Its been a few years since I had my Whitewater, but as I remember it there are a few disconnectable wires in and around the upper playfield that can be disconnected and reconnected into the wrong position. I'd double check to see if there was such a plug in that connection, and see if there is anything else close nearby that it could have plugged into. Molex connectors if I remember correctly. Good luck!

Two simple things to start with:

1. If you're unsure then post an image of the problematic area. Well illuminated and in focus. Multiple angles if required. It should show the wiring.
2. Try swapping the GRY-YEL and ORG-BRN wires on the receiver (blue opto board).

Open means it’s dead. Aka like mentioned above either wired wrong or just not working. An open opto or one with no power will behave as if a ball is there the entire time.

Is your Whirlpool popper doing this? I'm in the same scenario, except mine is for the VUK that goes to the playfield. I unplugged the molex for the optos and it still does this. Thinking it's a problem with either the coil or one of the boards in the backbox. Will watch your thread and see how you solve it, as it may solve my problem as well.

Does the switch show as closed (square box filled in), or open (just a dot) in switch test? It should show closed in test with no ball there. If it shows open and doesn't respond in test, test other switches in the same column and row as that switch.

Do this https://www.pinwiki.com/wiki/index.php/Williams_WPC#7_Opto_Board_Testing to exclude the board logic. Once you've done that you can focus entirely on the opto (pair). Try another opto receiver from a known good to exclude the receiver.

Edit: also check continuity of the GRY-YEL and ORG-BRN wires with the connector to the 7-opto board.

Last thing anyone looks for and the first thing everyone should…. A wire break at a solder joint on another switch in either the same column or in the same row.

Does every other switch in row 1 and column 6 work?

I don’t have a white water in front of me but by wired wrong, we meant wiring the transmitter to the receiver wires and the receiver to the transmitter wires. I don’t think the individual pads on them make a difference. Try swapping the side which the physical optos sit on. I’m not sure of the correct wire color for transmitter and receiver but I would try that. Alternatively unplug the connector and short the pins in switch edge for the row and column and see if they pop up to rule out main board.

Image shows switch 71 as closed. This means that there is likely no problem on the CPU board. To prove this shorting the pins on J206/J207 and J208/J209 can confirm this.

The rest of the column are optos. Switch 67 is not used. They show as operating in the image.

Short the wires in the connector J3 at the opto board. This would be short J3-5 to J3-12. IN THE CONNECTOR - not the pins on the board. The connector does not need to be connected to J3. This should cause switch 61 to register. If it does register then the problem is on the board. If it does not register then the problem is in the wiring. Well ... it's in the wiring assuming you have shorted the appropriate pins at J206/J207 and J208/J209 to exclude the CPU board.

If the problem is on the board then you need to contact the manufacturer of the board or merchant you purchased the board from. Reputable manufacturers and merchants should support their product. You should never need to turn to a forum for support of a product that you recently purchased.

You can temporarily swap some of the connections from the non-working to a working in the connector shells to see if it works with a known-working circuit.

Signs are really pointing to that portion of the 339 on the new board not working.

Let's work through what you've written and make sure we're all on the same page.

I would not worry about this side of the circuitry at the moment. If you do the Pinwiki test (which you have done) and get the results that you got (no switch 61) then it doesn't matter what the wiring to the opto pair (green and blue boards) is. The problem is further upstream (on the board logic or the harness wiring).

All of this is contradictory. If you have continuity from J3 to the CPU board and the CPU board shorting (J206/J207 to J208/J209) works then shorting J3 wires should also work. They are electrically continuous as you have stated. You need to go back and re-verify everything. Something is amiss. You need to do this to exclude the harness wiring because you can't find a harness wiring problem on the 7-opto board and you can't find a 7-opto board problem in the harness wiring.

Yes. Go back and re-verify the wiring and continuity. Ignore the opto pair at the moment. The Pinwiki test you did shows there is a problem upstream. There may still be a problem with the opto pair but until you can get the switch to register in the switch edge test (T.1) by shorting wiring it doesn't matter what the state of the opto pair is. Fix the 7-opto board or harness wiring problem FIRST. If you fix this it is likely the opto pair will just work.

To help you troubleshoot and better understand, consider the system broken down into distinct subsystems. Each subsystem produces a binary result (false or true) regarding switch state (open or closed). Each part of the subsystem must work correctly for the entire system to work correctly. There is NO visible diagnostic of any part of the subsystem. The only visible diagnostic is the final software switch edge test (T.1). This is why you must test each subsystem for correctness. It is also important that you test them in a correct manner. If you don't perform the test correctly the results are invalid.

1. Central board: WPC-89 CPU board software and switch state circuitry (essentially J206/J207 and J208/J209).
2. Switch matrix wiring harness: Wiring from connectors to 7-opto board.
3. Peripheral board: 7-opto board power and switch state detection circuitry.
4. Opto wiring harness: Wiring from 7-opto board to opto transmitter/receiver board pair.
5. Opto transmitter/receiver pair: Actual LED transmitter, phototransistor and wires connected to correct solder pads (terminals).

This indicates subsystems 1 and 2 are working correctly.

This indicates subsystem 3 is NOT working. This is 7-opto board specific. As ALL subsystems must work for everything to be detected correctly by the diagnostic software you cannot test anything further until this subsystem is working. This is why I told you to ignore the opto transmitter/receiver pair.

I hate to say this, but, NEVER assume a new board is good. There are some board manufacturers that are clearly shipping boards that were never tested. I have seen this myself when someone showed me a "brand new" (removed from shipping packaging) board that had an IC with a bent pin in a socket.

Unlikely, but not impossible. If you have an electrical issue that caused a problem on the original board and you didn't repair that problem, installing a new board may result in the exact same problem on the new board. Boom. You now have two boards with the same problem and one of them was "new".

Find the problem first. Everything you have written points to a problem on the 7-opto board. I can't speak for the "new" board because I don't know who the manufacturer is (you should contact them anyway) but a problem on the OEM 7-opto board might be (obviously) visible. An image can confirm or deny that.

Agree. Looks to be a clean, unmolested OEM 7-opto board. The heat damage near the 2W 270 Ohm resistors is normal.

Just to be 100% sure, you are shorting J2-7 to J2-9,10 as indicated below. The connector does not need to be connected. I am fairly sure you are doing this correctly because you reported that this is the only one that doesn't indicate state change in the switch edge test. It doesn't hurt to confirm so that we're on the same page.

7-opto_board.jpg

If this is true then you should look to have the board repaired. It might be something as simple as replacing U1.

You need a good, consistent and expected baseline. At this point, your readings all indicate a problem on the board ... BUT ... to be absolutely sure, take ALL the boards that "fail" in the White Water and use them in another machine (such as your WCS94). It looks like the 7-opto board is column 3 in WCS94 so expect to see switches 31 to 36 register when doing the Pinwiki test in the WCS94.

Doing the test above (in the known good machine) will exclude all the boards. If the boards test good in the WCS then you can rule out subsystem 3 above.

Just saying as an onlooker, I love the troubleshooting dialogue! Dumbass, I appreciate you breaking down the “logic” of your troubleshooting steps, which most people leave out when posting. Thanks!

Well ... now you still do not have a definitive cause. The system you are looking at here is fairly simple.

• The WHT-BRN (row 1) wire leaves the CPU board at J209-1.
• It daisy chains (wired in parallel) to all the playfield switches in row 1. The order is not documented and varies between games with physical switch locations.
• One of the points in the daisy chain is the 7-opto board at J3-5.
• The corresponding column 6 wire is GRN-BLU and is connected at the 7-opto board in J3-12.
• This wire is also daisy chained (wired in parallel) to all the playfield switches in column 6. The order is also not documented.
• The GRN-BLU wire returns to the CPU board at J207-6.

There's not much more to it than that. The problem should be in one of two places.

1. The playfield wiring (either the row wire or the column wire).
2. The CPU board (logic ICs).

You can exclude the playfield column wire as the other switches in column 6 register. In fact, there should be a single GRN-BLU wire because column 6 only services the 7-opto board switches. Check ALL other switches in row 1 that are in the playfield (not cabinet). These are switches 31 (River "R2"), 41 (Light Lock Left), 51 (Left Sling) and 71 (Rapids Ramp Main). One of your images already shows switch 71 as closed.

The fact that switch 71 registers as closed indicates it is unlikely to be the CPU board. As previously you can exclude this by shorting J207-6 and J209-1 and then un-shorting it. This should cause the switch to register. You can short J209-1 to the other pins on J207 and each pin should register all the switches in row 1.

I'm afraid it's not going to be "this is where your problem is" because your presentation is atypical and you must do the searching and differentiation. Readers can only be guided by what you report as your findings and if you report your findings incorrectly that is going to be the basis for conclusion. I am not saying that your reporting is incorrect but rather trying to point out to other readers (or potential future posters) that reporting correct findings is super important. Reporting of findings is what other people use to make assessments and provide guidance.