Twisted Sounds 3.5k

Ya I know. I use it to remove chips at low temp. I usually use a heat gun set at high heat for install. I know u don't like that method but I have found a quick burst of high heat will melt the solder before the internals of the chip have time to heat up. I can't even remember the last time I lost a 21844s chip to heat. The 2110 and 2010 chips are way more sensitive imo. I swear they blow just from looking at them!
 
You'll need a pull-up resistor from the pin 2 pad of the 21844 (connect to the capacitor [c13 and c19] that's connected to that pad to prevent stressing pad 2). A 10k should be a good value. Connect it to the 12v regulator. You can make that connection on the 12v filter cap (connected to pad 7 of the 21844).

The voltage should be at full negative rail while the protect LED is lit (a few seconds) and then rise relatively slowly (a few seconds) towards 12v after the protect LED goes out. When remote is removed, it should immediately drop back to the negative rail.

Check one then move the resistor to the other IC and make sure the timing is the same.
 
The two SD voltages causing different start times is very odd and I don't see how that could be on the main board because the same signal goes to both SD terminals. The SD transistor simply turns off and the two ICs pull the voltage up internally.

Are you saying that one IC still goes to well over 6v on pin 2?

And the other IC still starts significantly quicker than the other?