BURNT CHIP!

I purchased a HUO Ghostbuster Premium the other week - been having fun on it, and I woke up this morning to half the playfield being dark (I left machine on overnight) - the diagnostic failed Node 9 board. I did some searches and decided to pull the board after reseating the cat5 connections (didn't work) - and was going to swap with Node 8 and see if that told me anything. Before I did that - I noticed on the board that a whole chip had fried. I'm posting pictures here. Any advice on getting it fixed, or talking with Stern? Thanks!

GB Board Full (resized).jpg

GB Chip Close Up (resized).jpg

GP Node 8 Good Chip (resized).jpg

GP Node 9 Burnt Chip (resized).jpg

GP Node 9 Burnt Chip Barcodes (resized).jpg

Thanks for the replies. I found this thread after a bit more searching - it has the same blown chip:

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stern-spike-schematics-coming-this-month/page/5#post-5567829

I would love to find someone stateside that could replace it. I found the chip on mouser/digikey for like $3. Curious if other items have failed along with it. My biggest concern is what caused the failure in the first place. Last thing I want to do is drop $280 on a new board and have it happen again.

schudel5 and pinballaddicted

Can you guys suggest what other components should be replaced if I decide to get board repaired? Also pinballaddicted - when you say cant handle voltage spikes and electrical issues very well - would theses be spikes coming from my home power source, or shorts/mods/etc on the playfield itself? Any suggestions would be great - I don't want to plug a new board in and have it happen again!

Thanks in advance.

-Brad

pinballaddicted

Thanks for all the great info about the repair. May I ask what you are charged by your repair guy, so I can shop around for similar services here in the USA and know about what to expect? Wasn't sure if it was a 5 min job, or an hour long job. I'll definitely be calling Stern as well to chat. I get that stuff will "fail" over time.. but out of all the electronics I've owned over the years, rarely does anything stop working like this, and rarely does it have a HOLE burnt in the chip, and to see it repeated on multiple peoples machine in the EXACT same place, makes me think it is a systemic problem that shouldn't be the consumers responsibility in this case. Perhaps I am being unfair?

-Brad

YeOldPinPlayer

I appreciate your thoughts! I definitely do not argue with printed warranty periods, and such - Stern did not force me to buy their product, they can set the rules they want. They can also stand behind the quality of their products if they want - or not want to.

The rationale I have building for this particular issue is multi-faceted:

1) It is a relatively new machine with low plays, with new technology, and protections. Seems premature.
2) It isn't a part that in my mind is expected to be normal wear - like playfields, coils, other moving parts.
3) It seems to be an issue that repeats itself in the same manner over and over again from the initial research I'm seeing. And fairly scary when I think of something getting hot enough to melt itself, it bleeds over into a potential safety issue.

Various manufacturers over the years issue recalls, service bulletins, etc. that aim to rectify an issue that was missed during development. I feel that perhaps this might be one of those cases. I have not spoken to Stern yet personally, so I am not sure what remedies they will offer (if any) - just trying to understand the issue as much as I can so I can have an intelligent (and hopefully informed) conversation.

-Brad