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Improvements for TZ

ronsplooter

ronsplooter

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Joined
Jul 21, 2011
Messages
6,497
Location
Nottingham
Alias
Chris
Just making the final tweaks to TZ and wanted to check what recommended improvements people have made to make play better? I’m not looking for any cosmetic mods more the little tweaks people have done to get their game playing sweet.

So far I’ve done:

- magnet on ramp diverter
- metal post to help ball into rocket kick out
- hard wired the trough proximity sensor
- shim washers under the subway from skillshot into slot machine so the ball rolls down better

My clock is also showing as broken sometimes as the quarter past opto doesn’t consistently register. It works (ingo clock board) but sometimes the hand just seems to miss while the other 3 optos are fine. Any ideas for this, I’m guessing enlarge the opto disrupter arm a little bit?
 
DRD said:
with the clock, it is years since I did mine. If you use tape to lengthen the interrupters you get a greasy, sticky trail. I inserted washers into my mechanism to reduce the play
Click to expand...

Thanks mate, can it be done with the clock in situ or am I taking the clock apart again?
 
M4carp said:
Waxed mine plays faster which I like.
Click to expand...

It’s had the full strip down, clean up and rebuild so wax is sorted [emoji106] quite a few new parts on it as well so I’ve got the stronger slot machine scoop target and weldment. The bloody subway proximity switch has just started playing up [emoji23]
 
Always something, Ingo has just sent out one of his blue clock board's so should have that soon as mine has always been glitchy.
Also got the Invader topper from Pedretti on its way that looks pretty cool.
I love this game when its all working☺️
 
The most important thing on a TZ is the kick out from the slot machine.

If it's controllable it either from a trap on right, or dead bounce to left, it changes the game completely.

Being able to hit both ramps with a moving ball from opposite flipper is also essential.

The number of games I've played were these simple things don't happen is amazing and completely ruins the game.
 
Another possible niggle on TZ is the ball not going into the lock. The weldment sometimes needs adjustment to stop the ball bouncing back out.
 
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I removed the clock to do the work. I also bought a new set of gears from the Legend and that made the thing a lot quieter.

I did not need to try this, but it might be possible to use heat shrink rather than tape to extend the interrupter if you still need to do this. A risk is that it becomes dislodged and jams in an opto
 
Last edited:
DRD said:
This looks like a nice mod if the game is a keeper.....

http://www.greatlakesmodular.com/in...akesmodular.com/products/pinball/tz_mpsk.html

with the clock, it is years since I did mine. If you use tape to lengthen the interrupters you get a greasy, sticky trail. I inserted washers into my mechanism to reduce the play
Click to expand...
GLM has been out of business for some time. Don’t know why the website is still active, except to tease everyone.

There is a guy called Twister on Pinside that makes a similar kit to that. I bought it a while ago but haven’t built up enough mana to remove the mini playfield yet.

@ronsplooter care to share a photo of your metal post by the rocket kicker? I tried to do the same but it ended up just trapping the ball there, so had to remove it.

I assume you have tried a replacement opto on the quarter past position on the clock? Does it register properly when testing the clock in FWD SLOW or RWD SLOW? (FAST might show intermittent non triggers on the DMD but actually are there - check the board LEDs).

Also while you have the clock apart stick Superlube on the gear teeth (fairly liberally) and sewing machine oil on the shafts. Makes a big difference to the noise the clock makes.

Before:

After:
 
My improvement for TZ...
1587029060596.png

(Sorry, adds no value i know, however i just didnt gel with iit unfortunately!) ;)
 
@Durzel I'll take a picture later for you but I had the same issue if I put a rubber on the post. With the rubber removed the ball can pass easily and seems to always drop nicely into the rocket :thumbs: The quarter past opto does work in test and it's a brand new board so think I'm ok from that perspective, it's just the clock hands not quite aligned correctly so more tweaking required, this game seems to need a lot of that!
 
Looks like most of my niggling issues have been solved by switch adjustments :thumbs: Everything seems to be behaving in test so I'll need to put some games on it this evening and make sure I've really sorted them all :)
 
Paul said:
My improvement for TZ...
View attachment 105455

(Sorry, adds no value i know, however i just didnt gel with iit unfortunately!) ;)
Click to expand...

This should be reported to a moderator. Ban this man! Whoever he is ! :)

ps - I do not get TZ either, owned 6 of them - had one that played amazingly that Mark Squires bought and then Stan then modded to death :)

Keep safe folks!
 
ronsplooter said:
@Durzel I'll take a picture later for you but I had the same issue if I put a rubber on the post. With the rubber removed the ball can pass easily and seems to always drop nicely into the rocket :thumbs: The quarter past opto does work in test and it's a brand new board so think I'm ok from that perspective, it's just the clock hands not quite aligned correctly so more tweaking required, this game seems to need a lot of that!
Click to expand...
Yeah I tried it with just the metal post, but was never comfortable with the ball hitting a bare post. Don’t know why really, as it hits metal scoops and ramps.

Glad you’ve got your niggles sorted :)
 
Durzel said:
Yeah I tried it with just the metal post, but was never comfortable with the ball hitting a bare post. Don’t know why really, as it hits metal scoops and ramps.

Glad you’ve got your niggles sorted :)
Click to expand...

It definitely works dude and the speed of impact is very very low so no worries there [emoji106] I’ve not had a single bounce out yet
 
Good Thread Ron,
Im new to pinball ownership and have started on a few things on my TZ
I have added the magnet to the diverter (what a difference this tiny mod makes) and the collywobble protectors to the plastics perfect
I had reset issues from day 1 so installed the 5v reset board this has worked spot on but i think i should really tackle the repair to the board long term
thinking of upgrading the clock board or is worth replacing the incandescent bulbs with LEd's
Cheers
Stef
 
Yeah just get Ingo's clock board. Do it right once and you'll never need to touch the clock again*

(* unless you use rainbow LEDs, 3 of mine have started playing up)
 
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