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Expired Brand New Stern Pinball Machines

  • Thread starter Thread starter pinballowner
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Expired Due to no activity
Probably a nice guy, but if your going to spend 4k on a machine you really need a bit more info.

Paul said:
Yup - If it is a US game then it wont run on 50Hz - 60Hz only - you need to change a board internally (Which of course adds extra cost). Also, there's the potential lack of warranty - Stern i think warranty them for a few weeks - however Phil Warranties for 12 months i think (Tho i stand to be corrected) :)
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Interesting this, Phil posted on another thread a while back that he would knock £200 off for taking just the Stern warranty. How long is this Stern warranty exactly? At the NLP last year there was an AC/DC with a faulty display, worryingly. Could prove to be a costly risk.
 
A quick search on Google bingo shows 2 months on pcb and games logic and 9 months on dmd and nothing else is warranted.
 
If I were buying a new game then it would be from PH, no brained, no worries if anything went wrong and supporting a U.K. supplier.
All for the sake of a few hundred quid I would prefer knowing things would be put right if anything went wrong. And with the recent Sterns that seems a given.
 
Yup Stern offer something like a 3 month warranty on boards, but Phil replaced a couple of mine after 6 months or so without question. I guess that as a UK vendor he is obliged to by law though... Sale of goods act and all that?
 
I would recommend paying the extra and go with Phil, I had quite a few issues with my Metallica LE in the first 9 months including the dreaded line out on the DMD. Phil was brilliant, he looked after me and took care of everything. I would have been seriously out of pocket and waiting around for ages if I had to go direct to Stern in the States for help.
 
To respond to the question about 110V vs 240V I'm confident that almost all transformers are multi-tapped to allow connection of different input voltages. This means the manufacturer only has to spec and fit one transformer - they only have to hook up different input power connections depending upon the ultimate export location. Possibly modern games use Swiched-Mode power supplies that operate on a range of input voltages (think of laptop power supplies - they work anywhere on 100 to 250 volts just using a plug adapter).

But the frequency difference between the US and UK (60 Hz or cycles-per-second versus 50 Hz) could well be a major issue and as noted above might require some kind of board/module swap.

Would be great if @philpalmer could give us the low down on this, and the specifics of the standard warranty offered by Stern and what Pinball Heaven gives you extra in the UK? I know where my spondoolies would be going if I was gonna drop £4k+ on a pin!
 
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Nedreud said:
To respond to the question about 110V vs 240V I'm confident that almost all transformers are multi-tapped to allow connection of different input voltages. This means the manufacturer only has to spec and fit one transformer - they only have to hook up different input power connections depending upon the ultimate export location. Possibly modern games use Swiched-Mode power supplies that operate on a range of input voltages (think of laptop power supplies - they work anywhere on 100 to 250 volts just using a plug adapter).
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Correct. Same for all pinball machines whatever age.

Nedreud said:
But the frequency difference between the US and UK (60 Hz or cycles-per-second versus 50 Hz) could well be a major issue and as noted above might require some kind of board/module swap.
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They do but you're not supposed to know that!

Nedreud said:
Would be great if @philpalmer could give us the low down on this, and the specifics of the standard warranty offered by Stern and what Pinball Heaven gives you extra in the UK? I know where my spondoolies would be going if I was gonna drop £4k+ on a pin!
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I think Phil might like to keep information like that close to his chest as he has competition out there.
 
Replacing a new Stern DMD with a line out is almost the same price as the difference between the price this guys offering anyway so why would you even consider buying one from anywhere else other than pinball heaven.

Phil has always been a top bloke to deal with and wouldn't hesitate to buy a NIB pin from him apart from the fact that new games aren't my thing.
 
Ooh! I didn't mean for Phil to expose any trade secrets! Just a summary of the warranty offered by Pinball Heaven. I assume Stern warranty details to be published on their website.

Like others have said, better to deal with somewhere with reputation, longevity and good standing with the community!
 
I didn't realise new machines were so unreliable. Don't remember having any major problems with new WMS / Bally, and they were getting hammered in a smokey hot pub environment.
 
mark9 said:
I didn't realise new machines were so unreliable. Don't remember having any major problems with new WMS / Bally, and they were getting hammered in a smokey hot pub environment.
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That's because Bally/Williams machines were quality.
And I ain going to even put my flame suit on for that one.
 
Games are cheaper in real terms than they were 20 years ago, WMS stuff wasn't perfect, we had loads of out of the box issues with those too, just with no internet then everyone couldn't share stories so easily!!

The PBH warranty is as follows. Each new/restored PBH game has a 12 month off site warranty, let me explain the off-site bit.... of course you can't bring a pinball machine back for repair but the idea is we cover parts/labour and you pay a small charge, say £50 towards getting an engineer to your home, HOWEVER, in most circumstances we cover it 100%, it really is to protect us against "a bulb just blew, can you come and sort it" or "this jet bumper isn't as responsive as my mates down the road" (really!)

Most pinball people can sort out the simple adjustment issues and anything major we take care of, not just because of the UK 1 year warranty, because I don't want to sell you something for £4-5k that bloody breaks, I want you to come back and buy another game off me at some point.

Where's @pinballowner gone to? I was curious where the games were coming from...

Phil
 
Thank you, @philpalmer, for explaining about the warranty and servicing you cover. If I had the money Pinball Heaven is the place I'd look to get a new game. I'd want some kind of after care if I was spending £4-5k ;) Keep up the good work and supporting the pinball community.
 
I've bought two NIB from Pinball Heaven now, and also organised one for my dad. Although we've been lucky and had no major problems with any of the machines, Phil has sorted out the small stuff on the METLE that my dad bought (magnet board, replacement drop targets) incredibly quickly, and it's reassuring to know that should anything major go wrong you're covered. Wouldn't buy NIB from anywhere else, the peace of mind is worth it.
 
It is indeed very possible to get US import games in the UK at a much cheaper price. I myself have bought such a machine in the past from a well known seller.

Things will go wrong no matter what you buy so I guess you have to ask yourself if you are willing to fork out if things fry or break and if you are competent enough to fix it. Most pinfolk I know just want to play so the premium you pay from PH is quite attractive in that regard.
 
Boiling it down to the base level the premium from PH is basically a 10% insurance (and a pretty good one with friendly, competent advice). As @Rus121 said, if you think the risk is less than this and you're completely confident that you can resolve all problems yourself then go ahead!

You pays ya money an' takes ya chances... or not ;)
 
Nedreud said:
To respond to the question about 110V vs 240V I'm confident that almost all transformers are multi-tapped to allow connection of different input voltages. This means the manufacturer only has to spec and fit one transformer - they only have to hook up different input power connections depending upon the ultimate export location. Possibly modern games use Swiched-Mode power supplies that operate on a range of input voltages (think of laptop power supplies - they work anywhere on 100 to 250 volts just using a plug adapter).
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You're right about almost all machines transformers having multiple primary windings to cope with input voltages of 115 or 230 volts (or thereabouts). But not 60's Williams games - I looked at a couple, and the parts listing for 'Apollo' shows alternative transformer and scoring motor information. Strangely, it makes the difference on frequency (50 or 60 Hz) rather than voltage. The other game, 'Magic City', had actually had another transformer fitted to step U.K. voltage down for the regular transformer.
 
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Jay Walker said:
You're right about almost all machines transformers having multiple primary windings to cope with input voltages of 115 or 230 volts. But not 60's Williams games - I had a couple, and the parts listing for 'Apollo' shows alternative transformer and scoring motor information. Strangely, it makes the difference on frequency (50 or 60 Hz) rather than voltage. The other game, 'Magic City', had actually had another transformer fitted to step U.K. voltage down for the regular transformer.
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Maybe it was to do with exports. Single tap transformers would be cheaper but limit the export market. Maybe in 50s/60s US pinball manufacturing that didn't matter diddly squat until export numbers to non-110V countries outside the US rose to a level sufficient to warrant specifying a multi-tap for all builds. Who knows? Just one of those things that probably just happened the way it happened rather than part of some thought out master plan!
 
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