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Stern Node Boards - Reality

ianw said:
Think I've had 4 go, SW twice, AsLE, and currently waiting for a node 8 for my Turtles
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Yeah the early spike 2 games were problematic so ASLE doesn’t surprise me; the games listen in that stern bulletin have had the most issues.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
CHRIS B PINBALLS said:
I can’t see why Jim or any other pinball repair person would bother let’s just say that they charge £100 to look at it spent 2 days and a few quid in parts and couldn’t fix it would any group member accept that no they would say I have spent £100 for nothing
If he did fix it and charged you it lasted 2 weeks and failed again you would want your money back so it’s a risk reward thing and not worth the hassle
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Perhaps on the more expensive boards exuding hallmarks of known faults. It may be worth expert attempting to fix, maybe offering a small warranty on the work, which would be normal?. I’m referring to one of the more expensive node boards where it’s worth attempting to fix in 1st instance. I guess with a bit of research and discussion in advance it may end up being cheaper.
Would seem crazy to dump a CPU board when a small component fails.
 
For me never had an issue whilst I’ve owned a stern spike game personally (all nib) and that’s on ghostbusters, gotg, bm66, Deadpool, Bksor, strangerthings , so 6 games

only issue I’ve had after games sold and moved to new owner, once or twice. Not sure if there is Something about them not liking being moved or the change of environment/line differences etc hard to work out

repairs wise, we’ve been over it a few times already and @CHRIS B PINBALLS post sums it up pretty much

I’m happy to take a look at any node board if you adjust your expectations about what’s possible and realise a fixed test/diagnosis fee of £50 plus vat applies regardless of outcome. I do think the cpu boards are worth looking at more as their cost is much higher to replace so repair costs are quite a lot lower still.

I recently fixed a spike 1 cpu board for a group member with no backbox lights
 
Back in the early 80's Bally ,put in there manual a troubleshooting section as we all know , basically saying if this or that goes wrong then you need to replace this board or that board , why ? Because it was cost effective .move 30 years forward or so and we are at the same spot now with these node boards . Evolution of these machines tells us spike and the node boards will become old hat ,just like White Star boards and Sam boards are now . How long will these node boards be fitted before Stern drops them in there games , it's evolution it will happen . Who will be able to fix them ? Anyone or people who tries to figure out out how to repair them , I take my hat off to you , as it needs to be done so these machine don't go to the scrap heap . Then again when they do go to the scrap heap , it will be cost effective to repair supposed , lucky the boards are cheap to buy , so I for one would buy a replacement board every time because it is the cheapest option 🙂
 
Just for information, because I've seen £200 mentioned a few times in this thread, node 8 and 9 ( the common ones to go ), are £250. They're only £200 if you can get away with the vat somehow.
 
My Turtles has been dead for almost 6 weeks, had early issues, flippers dying mid game, Phil sent new node board, but seemed to fix itself. Returned board, but then machine died completely, now been waiting a while but now seems outside Phils control. What are my rights to return? Assume Electrocoin are the issue being the official importer.
 
contractually and statutory its with Phil - you can return it to him.

what does it do? power up? assume you checked fuses?
 
Node board fault, i could try a board from another machine, but don't want to end up with 2 dead machines... is it normally the board or an external issue that blows it, as would be great to play it again?
 
Chris, need to check if was 9 or 8, just getting fed up
 
Node 9 is the current issue, which i believe is the same type of board that was originally sent for the flipper issue I didn't use.
 
Am I safe swapping them 8 & 9 and see issue?
 
I would Ian. also take a photo of it and post it...


id also check the ethernet cables.
 
Aren’t 8&9 the same, just dip settings ? Could be wrong but I seem to remember that when my Aerosmith blew a node.

edit. Too slow, seems others have said the same.

basically take pics or write down the current settings, swap them around and set the switches.
 
@philpalmer
No wty issues if I swap a working board from another machine, say Gotg which is still under wty from you?
 
ON first power up on the game, a replacement or swapped node board will re-flash its internal firmware, but that is not an issue. If you put it back in GOTG it will reflash it back.

You can swap N8 and N9 around and it is DIP settings. Just write them down or take a photo.

Never known an ethernet cable to go down on a stern pinball.

Are you getting any LEDs at all on the old node?

Is the DIP set correctly on the failed one?

Have you unplugged all the outgoings from the old board and just left the 48v in and the ethernet?

Also worth if it is the one by the flippers to swap the ethernet socket over as it will just have one ethernet going in.

I do notice sometimes Stern put cables so they are almost stretched into node boards. If this is the case with the ethernet, disconnect one end and free some slack.
 
Okay with swap over board between games tomorrow and see if it fixes it
 
Star Wars
About 4 weeks since delivery
Node Board 9
Replacement part sent by Phil under warranty.

Touch wood, it’s been good as gold since.
 
I’m guessing it’s the voltage regulator chip (beside the larger capacitor) that has blown. close to the inductor (square black thing with dr127 on top)
 
JAG555 said:
Star Wars
About 4 weeks since delivery
Node Board 9
Replacement part sent by Phil under warranty.

Touch wood, it’s been good as gold since.
Click to expand...
Have you done the fix to the other board as described in the stern announcement?
 
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