Bally Solved Twilight Zone (Bally, 1993) Reboots

[BostonMark]

Hi guys,

My first post here so go easy on me if this has been discussed before.

My TZ goes dark and resets itself after about 30-40 minutes of play when I hit both flipper buttons. I tried plugging and unplugging all the cables on the boards which didn't help. (This was recommended by a pinball technician)

What might the problem be? It seems the power just drops off and then the machine goes back on. It really was bad the other night when I was in the zone and hit both flippers when the multiball started, then 40 minutes of play was ruined.

Anything you can recommend would be appreciated.

BostonMark

 

[Shockman]

Too many possibilities. For someone to answer they would have to ask questions first.

The solution is most likely here.
http://www.actionpinball.com/tech/reset.htm

 

[BostonMark]

Thank you this article is exactly what I needed to start figuring out the problem.

 

[pinballdaveh]

tz reboot problem. the reason tz reboots during gameplay is the 5 volts going to the cpu board is to low. there is a chip on the cpu called the dallas watchdog chip that monitors the 5 volts and if it gets to low it will shut down the cpu and reboot the game. the most prob. cause of this low voltage to the cpu is a voltage drop on the Z connector. the Z connector is a 6 wire double male connector( the white plastic part of the connector is in the shape of a Z) that is in the wiring harness in between J114 (left side of driver board) and J210 (right side of cpu board). 2 female idc connectors connect to it. the 2 female idc connectors and the Z connector must be cut out and each mating set of wires spliced together (example grey/green to grey/green). insulate soldered splices with electric tape or heat shrink tubing. insulated crimp butt splices should work fine also. other williams wpc games of this era (example demolition man) might have this Z connector and might have this issue, but tz is the game most prone to have it.

 

[BostonMark]

Thanks!

I really appreciate the response. After reading the article on resets I realized it could be a bridge rectifier, filter capacitor or voltage regulator.

Instead of testing the board and having to solder in components I chose to buy a new driver board from Rottendog (WDB089). The board was easy to install and has cured the problem completely. I also replaced the Fliptronics board with a new one from Rottendog (FLP892).

My TZ game is minty and now has new electronics!