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Stern Star Wars Spike 2 LED issue

andy

andy

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10 Years
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Jul 21, 2011
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I’ve got a Star Wars Pro and the Death Star LEDs (there are 5 of them) are all stuck on. All other LEDs (and indeed everything else) in the game work fine.

The Death Star LEDs are driven by a 16 LED board (which does no other LEDs in this game) which is node 9C - the serial cable daisy chains from node board 9 through 9A and 9B to 9C.

If I move the serial cable to bypass 9B (so cable to 9C goes directly from 9A) the LEDs are locked on so I take from that 9B isn’t at fault
If I move the serial cable to bypass 9A (so cable to 9B goes directly from node board 9) the LEDs are locked on so I take from that 9A isn’t at fault.
If I unplug the serial cable from 9C, the LEDs go off.

So from all this I think 9A and 9B must be OK and the problem lies with 9C itself? I haven’t plugged 9C directly into node board 9 as the cable doesn’t reach…

Board 9C is fortunately both available and fairly cheap so my intention is to get a new 9C board unless anyone thinks my reasoning is faulty or there’s anything else to test? I’m assuming (and hoping…) that node board 9 itself wouldn’t fail in such a way to lock a subset of LEDs on like that…?

Thanks very much,
Andy
 
It does sound like an issue with 9c. Check it closely (on both sides) for anything which could be creating a short between traces, like a small bit of metal.
 
Fubar said:
It does sound like an issue with 9c. Check it closely (on both sides) for anything which could be creating a short between traces, like a small bit of metal.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the suggestion but no, nothing obvious unfortunately, the back of the board was quite dusty so I brushed it off to make sure no small bits were shorting, but LEDs still locked on…
 
Have a read through this to see if any of it could have caused the issue. It was 9A I ended up replacing.

Marvello

Post in thread 'Stern LED Board 9B 520-7054-00 / 520-7053-00'

Fubar said:
When you say "swapped cable" what did you change exactly?
Click to expand...
I used the cable that was attached to faulty 9B on another LED board and it worked.
Fubar said:
Sounds like the issue might be with 9A output?
Click to expand...
I think I agree. By moving things around I know the cable is fine, and 9B (which I thought was faulty) is fine. That leaves the output of 9A which doesn't work with 2 different LED boards I've tried.

The issue started (I think) after I replaced faulty Node Board 8.

I guess I'll have to start with buying a 9A LED board (520-7053-00). Seems like only Star Wars uses it, which isn't great.
 
So….I verified the cable was ok (thanks for the suggestion @Fubar ) then ordered a replacement 9C board which has now arrived. Plugged that board in and no LEDs at all on the Death Star :mad:

I have investigated further:

If I move the serial cable to bypass 9A and 9B (so cable to 9C goes directly from node board 9) the Death Star LEDs go on and off (they don’t look like they’re flashing quite like they are supposed to, but they are flashing) so I take from that the new 9C board is OK.
If I move the serial cable to bypass just 9B (so cable to 9C goes directly from 9A) the LEDs go on and off as above, so I take it from that that the output from 9A is OK.
If I swap the serial cables round between 9A and 9B (so cable from node board 9 goes to 9B first then to 9A) then no 9A LEDs come on, so I take from that the output of 9B is faulty.

So it would appear to me that both boards 9B and 9C were faulty so I’ll need a new 9B as well (though if anyone thinks differently please say?) they’re on back order at www.stern-spareparts.de so I will contact them to see when they’re likely to be available (if at all :confused:) and I’ll put a wanted post on here just in case.
 
So just to put this one to bed….I raised a ticket with Stern and Kyle got back to me saying that yes he thought 9B would be at fault.

I found the board in stock at Little Shop of Games in the US so ordered from there, it arrived today and it has solved the problem as shown in the vid below. :)

I’m pleased to have got it sorted, less pleased that the 2 boards including postage have cost £200! :eek:

This seems a lot for a few non working lights, reckon i might stick with WPC technology next time… :oops:

If anyone wants faulty node boards 9B and 9C for any reason (to practice repairs?) let me have your address and I’ll send them to you. :thumbs:Boards now gone.

Andy

View attachment IMG_1655.mov
 
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Hi @andy, I'll PM you regarding the costs as I should have picked up the lights shouldn't have been on all the time. Glad you got it sorted in the end 👍.

andy said:
This seems a lot for a few non working lights, reckon i might stick with WPC technology next time… :oops:
Click to expand...
You aren't wrong, it's putting me off another Stern Spike. I'd already replaced faulty 9A LED board and Node Board 9 when I had it. Maybe Node 9 crapping out caused the issues with the 3 LED boards. Very frustrating technology if that is the case.

*I've still got the faulty 9A LED board if anyone can find a use for it.
 
Marvello said:
Hi @andy, I'll PM you regarding the costs as I should have picked up the lights shouldn't have been on all the time. Glad you got it sorted in the end 👍.


You aren't wrong, it's putting me off another Stern Spike. I'd already replaced faulty 9A LED board and Node Board 9 when I had it. Maybe Node 9 crapping out caused the issues with the 3 LED boards. Very frustrating technology if that is the case.

*I've still got the faulty 9A LED board if anyone can find a use for it.
Click to expand...
Just waiting until the great node board failure of 2027 kicks in when all that lead free solder finally gives up the ghost.
 
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