(Topic ID: 183206)

American Pinball Houdini thread

By lllvjr

7 years ago


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#10551 3 years ago

How much are the upgraded power supplies and where do you get them from?

#10552 3 years ago
Quoted from Pinhead306:

How much are the upgraded power supplies and where do you get them from?

From the source - $150.00

https://store.american-pinball.com/products/houdini-power-supply-upgrade

LTG : )

#10553 3 years ago
Quoted from mbwalker:

This is what is needed to put the power supply issue to rest: Put a scope on the upgraded power supply and see if the voltage droops. Trigger it to sweep on the falling edge (say, 44V) and just play some games. Then check the scope to see if it ever droops. Ideally, use a clamp on current probe (for the scope) to look at the current at the same time. With those two bits of info, it would either indicate the PS should be beefed up or it's fine.
I should add, I have both a scope and scope compatible current probe. But been busy and my Houdini is well behaved - but it would be interesting to see.

I don't have a storage scope and they are too expensive to justify the purchase just for this. One of my brothers has a Fluke meter with min/max and average capability, I'm going to borrow that sometime and see what's going on with the supply under full load.

#10554 3 years ago
Quoted from Pinhead306:

How much are the upgraded power supplies and where do you get them from?

If you're going to buy the upgraded supply send AP an email first with your serial number. They had a deal if you purchased the upgraded power supply they would give you the cost of the power supply in credit. So you spend 150 on the power supply and get 150$ to spend on other "mods" for the game from them.

When I purchased my machine last March I was the second owner and they still allowed me to do this. Not sure if this is something they still offer but worth checking into!

#10555 3 years ago

Hi, I had a chance to play this in an arcade and am now looking at getting one, it's great. Does anyone have the width of both the cabinet & the backbox? The website says 29", but I'm assuming that's the backbox (since it's wider than the cabinet)? I live in an old house with the older standard on doors so I wanted to make sure I could get this down to my basement. Any help would be appreciated.

#10556 3 years ago
Quoted from KrazyIvan14:

Hi, I had a chance to play this in an arcade and am now looking at getting one, it's great. Does anyone have the width of both the cabinet & the backbox? The website says 29", but I'm assuming that's the backbox (since it's wider than the cabinet)? I live in an old house with the older standard on doors so I wanted to make sure I could get this down to my basement. Any help would be appreciated.

Backbox (the widest part) is 28 5/8" wide, with the head folded down the tallest section is about 31" high. It's a great game, you won't be disappointed!

#10557 3 years ago
Quoted from KrazyIvan14:

Hi, I had a chance to play this in an arcade and am now looking at getting one, it's great. Does anyone have the width of both the cabinet & the backbox? The website says 29", but I'm assuming that's the backbox (since it's wider than the cabinet)? I live in an old house with the older standard on doors so I wanted to make sure I could get this down to my basement. Any help would be appreciated.

Worse case, if it doesn't fit through your doors, you could take the head off the game. It's more work, obviously, but it will allow you to get it through your doors and also be lighter to carry in two pieces as opposed to one.

Good Luck!

#10558 3 years ago

Thanks, that's very helpful. I wanted to ensure the main cabinet isn't 29", I'd be screwed.

#10559 3 years ago

looking at this, seems magnets are all on a different board, wonder if you could just wire the 48 from the original power supply to that bank so magnets and flippers are not on the same power supply. Not sure if there are any filters or anything along the way that would be an issue or any other wiring stuff that needs to do this, grounds or ???.

coils (resized).pngcoils (resized).png

#10560 3 years ago
Quoted from meSz:

Worse case, if it doesn't fit through your doors, you could take the head off the game. It's more work, obviously, but it will allow you to get it through your doors and also be lighter to carry in two pieces as opposed to one.
Good Luck!

It is *incredibly* simple to remove the head from Houdini. About 3 cables, I think, and the bolts. Hardest thing is getting the little washers in between the backbox hinges again when you're putting it back together. I have to take the head off nearly every game I get, in order to get it down our stairs. Houdini is THE simplest game I've ever dealt with.

#10561 3 years ago
Quoted from bobukcat:

I don't have a storage scope and they are too expensive to justify the purchase just for this. One of my brothers has a Fluke meter with min/max and average capability, I'm going to borrow that sometime and see what's going on with the supply under full load.

One thing to be aware of w/the Fluke (or any meter) is the sample rate, i.e. how often the meter measures the input. It has to be fast enough to 'catch' a transient.

#10562 3 years ago
Quoted from wolftownjeff:

You would think AP would be all over this. Flagship game.
At some point folks looking at Hot Wheels are going to see this thread.

I'm looking at Hot Wheels and in the UK. This definitely has me a little spooked

#10563 3 years ago
Quoted from mbwalker:

One thing to be aware of w/the Fluke (or any meter) is the sample rate, i.e. how often the meter measures the input. It has to be fast enough to 'catch' a transient.

Yes, I wondered about that too but it says that is can capture events as fast as 250 microseconds so I think it should be sufficient.

#10564 3 years ago
Quoted from Huggers:

I'm looking at Hot Wheels and in the UK. This definitely has me a little spooked

OKT doesn't have this issue even with two magnets, it's unique to Houdini so I wouldn't be too worried about HW which only has the one magnet.

#10565 3 years ago
Quoted from spoke:

looking at this, seems magnets are all on a different board, wonder if you could just wire the 48 from the original power supply to that bank so magnets and flippers are not on the same power supply. Not sure if there are any filters or anything along the way that would be an issue or any other wiring stuff that needs to do this, grounds or ???.
[quoted image]

Good point, I kinda forget that there's still another 48VDC supply sitting in the bottom of the cabinet. Not sure how much work it would be to re-wire it that way though, I'd have to buy some connectors that attach to the driver board at minimum I suspect.

#10566 3 years ago
Quoted from bobukcat:

OKT doesn't have this issue even with two magnets, it's unique to Houdini so I wouldn't be too worried about HW which only has the one magnet.

At some point Josh speculated that there may be something in the code that's either causing the issue, or could be addressed by it (I'm not sure which). Hopefully one day he can get that update out. Come on people, buy HW so Houdini gets some more time on the books!!

#10567 3 years ago
Quoted from bobukcat:

...says that is can capture events as fast as 250 microseconds...

Wow, that's pretty impressive! I guess just stick it in the pin, rip thru a few games, and see what it says.

Thinking about it a bit more, I guess the one thing it might not tell you is if there is a dip in the voltage, how long did it last?

#10568 3 years ago

had a game yesterday and run in some trouble with the code. Ball tracking had a problem when the ball was drained and in the through code not reconized it. After 30 seconds ball was reconized and round 1 over... With adding the ball to the shooter lane, the G.I went out. After letting the ball drain and a new ball was served in the shooterlange G.I turned on.

Also the left flipper was weak from time to time - especially when a magnet was in use before.
The right flipper was way better but also noticeable that it was weak from time to time.

#10569 3 years ago

We have been enjoying Houdini so much... what a gem. After seeing Hot Wheels videos this may be my next game, congrats AP! Looks like a winner.

#10570 3 years ago
Quoted from MMP:

We have been enjoying Houdini so much... what a gem. After seeing Hot Wheels videos this may be my next game, congrats AP! Looks like a winner.

Everytime I play my Houdini, I tell myself that I gotta get an Oktoberfest too!

#10571 3 years ago
Quoted from Tuna_Delight:

Everytime I play my Houdini, I tell myself that I gotta get an Oktoberfest too!

Same. I've also been looking for one for a while, unfortunately there were a whole bunch of them out there earlier in the year but they've dried up (like the market for a lot of games) the last couple months. ~$7400 is just too much for NIB when HUO can be found for low six.

#10572 3 years ago

I absolutely love Houdini and am looking at an Octoberfest. Hot wheels looks really fun, I may be turning into a AP fanboy. With the high quality and time they are putting into their machines I am sticking with them.

#10573 3 years ago

I really do like the products they are putting out. The price point is great with all the extras, compared to the other companies.

#10574 3 years ago
Quoted from finnflash:

I really do like the products they are putting out. The price point is great with all the extras, compared to the other companies.

The build quality is also exceptional.

#10575 3 years ago

I have a Houdini, Octoberfest is definitely on my wanted list. Josh admitted that the code on Houdini still needs work. Best things come to those that wait

#10576 3 years ago
Quoted from Tuna_Delight:

Everytime I play my Houdini, I tell myself that I gotta get an Oktoberfest too!

Indeed, Oktoberfest is on my next machine to buy list...however, after Munsters LE and Elvira LE it is taking a bit longer to generate the resources to purchase one.

#10577 3 years ago

rosh I heard on the deadflip stream of hot wheels that game loads in like 10 seconds. Is that quick boot going to be ported onto Houdini? Every time I make an adjustment to the catapult I’m faced with these waaay too long boot times to try to correct

#10578 3 years ago
Quoted from Audioenslaved:

rosh I heard on the deadflip stream of hot wheels that game loads in like 10 seconds. Is that quick boot going to be ported onto Houdini? Every time I make an adjustment to the catapult I’m faced with these waaay too long boot times to try to correct

I admit I got excited when I heard that too but my hopes are not high for that happening as it sounds like a lot of the underlying code like the graphics engine have been replaced and I suspect that means all the assets in Houdini and OKT would have to be re-done to work with it. Usually when I post something like this rosh tells me I'm wrong , here's hoping that my streak continues!!

#10579 3 years ago
Quoted from bobukcat:

I admit I got excited when I heard that too but my hopes are not high for that happening as it sounds like a lot of the underlying code like the graphics engine have been replaced and I suspect that means all the assets in Houdini and OKT would have to be re-done to work with it. Usually when I post something like this rosh tells me I'm wrong , here's hoping that my streak continues!!

Me too. So after all my tinkering with the catapult the things that make it miss are both the wire form and the plastic ramp. On higher power the ball will clip the wire form ramp making it shoot right because of how it clips the wire form on the solid piece near the catapult. If the catapult is angled slightly incorrectly it will hit the plastic ramp. There is a VERY NARROW line for the catapult to be so it A misses the wire form and B misses the plastic ramp. I’ve modified the solid piece close to the catapult so hopefully it hits less. I tested with the glass off and the ball went into the catapult the majority of the time. I’m still getting ball losses at time but I’m sure rosh will fix this. It’s a great game we’re the minor flaws really annoy me. The catapult adjustment being the biggest one

#10580 3 years ago

Sorry, folks, I wouldn’t hold my breath for the fast boot to come to Houdini or Oktoberfest. We completely rewrote the American Pinball A/V system, and Hot Wheels is the first game to use that... unfortunately it’s not just a drop-in replacement for the old A/V, so the previous games would more or less have to be rewritten from scratch to use it.

#10581 3 years ago
Quoted from Ferret:

Sorry, folks, I wouldn’t hold my breath for the fast boot to come to Houdini or Oktoberfest. We completely rewrote the American Pinball A/V system, and Hot Wheels is the first game to use that... unfortunately it’s not just a drop-in replacement for the old A/V, so the previous games would more or less have to be rewritten from scratch to use it.

I dont care too much about load times.

I would like to see refined and finished code for my Houdini though...

#10582 3 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

I dont care too much about load times.
I would like to see refined and finished code for my Houdini though...

+1

No problem with Long bootup but with the coil strength and somensmall Bugs in the code.

Hope Josh and the AP-Team can bring a solution.

#10583 3 years ago
Quoted from Ferret:

Sorry, folks, I wouldn’t hold my breath for the fast boot to come to Houdini or Oktoberfest. We completely rewrote the American Pinball A/V system, and Hot Wheels is the first game to use that... unfortunately it’s not just a drop-in replacement for the old A/V, so the previous games would more or less have to be rewritten from scratch to use it.

That’s fine with me it just more annoys me whilst I’m trying to fix the damn catapult. Turn off, move catapult, turn on a minute later catapult hitting something else... reboots because I tried ejecting 2 balls a minute later keep testing, turn off move catapult, pull hair out because you can’t get it right...

#10584 3 years ago
Quoted from Audioenslaved:

That’s fine with me it just more annoys me whilst I’m trying to fix the damn catapult. Turn off, move catapult, turn on a minute later catapult hitting something else... reboots because I tried ejecting 2 balls a minute later keep testing, turn off move catapult, pull hair out because you can’t get it right...

I elongated the metal catapult mech, mounting holes in order to direct it exactly where it needed to be.

With the catapult arm exactly centered and straight in its slot. The tiniest variation makes a huge difference 21" away.

I did carefully force the plastic ramp over the the right about 1/16", carefully I filed out the mounting holes over a couple of the posts a little bit. I didnt remove it. More like bending it slightly inward.

As you have seen its a very close fit, so tiny adjustments yield good results.

The rest was just working with the power settings.

#10585 3 years ago
Quoted from pinballinreno:

I elongated the metal catapult mech, mounting holes in order to direct it exactly where it needed to be.
With the catapult arm exactly centered and straight in its slot. The tiniest variation makes a huge difference 21" away.
I did carefully force the plastic ramp over the the right about 1/16", carefully I filed out the mounting holes over a couple of the posts a little bit. I didnt remove it. More like bending it slightly inward.
As you have seen its a very close fit, so tiny adjustments yield good results.
The rest was just working with the power settings.

I’ve elongated the holes and cut some of the solid piece of the wire form and also bent the side closer to the flippers down a little. As you’ve seen a power level up and the ball hits the wire form a level down hits the face of the trunk, I don’t know if rosh can code finer adjustments or not but I seem to be someone who needs that extra 1/4 or 1/2 coil power (as pinballinreno just said the trunk is 21” away that little adjustment is ALOT). I hopefully got it in a place last night where it hits consistently but I’ve seen it hit 20-30x in a row breathed a sigh of relief been happy and then played the next night and it’s missing again! I need to get the catapult right so I don’t sell out of pure frustration.

I do really enjoy this game rosh has done a fantastic job of coding this game it’s truly refreshing because he gets you shooting everywhere and everything but the catapult has me frustrated beyond belief and the game looses balls annoys me thoroughly too. Would I sell because the game looses track of the ball probably not but not being able to get the catapult right has well and truly annoyed me to that point.

#10586 3 years ago
Quoted from Audioenslaved:

That’s fine with me it just more annoys me whilst I’m trying to fix the damn catapult. Turn off, move catapult, turn on a minute later catapult hitting something else... reboots because I tried ejecting 2 balls a minute later keep testing, turn off move catapult, pull hair out because you can’t get it right...

Are you seeing the reset when you start the Clear Balls utility too? I'm on the Beta code and mine just started this, I've sent Josh the logs.

#10587 3 years ago

Anyone have this topper? Would you be able to take a pic of the power adapter? Just went through a move and I’m searching for the correct one. Thanks!

5C6C9997-D484-4251-B99A-B80B0CE9BDD7 (resized).jpeg5C6C9997-D484-4251-B99A-B80B0CE9BDD7 (resized).jpeg
#10588 3 years ago
Quoted from Ferret:

Sorry, folks, I wouldn’t hold my breath for the fast boot to come to Houdini or Oktoberfest. ...

That's okay - good things are well worth waiting a couple minutes to enjoy.

In the beer drinking spirit of Oktoberfest, here's another one:

#10589 3 years ago
Quoted from Rascal_H:

Anyone have this topper? Would you be able to take a pic of the power adapter? Just went through a move and I’m searching for the correct one. Thanks!
[quoted image]

I do, but Houdini is currently wrapped (along with ALL my gsmes) while we expand the basement. If I can get into it tomorrow I’ll take a photo

#10590 3 years ago
Quoted from bobukcat:

Are you seeing the reset when you start the Clear Balls utility too? I'm on the Beta code and mine just started this, I've sent Josh the logs.

I see it when I eject two balls (no matter length of time between) from the ball trough. I haven’t tried the clear balls utility, I assume that it’s be the same though.

#10591 3 years ago

Note about trunk catapult adjustment. I have noticed that after working fine all winter and spring at a 29 coil setting, the catapult started coming up short and hitting the lip of the trunk. This coincided with the start up of my central AC unit. This can't be a coincidence. Yes I have the upgraded ppwer unit installed. I raised coil to 30, and it shoots off to the right of the trunk, a common problem when coil power is too high. I was able to correct this by adjusting the angle of the mech. I had previously widened the screw holes in the coil bracket. I have had to make this positioning adjustment a few times over two years. I think the screws loosen over time and the angle shifts on its own. That is a drawback of widening the holes.

#10592 3 years ago
Quoted from Audioenslaved:

I see it when I eject two balls (no matter length of time between) from the ball trough. I haven’t tried the clear balls utility, I assume that it’s be the same though.

Sure sounds like the same thing as it's always after the second ball. When I reloaded the Beta code to fix my lock release issue it also stopped resetting after the ball ejects for a couple of days, very strange behavior.

#10593 3 years ago
Quoted from PhantomO:

Note about trunk catapult adjustment. I have noticed that after working fine all winter and spring at a 29 coil setting, the catapult started coming up short and hitting the lip of the trunk. This coincided with the start up of my central AC unit. This can't be a coincidence. Yes I have the upgraded ppwer unit installed. I raised coil to 30, and it shoots off to the right of the trunk, a common problem when coil power is too high. I was able to correct this by adjusting the angle of the mech. I had previously widened the screw holes in the coil bracket. I have had to make this positioning adjustment a few times over two years. I think the screws loosen over time and the angle shifts on its own. That is a drawback of widening the holes.

The catapult isn’t actually throwing the ball right. It’s a by product of the wire form ramp being so close the ball actually hits the wire form and richocettes right. To me it’s a little bit of a design flaw and certainly a fking punish to get the catapult in the right spot that misses the plastic ramp and the wire form and then goes in the trunk that’s 21” away

#10594 3 years ago
Quoted from Rascal_H:

Anyone have this topper? Would you be able to take a pic of the power adapter? Just went through a move and I’m searching for the correct one. Thanks!

Here you go:

DSC05373 (resized).jpgDSC05373 (resized).jpgDSC05374 (resized).jpgDSC05374 (resized).jpg

#10595 3 years ago

Had a great game going last night (at least for me) and racked up more than 2 mil points. I'm running the beta code and have noticed more issues with the game keeping track of the balls. Twice, I got an extra ball but when I drained, the game sat for about 15 seconds and then kicked a locked ball into play instead of into the shooter lane. This ball tracking issue seems to be prevalent with the beta code than previous versions. I'm really liking the light show but am considering switching back to the previous code

#10596 3 years ago

Does anyone know how many Houdini's were manufactured?

#10597 3 years ago
Quoted from 27dnast:

Does anyone know how many Houdini's were manufactured?

Best guess is somewhere around 600.

#10598 3 years ago
Quoted from 27dnast:

Does anyone know how many Houdini's were manufactured?

Quoted from bobukcat:

Best guess is somewhere around 600.

I was wondering the same. Perhaps Josh could shed some light on it?

rosh

#10599 3 years ago

why, exactly, are houndini's selling for $5,500 now?

#10600 3 years ago
Quoted from zaki:

why, exactly, are houndini's selling for $5,500 now?

Demand?

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