Stern Spike Node Board Schematics Troubleshooting and Discussion

I've been binging on Stern SPIKE 1/2 information trying to figure our where we are with failures and repair of the various node boards.
It has not been a pleasant journey.

Lack of a complete set of schematics for all node boards ever made.
Anyone have the SPIKE 1 Node 0 schematics for "Transformers (or Avengers) the Pin"?
They are not on Stern's site AFAIK.

Lack of good answers from Stern.

Rapid obsolescence of parts used on the node boards. Ya...I know parts obsolescence is a fact of life but damn.
i.e. A8498 buck converter on the SPIKE 1 Node 0 board.

Dubious (IMHO) explanations for the various failures.

Thanks to quite a few posters for providing bits of information, herg mbwalker barakandl megadeth2600 RobF G-P-E KenLayton (RIP) Wolfmarsh Peak-Pin ... and others.

If anyone would like to contribute to what we know about the SPIKE systems, I would encourage you to either obtain a PinWiki account or, if easier for you, mail information to me and I'll shove it into the Wiki. An account is easy to obtain...see upper right corner of the home page www.pinwiki.com .

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Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
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http://www.PinWiki.com - The Place to go for Pinball Repair Info

#374 1 year ago

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ChrisHibler

https://www.monolithicpower.com/en/documentview/productdocument/index/version/2/document_type/Datasheet/lang/en/sku/MP24943/document_id/1966

barakandl It looks like Stern switched over to the MP24943 to serve the same purpose as the A8498. However, it is not pin compatible.

I've been talking with another PinSider, mbwalker , about hacking an Amazon available buck converter in. This seems like it might work. Ugly perhaps. But owners of these older "SPIKE 0" games are SOL without some solution.

https://tinyurl.com/4zh3zurd

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Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.ChrisHiblerPinball.com/Contact
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http://www.PinWiki.com - The Place to go for Pinball Repair Info

#376 1 year ago

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ChrisHibler

Quoted from Joe_Blasi:
someone needs to dump the SD cards on the pin games / spike 1 home games. Just to have the backups.

Joe_Blasi Do you mean that Stern doesn't have the game code for those games on their site? If so...that is really, really, poor.
Edit: Yep...I see that it is not posted on the Stern SD Card site. Crimeny.
--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.ChrisHiblerPinball.com/Contact
https://www.youtube.com/c/ChrisHiblerPinball
http://www.PinWiki.com - The Place to go for Pinball Repair Info

#382 1 year ago

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ChrisHibler

Quoted from barakandl:
Maybe a mod board that replaces the entire regulator circuit. The PCB manufacturers can cut a board in half at a drill hole giving you a way to solder to a SMT pad.
[quoted image]
That doesn't help if there are boards dead today. Looks like you can get new old stock A8498 for about $15ea. Likely salvaged pulls on ebay/ali for around $9ea. Damn that part got costly fast. If there is high demand for that part number on the grey market, may not be a good sign there is a drop in ready replacement or else people would be buying that.

barakandl If you mean build a PCB within the footprint of the A8498, damn...that would be a small PCB.

I thought the same thing about the price of the A8498. Never going to be anything to replace it.
--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.ChrisHiblerPinball.com/Contact
https://www.youtube.com/c/ChrisHiblerPinball
http://www.PinWiki.com - The Place to go for Pinball Repair Info

#390 1 year ago

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ChrisHibler

Quoted from Ashram56:
But if they don't have a solution for existing Spike 1 owner whose CPU board fails, this is a customer PR disaster waiting to happen.

Ashram56 Agree with you and I'll say that it's already a disaster, and Stern's lack of attention to it is making it worse. A client asked me to repair her SPIKE "0" MPU for a "Transformers, The Pin". After doing the research, the buck converter they used at the time is obsolete, either pricey to obtain or unobtainable, and there is no pin for pin suitable replacement. The part is an A8498.
--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.ChrisHiblerPinball.com/Contact
https://www.youtube.com/c/ChrisHiblerPinball
http://www.PinWiki.com - The Place to go for Pinball Repair Info

#392 1 year ago

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ChrisHibler

Quoted from RobF:
Not purposefully avoiding your main point Chris... but this part came up as a still in production 8498. Of course that doesn't mean you can find stock anywhere, but it is at least a distinction from obsolete.
https://www.allegromicro.com/en/products/regulate/regulators/single-output-regulators/a8498
https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/allegro-microsystems/A8498SLJTR-T/1121716

No worries. You are right. I should have said "out of stock everywhere" instead.
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Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.ChrisHiblerPinball.com/Contact
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http://www.PinWiki.com - The Place to go for Pinball Repair Info

#394 1 year ago

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ChrisHibler

Quoted from Ashram56:
What is Stern official statement to this customer request for a replacement board ? Do they simply ignore it ?

The customer didn't go into the details.
She mentioned only that she'd been trying for two years to get it fixed.
Perhaps I'll call Stern myself.
--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.ChrisHiblerPinball.com/Contact
https://www.youtube.com/c/ChrisHiblerPinball
http://www.PinWiki.com - The Place to go for Pinball Repair Info

1 month later

#418 1 year ago

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ChrisHibler

Quoted from HDBrian:
I have been working with Stern and have some good news! They sent me email last week stating "We currently have 520-5321-00 rev C on order with our vendor so it's on backorder for the next few weeks". I called to confirm and this is indeed the node board for the Transformer the Pin and Avengers the Pin ELG home pinball machines. These 2 games basically are pre Spike 1 and are sometimes called Spike 0 or Spike 0.5 because they are the precursor to Spike 1.
They said to I can go ahead and put an order in, so I ordered 2.

HDBrian
Awesome news. Thanks!
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Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.ChrisHiblerPinball.com/Contact
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http://www.PinWiki.com - The Place to go for Pinball Repair Info

2 weeks later

#426 1 year ago

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ChrisHibler

Quoted from HDBrian:
Please do! The more people that order the 520-5321-00 rev C the better the chances AR of them making sure they get made.

Thank you for posting those too.
Please post them as you obtain them. Much appreciated.
--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.ChrisHiblerPinball.com/Contact
https://www.youtube.com/c/ChrisHiblerPinball
http://www.PinWiki.com - The Place to go for Pinball Repair Info

4 weeks later

#429 11 months ago

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ChrisHibler

Hmmm...
D25 - https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Bourns/SMAJ48CA?qs=A3H9pljuJ8SLi0phr5OV%2Fw%3D%3D
R66 - is a simple 390ohm resistor. Even if it is surface mount, a leaded resistor could be cobbled in.
U14 (MP2494DN) - https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Monolithic-Power-Systems-MPS/MP2494DN-LF-Z?qs=rC7bBWoQAAmaWf1qVxNzqA%3D%3D
D23 Schottky diode - https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Comchip-Technology/SS56C-HF?qs=GBLSl2AkirseVC5DPICxbA%3D%3D

Unless U14 is the "EP" or exposed pad version of the part (which it probably is), designated SOIC8E, those parts are available.

Is this the board you need?
https://www.pinballlife.com/transformers-the-pin-controlnode-board.html
--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.ChrisHiblerPinball.com/Contact
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http://www.PinWiki.com - The Place to go for Pinball Repair Info

#433 11 months ago

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ChrisHibler

HDBrian
Stern continues to amaze.
A later revision of a board is not backward compatible. That is really poor. PinballLife lists it as working in a “the Pin” game. But also notes that it is not a replacement. Confusing. Odd.

Send a pic of the damaged area to me or post it here. I’ll take a look.

chrishiblerpinball AT gmail.com
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Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
Http://chrishiblerpinball.com/contact
Thank you for checking out the PinWiki - http://www.PinWiki.com/

#436 11 months ago

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ChrisHibler

Quoted from RobF:
Bigger concern is what happened to cause those components to "blow". A quick glance at the datasheets doesn't indicate particularly fragile devices. I would worry that either the source of the problem still exists and any replacement parts will immediately meet the same fate, or what every event caused the damage caused other component damage yet to be found.

RobF
Agree 100%.
I repaired a motor driver board with a blown L6206Q successfully a few weeks ago. I wasn’t confident that it would not just blow up again but so far so good.
—
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
Http://chrishiblerpinball.com/contact
Thank you for checking out the PinWiki - http://www.PinWiki.com/

#437 11 months ago

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ChrisHibler

Quoted from Pin_Guy:
It continues to amaze me that the engineers of these boards failed at the most rudimentary level of circuit design of "Never rely on an active device to protect a circuit". Stern continues to produce fuseless boards that continue to burn up. Its like they want to sell $100 boards that cost $5 to manufacture

Pin_Guy
Yep.
—
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
Http://chrishiblerpinball.com/contact
Thank you for checking out the PinWiki - http://www.PinWiki.com/

6 months later

#476 4 months ago

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ChrisHibler

It’s been a while HDBrian
Remind me, what failed in the board being replaced?
—
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
Http://chrishiblerpinball.com/contact
Thank you for checking out the PinWiki - http://www.PinWiki.com/

4 months later

#480 6 days ago

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ChrisHibler