I prefer to have the original so long as it is in good working order. Certainly nothing wrong with the replacement Rottendog, it comes down to what you like. The original board is not very old as boards go and both I think considered reliable. I've never had a fish tales pin though and it could be known to have problems with the MPU's but, I'm sure someone on here will comment that has more experience than I.

I second RWH's comment about having the original board, especially if the board isn't completely hacked up to get it back up and running. usually, the board that takes the most abuse in a WPC-era title is the dmd driver board with high-voltage section becoming all toasty and charred.

from the purist point of view, should the machine ever become a candidate for a CQ restoration, it's a huge plus in terms of being complete (as well as worth a few more $'s in the end) to have all of the original parts in the machine.

For B/W titles, I prefer original boards. The WPC board set is solid...I have this on my FT and WH20 (among others). I'd push for getting the original boards repaired/installed. Don't have much experience with the Rottendog MPU, so it's hard for me to comment.

For Bally titles (late '70's-80's), I really like the Altek Ultimate boards. Rock solid, great support, and they come with a lifetime warranty.

Personally I prefer the repro boards...they're modern and reliable....(and not hacked!).

The older boards are much better and built solid,I would keep my original and if i had a problem with it I would send it off for repairs.

I would go with the repro Rottendog board. Much newer components and much more reliable in the long run. I've bought Rottendog boards on multiple occasions and haven't had an issue yet, they are built for the long haul.

I'd keep the Rottendog for sure.

All the parts on the old board are 20+ years old and have had a hard life (probably left on 24/7, baking in the backbox).

Many of the connectors have a limited number of insertion cycles.

We've all seen boards come back from being "repaired" that still have intermittent problems that are hard to track down.

The Rottendog will have all brand new components, all brand new connectors, no hacking (who knows how many people have worked on it over the last 20 years), and is under a 2 year warranty. Keep it!!

Original. Mainly because it's usually cheaper to fix an original than buy a repo. The original are really well designed and IMO easier to work on if you have to.

Only the larger ones. The smaller boards like DMD drivers and power supplys - it is much cheaper to buy the repo.

Ok then, same question, system 6-7?

This ^ !!!

Also, if what you have is working, why switch?

--Luke

With all the different opinions, I am sure your choice isn't much clearer.

I was faced with the same choice last week and decided to keep the original and send off the boards. Here is why I came to that conclusion.

1. For me the Rottendog choice will always be there, if I want to change my mind in the future I can always purchase the new boards. (Driver board same company and series as yours)

2. Sending the boards off to be fixed is cheaper and keeps the game as original.

3. Keeping the original boards might be a selling point in the future if you ever decide to sell the pin. Some collectors rather have the original boards, and it can be a listed feature in the sell.

4. A big part of the decision might come down to who did the board work. There are some repairmen that have impeccable reputations, Pinball Classics and Coin Op Cauldron, are 2 examples of this. If the boards looked hacked, temporary fixes that aren't done right just to get the machine running, then you might have trouble later on and be in the same spot you are in now.

Everybody has great points, especially the part about newer components on the new board. Again, if the old board doesn't work for you, selling them will equal close to what the new boards costs. Original boards have more value than you think.

The seller giving you options sounds like a good seller.

That's just not true. A williams HV rebuild kit is a fraction of the cost of a rottendog. I'm pretty sure just about every reasonable shop will fix it for around $100 or less.

I always go with original.

Even if my original is unrepairable, I find an original and repair it.

The original boards match the schematics in your game. The parts are almost always through-hole, not SMT, so you have a much wider base of techs who can repair them.

I've read too many issues over the years with compatibility issues with aftermarket boards. 'Well, it works fine in these games, but not in this game', etc.

I would not worry about age of components. Most of the repairs that come through my shop are *not* problems related to a part 'wearing out' on a CPU board, they are problems because someone shorted solenoid voltage to a switch, batteries leaked, etc. Repro boards are susceptible to those failures just as much as an original.

Now, this is also dependent on seeing both sides of this 'repaired' board. If it's a rats nest of jumper wires, or something else that is not desirable, you might want to just stick with the Rottendog. If the original has battery leakage damage, that is often difficult to clean up and it's often a case of chasing your tail for awhile because you fix one thing.. and another pops up down the road.

The idea that a tech's 'spare' rottendog board is under a 2 year warranty is flawed - who knows how long it's been on his shelf or in his toolbox? It could easily be over 2 years old - and even if it wasn't, does the warranty transfer?

The after market Dmd driver board in this case is $79. Lots cheaper than the parts and fee for the shop.

As for the original question. Rottendog boards work fine / great in fish tales. They seem to have issues in a couple games like TZ or sttng. But I'd keep the rottendog. You know its working. After you have the guy come out and swap, there are two possibilities: game will be as good as it is now or game will be worse. No upside. The repaired board could also be resetting intermittently - something you won't find until after the swap is done and the dude is gone.

Rottendog brags:

- Remote battery holder (no future acid damage).

- ZERO surface mount components. This is not a throw away board. We ONLY do Through-Hole Designs

- No custom components.

- Socketed through hole connector for RAM Chip.

- All new (not 20+ year old) components and PCB

- All of our components match the original schematic component designators, so you can troubleshoot with the original schematics !

Ditto. Rottendog boards are more of a selling point for me then originals.

I'm happy with mine(Rottendog).And Jim is a solid stand behind his product guy.

He wants them back for a reason. :-)I'd keep em

Exactly.

He knows the Rottendog boards are more valuable than those origs, otherwise he would not drive all the way to your shack, swap boards, troubleshoot any connections and drive back.

You have the better of the two choices, keep 'em.

dont the rottendog boards have test points that are easy to use compared to the originals as well?

I would take a new Rottendog over a repaired original any day of the week. Newer components, better test points, same thru-hole tech and you can still use the original schematics to test with them.

I have purchased a number of Rottendog CPUs, power driver boards, power supply boards, etc over the years and only had one issue ever (backwards protection diode on a CPU for the batteries)

Hey now, if the PIN is stable, no random resets etc, I would keep the Rottendog boards and not mess with it.

From my personal experience, I noticed an immediate bump in power when I replaced my old driver board with a Rottendog board in my STTNG PIN. The flippers were faster, the cannons moved faster, everything just worked better! Very happy with this Rottendog driver board, would not go back.

Original boards with matching serial numbers is a selling point with me. I know that down the road there are people who will want all original parts and may not even be interested without the original boards. Nobody would say "I won't buy if there are no Rottendog boards".

When you bought it the understanding was you were going to trade back for the originals. Should be a no brainer to keep up your end of the deal. Regardless if one is better then the other.

Ethics goes a long way.

From the OP: "He was up front and told us we could keep the board or when the original was repaired that we could swap it out."

Thanks BJ, I missed that part. Then if that the case I always take the original part if it is in good working order.

Original part means that there is TON of troubleshoot info on the net. For example, you will not find a pinwiki on a Rottendog/Xpin board should the replacement start acting up.

I would visually inspect the original boards. Front side and back side. Look for any hacks, delamination, or damage. If the original boards look good, only then would I consider taking them.

Reading goes a long way.

The fuse clips on the RD boards are just like the DE ones and are very easy to split or damage them,That's one thing I didn't like about it.

I have a mixture of both in my collection. In fact, my TZ has ALL aftermarket boards in it except for the soundboard.
They work identical - IMHO, the driver board is a good one to have aftermarket due to design issues with resets and heat generation.
The original CPU boards are rock solid as long as you move the battery back off the board.
I Also have all aftermarket DMD drivers due to same reasons I stated above with the driver boards.
In YOUR case, A FT CPU original board is just fine to have installed and wouldn't give him grief over swapping it out as long as it's 100%.

D

i would go with the original if it was repaired properly . who repaired it ? i also would put remote battery holder in the original

That's correct if they are not hacked up and properly keep in good working order they will last forever.

The big question is do you want the guy to swap out working boards on your machine for something that may or may not be working 100%? Will he come out and switch them back if there are problems with the reworked boards?

I have Rottendog in Ft, JL and WW. They have all performed well. I think the biggest design improvement is in the system 7 board where they have eliminated the long connector between the two boards that is known to cause lots of problems. I got WW without boards and put Rottendog in it because they were readily available. After three different old parts on my FT driver board needed to be replaced, I got a Rottendog for it and have not had any trouble.

True dat. But hey, in my defense I'm on vacation, got nothing but rain coming down on my head all week and I spiked a temp last night. Fun fun fun.......

I miss my gameroom.

You'll need a vacation from your vacation.

I'd rather have a new board than the old ones.

As I buy these things to play rather than as investments, 'original' means absolutely nothing to me...

Rottendog all the way.

If the original boards didn't have matching serial numbers, would anyone still prefer them over RD?

Matching serial numbers or not I prefer new boards. Old boards are doomed to fail and have a much shorter life expectancy. If you are like me and can't stand board work do yourself a favor and keep the Rottendogs. To me having Rottendog boards is a selling point, original boards doesn't add anything to the value IMO.

Much shorter life expactancy? Doomed to fail? That is BS

Here is another way to look at it. New boards = new parts = chinese junk?

Original boards have proved themself over a long period of time where repo boards are new to the market. Rottendog boards i am sure are good for the most part, but have their fair share of problems as well (system 11, non standard flipper drivers failing, etc).

I think the OP should keep the game as is if it is working properly.

Rottendog boards are assembled in Michigan.

Yeah BS. Any pinball board is going to have failures sooner or later.

The Rottendog board will last LONGER on average, because ALL the parts are new. But that is only an average; as a coil diode could die tomorrow and kill a brand new transistor same as an old.

This is what I was alluding to. I have had a terrible time with original boards personally so I would leave it be with the new boards, pretty easy decision.

This is an even easier vote for Rottendog, as the driver transistors are heavier duty than the orig Williams.

Also the CPU and Driver are all on one board, no crappy 40 pin interconnect = higher reliability.

Not even close for me, when I can get a new board I get it. Rottendog, pinscore, Etc.

Electronics have a life cycle, go new and they will last longer. It may be me, but the new ones seem to run much cooler (especially the power supply boards) than the old ones.

And for sending boards out for repairs, do you want to not have your machine for 2 to 10 weeks waiting for a repair? Shipping alone may cost you $10 bucks each way plus the repair costs, plus the waiting...in my opinion it's not worth it. May be for someone else but I'd rather spend a few extra bucks and forget about it.

As far as what the market wants....just look at sold prices for old boards on here and on eBay. New boards go for 4 to 8 times what old boards go for. I am sure your machine will have a better resale value with the rottendog boards.

I've sold several used boards that work 100% for a fraction of what the new ones go for. There may be a few collectors out there that want the original, but people are willing to pay much more for new.

I was just busting your balls. I still love you, in a totally hetero way.