Keep in mind putting anything that is heavier then the original chains, which weigh practically nothing, could put extra strain on the pops and cause pre-mature breakage of the ornamental locks, the pop bumper mech, etc. You may also not get the same 'action' on the chain movement or more importantly the ball when in the pops. If the pop can't come FULLY UP on its own via the internal spring due to extra weight, then the ball can't properly get into the pop to trigger the skirt and be fired correctly.

I'll caution everyone about putting things on the ramps, some modder created an elaborate ornamental gear thing to put over the ramp, and only after they were done did they realize it was going to interfere with the catapult. Not saying you can't do stuff, just be cognizant of potential undesirable side effects.

These shackles are super light and are made of aluminum, the pop bumpers work perfectly.
The catapult has no problem shooting the ball in the wire ramp.

The ropes look OK.

The ropes look OK.

The LP-168 amp that is used in this pinball machine isn't a high end amplifier. Both inputs - Aux and RCA - are bridged. You can't select the input. Therefore you can use the RCA jacks as "outputs", just like an Y adapter. I attached an active subwoofer this way instead of using the high power outputs.
The advantage is that you get the full frequency range and that you can do all the adjustments on your subwoofer. And you don't need to limit the frequency range on the internal speakers.

Where do I plug in the sub out,I have the kit but can’t find sub out?
Thanks

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They might be on the bottom behind the monitor. You just have regular RCA Jack’s as outputs, there’s not a dedicated sub out. Set the crossover on the external sub and you’re fine

Oh! That's why my Polk powered sub sounds horrible. I will try the low level "outputs".

if you remove the LCD screen you'll see the two unused RCA jacks of the amplifier at the bottom on the left. They're labeled as "AUDIO INPUT". But you can simply attach your subwoofer to them.

I must be hitting magic targets too lightly to get the letters.

Absolutely loving this game, but what is up with the F'n scoop?? I get it dialed in (usually at 7) and after some games it will start to hit the top and not come out. Adjust it to six and it can't make it out. Bend the scoop a little and it works, but after a while same old thing?? (Not a power supply issue as I have the new one) Also, if a sling keeps firing even when not being hit is it the rubber too close or too far from the switch? Thanks for any help.

I don’t know dude; you’re doing the right stuff. Try setting it -lower- maybe try 5

If the sling is firing too much you can adjust the leaf switches that fire it. You should have a leaf switch tool (don’t use pliers or a screwdriver)

I absolutely second this.

The leaf switch tool is a must have. Get a couple of them

The bent one and the straight one.

Bend them as close to the switch body as possible.

Only bend the thick metal support piece.

Josh/American Pinball. Can we have an update?

Is there a fix for preventing the ball from getting stuck behind the planchette? Didn't bother me before cause it's fairly infrequent but it is highly annoying when it happens.

Turn planchette by hand, bracket turns a little.
You can find a area if you turn it to the right a little the ball will always roll out. Test with glass off.

Thanks for the tip however my planchette has very little room to move in either direction. I have the planchette mod and it adds about 1/8 inch on either side of the wood planchette but I was having this issue before I added that mod. Hoping for another solution. I was thinking there was another fix available but couldn't find it in this thread.

How about just adding one of the those little sticky dots used for drawer/door protectors to help the ball roll out?
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If I’m not mistaken, I think adding a cable tie to the bundle of
Wires helps to keep them tight enough that the ball will bounce out instead of getting caught in a “web”. Has worked for me.

I just hooked a Polk PSW10 external powered subwoofer up to the built-in amp on Houdini and WOW, what a difference! The audio with bass makes the game so much more immersive now, it really should have come with a sub from the factory. There are sub out speaker wire jacks on the built-in amp along with sub volume and high/low crossover settings to get it dialed in just right. I HIGHLY recommend the external sub if you're a big fan of this game.

Loosen the screws on the amp so you get at the bottom of it. I plugged my Polk sub into the L + R sub speaker out jacks using two sets of speaker wires. Then tune the sub volume and crossover adjustments on the amp and on the sub to suit your audio preferences. I didn't plug into any RCA jacks, I just used speaker wire connections. Enjoy!

Running the beta code. Game worked fine yesterday. Tonight upon boot up, about 10 seconds in all the coils start firing. If I open the coin door the firing stops and boot up completes but Game won’t start. No ball ejects even though graphics are working and audio is talking through instructions. Some switches work If I touch with my finger but no flippers no ball eject. Basically no game play.

Ideas?

Did you email josh (aka ROSH) or one of the other API folks? Did you reinstall the most recent non-beta version or try to reinstall the beta?

Are all six balls in the trough? If not find the missing one / release any staged balls, etc. so that all six are in the trough an try to reboot it again. If that doesn't work I'd pull logs and send them to rosh

Reinstalled latest official code. Unfortunately the problem persists.

Filed a service ticket. Hopefully I’ll hear back soon.

I may have found the culprit to my coil firing issue but not sure how to fix it.

Grey, purple, blue twisted wire is disconnected from under the Houdini’s just above the flippers. Assuming that is where the wire needs to be plugged in, I have a problem. There are two male possibilities next to each other on the board right below the ribbon cable.

To which male plug do they attach. The two look to be keyed identically (all 3 male pins to female plug).

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As so many have stated before me, American Pinball service is the best. I started sending notes and emails around 11:00pm last night (Saturday night) and both Josh and Dave responded.

Josh got me all straightened out and playing again. Many thanks to all of you who chimes in.

Not sure if you still need it, but just in case, here's a pic.

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Appreciate you looking into it just the same.

Glad to try to help! AP and the guys (and gals) here are a good group of people. Even LTG chimes in! Just curious, pizzeria restaurant owner?

No, not an owner. Just do more than our share keeping those owners financially sound.

Wow just had a MONSTER game and I didn’t do too much in it either. I managed to get to 4x milkcan multiplier mixed with 2x mode scoring on bullet catch with the left loop as the load shot, trunk multiball AND Seance multiball for a 4.195m score!! Wow just crazy! The only thing that annoys me in this game is my catapult not hitting 100% of the time

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Great score! Whoever had my Houdini before me put some kind of mod in to make the catapult hit 100% no matter what I have the game leveled at. Have never seen it miss. Wish I knew what they did haha.

Holy crap, 4M in 5 minutes?!?! Well done, all of my scores anywhere over 2 Million are at least 20 minutes long.

Can you take some photos maybe I can figure it out. Failing that ship the game to Australia for me

It was ALL in that sequence. And I’m going to say it was ALL the left loop shot. Base scoring on the left loop 50k x 4 milkcan 200k per shot adds up to 4mil pretty quickly

4X on milkcan + 2X stage will make any mode lucrative, but certainly Bullet catch, it can be huge, especially if 'your aim is fast' and you set a good shot. Inverted straitjacket can be even more lucrative and you don't have the challenge of making the lock shot. Heck, just having the 2X on that can be big.

Big game! Wish I could have kept playing. Was only on ball 2 with 3 extra balls banked before I got to Master Magician (and lost).

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I don't know how many times I've managed to get to 4x milkcan, maybe once. I have a hard enough time getting to 3x as the ramp is a much tougher shot than it looks and most of the times I get the ball through the milkcan loop it's pure luck and / or the magnet pulls it through during seance.

Had this game a wee while now. Do we have a flow chart of how to reach Master Magician. I guess you spell out Houdini.

Rosh,
We also could do with something like you get on WOZ attract mode explaining how to complete modes. For a newbie it can be confusing.

I think a lot of if it is mental, when you make the milkcan, or if finds its way in there, you instinctively think "I got the milkcan, now don't blow the ramp shot . . . ah crap".

There are some tips that come up in attract, and you can use the flipper buttons to refresh it. You may want to check out the rulesheet here . . .

http://tiltforums.com/t/houdini-rulesheet/3934

I think I need to mod my milkcan shot a bit. Somehow the ball defies physics and goes halfway in and then turns around and comes back out the same way. I get so mad when I need it and it spits it right back out haha. Maybe if I put a little clear mylar on the wall it will slow the ball down a bit and let gravity take over.

I just opened up the loop a tiny bit and drooped the flipper bats 2mm.
I can make the shot consistantly.

I wonder if some “drop-dead foam” would help reduce the rejections from the milk can and stage shots.

Its really just about shot geometry.

Drooping the flippers slightly, makes it a fair shot thats repeatable.

Mine does this too. It's like one of those illusions where it looks like a ball rolls up a hill when really it's rolling down. It defies all reason.

Been an owner for a few weeks now, i love this machine. Well done AP!

Just what I needed...

Thanks rosh

It's very similar to the Crystal Ball shot on WOZ (not a big surprise since Balcer did both) but WOZ has a spinner and somehow even a ripping shot to that can get rejected. I've cussed that more times than I can count.

I used to live in Silver Spring MD from birth to 6 years old before moving to Mass. Lived right at University and Dearborn Ave. if you know where that is.

Of course i know that part of the world. Spent many an hour playing basketball and coaching baseball at Blair.