thanks all -- Happy Holidays!

Normal yes. That is ghosting and every game is a little different. The OCD boards definitely fix ghosting issues and allow you to use factory fade effects. I love these boards and have them in all my games.

#13314 1 year ago
Quoted from Pinkitten:

Like most pins, there seems to be a fair amount of variation in how difficult the Power is to defeat. On my first TZ, it seemed too easy. Mash the buttons and the magnets really tossed the ball around and more often than not, up the middle and out. On my new restored TZ, the magnets are less predictable. They grab the ball and pull it toward the bottom reliably, but you have to hit the button at just the right time to get upward motion. I like it, it’s a real challenge and not a gimme. Mashing the buttons won’t work well. Even with good timing, I’m around 25% success. I like it, especially during Powerball. That jackpot is big, and you really have to earn it!

Same here. Mine is very unpredictable and less than 25% success. Other TZ I have played seem much easier. I wonder if there if there is some way to adjust the magnets. I don't mind the difficulty but would be nice to have a little more feeling of control.

#13352 1 year ago
Quoted from PBFan:

My TZ had weak flippers for years compared to other friends TZs. Tried flipper rebuild, coil replacement, new flipper opto boards but nothing seemed to really improve much. I finally replaced the Fliptronics board with a repro one and bam! Whole new machine. So I always felt my IJ had weaker flippers when it came to hitting the ramps - new repro Fliptronics board and same result, I could make the ramps so easy after that.
The old components on the Fliptronics boards get weak after 30 years. Now it is probably an easy fix if you can diagnose which components are bad and solder. But a repro Fliptronics board is relatively inexpensive. As others have said don’t bother with changing the coils (maybe the sleeves).
Good luck!

I have the same issue. Flippers never felt right even after full rebuild and new opto boards. I put in stronger coils in the lower flippers and that helped but that doesn't feel like right solution. I am going to try a new Fliptronics board. Even if it doesn't change anything it wouldn't hurt to have a spare board.

1 week later
#13397 1 year ago
Quoted from Pinkitten:

If you haven’t checked out Comet Pinball’s led matrix system, you should! If you are interested in adding lights to your pin, under a scoop, extra lamps, etc., they are awesome. Very easy to use with 6.3v LEDs you can easily connect to GI sockets, the coin door, etc. They sell various lengths of wires too, and I recommend getting several of each length. They have tons of bulbs, including red and blue twinkling “fire” bulbs, which are a cool effect (I use them behind translites that depict fire or lightning, like the bbq in EATPM; lightning in TAF (looks amazing!) and torches in BSD), and color-changing LEDs which can be useful too. I use a color-changing led in my gumball plastic which lights up when the gumball machine is qualified, and then changes colors. Reasonable $$ too, considering many scoop led mods are $25-30. You can easily light your scoops for $10 with Comet. Just a suggestion!

I love the Comet's matrix stuff. Best part is there is zero soldering. Everything is on a connector.

2 months later
#13715 1 year ago

Is the litz insert flashing at the start of the game? I think it does that when you enable litz with extra ball button. Maybe try disconnecting start button just to make sure it's not the issue. Other than that, buying new rom next best option imo. That would be a cheap way to determine if problem is software or hardware.

1 week later
#13760 1 year ago
Quoted from jid:

The LCD smooths the dots. The LED shows the dots. The LCD is super smooth. For one of my games that I’d previously owned in LCD I thought I’d try LED…. Hated it. Think of LED as just the dots having color. LCD goes a step further and makes the dots become solid animations.
Some people LOVE the classic dot look of the DMD. But for ~$500 I’d rather have the upgraded LCD look.
These are LED examples: [quoted image][quoted image]

Well, the lcd offers a variety of display options with some being the smooth variety. There are also display options for dots which I prefer. The led display has no options. That's why I like the lcd. You get more options and just more pleasing to my eyes.

7 months later
#14726 4 months ago
Quoted from InteractivePinball:

Introducing the Interactive playing piano mod for Twilight Zone!
I have been working on this playing piano mod for a while now and I am pleased to be able to release it for sale! When the piano mode start scoop is hit, the keys light up and mechanically play with the piano tune. I'll start with a batch of 30 for release, with a second batch pending for the new year. Click the link for more information and videos!
https://www.interactivepinball.com/ [quoted image]

Super cool mod! Looks well designed and I like how everything mounts securely. Decent price, too. Purchased!

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