White Water sends you down a river on a raft, shooting hazards one at a time to reach Wet Willy's and the Vacation Jackpot. Dennis Nordman designed it in 1993 with fast, wild ramps, an upper mini-playfield and a whirlpool funnel. Bigfoot sits in the top right corner, turning and spinning his head, and you have to distract him to get the ball into his cave. Nordman says Bigfoot's face is based on his own, and his 1952 Dodge panel truck is on the backglass that John Youssi painted. Greg Freres helped with the early concept and came up with the topper. Williams built 7,008. In 2026 Nordman came back to the idea with Yukon Yeti, an unofficial sequel from Turner Pinball.
Bigfoot is the board problem here. He turns on an A-15680 motor board whose filter capacitor sits over the 12 V trace, and if it leaks it eats the trace and Bigfoot won't turn his head in the power-up test. The topper chase lamps run off their own A-15761 chaser board. The batteries on the WPC-089 CPU, which pairs with a Fliptronics II board, leak onto the switch matrix like on any WPC-089, so get a CPU photo too.
Display
A photo of the display test tells you most of it. Faded dots come with age on a plasma DMD, and sparkles, clouds or ghosting mean high voltages.
Playfield
Thousands of landings from the upper kicker dimple the upper playfield, and the ball then sits in the dent until another one knocks it loose. Ask for a close photo of the upper playfield and raking-light photos of the flipper areas and inlanes.
Toys and mechs
Bigfoot turns and spins his head on certain shots, and you have to distract him to get the ball into his cave. Ask for a video of him moving. Some plastic lanes have optical sensors on their sides that need to be kept clean.
Cabinet and art
The backglass shows Nordman's own 1952 Dodge panel truck, painted by John Youssi. Ask for a lit photo of the backbox and a video of the topper chase lamps, which should chase.
Moving it
The upper mini-playfield is a bit hard to get off, so leave it in place for a move. Take the legs off and bring a helper and a dolly.
Parts and code
Pinball Inc makes reproduction ramps that repair guides rate highly, though some Spine Chiller ramps have a small lip at the exit to trim before you fit them. If the chase lamps stop, the cause is the chaser board or transistors Q20 and Q22 on the driver board.
What to check
A Bigfoot that won't turn, usually from a leaking capacitor on its motor board, is the signature fault. Upper playfield dimpling and leaking CPU batteries are the other common ones.
01Bigfoot: Ask for a video of the power-up test or a game. Bigfoot should turn and spin his head.
02Batteries: Ask for a photo of the CPU board around the battery holder. You want clean traces with no crust.
03Upper playfield: Ask for a close photo of the upper playfield under the kicker. A deep dimple will trap the ball.
04Chase lamps: Ask for a video of the topper in attract mode. The lamps should chase in sequence.
05Ramps: Ask for photos of the ramps. Cracked ones can be replaced with Pinball Inc reproductions.
06Display: Ask for a photo of the DMD during display test. Every dot should light evenly with no sparkles.
07Playfield: Ask for raking-light photos of the flipper areas and inlanes. Worn paint shows as dull patches.
We haven’t been through this game’s listings yet. Search eBay and run every listing through the checklist above. Ask for a video of a full game, a photo of the CPU board and photos of the playfield in good light, and ask what’s been replaced. Pass on any seller who won’t answer.