PinballZone.com - Happ Controls Targets for WhiteWater and Twilight Zone

Introduction:

The Green Lock targets for WhiteWater are impossible to find when you need them. If you do find them, they are astronomically expensive... all this money, just to have them break again!? Twilight Zone constantly chews up Slot Machine Greed targets, and occasionally the Green Clock Millions target. These problems are easily curable with a commonly available, but little known part from Happ Controls.

The Problem:

Twilight Zone has constant problems with the Slot Machine rectangular oblong target getting bent backwards. When it bends, it causes "airballs" which can, in turn, break some of the plastics (especially the one on the edge of the Power Playfield). The targets are fairly common, and easy to replace, however replacing them is merely a band-aid, as they will bend back in time due to their constant abuse. WhiteWater has an issue with its Green Lock targets, where the faces crack and break away. These Green Lock targets were apparently only used on WhiteWater, and are impossible to find. The solution is easy. Happ Controls manufactures replacement pinball targets that look good, serve the purpose perfectly, and will hold up for a long time to come. They also significantly reduce airballs off of the Slot Machine Greed target on Twilight Zone.

What You Will Need:

For Twilight Zone: 46-F210-13TK Green Oblong Front-Mount Pinball Target (Approximately $6.00 from Happ Controls)
For WhiteWater and Twilight Zone: 46-F210-15TK Yellow Oblong Front-Mount Pinball Target (Approximately $6.00 from Happ Controls)
Screwdriver/Nutdriver (For Target Installation and Removal)
Wire Crimper/Good Needle-Nose Pliers
Wire Cutters and Strippers
A File/Rasp (May be optional)
Patience (The Most Important Ingredient)

The Procedure:

Happ Controls usually mentions that these targets are backordered. Ignore them, as the targets show as out-of-stock in their computer system because they manufacture them on-demand. Data East/Sega/Stern also uses these exact same targets and sells them as parts, but they are more expensive, will take longer to get, and are much harder to get than the Happ models.

Note, for simplicity, I'm not going to reference wire colors in this document, as I do not know if Happ standardizes on wiring colors. Remove the two screws that secure the old target, remove the old target from the through-playfield hole. Install the new target into this hole. You MAY need to file-down the edges of the new target to get it to fit through the hole in the playfield (I needed to file mine down on the Clock target on Twilight Zone, but the yellow Slot Machine Greed target fit without modification). Take note of the wire arrangement in respect to the orientation of the old target's diode. You are looking to see which wire(s) go to the banded side of the diode. Clip these wire(s) off of the banded side of the diode, strip them, and twist them together. Look at the documentation that comes with the new Happ target, and determine which wire color to connect these wire(s) to on the new target. Remember, you are looking to connect this/these wires to the banded side of the diode. (The diode on the new Happ targets is internal, so you need to use the diagrams in the documentation.) Connect the wire(s) from the playfield into the quick-connector on the end of the diode's banded-side wire on the new target. Crimp this connection solidly. Repeat process on the other wire.

Test the new target at this point. If it works, enjoy! If it doesn't work, verify that you put the wiring on the new target correctly (based on the orientation of the wires in reference to the diode). Also, verify your connections to make sure they are solid, and not shorted.

Below are some pictures of the finished install in my Twilight Zone. I have not installed the new targets in my WhiteWater machine yet.

A view of the Yellow Slot Machine Greed target in Twilight Zone.

Another view of the Yellow Slot Machine target. You can see, it looks a little different, but it'll hold up, play well, and prevent airballs better than replacement Williams targets.

You can see the package for the replacement target includes the target, the wiring harness, and new screws for mounting. The 'K' at the end of the switch part number references this kit, without the 'K', you don't get the wiring harness, or the screws, which makes it much harder to retro-fit for Williams games.

Another view of the replacement target by itself. You also get to see my sexy hand in this picture.