After inspecting the underside of the PCB I noticed the usual track cut from the factory wasn't 100% done properly, so I cut the trace fully and retested. But no it still showed the same behaviour.
I then suspected the opto-isolator because I've read that the trace cutting is somehow related to it, so it's possible it could have died due to the trace not being cut properly. So swapped it out for the proper Sharp pc-111 (because it had the 'bad' type) and voila, it now works perfectly
Before re-cap:
After re-cap:
The almost-cut trace:
Swap opto-isolator:
New opto:
+12v:
+5v:
-12v:

