Did you blow the fuse on the bottom of the playfield? The one between the flippers?

Are your connectors cooked? Unplug the game from the wall and flip the connector plugs over to check for burning. New boards connected with bad connectors will never work. Also pull the fuses and check with a meter.

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What happens in solenoid test? If nothing but the relay clicks, check for +43v bus voltage at a non working coil lug. If missing check the fuse near the flippers on the playfield.

If the sol bus V is good, then check MPU J4 to driver J4 as all the solenoid signals go through there and so very frequently a cause of solenoid issues.

I noticed the HV transistors fail pretty quickly if the output is set very low. And when they fail, you usually don't know and 240v becomes the output to the displays.

And we have a winner. I need to get away from pinball for awhile.

Replaced a blown 1 amp fuse and the 2nd one blew, too. Now I get a loud hum like I have a solenoid that fried. Back into troubleshooting mode---again.

Ahh, it is too cold to do anything outside, anyway

Time to break out the multimeter and start looking for a short to ground. We've all been there.

You probably have a shorted coil. Either a cracked wire on one, broken diode, etc. Most common type that has popped that fuse on my games -- drop target reset coil. Ohm them all out.

And we have another winner. Shorted sling shot coil. I feel like an idiot for not even thinking of a blown fuse when the solenoids went dead. What is the first thing you check when the solenoids go dead? I'll give everybody 3 guesses. As Forest Gump said, " Stupid is as stupid does".

Sauteed Fuse, Fuse Scampi, Fried Fuse....

MOVIE TIME. I finally got the little off-brand mini-camera I got from Aldi a fews ago figured out and running.

This is my first pinball video, so don't make fun At least I have the camera mounted to a tripod and I can work both flippers

This is two videos on Seawitch.

The first video using the MPU-100 16B-3 small transformer:

*This Seawitch has been modded. The factory J26-1700 sling coils have been replaced with J26-1200 MPU -100 sling coils. *These coils are the same as pop bumper coils.
*GI lights have been disabled.
*The play field glass is on.
*The lighting could be improved.
*The video is unedited. House balls and all.
* My Loop switch at the top decided it was time to stop working.
*And I am trying to get used to playing with a camera stuck in front of me.

This is me playing Seawitch with the small Stern 16B-3 transformer. You can see how it plays. I did get some good scores with this setup. The pin does play with the -3 transformer, as you will see.

The 2nd video:

* Now I am playing with the larger -6 transformer.
* The play field glass is off.
* There are no other changes.

There are 2 other mods on this Seawitch.

*I replaced the flap gate with a launch ramp that comes from Stern's Beatles pin. I have a couple of small discrepancies that I need to adjust so I get better launches more consistently. I have enjoyed this setup for 3-4 years now. I will never go back to the flap gate.

I am working on the left side at the 3-place drop targets. Beatles set an area up behind those 3 drops to make some extra scores. I pretty much have the mechanical bugs worked out, but still have some small tweaks to make. I am head aching the rules out but I figure this is going to be Extra Ball territory. And just like Beatles, the ball can come down and slide right into the inlane for continued play. And it can stick it to you by draining down the outlane; You will see both actions in the 7.00-8.00 minute area. Wit the mod, you have to manage it and nudge it to get the ball down the inlane.

I hope this helps anybody who is interested in seeing the difference in play with the two transformers. With Seawitch having four flippers you can get by. But when I get some more time I will do the same thing with Catacomb and its two flippers so you can have a different viewpoint.

If you like the video let me know. If there is something I can do to improve things for the next video, let me know.

Thanks.

EDIT: One other mod I made was to remove the resistor from the upper right flipper. It hits just a little better. Does not feel like it is hitting late.

BTW:

MERRY CHRISTMAS to all pinballers the world around.

Wasn’t someone looking for one of these big F2K plastics a few months back?

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i never cared too much but i am curious, is the miss aligned credit window on my repro BG a one off issue? Is it the repro lamp panel? or a factory issue?

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Adding 150pf across u5 p11 and ground seems to fix the problem with some 4070 and / or 4562 chips. Data and clock timing issue. Bunch of 4000 series gates stacked together having propagation delay issues is what is probably going on.

My oscilloscope does not want to draw two lines at once for some reason or i would take a picture of it. Need to fix or replace it, can use any channel solo but goes wonky with two on at once... Grr

First few rocket noises are before i hold the cap in place.

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The 3 bottom displays should be lined up on the backglass and light board. Don’t you have enough room in your light board cutout to fix the issue? Looks like the credit display needs moved up 1/4 of an inch.

There are 2 wires on your connector that you have to swap. I'll have to look around and try to find those 2 wires for you.

Anyone know what length/size of bolts (2) hold the apron to the play field? I’m missing mine on my big game

the height isn't perfect but the credit display misalignment is the biggest problem. it usually 2-1 empty-2, from the left side, for ball count and credit count

that's a good idea, physicaly moving 10k->1k and 1k->100 segments of the display then, i could look that up

Boy o' boy, who designed that circuit.. It relies on propagation delays within the 4070/4013 chips.
How about using the spare gate in U5 as a buffer to delay the output? might save a few cents on that capacitor.

[EDIT] Actually it probably would be better if the buffer was between the 4013 pin 13 output to U5 pin 13 input.

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looks about 3-3/4"
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Any way to determine the fine thread size?Thanks for the response hisokajp

See post 3161.
#10 x 32 x 3” slotted screw, plus finishing washers.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/price-check-1980-sterns-quicksilver-stargazer-seawitch?tq=Apron+bolt&tu=

oh yes ignore, i read that wrong, these are the bolts for the backbox ^^;

Anybody got a complete Ali manual? I’m trying to figure out if there is a way to turn off the crashing/explosion sound it makes every few minutes in attract mode.

Thanks for that bluespin, I truly appreciate it!

first page of the manual on ipdb it looks like:
https://www.ipdb.org/files/43/ali_stern_pinball.pdf

dip 17

I found my Star Gazer notes for getting the credit display and ball number display lined up.

Go to the credit display connector.

* Take the yellow wire from pin #6 ( mine was a green wire )

* Move the gray wire from pin #7 to pin #6 ( white wire on mine )

* move white wire from pin #8 to pin #7. ( yellow wire on mine)

* Put yellow ( green ) wire at pin #8 for safekeeping.

Got the exact same thing on my game. Must be a factory issue.

I thought he was talking about how the display was too low in the window (or the window was too high on the glass). If so I don't see why you couldn't just lengthen the four holes at the front of the metal frame where it screws into the front of the light board so you can raise the display. Also make sure you don't have any pieces of crud in the bottom channel that could be raising the glass a bit. From the pic it appears the display itself is mounted is too low compared to the player display to the right of it.

Maybe he is. But some Star Gazer builders have experienced the credit displays misalignment issue. And that is what I was keying off of. And it helps getting this info. out to any new builders out there.

In other news, Greg, at Fantastic Pinball contacted me with one of his new Star Gazer play fields ready for sale. He is shipping it out today. I should have it in 10 days or so.

I put a 7 digit in the credit display and voila! perfectly aligned

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6 digit displays work fine too but you do need to move a few wires around.

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Thanks Quench. This CD4070 by TI and HGSemi must be too fast. The 150pF trick doesnt even work on the HGSemi part yet the chip tester still calls it a 4070 and the other gates are working OK. The propagation delay for this "medium speed" chip is only really give a max and typical, I guess it could be much faster and they don' have to update the datasheet.

I am guessing then HC86 would work even worse since its faster. I will screw around with it some more by moding a board adding that extra gate in line and try put the cap at U5 P13.

I think I will buy another better scope for a Christmas present to myself. This one is kaput unless a software reset fixes it. It acts like the ground on the 2nd probe floats when you use two channels at once. I guess I can still use it for one channel stuff.

This is interesting about CD4030 vs CD4070 (same part?)
"There was an issue with the original cd4030 (back in the mid- to late-70s?) - input capacitance was high so it would glitch with short pulses so a "corrected" cd4070 was launched by RCA and Motorola. When the 40XXB series was launched, they used the same chip for cd4030B and cd4070B.

The list of logic chips was already well established so it would cause confusion if the 4030 was missing and many lists didn't contain a 4070 - designers would be confused if they couldn't get a 4030 from the distributor. I had one of the old RCA posters of 4000 series parts in my basement for years until I had some water damage. I doubt it listed the 4070."

Error.

interesting's idea, i'll see what i have, moving a wire around maybe easier

Thanks a million!

I im need to rebuild my molex connectors both 0.100 & 0.156” im already bought one tool that did not work, should this one work on both sizes?

https://www2.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Molex/63811-1000?qs=u6Gr9%2FNt%252B%2F9oql%252Bd80isUQ%3D%3D

You're going to need these two:
https://www.greatplainselectronics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=3135-CT
https://www.greatplainselectronics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=3136-CT

You may be able to find them used on eBay. Don't ask how I know this.

These are not as intricate as those linked on Great Plains. But the price is friendlier. For the casual user, these work quite well and make good "B" crimps.

https://www.greatplainselectronics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=1026-CT

They are available from Mouser.

https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Sargent-Tools/1026CT?qs=uRnagMugFMe6rx4pEiBNZQ%3D%3D&mgh=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAqaWdBhAvEiwAGAQltnc-51KYhEinMQcjxZ8qtu--19q1L1vL9AsoJjG1DE8T91nFOsLwVRoClp0QAvD_BwE

They are also available on Amazon but Amazon is not price friendly at $58.00.

https://www.amazon.com/SARGENT-Tools-1026-CT-Contact/dp/B00CIRFUMQ

I also have a pair of these IWISS locking units that some people like. I prefer the Sargent style at Mouser.

https://www.amazon.com/IWISS-SN-28B-Crimping-AWG28-18-Dupont/dp/B00OMM4YUY/ref=pd_lpo_2

Wire Bot is an excellent source and run by pinsider rockwell

https://wirebot.xyz/collections/connectors-crimps

And you can also buy header pins, plastic connectors and crimp pins from him.

Thank you all above, for feedback about the crimp tool!

Are these Classic Stern drop targets?
If so, which games does this style belong on? Thanks

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Never seen ones with that style of latching rib on the front side.

I think they're an aftermarket replacement from who knows how many years ago, maybe all the way back. Made in Rotterdam Holland, if I remember the stamping correctly. I have found them on a couple of my classic sterns.

Yes the stamping says- S.T.C. Rotterdam Made in Holland

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Those drop targets are Wico replacement targets for the then defunct Stern pinball
back in 1982/1983. They where made in Holland.

Those baggies they're in look pretty vintage.

I cant get the molex in to the connector, do i use the right molex? Or is suppose to be hard to push it in?

0.100

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Maybe the most common learning curve to overcome with repinning connectors is putting the wire back in the correct orientation. This little notch is what locks into the little “window” on the housing. So when you install it, holding the “window” facing up, you slide this in also facing up.

You’re also using a non-ratcheting crimping tool, which can result in messier crimps that can make them harder to push into the housing. I need to get to work and can’t find the correct cheap ratcheting type for you but maybe someone else can.

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