Its an awesome game!

You cant beat the price.

we must be lots of guys doing like that with AP, and i dont see one customer not being happy !
i've gone the other way, 1st OF, than Houdini, and of course HW is now on my wishlist

Sorry..Inner loop entrance modification….I saw it called the ball lock Lane in one of these threads lol

…and it turns out I misunderstood the fix…I need to move the bracket on the play field and not the bumper switch on the bracket… much easier lol

Congratulations. You may also want to consider a Hot Wheels as your next AP title choice !

Aha! Try just pushing the targets gently out of the way first. Then if you don’t like how it looks or it’s not giving you enough clearance then go under the playfield and realign. My targets were able to just be nudged slightly out of the way and that was enough to clear the opening. They are slightly off-kilter but it’s pretty hard to notice. Seems to be game-dependent but at least you’ll know if it’s going to work or not, and a lot less effort.

Will do…thanks!

Thats exactly what i did.

Bent them out of the way.

Game played way better.

I didnt like the slight crookedness.

So i bent them back and adjusted the metal switch mount holes by elongating them.

Now its perfect!

It took about 10 mins total, not really any work at all.

Is there a way to adjust the trunk launch catapult. Power is perfect but it is landing left of the trunk 80% of the time. Up until today it had a 100% hit rate. I raised the play field to do some maintenance, but was not working in that area.

Im not seeing that at all so far but maybe it my fault. I messaged their facebook but their support seems non existent there?. ill try email..

Read my posts on this.

wiredoug - don't know about Facebook, but the American Pinball team is pretty active here on Pinside. You can also fill out a service request ticket here:

https://www.american-pinball.com/support/service/

...or e-mail: [email protected]

rosh - Josh Kugler, ferret - Joe Schober, vegas98 - Michael Grant who is sales and marketing.

LTG : )

yep i did this now.. im sure its my fault. Anyway its not a hard question .. maybe someone here knows?.
do you need to step up the code on these or can you go from old version to the latest in one update? ( its not broken its just a precheck after years of updating things that dont always behave well)

You can jump from any version directly to the latest... all update packages are "full", not "delta".

cheers thanks for confirming.

Thanks, LTG!

And of course, a very important member of the team: brenna98 - Dave Brennan, API Customer Service Manager.

my questions been answered so i have no issue again .. but just for some tough love feedback..

which one was it that ignored me for a week on fb? im hardly crying myself to sleep over it but it makes me wonder if you need to follow up how many other people have you ignored there?

if you have stuff like this on your website you have to actually do it ..

Connect with us on Social Media
Wanna get in touch with the team at American Pinball? Want to tell us how much you love Houdini? Well, feel free to drop us a line, or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Connect on Facebook * where we wont answer you for a week <-- fixme
Connect on Twitter * where we have never tweeted because we have the link going to the wrong account <-- fixme

love you. this isnt a whinge .. just taking the time to help with the kind of feedback fanboys wont dare give

Thank you. I'll add him to my list for the future.

LTG : )

Just realized I already had him. I copied the wrong thing.

Call them, open a new ticket on their support desk - https://www.american-pinball.com/support/service/ send PMs to rosh Ferret Vegas9 and their tech guy Dave brenna98

Dave Brennan brenna98
Technical Services Manager
[email protected]
Phone: (833) API-HELP / (833) 274-4357

LTG : )

https://store.american-pinball.com/products/3-8-x-1-light-blue-stand-up-target-front-mount-swif0010-11?_pos=5&_sid=58fcbfe96&_ss=r

I'm sorry. I didn't see it and I can't find your post.
I did however get your direct email and answered this morning.

Thanks….2 ordered!

I opened support ticket with AP. Posting here for visibility and hopefully to share resolution. Game has not been moved or updated so this is out of the blue. Visual inspection of everything does not reveal the cause - all cables appear connected and it appears most/all proc boards are lighting up.

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This is usually caused by not having 5VDC to the P3ROC control board that's mounted on the left hand side of the bottom of the cabinet, put your DMM set to DCV on J2 and see if you have 5VDC there or not. If not you'll have to see which power supply you have before we can help you further.

See if the p3-roc board in the lower cabinet has LED lit and if has four blue 'spinning' lights on it. You will need to lift or remove (depending on version) the cover over the boards. If no lights at all, then no power is getting to the board, if lights, but no spinning lights, means an issue with the board.

I have original power supply with added upgrade. Guessing p3-roc is middle board in cabinet. I don't have any lights. Looks like 5v is missing from power supply. I get 12v between ground and yellow wire, but .20v from red wire measuring on power supply. Any thing user serviceable in "Caution High Voltage" unit or suggestions? Can I grab 5v from switcher now that I have one installed?

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I'll have to let the API guys answer the question regarding grabbing power from the new upgraded supply but I'm pretty sure the answer is no. As for "user-servicable" parts of the OG supply you can replace the 5V modular supply module, I bought one on Ebay and swapped it fairly easily but I don't know what your skill level is with a soldering iron or if you're comfortable enough with the safety barrier removed. If you're good with both you'll find it to be pretty easy, I think I posted earlier in this thread what supply I bought to replace it.

Edit: It appears that it's no longer available on Ebay but it's a Daygreen D510: https://daygreen.com/products/12v-24v-to-5v-10a-50w-dc-dc-step-down-converter-voltage-regulator-1

2nd Edit: I forgot that brenna98 said that Antek has been receptive to replacing the entire supply: https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/american-pinball-houdini-thread?tq=&tu=brenna98#postbox

I would change that Wal-nut connector they are the worst.. You have to push the wires in there.. Install Wago Lever Nuts..Even if it doesn't solve your problem... it will prevent a problem in the future. Mine came completely out of that lousy wal-nut. Wont solve your 5V but may save future issues.
938a85ac8eb9534e83d6fe12e28d861902336fc2 (resized).jpegScreen Shot 2021-08-11 at 1.54.35 PM (resized).png

While this is good advice it doesn't have anything to do with the 5VDC, just the 48V.

Check this connection to make sure it's plugged in all the way

Screenshot_20210811-130702_Chrome (resized).jpg

Thanks everyone. Amazon has buck converter directly from Daygreen for $9 shipped. https://www.amazon.com/Daygreen-Converter-Voltage-Regulator-Reducer/dp/B07JHBYDGG Delivery times are just a few weeks out which is a bummer. Would love to hear from API if I can pull 5v from switcher at least temporarily...

I know the provided wal-nut if not great. I considered just using a wire nut, but everything is snug and working on that side for now.

USB cable is plugged in, this is definitely a power supply issue.

If it's the same supply they sent most / all of us there's no 5VDC supply available on it. You can try calling Antek as Brenna98 mentioned in the comment I linked to above, might be able to get it faster and possibly for free??

The switching power supply is just 48V.

If the 5V module is bad, you can contact https://www.antekinc.com for a replacement. You will need to give them the model number, PS-8N52R-12R5M. They recently replaced mine for no charge, when one of the 12V caps blew. Replacing it does mean unbolting the supply from the cabinet, since the screws that hold the module in place are on the underside. I was able to leave the 48V wires attached when I did the swap, but not the easiest thing to do in the bottom of a cabinet. Connecting the wires from the Toroid to the module is the tricky part.

Another option, since you have the 48V switching supply, is to remove the old supply and replace it with a 5v/12V switching power supply. If you go that way, touch base with Dave to be sure you get one with sufficient power.

Thanks everyone, I appreciate the support and quick troubleshooting advice. I put in an amazon order for the converter and will call Antec next. Whichever one gets here first wins!

Houdini already pulling off illusions and tricks before even leaving the box…received my
Houdini today

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What a coincidence...I just started getting the same thing. I also sent in a TS request...I will go through the above mentioned trouble shooting steps. BTW, my Houdini has the original power supply, no upgrades.

P3-roc (resized).jpg

Took me a minute to get that, I must not have enough coffee in me yet.

It appears that the Daygreen 5VDC is the weakest link in the hardware of this game, every game and system has their known or likely failure points and this appears to be Houdini's. Makes me wonder if it's not heat sinked well enough in the Antek supply.

I received a bag of plastics with my game. Two are for the slingshots, one is a flipper alignment guide, and several appear to be for keychains. The rest are a mystery to me, especially a 3x5 piece that is a miniature of the backglass. If I had bothered to open the bag some of this might be more obvious, but I'm hoping other owners can straighten me out.

I think that's the little display plastic, there are two little sloted pieces of plastic in there that act as a stand for it so you can proudly display it on your desk, etc.

Hey everyone. I am aware that is the Houdini thread but I am interested in both Houdini and Oktoberfest. For those that own or played both. What seems to be your preference? I enjoy modes, ramps, speed, plus good flow. Bottom line, which one is your favorite to flip? I haven't had the chance to play any of them and am restricted to just youtube videos of gameplay. They both look great so it is difficult to decide which one. Thanks everyone!

Not only do I think Houdini is the far better game, I would also say it is one of the most underrated pins out there.

I think the problem is that it has REALLY tight shots, and a lot of people consider it to be clunky/difficult. It is at the upper end of most people's skill level, for sure.

I think that people that think Houdini is tight should consider gameplay on a lot of the most popular games.

I brick more shots on funhouse and afmr than i do on houdini.

I brick half the shots on my IJ.

So, i think really its a matter of perspective.

Houdini is no more difficult than most of the most popular games.

Easy to play and hard to master.

Houdini is one of these.

Years of enjoyment, robust build and continuing support.

Its hard to beat the value that houdini offers in a tight fun package.

I prefer the Houdini theme much more than Oktoberfest. I have a Houdini, but can play Oktoberfest on location (it's not in the best of shape tho).

I think most the 'brick' Houdini comments come from people playing on location and just haven't had much time on the pin. While some shots are tight, I can reliably hit them - and I'm not a very good shooter either. Like you, some of my other pins have much more difficult shots.

New owner and tried playing a couple games last night. I noticed the ball, when shot into the theater and also into the catapult that gets launched to the magic box, just goes into ball search mode. I think I read a post of someone in the past saying the theater needs to be calibrated to fix this issue (which I haven’t tried yet). Is there a calibration for where the ball sits to get launched into the magic box? The ball will just sit in the launch until entering ball search and then get launched.

I had this happen too - there’s a switch in the catapult. Probsbly it just got out of alignment when the game got moved. Just gently push the switch upwards so the ball will trigger it reliably. Be careful not to break off the switch arm

Not sure on the theater - I would contact AP on that, I think it’s also a switch issue but you want to be sure it’s fixed correctly

Oktoberfest is not a flowing experience like what Houdini is. Houdini has it all with tight shots as well as flowing ramp and orbit shots. But I love my Oktoberfest as much as my Houdini, and I play them both equally.

It's too bad you can't play an Oktoberfest because it is one of my favorites with the variety of modes and objectives. I think the mode selection and objectives are handled better in Oktoberfest as you can boost your scoring with collecting steins and ducks, and each mode feels very different and unique. Stacking modes for big points are easier on Houdini and Hot Wheels, but I like the linear approach in Oktoberfest as it feels more rewarding by completing each mode.

In the end, I would agree with everyone here that Houdini is a very rounded pinball machine and criminally underrated. And with the new power supply and updated flippers, buying a new one (which are available right now from API) would be the way to go.

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Okt is a lot of fun and I love them both about equal,the Picard maneuver is a blast if you can hit it and you really have to work for multiballs and both beer barrel and rollercoaster multi balls are great,it would be a tough choice for me,I love magnets also and both have them in spades!
I guess it comes down to the theme