STERN WARRANTY ISSUES - AC/DC BUYERS

[necroscope]

Can anyone think of another product that only has a 6 month warranty ? I can't.

Mainly refurbished or second hand items come with a 6month warranty these days,although anything with a high wear rate example high end tennis shoes/tyres ect only come with a 6month warranty.

[Caveoftreasures]

The 6 month warranty is probably calculated really for operators who have machines onsite 24hrs a day, 7 days a week for high usage.

Perhaps the Home market should get a 12 month warranty instead but the only way for Stern to police this so to speak would be for the local Stern agent to provide a extended warranty for people that he knows only place the machines in a home environment for a home use only application.
But the problem here, is that every man and his dog is giving "siting a machine on a location" a go. So I wouldnt expect a 12 month warranty anytime soon unless Stern looks at matching JJP if they provide the 12 months warranty for the WOZ product etc.

* Also, I have read on the Stern website that they have a completely new boardset (new computer boards) coming at the end of 2012 which will then be provided to all new Stern pinball machines. Obviously, people who are interested in the boards and their makeup will be looking forward to the new boardset.

[Mr Tilt]

Issues i had were as follows:
1) Failed bell opto - fixed in 3 days
2) Cannon getting stuck balls - fixed by adding mylar to smooth flow
3) Hologram sticker wrong number
4) Playfield has dent minor scratches - waiting for reply still

[Chad]

Can anyone think of another product that only has a 6 month warranty ? I can't.

I offer 1 year for parts supplied... 3 years if i make and install.

6 months suggests a lack of confidence in a product to be quite honest

How much warranty did new Bally/Williams have ? You will probably find this has always been the standard warranty for pinballs due to them been sited more than a lack of confidence in a product.

[ktm450]

1. what will JJP use with WOZ ?
 

Through hole.
http://myemail.constantcontact.com/We-re-Never--Board--at-Jersey-Jack-Pinball---.html?soid=1104524641178&aid=20z8Wgd2W1c

1 year factory warranty on all boards, with a no questions asked replacement in the event the board fails for any reason.

Know your market.  

Socketed ICs, Through hole transistors, JJP at least has considered future repairs.  I guess their market is a little different, they are really targeting the pinball enthusist/collectors market.
Where Stern, whilst telling people they are building for the home collector they are cutting costs and trying to get as many games as they can out the door, unfortunately leaving people unhappy, ultimately losing current and potential long term customers in the process.
Their games have seemed to be going towards the 'Costco' style for a few years, but AC/DC has been a real turnaround especially the Premium and LEs, just a shame about the quality, fingers crossed they will be reliable for many years to come we have to hope Stern have not cut costs on electronic components as well.

[necroscope]

1. what will JJP use with WOZ ?
 

Through hole.
http://myemail.constantcontact.com/We-re-Never--Board--at-Jersey-Jack-Pinball---.html?soid=1104524641178&aid=20z8Wgd2W1c

1 year factory warranty on all boards, with a no questions asked replacement in the event the board fails for any reason.

Know your market.  

Socketed ICs, Through hole transistors, JJP at least has considered future repairs.  I guess their market is a little different, they are really targeting the pinball enthusist/collectors market.
Where Stern, whilst telling people they are building for the home collector they are cutting costs and trying to get as many games as they can out the door, unfortunately leaving people unhappy, ultimately losing current and potential long term customers in the process.
Their games have seemed to be going towards the 'Costco' style for a few years, but AC/DC has been a real turnaround especially the Premium and LEs, just a shame about the quality, fingers crossed they will be reliable for many years to come we have to hope Stern have not cut costs on electronic components as well.

That's a quality looking pcb that,looks like it could be  made in america,looks like it has nice thick tracks and high quality sockets and a very thick pcb board.

[Prince]

4) Playfield has dent minor scratches - waiting for reply still

Still....!
That's a nice looking board Jack.

[Mr Tilt]

Still waiting! Need an answer to put this issue to bed!

[beaky]

I have just diagnosed a fault with a bell opto board also on a customers machine. the problem was actually the surface mount transistor (Q1) has gone short and is tripping 4 switches.

[Homepin]

I have just diagnosed a fault with a bell opto board also on a customers machine. the problem was actually the surface mount transistor (Q1) has gone short and is tripping 4 switches.

and here we start with the surface mount crap............pretty hard for the average hobbyist to diagnose this sort of thing let alone actually repair it.

[beaky]

The actual opto is through hole but the rest of the components are not.
As this is the second opto board fault mentioned in this thread I am assuming that this opto board has only been made for AC/DC and either they have a bad batch of transistors or some one stuffed up and specified a transistor that is not right for this application. 

Time will tell.

And they must have a really crappy batch of #89 flash lamps. I had to replace 6 of them because they were blown.
At least they were all easy to get to.

Don't get me wrong, I am not knocking Stern, we don't live in a perfect world.   

[Retropin]

The actual opto is through hole but the rest of the components are not.
As this is the second opto board fault mentioned in this thread I am assuming that this opto board has only been made for AC/DC and either they have a bad batch of transistors or some one stuffed up and specified a transistor that is not right for this application. 

Time will tell.

And they must have a really crappy batch of #89 flash lamps. I had to replace 6 of them because they were blown.
At least they were all easy to get to.

Don't get me wrong, I am not knocking Stern, we don't live in a perfect world.   

Maybe they bought 10,000 transistors at $0.001c each instead of $0.002C each also? Bad batch or sourcing cheapest possible parts?... only Stern know.
Is this Caveys machine??? If so it was the only one on the forum that hadnt had SOMETHING wrong with it...

[Caveoftreasures]

not my machine, someone elses. I believe it is a LE from the bottom of the Gold Coast.

my PRO machine is still perfect and going strong.

[Freiherr]

BIBLE #056 still going strong. Total balls played so far is 1,031. No issues or alerts yet.

[Mr Tilt]

Same issue I had with bell opto and fixed by tech - i wouldnt have a clue!
New playfield being sent out! Awesome!