Quicksilver (Bad Rectifier Board?)

Tighe

Well-known member
Joined
May 25, 2009
Messages
20,797
Reaction score
825
Location
Richmondville, New York
So I picked this Quicksilver up yesterday and after playing it for about 10 minutes it shut off.

I started by testing the Rectifier Board and on TP 4 I should get 7.3v I actually get continuity to ground! Nothing on TP 5 (43v) and and nothing on TP 1 (5.4v)

All the fuses are good, but the board looks pretty beat. Should I try and fix it, or should I just replace it with this? http://rottendog.us/bps018.html and while I am at it this too? http://rottendog.us/BPS022.html

I hate to waste money. Should I just start out with the Rectifier Board

IMG_20120819_071608.jpg
 
Ugh!

I just took a look at the back of the board.


http://rottendog.us/bps018.html
Note: Please Read

This is the most difficult circuit board I have ever had the "pleasure" to replace. The procedure involves desoldering from the old board and then resoldering the wires onto the new board! You need to take extreme care to track which-wire-goes-where.

Holy crap! WHY WHY WHY would Bally/Stern do this?!?! Also why wouldn't Bad Dog make it easier to connect their replacement???

12%2520-%25202.jpg


It is pretty obvious where the problems are. The Feature lights weren't working at all when I got this, and here is why:

12%2520-%25203.jpg


Front side:
12%2520-%25201.jpg
 
i would get a new one and wire it in right if you plan on keeping the game.just my thought since it been hacked already.
 
That's a whole lot of jumpers!:eek:

I only see 1 jumper, the rest are how it's wired from the factory. there's a big disclaimer about it on the rottendog link

"Note: Please Read

This is the most difficult circuit board I have ever had the "pleasure" to replace. The procedure involves desoldering from the old board and then resoldering the wires onto the new board! You need to take extreme care to track which-wire-goes-where.



Click on the link for pinwiki listing of wire colors xref to board holes http://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=File:Stern-ta100-16b-6.png



I DO NOT recommend that any but the most advanced repair technician try to use this board!"



I agree tho tighe you'd think they'd send you a molex plug or re engineer it slightly (there must be a good reason tho).
 
I only see 1 jumper, the rest are how it's wired from the factory. there's a big disclaimer about it on the rottendog link

"Note: Please Read

This is the most difficult circuit board I have ever had the "pleasure" to replace. The procedure involves desoldering from the old board and then resoldering the wires onto the new board! You need to take extreme care to track which-wire-goes-where.



Click on the link for pinwiki listing of wire colors xref to board holes http://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=File:Stern-ta100-16b-6.png



I DO NOT recommend that any but the most advanced repair technician try to use this board!"



I agree tho tighe you'd think they'd send you a molex plug or re engineer it slightly (there must be a good reason tho).


Very intriguing... see I have a Stern Free fall ( maybe a couple years newer than QS), and I definitively don't recall my board looking like that mess. And it was the factory original - hmmmmm.
 
I'd replace it... you can repair them (redo all the connectors, replace the recifiers, fuse clips, etc... ) too. Rottendog makes good stuff, but I used Ed's version on my Paragon..
http://www.greatplainselectronics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=135-104
I'm sure either one would work

OR.. there's this one http://pin-logic.com/ with molex connectors

Here's one comparison...
https://groups.google.com/forum/?hl=en#!searchin/rec.games.pinball/rectifier$20board$20rottendog$20/rec.games.pinball/cTL9fNz3x14/l46pkmw4JGUJ%5B1-25%5D

cheers
/Tim
 
I recently installed the GPE replacement and can't say enough good things about the kit.
Better test points, better components, good instructions, and replacement molex plugs and pins included for a proper install.
 
I just took a look at the back of the board.

Holy crap! WHY WHY WHY would Bally/Stern do this?!?! Also why wouldn't Bad Dog make it easier to connect their replacement???

Actually... I don't think your board looks that bad and looks very repairable. Steve Kulpa should be able to fix that puppy right up.
Only issues I see are the remoted bridge rectifier and the one jumper due to the original rectifier boards relying on one plated through hole to pass a high current load. (Incidentally, the GPE board is the only one that corrected this design fault.)

I *NEVER* recommend connectorizing the input side of the rectifier board! Leave it as direct connect wires as the original was. You have way too many high current sources entering the board from the transformer - some as high as 20 amps!
Add in the limited number of mating cycles and you are only decreasing the reliability of the machine.

If you do decide to replace the board - consider a few important issues:
Did the mfr use heavy weight foil for high current loads?
Did the mfr use cheap tin plated brass fuse clips or the more expensive high current tin plated berylium copper?
How many bridges are heat sinked and are they rated for bridge rectifiers?
Any heat reduction measures performed?
What comes with the board (connectors, fuses, etc)?

Ed (GPE)
 
Actually... I don't think your board looks that bad and looks very repairable. Steve Kulpa should be able to fix that puppy right up.
Only issues I see are the remoted bridge rectifier and the one jumper due to the original rectifier boards relying on one plated through hole to pass a high current load. (Incidentally, the GPE board is the only one that corrected this design fault.)

I *NEVER* recommend connectorizing the input side of the rectifier board! Leave it as direct connect wires as the original was. You have way too many high current sources entering the board from the transformer - some as high as 20 amps!
Add in the limited number of mating cycles and you are only decreasing the reliability of the machine.

If you do decide to replace the board - consider a few important issues:
Did the mfr use heavy weight foil for high current loads?
Did the mfr use cheap tin plated brass fuse clips or the more expensive high current tin plated berylium copper?
How many bridges are heat sinked and are they rated for bridge rectifiers?
Any heat reduction measures performed?
What comes with the board (connectors, fuses, etc)?

Ed (GPE)

Thanks Ed,

So you are saying that yours is worth spending the extra $5? Sounds like based on what you said you are right. I didn't take any pictures of the remoted bridge rectifier. Is it pretty different looking.
 
Also what is the probability that when this board shutdown that it damaged other parts like the driver and mpu boards?

All the sections of the rectifier board are pretty much isolated. Unless you shorted something at the connectors - unlikely that anything else went bad.
But, check that 25 pin plug on the right side of the driver board and look for burned pins (particularly near pin 10). If toasty, you may need to add some jumpers to the solenoid driver board to un-isolate the grounds. I thought Pinwiki had pics of doing this but I cannot find them now.

For rebuilding them boards, people often flip the bridges to the top of the board and use separate heat sinks. Or you can use 8 or 10 amp bridges on the bottom for that factory arrangement - which works fine.

For some info on repairing these boards - see here:
http://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Bally/Stern#Rectifier_Boards

Clay's repair page was far more detailed...too bad the website is gone for that repair.

Can also find some stuff at Steve's website:
http://stevekulpa.net/pinball/bally.htm

Ed
 
Is there someone that sells a rebuild kit, like Bob Roberts does with cap kits? I hate looking up parts from mouser/MCM/Jameco/digikey.
 
Looks like I waited too long, GPE is out of stock of the rectifier board!

http://www.greatplainselectronics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=135-104

I asked to see when he will get more in stock. Otherwise I will have to order the Rotten Dog one.

he runs out all the time, email him and hell tell you when theyre back in stock, its usually only a day or 2 delay. Im currently running 4 of his rectifier boards in my games, never had a problem with them. I usually clip the wires from the old board, clean the wires (they are always filthy), then reattach the wires using the schematic, it plainly shows which transformer tab goes to which connection point (both are numbered). You can always remove and reattach them one at a time, but I never could get a very neat job that way
 
Back
Top Bottom