(Topic ID: 255899)

Bally vs STERN Solenoid Driver Board differences

By JethroP

4 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

  • 14 posts
  • 9 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 3 years ago by JethroP
  • Topic is favorited by 1 Pinsider

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#1 4 years ago

I am working on a Stern Quicksilver with a locked on kick out hole solenoid (Q13 on the board). The board is STERN SDU-100. I tried putting a good Bally 2518-16 SDB in the Quicksilver in place of the SDU-100 and it went nuts. The drop targets started cycling reset, and I'm not sure what all else was cycling. There was a lot of clattering going on. I shut it down and put the SDU-100 back in and the cycling went away. I thought Bally and Stern solenoid driver boards were interchangeable. Can someone enlighten me why the Bally board didn't work in the Quicksilver? (in the meantime, I am ordering parts for the Stern board).

#2 4 years ago

Never actually tried it but always thought they were the same.

#3 4 years ago

Did you match jumper and dip settings?

#4 4 years ago

They are almost the same. The Stern didn't have a high voltage fuse and they missed one of the caps around the 5 volt regulator.

Maybe your Bally board has an issue.

#5 4 years ago

Also maybe an issue with the J4 connector at the solenoid driver board. A bad connection on one or more of those signals and the wrong solenoids will get activated.

#6 4 years ago

Pinwiki has great bullet proof articles. See section 5.7.5 for Bally/Stern solenoid driver boards.
https://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Bally/Stern#/media/File%3ANicad_elim_options.jpg

#7 4 years ago

Well the Bally board works perfectly in my Night Rider....just not in the Quicksilver.

Quoted from Atari_Daze:

Did you match jumper and dip settings?

There aren't any. These are Solenoid Driver Boards, not the MPU boards.

#8 4 years ago
Quoted from Skidave:

Maybe your Bally board has an issue.

Maybe, but I don't understand. The board works fine in my Night Rider. I took it out of working Night Rider. After the swap to Quicksilver, where it didn't work, I put it back in Night Rider. Works perfectly again in Night Rider.

#9 4 years ago
Quoted from Quench:

Also maybe an issue with the J4 connector at the solenoid driver board. A bad connection on one or more of those signals and the wrong solenoids will get activated.

Rebuild J4 in Quicksilver and try both boards again.

#10 4 years ago

Quicksilver could use more inputs then Night rider. One of those inputs could be causing the problem. Just a guess. Haven’t worked on a Bally or Stern driver board in over a decade.

#11 4 years ago

I interchange the two all the time and never have a problem so I agree with those that say repinned J4.

#12 4 years ago

So concur with these comments, and reviewing the body of literature, these boards should be interchangeable. That said, I put the Bally SDB back in Night Rider and all is good there. I am pursuing the locked on coil in Quicksilver with the Stern SDB. Awaiting parts: CA3081 and 74L154 chips. Will also investigate the J4 connector.

7 months later
#13 3 years ago

Solved this yet?

3 weeks later
#14 3 years ago

Replaced the CA3081 on the Stern board and solved the problem with that board. Game is up and running. Never did resolve why the Bally board didn't work in the Stern game.

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