$239 for a simple board! Anyone know of a cheaper source?

Virtua fan

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$239 for a simple board! Anyone know of a cheaper source?

Hi,
I finished shopping my first pin a few months ago. It's a Sega Twister, and everything works great now other than the magnets on the diverter and spinning disc. After search a bunch on the web and reading other posts I'm pretty sure that I need a new magnet board. The part number for the board is 520-5143-01.

Marco seems to be the only company that has new boards, and they are $239 :eek: I know several places used to have these boards for $150ish a few years ago, but Marco seems to be the only game in town now. Does anyone else know of another source for the boards?

Here's a link to the board on Marco's website:
http://www.marcospecialties.com/product.asp?ic=520-5143-01
 
I rebuilt one of these for a friend, I think it was just a simple transistor that was the main culprit.

You should be able to swap out a transistor cheaply, or find someone to do it for you. I can't imagine the repair would be more than $100. Preferably, find a repair guy with a Twister to test it in.
 
Thanks for the input, guys. Maybe I should try working with the current board a bit more before I completely write off the current magnet board.

The magnet board controls the magnets on both the spinning disc and the diverter. Neither of these have ever worked since I got the game. Originally I checked the easy stuff and found a missing fuse. I replaced that fuse, and tested every other fuse under the playfield. I also checked the board and verified that it was receiving the appropriate voltages.

The game gives the error message "Switch stuck open #32 Diverter Magnet-Q1 M. BD" M. BD is obviously the magnet board, and per the wiring diagrams Q1 is a transistor. I went ahead and already replaced both the Q1 and Q2 transistors (same part number) with no luck.

In a fit of desperation I also tried replacing the U1 chip on the board after purchasing a replacement chip from this person:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Sega-Twister-pin...-/220764372714

So after this I'm back at square one. Neither of the magnets work, and non of the changes that I've made seem to have gotten me any closer to getting the board to function properly.

Anyone have any ideas, or know of anyone that can repair these boards? BTW, this board is very close to the Goldeneye magnet board. Just mention that in case anyone knows how to troubleshoot/repair that board.
 
While I have never worked on this board before I do have a Twister and I am willing to look over your board. I have a question before I try, though...


Are you sure you have good connectors going to and from the board? My spinner mag failed to operate occasionally when I first got the machine, and I found that I had some burned headers. I replaced them and everything has worked great. I'd hate for you to ship me your board only to find that it works in my machine...
 
One of you Twister guys should be a hero and help me out.

pretty_please.jpg
 
tested every other fuse....
also checked the board and verified that it was receiving the appropriate voltages....
per the wiring diagrams Q1 is a transistor. I went ahead and already replaced both the Q1 and Q2 transistors with no luck......
also tried replacing the U1 chip on the board.....

sounds like you are ALMOST there
try testing any resistors on the board with a multimeter, check the male header pins are clean and shiny and have continuity through the connector to the wire. sometimes the pins inside the connector get weak and dont allow proper electron flow. did your "correct" voltages test ok on the magnet board or at the wire end of the connector ?
use a brass brush on a Dremel tool to clean up the male header pins that the connector plug into.
if you are getting the correct voltages on the board, follow the trace and see if it stops someplace with no output. my guess is one of the magnets have shorted and could have taken out another component, even the new Q1/Q2 you've already replaced. see if you have correct voltage input to the magnet.
 
Thanks again for all the replies. I'm blown away! (probably a bad pun given that I'm talking about a Twister pin).

Anyway, I made a bit of progress tonight but still no luck in getting it to work.
Here's what I did:
1) Inspected the header pins on the magnet board and confirmed that they are in good shape.
2) Plugged the board back in and confirmed continuity between the header pin and the connector that plugs into the magnet board (haven't had a chance yet to trace pins 1-14 of the J1 connector back to the I/O Power Driver board).
3) Since the J2 and J3 connectors appear to control the magnet and diverter, I confirmed continuity between these connections on the magnet board and the I/O Power Driver board.
4) Checked for +50V at pins 1&2 on the magnet board, reading 0 volts (sorry, I could have sworn that I had voltage when I checked this a few months back, but must have been thinking of some other project). Should I be seeing voltage here all the time, or only when the magnets are being engaged?
5) Checked for +5V at pins 14 on the magnet board, reading trace voltage only (maybe .005V). Again, should I be seeing voltage here all the time, or only when the magnets are being engaged?
6) On a whim, I swapped the 2 fuses for the magnet board/diverter with those for the flippers (already confirmed continuity for the fuses, but thought I'd give it a shot).
7) Confirmed the F20 fuse on the I/O Power Board is not blown.

Three other points that may or may not help.
-Neither of the LED's on the board ever light up, even when I roll a ball across the magnet on the center of the spinning disc.
-The game have never registered the skill shot on pinball launch, even when I manually roll the ball across it.
-I've haven't completed the modification discussed in the Stern technical bulletin since my pin doesn't have any of the symptoms mentioned by Stern. I'll probably complete the fix at some point, but wanted to get the board working before I delve into that.
 
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OK, so I spent a good hour or so tonight tracing all of the magnet board connections back to the main boards. I have now confirmed continuity between the actual connections on the magnet board with the appropriate connections on the main boards.

Two interesting things from tonight:
1) Disregard my post from yesterday where I said I'm failing to get any voltage on the magnet board. I must have been doing something wrong at the time. I'm getting +76.4V at the pins 1&2 (violet/yellow wire), and +5.08V at pin 14 (red wire). The +5V connection is pretty much right on, but the +76.4V for pins 1&2 seems really high since it's only supposed to be +50V. I'm not sure if that's still within the tolerance of the magnet board, or if that's maybe what's causing/caused the issues with the magnet board. Is the +50V somehow regulated or adjustable, similar to the +5V?

2) Played a few games tonight, and the game is no longer giving the "switch stuck open" technician alert. Actually it's completely code free at this point. Unfortunately neither magnets are working at this point, regardless of the fact that the machine is no longer throwing a code.

So at this point I'm totally out of ideas. Anyone else know of anything else I should try? Based on everything I've done/found, do you guys thinks it's likely that it's an issue with the actual magnet board, or do you think there's something else going on?
 
Yeah but its a $200 board that keeps the $2000 machine running.


dont get into plasma tv repair, the price of some of those frickin parts will make you pass out.
 
Huge thanks to Oryk Zinyo! Richard agreed to take a look at my magnet board, and within a pretty quick period of time he finished trouble shooting my board.

Here's what he found:
- Both pins of the J2 jack were broken loose
- One leg of Q10 was loose
- D13 was found to be shorted

Richard fixed all of those issues, as well as completed the service bulletin/update from Stern (installation of additional diodes, and I added the 22ohm resistor to the fan motor).

I received the board back last week, and it works absolutely perfectly in my Twister. It's so cool to see the magnet feature working properly, as it really improves the overall experience of the pin. It's also a really great feeling to finally have completly finished my first pin restore/shop.

Anyway, thank you again to Oryk Zinyo! You saved me from having to spend a bunch of money on a replacement board. I really appreciate your help!
 
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