Twilight Zone - ramp diverter problem

[DRD]

My word this pinball is an absolute pain to set up reliably.

When the ball is sent towards the mini playfield with the 'power' light lit, the diverter is correctly pulled out of the way by solenoid under the playfield allowing the ball to travel onto the mini playfield. About 1 time in 3 this mechanism throws the ball off the wire ramp back onto the playfield. It is not the diverter doing this directly, rather vibrations caused by the activation of the diverter or a slight twisting of the ramp caused by this mechanism

When I bought the game this solenoid was gummed up with oil and had a rusty, pitted plunger. I cleaned the plunger with brasso, removed all the sticky oil, replaced the scored solenoid sleeve. The solenoid now works much more smoothly and powerfully

I also cleaned the wire ramp that the diverter is attached too as it had bits of Sellotape on it, from a light mod I removed. So the ball is traveling more quickly now so is further along the wire ramp at the time the solenoid is fired

I think I either need to

1 slow the solenoid down so that it does not vibrate the wire ramp so much when it fires, put a spring washer in the solenoid sleeve to cushion the blow when it hits the stop ?
2 slow the ball down so it has not travelled as far along the wire ramp at the time the solenoid fires. Seems a bad idea
3 bend the wire ramp or somehow realign it so the ball does not fall off as often. I am reluctant to do this

Might anyone have any tips on how to address this problem please ?

Thank you

 

[RudeDogg1]

You need the diverter Magnet mod search ebay you will find it.

Also if the wireform isn't firmly screwed to the post directly under the diverter that will effect it

 

[Monkeyboypaul]

Is the diverter pin that goes through the playfield to pull the diverter open nice and straight? Correct part, length, connections etc?

 

[DRD]

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I have cracked it. With my tz it was dirty, slow, all the solenoids were gunked with oil, all the ramps had Sellotape on attaching a blue wire light mod. When the ramp diverter dumped the ball on the playfield it did not do so consistently, so the upper left flipper shot was hard to judge

This slowness was masking a few problems throughout the game as it made mechanical pivots etc more forgiving. Now I have cleaned it and so speeded it all up, the underlying problems have revealed themselves

The diverter had the circular spiral plastic mod which I have removed. It also had the magnet mod which I have left on. I have removed all the ramp light mods and the damned Sellotape used to hold them on

The problem was that there was play in the system as the wire ramp hinge was not properly and tightly aligned with the ramp diverter hinge. I bent the hinge on the wire ramp to make it square and tighten it up. The ramp diverter now hinges more reliably without much lateral play, making its action far more regular and consistent

It was erroneously throwing the ball off the ramp when it was meant to allow it to pass to the min playfield as the Lower surface of the ramp diverter assembly was sometimes caching on the wire ramp itself. I bent the offending surface of the diverter slightly to stop this happening

It no longer does this and now dumps the ball correctly and consistently for the upper left flipper shot into the piano. And when it is activated to allow the ball onto the mini playfield, it no longer throws the ball off the wire ramp

TZ must have been a nightmare for the operators to maintain

 

[Monkeyboypaul]

TZ must have been a nightmare for the operators to maintain

Amen!

But now it works better, enjoying it again?

I spent a LOT of time making my TZ work really reliably and I've had several thousand games without incident now. All enjoyable.

 

[DRD]

I am enjoying it thanks. The flow is superb, especially the way the left magnet and ramp diverter set the ball up for the piano shot

When I tried it before buying the whole Eco system of this game worked. Cleaning it up has basically given it a whole new Eco system that has revealed 4 "annoying" faults so far .....

1 missing non return wire gate in out hole kicker (did not matter when solenoid was gunked and the piston pitted and rusty). Fixed with new wire gate

2 ball kick out into the plunger lane too powerful (was gunked and pitted as above). Fixed by bending the armature so it did not strike the ball square on

3 this ramp diverter issue, fixed as above

4 My next one is that now I have removed the ramps and cleaned the top of the playfield, and rebuilt the left main flipper, the power ball shot into the gumball is sometimes so fast that the upper diverter does not react quickly enough!!!. I think I need to get the upper playfield diverter super smooth/ clean to give it the best chance. I may cheat and put a dab of Teflon on the pivot points

My dad always said, "if it is working, leave well alone". Well my tz was working, if a bit slow. Making it cleaner and faster has just given birth to all this

But I am getting there. I guess that if you buy a refurbed game from a quality outfit, all this sort of stuff should be sorted- but there is a big premium to pay

 

[elrikos]

For problem 4. Have you tried swapping out the reciever for the opto pair? Possibly getting a little old and slow to respond.

 

[DRD]

Thanks for the suggestion. I have a fear that the damned powerball travels so fast that this may be incurable

I will give the optos a go if sensible money. Are the receiver and opto "standard" kit, or are they a silly money, specialist item ?

I wish the power ball had never been introduced to this game. It introduces a nasty, random element to scoring IMHO together with all the proximity switches that are just waiting to go wrong. I do wonder about simply taking it out as it can ruin your score, especially when in a multi player game.

 

[elrikos]

It's all I can think of. From my memory (may be wrong as I'm not in front of my tz). The optos are the only switches up there that sense the ball going up the right loop. Have you had any opto issues? That and the diverter mech is where I'd be looking first. If your sure the diverter is operating fast and smooth that just leaves the opto and its associated lm339 on the opto board (which can go flaky, though they usually give opto issues in the form of fluttering switch closures). I tend to replace and socket the lm339s as a matter of course on my games. Happy to do it for free if you can cover postage costs (or are local to aylesbury).

 

[RudeDogg1]

Thanks for the suggestion. I have a fear that the damned powerball travels so fast that this may be incurable

I will give the optos a go if sensible money. Are the receiver and opto "standard" kit, or are they a silly money, specialist item ?

I wish the power ball had never been introduced to this game. It introduces a nasty, random element to scoring IMHO together with all the proximity switches that are just waiting to go wrong. I do wonder about simply taking it out as it can ruin your score, especially when in a multi player game.

What! The POWERBALL is one of the best bits sheesh

 

[Moonraker]

There is an option in the menu settings to remove the powerball from game play (just remember to add another regular pinball in to the game in place of the removed powerball). Keep hold of the powerball as any future buyer will want it back in the game.

 

[DRD]

Is the power ball removed in tournament play ?

My issue with it is that it is totally random whether it appears or not. You might be lucky, where it is the last ball in the gumball machine. Or unlucky, when it is the first ball of the game. So f you don't get it in the gumball, or the mechanism is too slow to react when you make the right loop, 2 of your 3 ball game could be short lived power balls.

If you always got a power ball in every game you play, that would make more sense to me, as it can have a massive effect on your score

I had to adjust my slot machine kick out as the power ball got sent through the flippers, with no chance to save it, half of the time.

 

[Moonraker]

Is the power ball removed in tournament play ?

That normally depends on the organiser. It can be if they wish.

 

[aaronhicksuk]

TZ is an awesome game and it simply wouldn't be the same without the powerball. Can't say I normally have trouble with the diverter on mine being too slow to react either, the ball must be flying for that to happen or more likely there is something up with your machine. If you are having issues as suggested previously if the mech is fine then its probably a worn out or dirty opto in the right hand spiral lane. If you get the machine setup properly then I don't think the reliablity is worse than any other table, its just theres loads on it so potentially plenty to put right.

Also its not random whether you get the powerball or not, its either on the playfield or cycling through one of 3 locations, the gumball machine, the lock or the trough. If you want to get it out then you simply need to lock more balls and/or start mutli etc.

 

[DRD]

Well. I removed the ramp diverter today and:

1. The spring was wrong, so I put the correct (less forceful) spring in. That should help a bit
2. The solenoid plunger was pitted and a little bit rusty. I cleaned with brasso as best I could then isopropyl alcohol. It is now much smoother, oil free and shinier but still a bit pitted. This will have helped speed things up. I will get a new plunger when I next order bits but I don't think this will do much more than I have achieved already
3. I replaced the solenoid sleeve as it was gunked with oil
4. I used Teflon spray on the linkages and pivot points

BUT the powerball can still be too fast for the diverter to react. I know the opto "works" as it never fails to divert the steel balls, and it also triggers the magnet to hold the steel balls

So I then (reluctantly) put some Teflon spray on the solenoid plunger. I know that the plunger-sleeve bearing is essentially self lubricating, but as the solvent evaporates I thought the ptfe might help a bit (as it does with flippers that need a modest boost). But the powerball was still too fast. A bit of this spray on my Addams Family helped me tune it so the right flipper makes the centre ramp

To hit the gumball shot with the powerball it is literally on the very tip of the flipper, hence why it travels so fast, and it makes it a very hard shot with the powerball. I wonder if I could adjust the flipper angles slightly to slow this shot down? Bring both flipper points down about 2mm to see what happens. They both look right to me as they are, but they are a little high compared to the holes drilled in the playfield (though I know many folk do not use these). I have read conflicting stories on the flipper guide holes, one said that you line them up with the plastic bats with the flipper rubbers off, if this is the case my flippers may be about 1mm high at present.

If I am to mess with the opto, is the first stage to simply replace the opto and transmitter with like for like - or do I need to mess with boards and transistors ?

Many thanks

 

[Moonraker]

Regarding the opto's - try cleaning them with a cotton bud soaked with IPA. I wouldn't do any more than that.

It sounds like your flippers are a little too high. Try dropping them 1mm, you can always put them back if you're not happy.

But the powerball being too fast is an issue with TZ's in general so you may not be able to resolve it so it works 100% of the time...