Quoted from TomDK:Hi all
I am owner of a Houdini for some weeks now. I bought it used. The first owner was tired of all the technical problems and sold his problems to me
So far I like the theme and the pin but I am also unhyppy with the technique.There is a new power supply in the game. Issues are the very bad flipperfingers. They are on highest setting but still feel week. But all shots are possible expect the ramp with the rigt flipper. The slingshots and bumpers feel slow and powerless. The right scoop is not able to pop the ball out after some hours. It needs 10 times until the ball get kicked out. I bend the scoop a little more open and it works a little better.
The new power supply is strange. It is very loud and noisy and if I open the coindoor it starts to become louder .. this makes no sense to me.
So , a very nice machine I like to play. But with the new Stern BK right next to it, it feels as the whole powerunit is not well calculated or planned.
That a knocker and a EOS (!!) is a extra to buy is a whole other story. Please stop that with all upcoming pinballmachines ....
The flippers definitely should not be weak, especially at the highest settings. The ramp from the right is tough but should be doable even without the flippers maxed out. The power supply sounds louder when you open the coin door just because you are removing a physical barrier to the sound traveling to you, that's very normal. A few questions:
1: How many games are on it and have you made sure the flipper don't just need a rebuild?
2: What pitch do you have the game setup to? It is designed for under 6.5 which would be the back levelers screwed all the way in. I have mine about 6.75 as I prefer that but all the shots are still easily makeable without flippers maxed out.
3: What is your line voltage at the game?
3: Not a question but thoroughly clean the switches for the pop bumpers then adjust the coil setting to make them hit a little harder, I've done this on mine and they are quite active.
4: For the scoop, have you tried turning down the power to see if it improves? Is the problem always with ejecting the ball or is it also / only the release of the locked ball in the scoop? There is a physical (height) and pulse length (electrical) adjustment for the lock release in the scoop.
5: Again, not a question but physical knockers have been removed from Stern games for a very long time (even CV didn't have an actual knocker) and Houdini was definitely not the first game to eliminate EOS switches, though I agree they should be included and I believe they now are at least on Oktoberfest.
Good luck getting it sorted out, I love the game even after a year of ownership and tweaks.