Trace the wires back from the optos. IIRC, it’s on the harness closest to the kick out. Will have to take pics tomorrow. It’s not the connector itself, but the wires inside. They slide backwards and don’t connect inside the connector.

I completely forgot to get pics. Been a long day. Sorry.

Check these connections, make sure to push them all the way in.

IMG_1194 (resized).jpeg

My diverter was my main issue, check this connection as well.

IMG_1195 (resized).jpeg

Also, follow the wires of the solenoid for the post that holds the balls in. Mine was ok, but I was able to push in the pins in several mm still. I turned down my shaker to minimal as well. Seems to have solved a lot of the issues I was having with reseating connectors.

I think you are right on track - Node 10 is where the subway optos are controlled and CN15 (14 pin connector) is where they are connected. Since none of them work, I would suspect that:

The 5V and or ground pins (Pin 1 and 14) on CN15 have come loose
or
The 5V supply on that node board is not working
or
The fuse on the board has blown (not sure this is valid but there is a fuse on this board - without a schematic it is impossible to tell what it is for)

It is board 5 in the diagram on page 33 of the manual. Lower right as you look at the playfield in the upright position from the players position.

Have a look and tell us what LEDs you see lit/flashing on that board.

Pull J15 and take a careful look at all the pins installed in the housing. There should be one at each end (a black with white and a red wire). Carefully inspect these to make sure they are installed in the housing properly. Give the red and the black with white wire a gentle tug to make sure they are solidly installed.

There is one light controlled by Node 10 and one Ecto GI string.

Ecto backlight is on CN16 and is called lamp 113 (you could flash this lamp in lamp test to see if it is working)
Ecto GI on CN13 lamp 123

Can you check to see if they are lighting?

Those would be powered by the same 5v powers supply on the node board. If those lights are not working, you probably have a node board power problem.

If they are working, I suspect you have a wiring problem.

I’m not convinced the manual is correct on the lamp numbering. 113 is supposed to be something with the ecto goggles and 123 a GI string. I’ll run some tests on my game today to see if I can determine some next steps for you.

Do you have a volt meter?

123 from the manual isn’t what I thought it was. I tested this on my machine so I know this is the right procedure to test “123”.

Go into diagnostics / GI test. Cycle through until you get to this test (pictured). It should blink a red led and some white ones around the ecto goggles.

If they blink, I bet your node board is good

CC78539C-21A2-4D8D-B006-79728FC9E8E9 (resized).jpeg

Assuming the GI blinks, that means the node board power supply is likely not the problem. You are now looking for a wiring problem. The power for these optos comes from the black with white and the red wire on CN16. They daisy chain from one connector to the other. I suspect a wire broke or was cut somehow along the chain. You just need to find the needle in the haystack.

Look for connectors in that area with dual red and black with white. I’m guessing one of those wires had a bad crimp connector installed or has been cut.

020B3DC4-B70F-49C3-879D-C9A192B8FC96 (resized).jpeg2395FA8C-C6CA-4AD7-93CB-699907907413 (resized).jpeg

Can always swap boards. Only catch with that is if it’s a wire short you could toast a good board.

Any mods hooked to those ecto lights by chance?

Was the mod still working? I’d check the wires to make sure they didn’t short out on anything metal.

I wouldn’t.

Not really. I’d check to make sure the wires are not worn through from contact with metal. Also, these node boards are notorious for failing from the slightest over current draw.

To confirm, you entered GI test in settings and your display looked just like the picture that I posted? During that test - no blinking GI around and below the stock ectogoggles? Do you see the other GI strings flashing as you lead up to the ecto goggle string?

How was this mod connected? Pictures?

Edit - I see the mod connects to the GI - where specifically did you have it connected when it wasn't working? How did you connect it (in the GI socket or with alligator clips?)

Is the yellow light on the node board flickering? Make sure it is flickering, not flashing on and off. If you watch it as you boot up the game the yellow LED should be off, then flashing slowly then flickering with no pattern.

If not, can you turn the machine off and reseat the node bus connectors? The connectors that look like Ethernet cables and try again?

OK, that is a problem. I just watched mine carefully and it is off, then flashing then off for a few seconds then flickering. All 3 node boards on the bottom of the PF do the same.

It seems like that node board isn't getting signals from the CPU even though the bottom node board is the first in the cabling chain (its cable leads to the CPU board). If it can't get a signal the others shouldn't be getting a signal either. I'm not sure why this is happening unless your node board is bad. BUT - if the CPU couldn't find it on startup- it should give you a "node board not found" error or something.

Can you go into diagnostics and try the node board test? I'm not sure this really does much but it might tell us something.

I don't think the switches can be the problem since you really didn't change anything there. looks like the game is recognizing them.

Last 2 things I can think of is reseating the node board cables on the CPU board in the backbox.

You can test replacing the CPU to Node 10 cable if you have a 6 or 10 foot CAT 5 Ethernet cable. The cable from the CPU to the playfield connects to Node 10 at the bottom of the PF (the one you are having troubles with) and then continues on from there. I doubt this is the problem since your trough node board at the end of the string is working.

After that, I think you should contact Stern and tell them your situation to see if they have further diagnostics steps you should take. They can also help you with part numbers for that node board (if there are new ones) and maybe give you an idea of when they should be back in stock.

[email protected] or 1-800-KICKERS