Stern Pinball Repair Service SDU Solenoid Driver/Regulator

For the regulators, it's almost mandatory that you replace the filter capacitors if the ones in there now appear to be original. Electrolytic capacitors tend to dry out with age and often new filters will bring a regulator back to life. I only recommend rebuilding the entire regulator if I see any signs of stress or burnt components. Same with each driver circuit. A blown transistor or burnt resistor will result in the entire circuit being rebuilt (new transistor, diode, and resistor). Integrated Circuits are replaced, with sockets, only when they test bad, unless you want new ones anyway. Header pins that are real bent or corroded or burnt should also be replaced.

All repair jobs include a good cleaning, applying Clay's recommended modifications, repairing cracked header pin solder joints, and a complete bench test. While machine testing is good, most machines DO NOT activate all 19 solenoid circuits which means your board is NOT tested 100%. Click Here to learn how I test solenoid/regulator boards.

Before you pack your board to send me, please remove the plastic high voltage shield first. I've had some boards shipped to me w/ the shield in place, only to have them cracked or broken during shipping.

Here's a table of rates for each type of repair, and all prices include parts and labor. If I can't fix it, you don't pay!

I also ask that you pay return postage, which will be the going rate for U.S. Priority Flat Rate Priority, or International Priority, plus optional insurance.

Minimum Charge - $10.00

Type B surcharge Extra charge per Type B board (see below) due to the difficulty of working on them	$10.00
Mini Tune-Up Special New filter capacitors, HV trimmer pot, and up to 3 driver circuits repaired (ICs extra) - This will bring most boards back up to snuff	$28.50 $38.50 w/ Header Pins
Tune-up Special - New Regulators and Driver Repair Rebuild BOTH regulators with brand new parts all around and repair up to 3 solenoid driver circuits (ICs extra)	$65.00 $75.00 w/ Header Pins
Rebuild the High Voltage Regulator All new components all the way around	$40.00 Add $8.00 for a new 5V filter too
Rebuild the 5-Volt Regulator All new components all the way around	$28.00 Add $9.00 for a new HV filter and trimmer too
Rebuild Solenoid Driver circuits New transistor (TIP-102), resistor and diode	$3.50 each
Replace Solenoid Driver and Decoder ICs (all 4) New ICs and machined pin sockets	$25.00 or $7.00 each
New Relay (yes, sometimes these do fail) Brand new, socketed with retaining wire	$15.00
Replace ALL header pins with new ones Both 0.100" and 0.156"	$15.00
Driver Overhaul New socketed ICs (all 4) plus all new driver circuits (all 19)	$70.00
The Royal Treatment! Both regulators, all 19 drivers, ICs, relay, fuse, clips, and header pins	$155.00
Anything else Resistors, single header rows, fuse, driver capacitors, trace repair, etc.	$5.00 & up plus parts
.100" connectors, sold with any repair New housings, keys, and plenty of crimp-on pins	$7.00
.156" connectors, sold with any repair New housings, keys, and plenty of crimp-on pins (your choice: standard or trifurcon)	$6.00

Minimum Charge - $10.00

All prices do not include return shipping

Note: If your Stern SDU looks like the one in the picture below (click for a bigger image), I may have to charge up to $10.00 extra, depending on what needs to be done, for the extra labor needed when removing parts from these double-sided circuit boards.

So feel free to send me your board(s) and I'll take a look and let you know what I think, then you can decide what to do from there. Probably a good idea if you e-mail me first, just so I know what to expect (remove the NO_S*P*A*M_).

Here's a picture of one that I recently repaired - this one got the royal treatment, almost everything was replaced. I call this style "Type A":

Of course, there's always Ts & Cs (revised), and don't forget prices DO NOT include shipping.

If you decide to "do it yourself", visit Big Daddy or GPE for all the parts you'll need.
I'll still fix it when you're done. :-)

Thanks!