(Topic ID: 244823)

STERN should think about playing the LONG game!

By iceman44

4 years ago


Topic Heartbeat

Topic Stats

  • 149 posts
  • 54 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 4 years ago by JodyG
  • Topic is favorited by 6 Pinsiders

You

Linked Games

No games have been linked to this topic.

    Topic Gallery

    View topic image gallery

    38E34250-8687-4DF6-9C17-6CBBAC0D758B (resized).jpeg
    Screen Shot 2019-06-12 at 9.43.38 AM (resized).png
    IMG_1216 (resized).JPG
    IMG_1220 (resized).JPG
    IMG_1221 (resized).JPG
    IMG_1215 (resized).JPG
    dougmackenzie01 (resized).jpg
    IMG_1660 (resized).PNG
    IMG_1999 (resized).JPG

    You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider cottonm4.
    Click here to go back to viewing the entire thread.

    #103 4 years ago
    Quoted from InfiniteLives:

    i like their innovation of the power button in the backbox

    I looked at your collection. Stern's Spike system is a little different than what you may be used to. When I brought my Munsters LE home and saw that switch in a accessible difficult to access position my first response was WTF !??. I have worked around that problem, as have others.

    Here is the inside of the backbox. There is more paperwork than machinery in here. It all plugs in with computer type cables and connectors. There is no MPU, no SDU, and no LDA and no multitude of connector pins to fuck with. I had to remove my back box for transport. It involved unplugging 6 computer style cables, 2 of which were hidden under a metal shield that was attached with 2 nuts.

    IMG_1215 (resized).JPGIMG_1215 (resized).JPG

    I don't know what all this board does but it does have a USB connector that is used for updating the software.

    IMG_1221 (resized).JPGIMG_1221 (resized).JPG

    I don't know what this box does, either.

    IMG_1220 (resized).JPGIMG_1220 (resized).JPG

    This box is the power supply. There is only one fuse in this pin and you are looking at it. On the bottom of this box is the on/off switch. When I saw this I understood what Stern was doing and while I would like to have a switch in the usual place on the cab floor, it is not that big of deal.

    I said this box is the power supply. There is no transformer as we all know it/them. The only thing inside my cabinet are a nice sized, great sounding speaker and a coin box.

    IMG_1216 (resized).JPGIMG_1216 (resized).JPG

    People are saying Stern is building cheap machines. Maybe 2-3-4 years ago but I can't speak to that. My Munsters does not feel cheap.

    Let's look at where Stern is cost cutting/ saving money.

    With the switch on the power supply box, all Stern had to do was rout one hole in the bottom of the back box for the rocker switch. The cost savings?

    No hole had to be measured and drilled in the bottom of the cab.

    No wire had to be harnessed up and run from the switch to the cab floor. There would be at least two wires at least 6 feet long that did not have to be bought and inventoried. Running wiring from the back box to the cab requires a connector and connector pins and someone to install the pins. A separate switch would have to be purchased and inventoried.
    ===============

    Next up is the new style of lockdown bar and receiver. The lockdown bar is, for the most part, unchanged. But the receiver has been replaced with two lockdown clamps which work quite well. A receiver, anyway you cut it, is an expensive item. There are some moving parts and each of those parts need to be purchased and inventoried.

    I worked factory assembly production for a lot of years. Trust me, if something has to be assembled, someone is always going to scrap something. A lockdown receiver is one of those items that could have a costly scrap rate. Solution: Replace the receiver with 2 simple, inexpensive clamps.
    =====================

    The lights in the back box are located on that circuit board. On each side of the board are 4 surface mount LEDs. So, 4 bright LEDs are all it takes to light up the back box.

    IMG_1221 (resized).JPGIMG_1221 (resized).JPG

    All of the LEDs under the play field are multi-color surface mount LEDS on wafer boards. So, no more #44 lamp sockets to have to screw on to the play field that need to be soldered to the braided wire. You don't need the braided wire anymore, either. So, no more #44 sockets to purchase and inventory. And tubs and tubs of #44/#47 bulbs, and tubs and tubs of LED bulbs do not have to purchased and inventoried.

    And instead of some half-assed toolbox lid clamp to hold the back box in to position while you try to fish some bolts inside the back box to lock it to the cab, there are now two heavy duty steel bars located on the bottom of the back box. All you do is rotate the back box into position and the 2 steel bars set down inside the cab and you lock them in with 2 bolts; There is no more fishing around inside the back box trying to get 2 or 4 hold down bolts installed.

    This is all I can think of for the moment, but there is a whole lot more going on here than just relocating the power button to the bottom of the back box.

    #144 4 years ago
    Quoted from iceman44:

    My ONLY salvation and escape is work
    But I love what i do so wtf

    You are easy to please. That makes you lucky man, if not a wealthy one

    You're currently viewing posts by Pinsider cottonm4.
    Click here to go back to viewing the entire thread.

    Reply

    Wanna join the discussion? Please sign in to reply to this topic.

    Hey there! Welcome to Pinside!

    Donate to Pinside

    Great to see you're enjoying Pinside! Did you know Pinside is able to run without any 3rd-party banners or ads, thanks to the support from our visitors? Please consider a donation to Pinside and get anext to your username to show for it! Or better yet, subscribe to Pinside+!


    This page was printed from https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/stern-should-think-about-playing-the-long-game?tu=cottonm4 and we tried optimising it for printing. Some page elements may have been deliberately hidden.

    Scan the QR code on the left to jump to the URL this document was printed from.