Hi all,

To my joy I just got my hands on a Zaccaria Time Machine. Finally I am will be able to traverse time and space in that wacky Zaccaria colourscheme! The machine has an issue though, and before I depart down the wrong path when trying to fix it, I would very much appreciate the input of Pinside.

This is the issue:

- Ball 1 plays almost normally. When coining up the playfield rises like it should - or at least from what I've seen in several videos on Youtube, this for instance:

Like in the video, my machine starts off in "The Future". When the ball then hits the time hole saucer, the machine takes a long good think (much longer than in the video) before we descend into "The Past". Still, this is what should happen, and the machine states "you are now in the past".

- It is when ball 2 starts the issue manifests. From what I have seen online, each ball should start in the future, whereas on my machine this is not so. If the playfield is in future-position when it drains ball 1, it will descend when starting ball 2. It then gets confused as to which time mode it is in. When the playfield starts off in the past like this, it clearly still thinks it is in the future, because none of the scoring associated with the past registers. I have also had instances where the ball just locks in the time hole, and I think this happens mostly in this state of confusion.

- There might or might not be a pointer in the following: somebody had just cut off all the wires to the coin door (yes...), so after rewiring that I finally managed to run the test modes. The switch test (or "connect" test in Zaccaria language) comes up with no errors, but I noticed something strange. The solenoid in the time hole fires when the switch in the same hole is triggered - in switch test mode. Surely this is not right? None of the other solenoids (like pop bumpers for instance) fire during switch test mode.

- Another issue with the machine is that the power connector (CN1) is burnt badly and needs to be swapped. According to http://www.zaccaria-pinball.com/gen2/index.html this is a common problem. But the machine works, so I cannot really see how this relates to the time travel issue.

If you guys have any ideas as to how to approach this, I would be very grateful!

Thanks!

To break it down a bit, I think that the first thing that needs to be addressed is the issue with the coil firing in the switch test mode. Any thoughts on what might cause this?

Thanks schudel5! This is very useful input. I have replaced the CN1 connector now, and I will go on to check on the switches again like you say. I am pretty sure that the switch in the time hole checked out fine though, so I might be looking at a switch matrix problem. I have not looked at the playfield registrator switch yet though. I will let you know how it fares.

While I have your attention, can I ask how you have approached the playfield mechanism? Mine is pretty greased up, and given the slowness of the playfield rising, I am suspecting that the grease has started to work against its purpose. Did you clean it?

Oh, and incidentally it seems our machines has been assembled by the same guy. I have the same signature on mine. If it is a signature.

The switches mentioned check out fine, diodes and all, but I think that some of the transistors on the driver board are blown. The first clue to this is that one of the lamps in the circle in the backbox is constantly on. When I started to look closer at the schematics, it seems that these lamps are actualy run as part of the solenoid driver circuitry on the driver board instead of the regular lamp circuitry. The lamp being constantly on indicated that the transistor might be blown, and right you are - looking at the transistor in question it is easy to tell that it is in a very sorry state. It just fell apart when I touched it.

I have ordered some new replacements, and while waiting for them I will spend my time checking the rest of the transistors. I suspect that the one related to the top time hole will check out bad as well. That would explain a lot. I will also go over the switch matrix. I had really hoped that I would avoid board repairs this time around, but it seems not. :/ Still, part of the hobby, eh?