Twilight Zone Owner&#039;s club

Quoted from Mrawesome44:
Hey guys ill be looking at getting a TZ hopefully in the near future. How much does a nice HUO usually run? Is there a place where i can buy this topper?
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ah-Q2hNzf8U/maxresdefault.jpg

As a Pinball And slot machine collector if you are looking for a Slot machine accessory like this you need to shop on the Slot machine forum not the pinball forum. I see these listed all the time on the NewLifeGames forum classified section or you PM some of the many parts brokers on that site. Like pinball, if you want a slot machine part (or topper) you need to shop in their playground to find it and get the best price. Very cool TZ topper BTW. Hope this helps, good luck.

#4372 6 years ago

DAD

Yelobird

Quoted from Rdoyle1978:
Where is "the slot machine forum"? Is there a Pinside for slot machines?

As I noted in my text, the forum is called NewLifeGames.com

2 months later

#4761 6 years ago

DAD

Yelobird

Fingers crossed I sent my playfield out for mild restore and clear coat hoping to have an example worth to display with some of the awesome ones I seen on this post. I PRAY I can remember how to put this back together.......... And now with all of Rdoyle comments on black powder coat I am strongly thinking about borrowing his idea. That would look Great on this title. Starting to think Pinball might be similar to a car restore. A Never ending money drain. But fun.

#4764 6 years ago

DAD

Yelobird

Quoted from Rdoyle1978:
Boy you hit the nail in the head there. Never-ending money drain. But fun!
Can I ask where you sent your playfield? I need to do that as well
I expect to get the powdercoat stuff pretty soon - i'd seen some great looking games in photos with that powdercoat, but saw a perfectly restored one with all black armor at another pinsider's house. STUNNING.

I ended up going to Brian at HSA. Very nice person, his work is AMAZING, and he will touch up with real paint no stickers every inch of the playfield till it looks new including the clear coat. There are many great ones out there but I couldn't find a bad review on him and he was very helpful in discussing my needs. I did Try a few others (no names) but they did not seem interested in doing business or just plain scared the crap out of me to do business with them or my playfields. For me you don't have to be the cheapest in town as long as your work and reputation speaks for itself. I would Really love to see what your machine looks like after your done. And if you would share consider via PM, I was just wondering if the black setup was a 200$ problem or a 1000$ problem. lol Evaluating my budget......

1 month later

#4860 6 years ago

DAD

Yelobird

Quoted from Rdoyle1978:
Had to share these, the ultimate mod! Except it's not in the game and way too big for a topper:
The screen plays twilight zone episodes on a loop 24/7 from a Raspberry Pi Zero ($1 computer!). and I have several pinball machine commercials (operator sales videos) in between. Eventually I'll find some old timey commercials for regular products to stick in there too. The Tv is almost an exact match for the one shown on the season 2 episode "the radio"

Way cool looking TV. You definitely used every inch of that room. Lol.

2 months later

#5151 6 years ago

DAD

Yelobird

Was hoping I could get some direction before I start waving my solder sucker all over the board.... Have a beautiful to me TZ that has basically a row of lights (The camera, Spiral 10 million, left inlane, etc) all remaining lit though dimming on occasion. From the manual the all relate to J133 and Q86. As the board looked like cheese when I got the game I decided instead of fixing the light issue I would just get a Rottendog replacement. Installed that and the Same exact problem?? Am I looking in the wrong place? Possibly one of the supplemental boards? Hard to think this is on the new board. My only thought was to replace the plug on J133 but I was hoping for Any help or advice. My TZ is haunted!!!! But we love it.

#5153 6 years ago

DAD

Yelobird

Quoted from Coyote:
Likely a short on the row wire somewhere. The row wire is shorted to another wire. Unlikely up in the backbox at all.

Thank you. Possibly a bad diode on one,of those lamps?

#5155 6 years ago

DAD

Yelobird

Quoted from Coyote:
Not for a whole row. A bad diode would cause noticeable ghosting on another lamp one or two lamps only.

Thank you so much for the direction! As many of the bulb sockets look clugy is it possible one of those sockets is grounded across the insulator or just bad? Looking at the wire I didn’t see anything blatant obvious.

1 week later

#5267 6 years ago

DAD

Yelobird

Quoted from cocomonkeh:
This spiral magnet on my TZ is killing me. I put it in a vise and couldn't even get the thing to loosen up. It's about 1/4 too shallow so it catches balls sometimes. Yuck.

1/4" shallow?? Thats more of a pot hole at that dimension! For mine I had to apply heat with a can torch and it freed up in a vise. Good luck and do fix that if its really that bad!

2 weeks later

#5411 6 years ago

DAD

Yelobird

Quoted from PinRob:
It’s a blanket/towel 36”x60” $23.20 total shipped

PLEASE share where you got that and tell me they have other titles! With my daughters cats hanging around I would love a cover like that! Great find and thanks for sharing.

#5413 6 years ago

DAD

Yelobird

https://www.amazon.com/Twilight-Zone-Another-Dimension-Beach/dp/B00WGZ3HZM/ref=sr_1_1

OK, I think I found it. Not as awesome as Mr Rio's but good enough to keep the cats off and easy enough to pull off to play.

1 month later

#5595 6 years ago

DAD

Yelobird

Quoted from jgadzia:
i have a line on one of these twilight zones, what is a good price for machine in good working order with minimal wear? i couldnt find any on here or ebay?

Simply go to the Pinside classified and look at Closed/expired sales. Won't be exact but you can see pictures of similar examples for comparison. I would only use Ebay pricing if you intend to pay double market price.

#5620 6 years ago

DAD

Yelobird

Quoted from merccat:
TZ is nothing to be afraid of... just some after work stress relief. Nothing broken but dialing in a couple things, cleaning up some ball trails and waxing areas one doesn’t usually get to.

Talking Tina will Not be very happy when she see's what you did to her home!

2 weeks later

#5708 6 years ago

DAD

Yelobird

Quoted from not4tilts:
I am putting my TZ back together after decals and PF swap and got stumped by the three holes for the legs (not remembering how it was originally). If you use the top two holes you screw up the decals so you can't use the lower two holes in the future to raise it up. I went to HEP's site and looked at his pictures and it looks like he has was using the two top holes in the back (so the game sits a little lower).
If I measure against my other B/W games, the bottom hole (on TZ) is 3/4 inch below the rest of my games bottom hole. I am figuring to use the bottom holes so as not to screw the decals. If you use the top holes your game will sit about 1 1/4 inches below other games (obviously requiring you to crank the feet out).
I guess the question is - can you achieve a good PF slope using the top holes or will you run out of feet lift trying?

You can still level with those holes but the game looks odd in a line up as if it’s somehow for short people. Nice location! Lol

3 months later

#6119 5 years ago

DAD

Yelobird

Quoted from Kensurfs:
Saw this simple mod/addition on a video on YouTube by Steve King. I remember the episode “A penny for your thoughts” where the coin stays up on its edge and he can read minds. Steve did it on his TZ so I added one to mine.
[quoted image]

For mod history. This was actually first done by Tom Wible some 15ish years ago back on RGP. Everyone jumped down his throat for selling a quarter on a bracket. Lol. Trick is you need to use the correct year coin for authenticity. Can’t remember but I think it’s on the back glass. I remember when we did the TZ slot machine and Lamp back 18 years ago. It was like the Wild West on TZ with Any mod imaginable. Funny times.

#6134 5 years ago

DAD

Yelobird

Quoted from Coyote:
Are you getting over 50v at the coil?
If no, then trace that feed wire and find where it's cut.
If yes, then find the hold and power wires in the IDC connection at the fliptronics board, and short them to ground. Does coil work?
If yes, issue is on the board. Both transistors are dead.
If no, the those wires are cut. Trace them and find the cut.
Randomly changing stuff - like the fuse and coil - may help, but usually they don't. Or is hit-n-miss.

I'm sure its been said here before but your knowledge of this game and pinball in general is not only impressive but Extremely appreciated. Seeing people take time to decipher the most complicated or even simple problems to help another learn and enjoy is a wonderful thing. Just wanted to say Thanks for all of your contributions, I know I have learned a-lot!

1 month later

#6350 5 years ago

DAD

Yelobird

Quoted from ramegoom:
I want to upgrade/replace my speakers - they sound like they're under water and I believe they're original equipment.
Looking for suggestions based on your experience. What do you recommend?

Consider the Flipper Fidelity setup. Easy plug and play and reasonably priced. I buy most of these items at Pinball Life and never had an issue. Good Luck!

#6351 5 years ago

DAD

Yelobird

Quoted from McSquid:
I joined this club today...sort of. I picked up the final boss of all projects. TZ is my one and only holiest of grail pins. This one is ugly, dirty, bent, broken, and incomplete, but its mine. I will likely spend over a year restoring this game but it will be worth it in the end.
It is VERY incomplete and so I will be looking for a lot of parts. If anyone has spare parts (especially boards) and would like to see this game get brought back to life please send me a PM, I'm still working on a complete list of what it needs.
Complete image gallery for your viewing displeasure:
https://imgur.com/a/ukM08vY
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

Just a suggestion but that game looks like it was under water for some time?? By the time you replace most every part and board many of which are game specific you may find it better to simply by a Beater game in need of some parts and use yours as a donor unit. Just a suggestion as your game may prove to be a money pit of sorts. My guess is you could then take some time and clean up a few of the salvageable parts from this donor to sell and recoup your beater game cost. Just a thought.

#6359 5 years ago

DAD

Yelobird

Quoted from McSquid:
Game wasn't under water. I don't see any signs of that. It's got a thick layer of dust from likely sitting in a warehouse for years, but it comes right off when cleaned. No swelling of the wood anywhere.
The broken wood seemed like areas of blunt force trauma and some idiot used ratchet straps so tight it bent the metal rails and broke the cabinet in matching spots. In fact there is much more evidence of mishandling, many bent metal parts etc. I'll investigate closer for signs of termites now that I know what to look for. The contents of the debris pile in the bottom of the cab should be telling. If there are termite carcasses, wings, or pellets from eaten wood then I know for sure. If not, I'll ask my bug guy to take a look.
I do consider this project to have unlimited time. As I'm doing it for me, and there is no rush. as much as I'd love to buy another beater and use this as a donor machine, beater TZs aren't exactly common, and if I did find another I'd have to beat back the other vultures with a shooter rod and pay out the ass to get it home. [quoted image][quoted image]

I do wish you the best. At the very least consider an inventory list of all of the must buy items before you start to see if this might be a “I can fix this but Should I?” project. Best of luck.

2 weeks later

#6424 5 years ago

DAD

Yelobird

Quoted from PhillyArcade:
Finally got my TZ all shopped out. Tear down, clean, polish, and wax. LED treatment, new balls, and no credit dots! Next up ColorDMD. So nice to play a fresh shopped pin especially when it's a TZ!
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

Looks Great and for sure Not an easy game to shop! Hard to tell from the photos (and nitpicking!) but that right spiral magnet could be decked and leveled closer to the playfield to smooth it out and minimize wear. Looks great enjoy one of the best games made!

#6437 5 years ago

DAD

Yelobird

Quoted from PhillyArcade:
Finally got my TZ all shopped out. Tear down, clean, polish, and wax. LED treatment, new balls, and no credit dots! Next up ColorDMD. So nice to play a fresh shopped pin especially when it's a TZ!

Thanks! It was a little harder then most I've shopped. I didn't take pictures along the way as I usually do and I pulled some of it apart months ago! I was scared I would forget where it all went as parts got shuffled around over that time but when I was done I didn't have any spare parts laying around! That's always a good thing! I was looking at that magnet as well. What's the best way to deck and level the magnet? It is an amazing fun game! Reminds me a tiny bit of TAF with the lay out but TAF don't compare in the least bit with the game play. TZ blows TAF away!

Best game ever and you're a courageous person shopping one without pictures lol. For the magnet I personally just remove the core and use a straight file in a vise. Cleans up fairly easy just take your time. Many simply buy a new magnet core (PinballLife) and swap it out as they don't cost much. Looks great enjoy your new game!

Pinball Life magnet core:
https://www.pinballlife.com/magnet-core-plug.html

3 weeks later

#6535 5 years ago

DAD

Yelobird