Hi all,
I posted this issue in a general forum earlier but was recommended to post here for help.
My TOP GI-LEFT lights aren't working properly on my Stern Jurassic Park LE and I'm getting OVERCURRENT alerts for Node 9. I have the Mezel Tower Mod and the T-Rex Gate Mod (that has LEDs in this area) - lights on both are out. These mods have been in the game for well over a year without issue. The only thing that has changed recently is that the helicopter opto board has crapped out so I was in the machine making physical adjustments to it. This part area has nothing to do with the opposite side of the playfield in question AFAIK.
Powering up results in:
- CHECKING NODE BOARDS 9 OVERCURRENT DETECTED
- Game restarts
- Same message presented again
- OPERATOR ALERT! TROUGH DEVICE MALFUNCTION
- Game starts and all but 2 of the TOP LEFT G.I. lights blink/work
- Going into Service I get 2 Alerts:
1 - CHECK NODE BOARD 9 OVERCURRENT PROTECTION
2 - DEVICE MALFUNCTION TROUGH
- I go into NODE BOARD TEST and navigate to NODE 9. Display reads:
- OVERCURRENT PROTECTION
- UPPER PLAYFIELD
- DRIVE: NONE (From what I've read the DRIVE value in diagnostics tells you where the problem is (LED socket, coil, w/e) but in my case it's DRIVE: NONE)
- LIGHT: TOP GI-LEFT
- I Select Node board test, navigate to 9 and when I hit the test button all TOP LEFT G.I. lights blink except for the two in question
- During gameplay all but the two LEDs in question function just fine.
- During LAMP > TOP-LEFT GI Test, NONE of the LEDs function/flash.
- General Node Board tests reveal no errors/issues with Node 9.
I have followed the flowchart in this manual for troubleshooting: https://sternpinball.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/SPIKE-System-Manual.pdf
I am now on page 46 as directed at the multimeter step:
"At the node board, measure the source wire of the G.I. to ground. Use the manual to determine wire color."
I have no idea what it means by "source wire of the G.I." nor what exactly to test with my multimeter. The JP manual doesn't note a "source wire" for the G.I.
I've checked all connections and nothing looks wrong. I replaced the Tower Mod LED that wires into the Tower Lights. For about 5 min everything lit back up and there were no alerts. But within my first gameplay ball everything went out again, rinse and repeat with that Node 9 GI overcurrent alert and Trough malfunction messages. I then disconnected the two LEDs in question entirely. No change. Now the issues I mentioned above are 100% consistent each time I power up.
The mods have been in the machine forever without issue. I have no other mods that leverage the machines power and again eliminating them didn't change anything. The only things that have changed are me pulling in/out/up the playfield over and over while trying to diagnose the issues.
I have a hard time believing that the board has gone out as these issues only arose after some slight adjustments to unrelated parts/places in the machine, with the machine powered off each time.
I've attached a number of screenshots of the alerts and aforementioned steps. Can anyone help? I'm only a couple months out of warranty but given that that has expired I'm at a loss of what to do. I'm hoping I can get help from this community to troubleshoot before going the route of buying and taking the time to install a new Node 9 board that may/may not fix this issue or hiring a technician. Much appreciated.
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