Yes, I would definitely let Stern know yours is giving that error. Maybe they just recently changed the low-level system software (hello, Lonnie!) and it's a voltage detection bug? But it could also be an issue with the power supply. See what Chas at Stern support has to say.

I’ve been working with Pablo thus far; so I’ll probly let him know. We have a history now, so I want to work with him on this. But you know , all this being said, I still can’t believe I have to deal with this on a 6k machine! I was ranting a little about this earlier a couple days ago and now it makes me feel mad again because it shouldn’t be this way. For the money we pay? I mean. Come on. That’s not normal.

I’m glad someone brought this up though , because I would have never mentioned the 48v error to stern only because another user on here said they get the the same message on their machine. So thanks for that.

This really sounds like the problem you are having. As you said there was likely a pre-existing power issue, and by installing mods that demand more power from the power supply (especially the shaker, which uses high voltage I believe) could have lead to more problems such as the intermittent ramp problem. The ramp also uses high voltage to open and close it too.

I'm sure Stern will help you out and get you the right parts and just know there's a ton of experienced people here on Pinside willing to help

I’m wondering if I unplug the shaker motor if things will go back to normal as far as the ramp opening and closing as it’s supposed to.

Dude give it a shot! Let us know..

Definitely remove the shaker. Stern has big stickers on these machines saying that mods can void your warranty.....I would have opted for a genuine stern shaker IMO.(although I doubt a shaker would affect your ramp issue it’s worth a try).

I’ve seen non stern shakers blow the cabinet node.

Yeah I was gonna go with a stern shaker so as not to void the warranty , but the dude at pinball life said that sterns shakers had some issues and that basically the pinball life ones were better. Idk. I feel like I got duped, but also, I really wasn’t impressed with the difference a shaker motor made. Can barely tell a difference.

Not going to get into a shaker debate but I bought one from Pinball Life once and it was weak AF. Put a genuine Stern one in and it was a lot better.

Yeah. I get that. U get what u pay for I guess. I was trying to save a couple bucks. I should have went with the stern brand. Pinball life brand does seem weak. But it could be like this especially if I have a bad power supply, as everyone so far is suggesting.

Very true.

Try putting it to stock 100% - even the speaker lights (not saying they are the issue but they do draw more power from stock) so that power draw is the same as when you first powered it on.

Then work on resolving the 48V error and going from there.

FYI, I'm an IT consultant of 20+ years and have my own consulting firm, I consult with IT departments of Fortunate 500 companies and also many small/medium businesses so I'm a tech guy by nature and love troubleshooting this kind of stuff.

Don't get frustrated about this I promise you'll have it up and running 100% again soon. Just need to troubleshoot it properly since the techs at Stern can only do so much remotely

Don’t start modding a pinball until you’re satisfied that it’s all working properly and is dialled in. I’d suggest that process should not be rushed.

Adding anything to an electrical circuit has the potential to cause problems, particularly if there might be something wrong with the power in the first place.

Well said. I should have brought up the 48v error message to stern tech support to start with but I thought it was a “normal message “ as someone else suggested here. I’m going to remove all mods as suggested and go from there. I’ll even play some games on it and see if the ramp operates as designed. I’m still going to let stern know about the voltage error too , in the meantime.

Mods - the devil's work.

The first response of every odd tech issue post should be "did the problem start after you installed some mods."

There's got to be someone out there who can update code, right?

Lol. Yeah. I’m starting to see that too. I was a little Dubious at first too. But I am positive that there was a power issue before I installed any mod. That error message was popping up since day one. I think I’m going to keep this machine stock after all this is said and done. No more mods.

Well like I said. No more mods after all this over with. I’m putting her back to stock tomorrow morning. That’s it

Yeah maybe that’s why stern designed spike. So mods would screw things up. Marketing ploy. Lol.

Like most things nowadays spike is a disposable system and has a limited shelf life. It does actually work quite well but long term I question the reliability using network cables chained through boards. SAM was the sterns best pinball system ever. They were bomb proof and modding was a breeze.

Huh. I’m learning something new in this group every day. Why did they change it up then, do u think ?

Cost cutting. As always.

They had to change things from the SAM system to improve the sound and video capabilities, but the implementation was with a stern eye towards cheap.

Yeah that makes sense I suppose. Bottom line crap. Its always about the bottom line. SMH.

There are different reasons for that. Ease of upgrade, cost efficiency, availability of components. I myself love the ease how a complete playfield unplugs and how it's servicable. I also dislike the servicability (and that sounds contradictive, I know.

As 'pinballkyle' stated I am also concerned about the lifecycle of the boards. Will those still be servicable and available 30 years from now? We will see I guess.

How extensive are the schematics? You can pretty much build your own boards based on B/W schematics, and people & companies have done.

Obviously SMT makes things harder for end users anyway, but that is the case for pretty much all technology now.

I get the 48v message at start up too, seems to be part of the boot sequence. I don’t think, but am not sure, it’s an actual issue. The game boots and plays correctly. It’s done this from day 1. No shaker.

Exactly, I appreciate PinMonk s suggestion to look into this further, but hoping its a non issue. All the owners seem to be reporting this. I noticed Elvira had a code update to add this warning for when the coin door is open, so it may be as simple as this is getting reported as part of the boot sequence, and nothing else.

As soon as stern opens for business, I’ll call tech support and ask. I know everyone’s curious to know.

And I’m going to disconnect all the mods I have installed. The lighting kit and shaker motor. See if that makes a difference.

If you power up the game with the coin door open, you will get the 48v message. There is an interlock switch that disables node board power when the coin door is open.

Push all the way in once to disengage

I get the message with the coin door closed.

Guys, check the white knob (for lack of a better word) inside the cab on the Bottom left hand side. If the bottom of the coin door is not hitting that properly upon closing. That might be the reason you are receiving that 48v error message upon boot up.

Wonder if it is a simple code issue causing the warning to display incorrectly?

^ There’s your problem

The games are playing fine and even if the coin door is closed the message pops up for a second upon boot.

Seems like code to me.

Had this happen twice yesterday. Get to second Demogorgon battle which is 2 ball multiball, the second ball kicks out of shooter lane autoplunge as the ramp is lowering and it gets stuck right behind it not allowing the ramp to lower, no ball search to figure out why, and the front edge of that ramp is now subject to a beating from the ball that is still in play. Anyone else seeing this happening?

Seems like easy fix in code if you just don't eject the 2nd ball until that ramp down switch has registered, but was curious if this is common or not.

Yes this has happened to me before too.

Please email [email protected] so they know. Easy fix.

So I disconnected my shaker motor this morning and lo and behold, the center ramp is back to working as it should. At least for the handful of games that I played. I’m gonna go back down and play some more in a little bit. See if it still stays consistent. Here’s my question though: when I bought it from game room guys, they asked me if I wanted a shaker motor thrown in, and at the time , I said no. But had I said yes, they told me that I would have had to install it myself as they were out of stock on the machines that has the shaker pre-installed. So I wonder if I would have had problems with THEIR shaker motor too??

General thought is that in 30 years, our ability to replace all the small parts / make our own boards will be easier/cheaper than it is now...same as with the tech in the current 30 year old games are.

So just got off the phone with tech support at stern and he said that the 48v messsge we’ve been getting on boot up is normalans that he also gets the same message on the machine on their test machine. He’s going to forward this to the code people and they’ll add something in code to eliminate this. So there you guys go. Just like chuckwurt was saying.

Thanks for confirming! I've never had an issue with a shaker motor in a spike game. I wonder if you have the wrong one.

Thanks for the update. Mine does this notice as well on boot.

-=Smith=-

Lermods , I bought the pinball life brand and not the stern brand. I’m wondering if this has anything to do with it?? I mean. Why would stern offer something like a shaker motor if it was gonna cause issues elsewhere in the game electronics. Idk.

chuckwurt , I finally got to the 3rd demogorgon mode this morning basically you have to get the ball in the toy 3 times. No set time limit. Never gotten past that one.

It shouldn't. Pbl shakers are known to work in spike games. It should not cause issues elsewhere in your game. If it is, I would contact pbl and let them know, they will take care of you, maybe send you a new one.

I'm not sure how the shaker would have anything to do with the ramp motor.

Well. You just never know. It’s just odd that as soon as I added the shaker motor, that’s when my problems started with the ramp. And then I disconnect it totally from the system and it’s back working as normal??? That can’t be coincidence.

I'm glad you got it working !

And I'm glad I brought it up. Although a shit ton of people downvoted my post for even suggesting that a mod could have caused this because everyone is so hell bent on blaming Stern.

Either way, I got a ton of shit and downvotes but at the end of the day I'm glad something positive came out of it