I am having similar problems on a KISS. Won’t boot with the below message. Have to call stern tomorrow but probably a frikin non repairable node board with these mini surface mounted components. If there is enough demand someone will Re-pop these and sell for $100. I think there are only a handful of different part numbers

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I'd contact Stern or your distributor. Even if it is out of warranty they will often replaced it at no charge.

Saw the writing on the wall, sold my spike games. Won’t buy any more.

Similar issue with my AS pro. Stern hooked me up. My distributor got it warrantied.

Highly doubt it costs them more than $5. These are not big, complex, high quality boards with any costly componentry.

Think aboot how bad this is for route operators. Machines getting more play than those of a hobbyist/collector and having a node board eat a couple week's worth of the operator's share.

Of course route ops pay somewhat less for their parts.

I had to replace the cabinet node board on my KISS Pro. After talking to Stern tech support I learned that the cabinet node board is by far the node board that fails the most. You should be able to do a node board test and see which board is the problem. Main symptom for my game was the start button switch quit working.

Yes, not only is there the issue of the cost of the parts, but your game is down and not earning. When I first started to route Spike games I considered keeping a whole node board set on hand until I realized that Stern kept changing the boards from game to game. Might be worthwhile to do it now as long as all the current node boards are backward compatible.

I swear George Gomez said that Stern would be releasing schematics on Spike node boards way back during Expo 2017 or something. I just remember reading this in passing and not paying too much attention to it other than thinking "Good". However, so far nothing has happened in regards to schematics, which makes me think that Stern has back tracked on this comment by Gomez, as they'd rather sell new boards at insane mark-ups than have schematics out there that might assist people in making their own repairs (if people are brave enough with surface mount work) or assist competitors in making more cost effective aftermarket replacement boards.

Someone has got schematics on them, as it would seem that Stern employees designed them and then supplied them to a board manufacturer that made the boards.

And sadly this is the BIGGEST reason why I don’t route Spike. The only spike pin I have is a PCC on route and it’s there because it makes beaucoup bucks. Everything else is SAM or WPC

Yes. For Stern. You should contact your distributor though -

what is PCC?

Pabst can crusher

I asked the question during his seminar at Pintastic last summer. The response was the material and tutorials are coming. Not sure if there is a video of that seminar available, but it's on it if there is one.

Sucks for you because you are missing out. Live for today-not for tomorrow or yesterday. Stern Spike has it's flaws but damn their games are so much fun! As long as Stern is still in business I have no worries-they always take care of me.

Also was wondering if James called Stern or not?

MEH lots of great games out there, I don't mind avoiding Spike for now. Who knows maybe if one of their Spike games becomes a hit I'll give it a whirl....or maybe not

Just checked, Sams Publishing (Successor to Howard W. Sams) does not offer a Photofact of Stern Node boards.

Yet......

Wow 1 switch...that is pretty pathetic.

Nobody nodes, the trouble I’ve seen
Nobody nodes the sorrow...

They've had all the documentation since WWE in January 2015. Or arguably Transformers The Pin (2012) or Avengers The Pin (2013). They wouldn't have been able to produce them otherwise.

They're withholding them for obvious reasons. They know they're unreliable (circuit diagrams will further reinforce the view that they're crap), and they're very cheap to produce and can charge massive amounts for them. Shitty boards failing are a revenue stream for them. They weren't with SAM.

Releasing all the documentation will hasten the production of 3rd party replacements, which would remove that revenue stream or force them to sell them for a fraction of the price (& to add fusing / breakers - as 3rd party solutions would).

Same here. Wanted several different games but will settle for just playing them on route.

ouch

that hurts.

Sorry, but I also commend you for putting your money where your mouth is! If more people get burned (I am seeing more and more node related failures so this is just a matter of time) and also hold tight and let Stern know then they are bound to change.

These node boards should be like $50 at tops and should also be 100% backwards compatible. Then it would actually make sense. Every op would have a spare on hand at all times and then just be able to eat the cost when inevitably something goes wrong.

At $220 plus shipping and a few weeks of lost income on a game that is rough.

I would for sure call your distributor and let them know your displeasure and ask for a free board to be shipped priority.

It sucks. I like the node board concept As they are selling these things to more inexperienced newbies than ever and it’s the easiest way to “repair” games for people with little or no tech skills.

But get the price down or make them more serviceable.

Be happy that your an American, I’d be willing to bet that it will be close to $400cdn to get one of these with shipping and currency conversion. I can only imagine what the EU or Aussie guys pay

I as a player/pinballbuyer wanted to buy IM but am passing because of the uncertainties of future repairs and node failures.

Additionally, I had a customer who I helped update his GB and it took out a node board. It was a nightmare to get working. This spike system made me look incompetent as I couldn't give an explanation of why it failed. I'm sure he wont be a repeat customer as he probably thinks I caused his node to fail.
I just had guy today with a SW that needed a flipper fixed and passed on the call. As ive mentioned before pinballs can have a personality of their own as far as breaking down. When I go on a home service call in a way Im married to the game as Im the last one that worked on the game. With Sam, Wpc, System 6-11 etc if some gremlin pops up while im on the call I can easily fix or anytime after I leave etc because Ive seen almost everything. Most failures have a cause or explanation I can give to the client.
Possibly in the future I will buy or work on Spike game but for now I will just enjoy them on location as they are lots of fun to play.

Chaz is an absolute great guy that has helped us repair many Stern machines over the last many years. I am not sure how many years he has worked at Stern, I am sure it is a lot. He works answering emails on his days off and is totally committed to helping pinheads keep their machines running. I understand your frustration with Spike, please do not take that frustration out on Chaz. He has done a fantastic job for many of us for many years.

I have good news for you MET is SAM

Met is a SAM game

I agree it sucks when this happens and it has happened to me also.

It sounds like Stern could repair or replace the board if you send it in, but this is not acceptable to you due to the downtime? I can understand how Stern might not want to send new boards out at their expense to everyone who calls.

I agree it would be great if boards never failed or if they did they were $50 to replace. I wish new games were $3k also.

My own experience is Stern has been more than fair with replacing these boards even when they are out of warranty. Going through your distributor might give you more leverage as others have mentioned. My experience (with both JJP and Stern) was that they would replace the board but I would be charged for it or pay up front and get it refunded when I returned the old one.

Right now you have a non-working game, you don't want to return the board, you can't fix it yourself, and you don't want to buy a new one. You've suggested Stern go back to SAM boards. That isn't going to happen, but if they did it still doesn't solve your problem.

Buy with confidence, Met doesn't have node boards

Also another reason why I recently picked up a AC/DC vault......brand new in the box SAM! ahhhhh sadly will probably be my last NIB Stern unless future vaults continue the SAM/WhiteStar tradition.

meant IM already own MET. love it!

Chaz has always been platinum with me as well. If documentation comes out on these node boards it will be better.

Good news, IM is also SAM! Iron Maiden: Legacy of the Beast (Premium)-le & Iron Maiden: Legacy of the Beast (Pro) on the other hand are both SPIKE2.

Stern meets Apple? This is one of the most customer-unfriendly statements I've heard from any company in years. Sad that it actually came from a pinball company.

Even better, offer a "maybe" warranty so customers think they're covered... til they're not.

6 years without schematics is complete bullshit. I want a Maiden but I guess I will have to make do with location play til Stern sorts this out. Thanks for the reminder, Shackler.

That may be true but in this instance he's the face of Stern, for this customer and no doubt others.

Distilling this down to the simple facts. If a broken switch indirectly costs circa $200 to repair, and/or involves significant downtime, then it's just plain anti-consumer behaviour. I would not be particularly happy with someone basically telling me "sucks to be you pal" on the phone, even if they are being honest.

There's no reason for them to be designed that way other than - as Chad candidly put it - to explicitly make end user repair difficult if not impossible, and to serve as a secondary revenue stream.

This is why I don't buy Apple…

I've fixed my own desktops and laptops my whole life. I've also replaced screens on tablets before. All companies are making it harder to fix stuff, but Apple is making it much, much harder than most.

Now I'm afraid to buy a Spike game. OP wasn't left with many options other than to fork out $219

200 bucks a Node board. Stern should sell them at 50 bucks a pop.

No one is minting coin in buckets these days. The whole concept of coins is silently killing this industry.

If you think a node board failure will keep the game from working, hope nobody finds out what happens if your SD card becomes corrupt. And, no, you cannot just go buy a new SD card and put the latest code on it. One reason why I clone the original SD card so at least I can get it up and running in a few hours.

Well....wtf happens?!

You call stern and they send you a new one.