TSPP board repair / modification Part 2

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Links to more pictures (hopefully more helpful) below.

First though, a bit about the machine. This is from the first run of
TSPP. The seller was one of the first to contact me after I posted
about the problem. He's being very helpful. He says he never did any
work on the board and I fully believe him. He's also offering to help
with the cost of repairs if I have to send the board off. Seems clear
to me that this problem was prior to his ownership of the game and he
was fortunate enough to not have whatever caused the problem originally
creep up on him like it has on me. If he wants to chime in on this
thread I don't mind, but I won't mention who it is until I clear it
with him first.

I still don't see anything on either side of the board that indicates
that Q15 and Q16 should jumpered, but I'm certainly not an expert at
this. The diodes do look to be a cleaner job, so perhaps that part is
a standard mod. Hard to believe no one else has seen this on any of
their Stern boards yet though. I thought for sure some other first run
TSPP owner would have chimed in by now if that was a standard mod.

Here are the pics.

http://www.sailsweb.com/pinball/Front1.jpg
http://www.sailsweb.com/pinball/Front2.jpg
http://www.sailsweb.com/pinball/Front3.jpg
http://www.sailsweb.com/pinball/Back1.jpg

Thanks again for all the comments so far,

Ray

PS Part 1 of this thread is at

http://makeashorterlink.com/?G17D21BBB

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Ray,

I think most people haven't had to pull their boards yet. Mine have run
perfectly since I got them. I guess ops may have, but not many ops read
this group. A call in to Stern will tell you for sure if any of it is
factory.

That board is cooked good. I would send it to Clive at the Coin Op
Cauldron or another professional repair house. That board is now
fragile and any work done on it needs to be done carefully.

-cody
CARGPB#4


>http://www.sailsweb.com/pinball/Front1.jpg
>http://www.sailsweb.com/pinball/Front2.jpg
>http://www.sailsweb.com/pinball/Front3.jpg
>http://www.sailsweb.com/pinball/Back1.jpg

 

[Don]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

It was my game that Ray bought. Just as he noted I never had any
problem with the game and never had a reason to pull the board and look
it over. Looked ultra clean from the front. I feel like a heel to
sell a game describing it as perfect when it now seems that it
obviously wasn't.

Ray, just as I mentioned also, I'd suggest sending it to Clive at the
Coin-Op-Cauldron. I trust him with all my board repairs, he will have
this working perfectly and include a 90 day warranty. I'll not just
chip in for repairs, if you would like to send the board to Clive I
will be glad to pay for the full board repair.

I again appologize for this problem.

- Don

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

abcdelmrs@excite.com wrote:
> Links to more pictures (hopefully more helpful) below.
>
<snip>


> Here are the pics.
>
> http://www.sailsweb.com/pinball/Front1.jpg
> http://www.sailsweb.com/pinball/Front2.jpg
> http://www.sailsweb.com/pinball/Front3.jpg
> http://www.sailsweb.com/pinball/Back1.jpg
>


It's not a factory modification. Someone has replaced both transistors
and broken the link to ground hence the wire jumper. If it's
functioning, I would not worry about it. It's ugly though (it's not a
pro repair shop standard by any means).

Clive
---
Board repairs, EPROMs, servicing...

The Coin-Op Cauldron
103 Armistead Lane
Easley, SC 29642
(864)238-1707
http://www.coinopcauldron.com

 

[martin]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

The transistors would originally have had little joins between the pad
and the ground plane ( the copper overcoat on the top side). If you
look at C246 you will see them bridging the bare ring around the pad.

If I were doing this:

1) Clean both sides with flux cleaner, see what the damage is. look for
shorted traces.
2) Replace Q16
3) Remove that jumper and figure out which transistor ground is bad,
then run a wire to ground. I just don't like unnecessary wires on parts
that need to occasionally be replaced.
4) Clean, and thorough inspection.

Or, you could just send it out. If you are confident in your soldering
skills but not electronic skills, those steps are a quick and easy way
to get to the first fence. If it doesn't work, send it out - but don't
make it worse.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.pinball (More info?)

Thanks for all the suggestions and explanations Martin.

As much as I'd like to tackle this myself, I'm worried that even a
small wrong step at this point could be one step too far. The traces
that are there look to be already lifting off the board pretty far. I
think I'll check with Clive and see if he's willing to take it on.

Ray

martin wrote:
> The transistors would originally have had little joins between the pad
> and the ground plane ( the copper overcoat on the top side). If you
> look at C246 you will see them bridging the bare ring around the pad.
>
> If I were doing this:
>
> 1) Clean both sides with flux cleaner, see what the damage is. look for
> shorted traces.
> 2) Replace Q16
> 3) Remove that jumper and figure out which transistor ground is bad,
> then run a wire to ground. I just don't like unnecessary wires on parts
> that need to occasionally be replaced.
> 4) Clean, and thorough inspection.
>
> Or, you could just send it out. If you are confident in your soldering
> skills but not electronic skills, those steps are a quick and easy way
> to get to the first fence. If it doesn't work, send it out - but don't
> make it worse.