STTNG tieback

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/sttng-drop-target-tie-back-mod-help

I do not have the problem (yet) but I like to be informed to prevent any damage. I read a lot about the tie back on the drop target in STTNG but I did not find any clear, simple answer to the solution. As soon as the thin purple/green wire on the drop target coil gets loose the 8 driver board and the diverter on the subway gets damaged. There is a method of preventing this but I did never understand what to do exactly. As far as I learned it should have been done correctly in production but wasn't done in a lot of machines. Can somebody explain what to do - best would be by pictures!

#2 8 years ago

KAK

crank

Pinside+ Frequent

11y 87,050 453

#3 8 years ago

CWS

ClarkKent

Pinside member

The posting is a little bit confusing. How is the tieback done? A photo of the finished mod would be great.

#4 8 years ago

???

Atomicboy

Inactive member

12y 81,150 7,318

Basically you remove the three purple wires from the coil, solder/crimp them together with a forth that now goes to the coil where they were previously.

The other option is to solder another wire into the tieback wire say 6 inches up from where it is attached now, and run that to the other coil for that drop mech. Then, if one breaks off, there is a back up.

#5 8 years ago

TAL

Tallon

Pinside member

Schofield, WI

10y 66,550 1,246 15

I have a question then. Isn't there a way to tie it together in the back box? Seems like it's there for fault protection

#6 8 years ago

???

Atomicboy

Inactive member

12y 81,150 7,318

It was an after thought design from what I have read. You could do that as well, but that would involve modifying the connectors on the driver 8 and driver board, and changing both to molex, and having to double up wires for one pin on each.

Either of these fixes should result in an end result that doesn't need to be worried about again.

#7 8 years ago

CWS

ClarkKent

Pinside member

Thanx! Sounds very interesting. It would be great to have a photo of the first method (with the fourth wire). Just to visualize it...

#8 8 years ago

ZAZ

zaza

Pinside+ Frequent

Left picture is the standard connection of the tieback wire + 4 coils
In the right picture the tieback wire goes directly from J4-1 (A+) to J107-1 and skips the playfield part.

Quoted from Atomicboy:
Basically you remove the three purple wires from the coil, solder/crimp them together with a forth that now goes to the coil where they were previously

OP
Quoted from ClarkKent:
Thanx! Sounds very interesting. It would be great to have a photo of the first method (with the fourth wire). Just to visualize it...

I'm not sure how exactly to draw this, maybe someone can use this picture to visualize this

8drv mod.jpg

#9 8 years ago

CWS

ClarkKent

Pinside member

THAT's the best solution! Thank you very very very much for finally clearing this up!

#10 8 years ago

ZAZ

zaza

Pinside+ Frequent

Even better picture with diode visible in circuit.

8-drive+tieback+diode+bce.jpg

Post last edited 8 years ago: “bce correction”

#11 8 years ago

CWS

ClarkKent

Pinside member

Now I can see ALL!

Is there something additionally necessary or is it really only the tieback wire to J107/1? I did not look at the board - is the diode already there?

#12 8 years ago

ZAZ

zaza

Pinside+ Frequent

Only the tieback wire is necessary, the blocking diodes (D13-D16 in red circles) are onboard.
D13-16.jpg

#13 8 years ago

CWS

ClarkKent

Pinside member

Thank you very very much! I think this will help many many STTNG owners to protect their machines...

2 years later

#14 6 years ago

eldawg

Inactive member

Hi guys does anyone have pictures of either method of this mod completed? Or any update in which of the 2 methods is best (backbox or under the play field)? I want to check if mine is done...and if not want to get it done. Thanks

#15 6 years ago

BAK

dsuperbee

Pinside member

Sacramento, CA

11y 82,550 5,597 6

Great diagrams in post 8 show how it should look.

#16 6 years ago

MLC

billsfanmd

Pinside member

Quoted from dsuperbee:
Great diagrams in post 8 show how it should look.

where under the pf do I look? Working on one tonight.

#17 6 years ago

BAK

dsuperbee

Pinside member

Sacramento, CA

11y 82,550 5,597 6

The drop target near the back of the game, so when the pf is up its at the bottom.

#18 6 years ago

ALX

Pahuffman

Pinside member

Hoover, AL

9y 88,800 1,967 6

I hope you were able to get this done. It's not a matter of IF the diode will fail, but WHEN. Mine happened recently and filled my whole house with rubbery smoke because a coil locked on and burned up the coil sleeve before I realized what was happening. I also had to buy a whole new Rottendog 8-Driver board. A $50 mistake that could have been avoided with a free mod.

#19 6 years ago

MLC

billsfanmd

Pinside member

http://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Star_Trek:_The_Next_Generation#Diode_.22Tie_Back.22_missing_causes_8-Driver_Board_transistor_to_fail

Quoted from Pahuffman:
I hope you were able to get this done. It's not a matter of IF the diode will fail, but WHEN. Mine happened recently and filled my whole house with rubbery smoke because a coil locked on and burned up the coil sleeve before I realized what was happening. I also had to buy a whole new Rottendog 8-Driver board. A $50 mistake that could have been avoided with a free mod.

Gonna try this soon...Wish there was a video of the procedure done. I always youtube before doing alot of things around the house because I can usually see exactly how to do something.

#20 6 years ago

BAK

dsuperbee

Pinside member

Sacramento, CA

11y 82,550 5,597 6

Quoted from Pahuffman:
I hope you were able to get this done. It's not a matter of IF the diode will fail, but WHEN. Mine happened recently and filled my whole house with rubbery smoke because a coil locked on and burned up the coil sleeve before I realized what was happening. I also had to buy a whole new Rottendog 8-Driver board. A $50 mistake that could have been avoided with a free mod.

Or just replace the transistors for a couple of bucks, and not buy a whole new board

#21 6 years ago

LTG

Pinside member

Hopkins, MN

12y 191K 56,991 24 7

Quoted from dsuperbee:
Or just replace the transistors for a couple of bucks, and not buy a whole new board

Not always. Sometimes more on that small board is destroyed.

LTG : )

#22 6 years ago

MSK

mskoenen

Slap Save Podcast

11y 63,550 369 32

You might want to try looking at the PinWiki page on the procedure:

#23 6 years ago

M W

mwong168

Pinside member

Toronto, ON

12y 62,550 1,721 11 49

Here is the method I used for my tie back mod

http://www.pinballrevolution.com/threads/13-sttng-tie-back-mod-best-way.3954/

#24 6 years ago

ALX

Pahuffman

Pinside member

Hoover, AL

9y 88,800 1,967 6

Quoted from dsuperbee:
Or just replace the transistors for a couple of bucks, and not buy a whole new board

Yeah I tried that but still had issues. It's nice knowing I'm not dealing with 25 year old hardware too.

#25 6 years ago

MLC

billsfanmd

Pinside member

Quoted from mwong168:
Here is the method I used for my tie back mod
http://www.pinballrevolution.com/threads/13-sttng-tie-back-mod-best-way.3954/

Id love to see pics but I get an error message. Can you post pics here?

#26 6 years ago

eldawg

Inactive member

Quoted from mwong168:
Here is the method I used for my tie back mod
http://www.pinballrevolution.com/threads/13-sttng-tie-back-mod-best-way.3954/

mwong168 this is great thank you. So basically J108 (left) is 50V and so much closer to the aux8 board so why not tie it back to there? Is that the idea?

#27 6 years ago

TOX

ChrisHibler

Chris' Pinball Repair

Chesterfield, MO

12y 120K 9,997 46

This pic is from the PinWiki.
It's the same technique that appears on the pinballrevolution page.
--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.ChrisHiblerPinball.com/Contact
http://www.PinWiki.com - The Place to go for Pinball Repair Info

8DriverModPinWiki2 (resized).png

#28 6 years ago

eldawg

Inactive member

The thread I just read that I linked said to run the factory tie back wire to J108 that pic shows it tied back to J107?

#29 6 years ago

eldawg

Inactive member

I guess either is fine because they're both 50v

#30 6 years ago

TOX

ChrisHibler

Chris' Pinball Repair

Chesterfield, MO

12y 120K 9,997 46

Quoted from eldawg:
The thread I just read that I linked said to run the factory tie back wire to J108 that pic shows it tied back to J107?

Yes...the referenced pins on connectors J107 and J108 are connected via a trace on the PCB.
So, you can connect to J107/1 or J108/1.
--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.ChrisHiblerPinball.com/Contact
http://www.PinWiki.com - The Place to go for Pinball Repair Info

HVPower (resized).jpg

#31 6 years ago

eldawg

Inactive member

Quoted from ChrisHibler:
Yes...the referenced pins on connectors J107 and J108 are connected via a trace on the PCB.
So, you can connect to J107/1 or J108/1.
--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.ChrisHiblerPinball.com/Contact
http://www.PinWiki.com - The Place to go for Pinball Repair Info

Thanks a lot Chris and everyone else this is crystal clear now. Appreciate it cheers

#32 6 years ago

MLC

billsfanmd

Pinside member

Quoted from ChrisHibler:
Yes...the referenced pins on connectors J107 and J108 are connected via a trace on the PCB.
So, you can connect to J107/1 or J108/1.
--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.ChrisHiblerPinball.com/Contact
http://www.PinWiki.com - The Place to go for Pinball Repair Info

So in a nutshell. Desolder from the lug, pull out of the wireloom and reattach to that J107/1? attach to underside of header pin?

#33 6 years ago

D G

Pin_Guy

Pinside member

8y 103K 3,996 11

I think a lot of folks use J108-1 since this jack is not used on STTNG; all you need is the appropriate 3 pin connectors to punch/crimp the wire into.

#34 6 years ago

JMR

pinballplusMN

Pinball Plus Inc.

11y 84,800 2,592 1

I always add diodes to the divertors, target up/down coils as well. This way if the tieback drops out the circuit is still protected.

#35 6 years ago

TOX

ChrisHibler

Chris' Pinball Repair

Chesterfield, MO

12y 120K 9,997 46

Quoted from billsfanmd:
So in a nutshell. Desolder from the lug, pull out of the wireloom and reattach to that J107/1? attach to underside of header pin?

I'd crimp a new pin and use J108/1.
I plan to make this mod to my game, just so I can take pics for the PinWiki.
--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.ChrisHiblerPinball.com/Contact
http://www.PinWiki.com - The Place to go for Pinball Repair Info

#36 6 years ago

MLC

billsfanmd

Pinside member

Quoted from ChrisHibler:
I'd crimp a new pin and use J108/1.
I plan to make this mod to my game, just so I can take pics for the PinWiki.
--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31
http://www.ChrisHiblerPinball.com/Contact
http://www.PinWiki.com - The Place to go for Pinball Repair Info

#37 6 years ago

MLC

billsfanmd

Pinside member

Quoted from billsfanmd:
Just followed the pics on the link. Looks pretty straight forward.

#38 6 years ago

ZAZ

zaza

Pinside+ Frequent