Same with me when I got Metallica. Not a fan of the band but it's just a really good playing pin.

Hopefully mine is an isolated incident but my (now unplayable) Aerosmith Pro arrived this afternoon. Set it up and started a game and immediately noticed the toy box wold not open. I went into test mode to try and get it to fire and a few minutes later noticed a burning smell. I turned off and disconnected power to the game. Opened the PF and found a red hot tip transistor on the bottom of the cabinet that had melted right off the circuit board. I believe it interfaced with the toy box solenoid, which was also hot.

So, I have sent STERN a message asking for a new board and to also confirm the solenoid was wired correctly. I have several Sterns and this is the first time I've had any electronic problems out of the box. If you get yours and the toy box will not open in game play, power down! Check the circuit board located near the middle of the PF (p/n: 199701700A). I'm hoping STERN sends me a new board and solenoid and fingers crossed that will be the end of the problem, though wondering what made the tip transistor melt off the board in the first place.... CY

One would think. I powered down before it got that far. The tip transistor had melted right off the board and the coil was super hot. I was in test mode trying to get the toy box coil to fire when I realized I had a much bigger problem and shut it down. Stern verified the solenoid was wired correctly and my distributor is working with them now to get me a new coil and board. I'm just hoping one of those two were the problem. If not, I blow another board and I'm back where I started.

Not on the node board. No fuses. Stern was pretty concerned and they sent me a label to overnight back to them the board and toy box lid solenoid. They told me I will have the replacement parts on Monday. So for now my AS Pro continues to be a really fancy looking paper weight in my game room. Stern customer support has been very good, to include calls from a Stern engineer to confirm the wiring in that circuit.

Hey everybody. Just a quick update. Last Monday I posted that my new AE PRO was DOA. The No. 9 Node board (center bottom of the PF) smoked when I turned it on. A key transistor burned right off.

I got the new parts this morning to include the node board and a new (toy box lid) solenoid. Installed the board (took loads of photos before I disassembled the old board and solenoid) and then soldered on the connector for the solenoid. Got everything in, turned on the game, and got an error that said the node board was not recognized. Pulled out the Stern circuit diagram card and immediately traced it to a sip switch that was set incorrectly on the new node board. The dip switches were so small I didn't even notice the board even had them. Turned the dip switch to "On" and everything played great.

I think the board was damaged when it was installed. The center mounting screw is right up against the key-transistor that burned off. I think the installer bent it down to access the screw and this either weakened or broke the solder joint. So, hopefully mine was the only one to have this issue but with this being the beginning run of the production, you never know.

Finally got to play and the game is a blast.

Best, Cyrus

Has anyone else experienced node board failures on their Aerosmiths? My node 9 smoked when I powered up the game for the first time two weeks ago. Stern sent me a replacement then node 8 failed a day later. Originally Stern thought it was the opto boards on node 8 but when that did not fix the problem they had me swap boards and the problem went to node 9. Right now waiting for that replacement to be shipped. Stern thinks I just got bad boards but two failures with identical boards (8 and 9 are the same board but with different dip switch settings) is unusual. My Batman 66 is the same circuit build and its been running fine for months. Am I the only one with board failures so far? Wondering if Stern just got a bad batch. Cy

I have purchased five NIB Sterns over the years and this is the first to have component failures. Things happen, but losing two node boards out of the box is unusual. I'm thinking Stern got a bad batch and was wondering if others were affected.

OK, so two node boards, one solenoid, one roll over connector repair later, and my new AE PRO is finally playing 100%. It is no longer a shinny paper weight in my game room. Whoop Whoop! So far a really fun game. No second thoughts on getting this one. I can't complain about Stern's Customer Support, though it was frustrating to have so many out-of-the-box component failures.

Hey btw, regarding Aerosmith, they still get a LOT of airplay/exposure through the Rock N Roller Coaster at Disney. That's some heavy PR that makes them appealable to the subsequent generations. I don't think this was lost on Stern when they moved the Aerosmith project forward.

Cy

Greetings everybody. A new problem with my Aerosmith Pro cropped up today. Wondering if anyone else has seen this:

When the ball goes into the Toy Box a new ball no longer gets launched into the shooter lane. I have to wait for a ball search to eject the ball from the toy box to resume play.

I sent stern a message asking what I should do as I already checked the connections, boards, ran diagnostics, etc.

On arrival a few months ago, both node boards were defective and had to be replaced, as well as one burned up solenoid for the Toy Box (which was caused by the node board). Since then it has been working fine. I'm thinking another loopy node board has called it quits. My game is HUO and does not get any abuse, and it's in a nice cool environment with a dehumidifier in the room to keep the moisture down. Thanks. Cy

I have to look at it again. The toy box won't register the ball so it could be that. At this point I think I'll see what Stern has to say. This game had so many problems out of the box that I was hoping I was done with the drama. I have four other NIB Sterns in my collection and never had any problems like what I'm seeing with Aerosmith. I feel like I'm playing whack-a-mole.... Thanks.

It was...the Opto! The power cord to the left side opto had become dislodged but wasn't visible. The cords for right and left are way up there and not easy to see on a first glance. I had checked the right one and didn't stop to think that there would be separate power for both boards. Not a really tight connector and tough to get at; no surprise it came undone. But thankfully...easy fix!

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE SUGGESTIONS!!! I was thinking worst case scenario!!! Ya gotta love Pinside! Cy

Hi Everybody. Just wanted to mention that Comet is now selling glare guards for the new LCD screens. I got one for Aerosmith and really happy with it. Obviously Invisiglass and similar glass are the bomb, but this was a low cost solution to eliminate the reflection of the VDU on the back of the play field. Cy

These are the photos WITH the glare guard installed. Not great quality photos but if you compare with your own table you'll see the VDU glare is gone. Included two shot of just the VDU's so you can see how much the VDU brightness is affected. The glare guard will make the VDU a shade darker but personally speaking I don't notice. Still glare from other sources, but this does help. Eventually I would like to get Invisiglass for my pins but for now this suits my needs.

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It has only happened to me once during a multiball. Unfortunately it was during what had been the best game I ever had on my Aerosmith. This has never happened with my other spike games. But it was a one off because it never happened again.