Hello everyone. I’ve searched and searched for the answer to some of these questions, but I’m not familiar enough with the inner workings of a SS machine or the nomenclature to identify what components I’m dealing with and how they work. I apologize for asking questions that could be answered with the search function. I really don’t know what keywords to search. I’ve tried “Stern Quicksilver” and “Stern display” but I haven’t found the answer to my issues. I just picked up a partially working Quicksilver. When I first brought it home, the 7A slow blow fuse had been replaced with a 10A fast blow that was blown badly also the large plug at the base of the bridge rectifier board is burnt on each end. I replaced the blown fuse with the correct replacement after which, the machine powers on. The displays for player 1 and 2 both show some sparkly artifacts along with digits that come and go. The player 3 display is missing the bottom segment on all seven digits. The player 4 display only shows the first digit most of the time but will occasionally flash all 7 digits. I haven’t taken anything apart yet, but I will reflow all of the solder joints on those display boards to see if it changes anything.

Now the weirdest part (at least weird to me). This happens on all displays and all digits, the individual numbers will randomly jump back and forth by two digits. A 0 will randomly turn to a 2, a 1 to a 3, a 2 to a 4 and so on. When a credit is used, the score display will jump around between 00, 02, 20, or 22 before the game is actually played. The credits remaining, ball in play, and all four score displays do this randomly on all digits but not at the same time. It might show the wrong ball in play but the score is correct or vice versa.

Also, none of the playfield general illumination is working. The top half of the back box illumination is out as well, though the lower half works fine. Is that probably related to the bridge rectifier board being burnt?

Finally (for now), as soon as a credit is used, there is a loud repeated sound that may or may not be intentional. It’s as if a switch is stuck somewhere and the machine just replays that sound over and over. I’ve watched several videos of this game being played on youtube and haven’t heard the same repeated sound. After looking at the manual, I’m wondering if this is the “Background Sound” mentioned at switch 14 on page 9 of the manual.

I’ve attached a picture to this post. You can see that the bottom segment of each digit of the 3rd player display is missing. The 4th player display only shows the number 7. Also notice it shows ball "30" in play. I will post a video or two in the comments below in order to describe exactly what the video(s) is/are showing.

Again, I apologize if these are commonly asked questions.

Thanks for the help, John

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In the attached video, you can see the numbers changing by 2, along with some numbers that vanish and reappear. You can also hear the repeated sound I referenced in the post above.

In this video you can see the ghosting digit that is trying to appear at the millions place when the high score isn't lit.

So there you have it. Where should I start? Let me know and I will post pictures of whatever you need to see.

Thanks again, John

I should have mentioned, I've already reseated all of the connectors. I will touch up the solder joints tonight.

Thanks

Thanks! Even with it only partially working, both of my sons have already told me that it's their favorite of the machines that we own.

I pulled all four score displays and touched up the solder joints. Someone else had been in there before me and really did a number to the boards. I repaired a few broken traces as well. I was able to get the 4th player display working but one of the other three doesn't really work at all now. It only shows sparkles. I swapped the non-working one into the 4th player position. Somehow, the upper half of the backglass illumination started working in the process.

I've got a new rectifier board with the accessories (plugs, crimp connectors, standoffs, etc) coming from Pinball Life in Huntley, IL. I will reflow everything and report back in a few days.

Thanks! You all are a huge help.

Thank you for that link John. I appreciate it.

It may take me a few days to go through everything. I will report back.

I got the new replacement rectifier board in the mail today and installed it tonight. Prior to installing it I was attemtping to fix a weak left flipper by adjusting the EOS switch and blew the 7a slowblow fuse on the rectifier board. Right before it blew I noticed the EOS switch itself was too hot to touch. Then the flippers and all gameplay went dead. This was the same fuse that was blown when I bought it. I swapped the new board in and by the second ball the fuse blew again. This is where I noticed the new board calls for a 5a fastblow fuse. Why would they go to a smaller amperage fastblow fuse on a circuit that was designed for a 7a slowblow? What could be the issue with my flipper coil? The right one has clearly been changed. It's got a different label on it and looks a lot cleaner and brighter. The left coil is original as far as I can tell. In the attached pics you can see the original fuse callouts on the label above the board. The new board says "5A FB" for the same circuit. This was supposed to be a direct replacement. Did I get the correct board?

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We've been playing it all week with no trouble until I tried to adjust the switch. Pics attached.

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As I was taking these pictures, I noticed that the right flipper coil is an aftermarket replacement with the part number 34-4500. The left flipper coil looks like it's a Bally 34-5050. Both coils say AQ-25-500. I'm not familiar with the coils enough to know what the difference is.

Yes it is. The center plug had broken free when I bought it and was inside the coil sleeve. I sweated the parts back together to see if it would work.

I ordered a complete assembly kit earlier this morning.

Thanks!

Installed the new flipper assembly today. The full assembly. It's all new. It blows the 5a fuse on the rectifier board immediately. It doesn't even start to move the flipper. I took the wires off one wire at a time. I soldered them fully. I don't get it.
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The brand new coil shows a dead-short across the two outside posts after I pulled it back out of the machine. I should have measured it before I installed it but I didn't think to. I'm going to have to order a new coil and try again. The right flipper doesn't blow the fuse, it works fine.

Looks like I installed the outside wires backwards. Both diodes are shorted when clipped from the circuit. The coil seems to be good. Can i use it temporarily with the diodes clipped until I get a new coil next week?

Good call! It worked. Thanks for the tip.

I touched up all of the connector pins on the MPU and tested them for continuity. I don't seem to have any connector issues but my display woes continue. I ordered new 4543 decoders, new 100k 1/2w resistors, and new transistors to rebuild the display boards. Once they arrive, I will install them. Any of you care to take a guess as to what is making the digits climb by two?

For instance, when using a credit to start a one player game, instead of showing 00, it shows 22 sometimes. See post #17. In the pic of the full machine, the credits display shows 26 but it should be 04. The ball in play display shows 22, it should be 00. The score doesn't really work either. It will start off at maybe 22,000 points when a large amount of points are scored, but when something like a 25,000 point bonus is added, the score starts to climb, but then jumps backwards. When the bonus has finished adding, the new score might be lower than it was before the bonus was added. The number 1 will jump to 3, a 2 will jump to 4, a 3 to 5 and so on. It also jumps backwards too. This seems to happen on all displays and all digits. I tried swapping U10 and U11 on the MPU, but it made no difference at all so I suspect that wasn't the issue.

Can any of you point me in the direction of something else I can test to try to remedy this? There's really no point in trying to play a multiplayer game other than the fun of the game. There's no way to tell who really has the higher score.

Will do. I'll be around the machine this afternoon.

Here are a couple videos. The first is the display issue I've been experiencing. The number 8 will only show on the 3rd player display. Same with the number 9. Something is getting mixed up and trying to turn the 8 to a 10 or the 9 to an 11. During the test, I noticed that everything except the 3rd player display is wrong at the same time. On those displays, every 0 is displayed as a 2, every 1 is displayed as a 3, 2s are 2s, 3s are 3s, 4s are 6s, 5s are 7s, 6s are 6s, 7s are 7s, 8s and 9s go blank.

Now, I have a new issue. When I powered the machine on just now to make the first video, I noticed a small handful of display lights weren't flashing. I swapped them out with no change. There are two white buttons on the coin door. One is mounted closer to the door, the other is further out away from the door (see the attached photo if you don't understand my description). I've been pushing the one furthest away from the door but just now pushed the other button. Something started humming, I shut the machine down, and now I've lost an even bigger handful of playfield lights. The second video shows that. All playfield lights were working last night when I went inside. What is that second button?

Thanks!
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I swapped the 1st and 3rd player displays. 3rd player still shows the correct numbers. Looks like the connections may not be as solid as I thought.

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Thanks for the info. I will start tracing that circuit.

Now I've lost all of the playfield lights. I've still got the general illumination lights. I've got +5V at TP2 and TP3 on the driver board. Where do I go from there? I could understand a connector being responsible for a handful of lights going out, but all of them? Does anyone have a good clear schematic for LDA-100 rev C they'd share?

There's no change when wiggling connectors. I've tried individual wires too. No lights come back on. Like I said, everything is out now. I checked the fuses. They're all good. There's 5V going into the lamp board but there's nothing coming out.

Thanks Quench

Thanks to the tip from @quench, I made a step forward. One of the two wires to pin 18 at the 3rd player connector had broken off. I pulled the second wire, clipped off the old contact, and crimped a new contact onto both wires. My display parts came in today. I still plan on new decoders and 100k resistors. Thanks for the guidance guys. I've got a shopping cart full of connector components over at Great Plains waiting for him to return tomorrow. I haven't looked into the lamps yet.

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Grounding any one of the playfield lamps get that lamp to illuminate. Im guessing the lamp driver must ground each lamp to light it.

I touched up the solder joints on the mpu and now it won't boot. This thing is really putting up a fight.

The decoder fixed #3 too.

The LED is solid or doesnt light at all.