Little history and then current status as I know a number of people have struggled with the long opto.

History - My game was giving me a number of ground row issues. The problem ended up being in the opto board up in the head. The board was repaired and tested out in another game and all is working well. When I placed it in my game all my issues were solved, but I was having a "load magnet error".

Now - I ordered new long distance optos and replaced both transmitter & receiver. I tested the opto's in switch test under the playfield and they were communicating with each other and I was able to get them a distance apart and they still worked. I mounted them in the game and was able to run the magnet test and all went well and the credit dot disappeared. Once I put all the parts back together and fired up the game I was getting "load magnet error" again. When I removed all the parts to get down to the opto's they started working again. I decided to put the parts on one by one with the game on so that I could test the switch after each part to try and determine if one was causing the issue. All was going well and as I tightened a nut on the plastic above the receiver (not the one on the gate) the opto's stopped working. I stripped all the parts off again and undid the opto's to try them under the playfield again. When I did this I can't get them to talk to each other now. I'm thinking I've got a wire issue between the opto and the board that they plug into or an issue with that board. I used a camera and it looks like the transmitter is lit.

Is there something that could cause the opto's to stop working (take them out)?

Welcome to any and all suggestions.

I don't think it's affecting the opto as it's a couple of inches away and doesn't seem to have any contact. Also the fact that the opto's aren't working when put close together under the playfield makes me think it's not an alignment issue.

Thanks for the post.

Mike, that was were I was at before I put it all back together. With it in pieces I was able to run the magnet test and all went well which is why I put it back together. When the optos were in place (before removing them to try under playfield) I tried this and it would load the ball on the right side but then ended up just opening the gate and letting the ball drain.

I'm willing to try it again if you think it makes sense. I'm just thinking that because I can't get the optos to talk to each other in switch test when they're a couple of inches apart putting them back in will result in taking them out again.

Does anyone know if some how it's possible to blow an opto? Just seems strange that a new opto was working one minute and then just dies? I reflowed the solder just to make sure.

No LED’s ( I know, it’s a sin).

Making progress. I had a chance to swap my opto's and A-15646 with a friends game and found that the A-15646 seems to be bad. Now to figure out if it can be fixed or go with the available replacement.