Photo: robin

(Topic ID: 224048)

TZ: Are these screw heads normal?

By Claster

5 years ago

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16 posts
11 Pinsiders participating
Latest reply 5 years ago by DNO
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#1 5 years ago

BOB

Claster

Inactive member

Los Angeles, CA

5y 17,900 12 2

Like most folks, I'm not the original owner of my TZ machine. I noticed two odd flathead screwheads on the playfield, in the left spiral ramp. (see photo below) A few times, but not all that often, a ball will get stuck on the far one. It's probably become magnetized due to its proximity to the magnet there, but that's just a guess. Seems weird to have exposed screwheads in the path of the ball, but I don't have another copy of the machine to compare it with. Are these supposed to be here? They're holding the big solenoid that drives the ball diverter. Thanks in advance.

Bob

TZ Screws (resized).JPG

#2 5 years ago

Strohz

Pinside+ Frequent

12y 67,300 621

No, that's from a previous hack. Unfortunately nothing goes through the playfield there which is why is gets stuck...

TZ Playfield (resized).jpg

Post last edited 5 years ago: “Added photo of what it should look like”

#3 5 years ago

BOB

Claster

Inactive member

Los Angeles, CA

5y 17,900 12 2

Yeah, that's about what I expected. So, without those screws, how is the big solenoid for the ball diverter held up?

#4 5 years ago

LTG

Pinside member

Hopkins, MN

12y 191K 56,966 24 7

OP
Quoted from Claster:
how is the big solenoid for the ball diverter held up?

Screws below the playfield hold the bracket to the playfield.

LTG : )

#5 5 years ago

Strohz

Pinside+ Frequent

12y 67,300 621

Here's what it looks like normally in that area.

TZ Under Playfield (resized).jpg

#6 5 years ago

BOB

Claster

Inactive member

Los Angeles, CA

5y 17,900 12 2

Sigh. So, curses on the idiot who made such an inept repair, and even more curses on the crook who sold me the machine without disclosing this to me. I guess I could use some plastic wood to smooth over those screw heads, and a little paint to make it look close to what it should.

Damn.

#7 5 years ago

TDK

SilverBallz

Pinside member

Chicago, IL

11y 51,300 1,781 8

OP
Quoted from Claster:
Sigh. So, curses on the idiot who made such an inept repair, and even more curses on the crook who sold me the machine without disclosing this to me. I guess I could use some plastic wood to smooth over those screw heads, and a little paint to make it look close to what it should.
Damn.

And then hope you never need to access that bracket.
Who sold you the game?

#8 5 years ago

MOO

snakesnsparklers

Pinside member

9y 92,800 4,828

OP
Quoted from Claster:
Sigh. So, curses on the idiot who made such an inept repair, and even more curses on the crook who sold me the machine without disclosing this to me. I guess I could use some plastic wood to smooth over those screw heads, and a little paint to make it look close to what it should.
Damn.

I'm thinking something simple like mylar might prevent ball hangups.

#9 5 years ago

QUY

FatPanda

Pinside member

7y 141K 7,177 32

Quoted from snakesnsparklers:
I'm thinking something simple like mylar might prevent ball hangups.

I would go with mylar too before using something that would probably make it look worse.

#10 5 years ago

AAA

pintechev

Inactive member

11y 91,300 4,437

I am also wondering if pop bumper screws could be a good fix as you could get them fairly flush with the surface. Mylar on top is also a good idea.

Sorry to see this - no reason for hacks like this.

#11 5 years ago

F X

Coyote

Pinside member

9y 107K 8,987

*shudder*

Freakin' operators..

#12 5 years ago

JAS

Manimal

Pinside member

8y 71,050 2,015 3

OP
Quoted from Claster:
Sigh. So, curses on the idiot who made such an inept repair, and even more curses on the crook who sold me the machine without disclosing this to me. I guess I could use some plastic wood to smooth over those screw heads, and a little paint to make it look close to what it should.
Damn.

It sucks, but don't beat yourself up. With everything happening on a playfield, things sometimes get missed. It's even possible the previous owner did not know either. It's just a lesson learned, but as others said, I wouldn't get too crazy altering anything as it might look worse. Personally, I would paint the head of the screws so they don't stand out and then put mylar over them.

#13 5 years ago

BOB

Claster

Inactive member

Los Angeles, CA

5y 17,900 12 2

Yeah, that's the plan. And it's very low on the priority list. I've played the thing over a thousand times and the ball got stuck there only twice. A little plastic wood to smooth it over (the screws are a bit recessed), some gentle sanding, a little paint to make it look normal, and a small mylar patch will serve the main objective, which is to keep it from pissing me off! In fact, if I use the white Plastic Wood, I'll only need one color of paint, the midnight blue. Thanks, all. You guys are amazing.

#14 5 years ago

DNO

Pinside member

Highlands Ranch, CO

11y 73,800 1,976 45

I had my Tz strip the wood and was not able to really get screws to grab w the normal methods.
What I did was just rotate the solenoid bracket a bit, and screw into fresh wood, worked fine, still does, location play.
If you did the same, you could just remove those screws and repair the holes.

#15 5 years ago

???

Marvin

Blocked

7y 966

Quoted from DNO:
I had my Tz strip the wood and was not able to really get screws to grab w the normal methods.
What I did was just rotate the solenoid bracket a bit, and screw into fresh wood, worked fine, still does, location play.
If you did the same, you could just remove those screws and repair the holes.

just fill the holes with toothpicks or bamboo skewers. that will fix the original holes

#16 5 years ago

DNO

Pinside member

Highlands Ranch, CO

11y 73,800 1,976 45

Quoted from Marvin:
just fill the holes with toothpicks or bamboo skewers. that will fix the original holes

My go-to is the Q-tip shaft, I tried and it just kept stripping and coming loose again. Wood glue gets rock hard and takes too long on location.
Grabbing fresh wood worked well, and it's under the pf anyway.
At least I didn't go the route the op has to deal with.

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