Princeton, TX
Thank you bobukcat and @rosh! I will check those and will update if that resolves the issue.
(Topic ID: 183206)
Linked Games
Houdini
American Pinball, 2017
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Quoted from mikepmcs:If the multiple AP guys run across this...Is this game still being manufactured? If so, has everything been upgraded ( past learning curve and power issues etc... I'm familiar with all the challenges)
I've almost pulled the trigger multiple times in the last few years on a used but if it's still coming off the line in 2021. I'd rather support this company buying brand new.
I've never been able to shake the Houdini bug and keep coming back to this game time and time again.
Thank you.
r/
Mike
As rosh mentioned, Houdini is on our production line now. While this run is mostly sold out on paper, I'm fairly certain some dealers are stocking inventory. So feel free to call around, or PM me if you need any help securing a game through a dealer.
So yes, we are still building new Houdini in addition to new Oktoberfest and Hot Wheels to keep up with the demand. Our production lines continue to be very busy. I can share on behalf of all of us at AP, that we are extremely grateful that more and more folks are discovering American Pinball games.
Michael
Quoted from Vegas9:As rosh mentioned, Houdini is on our production line now. While this run is mostly sold out on paper, I'm fairly certain some dealers are stocking inventory. So feel free to call around, or PM me if you need any help securing a game through a dealer.
So yes, we are still building new Houdini in addition to new Oktoberfest and Hot Wheels to keep up with the demand. Our production lines continue to be very busy. I can share on behalf of all of us at AP, that we are extremely grateful that more and more folks are discovering our games.
Michael
Now you need to offer a cabinet subwoofer kit to retrofit earlier Houdini games !
I will pay to beta test the accessory kit !
I owned Houdini in the past and was frustrated by a few tight shots. May look for one again close to MD in marketplace. Is there a good tutorial someone on here has made?
Quoted from rosh:Houdini is actually back on the line right now, for a short run, almost all of which is already sold. A few things have changed on the last run, sub woofer added and lower speakers removed, the extra cap for the flippers I believe was on the last run, and a couple of things are being changed on this next run, notably some coils are being changed to improve power management.
Sounds good rosh!
It would be awesome If you can provide us early adaptors (First run) a list which coils will be changend and what "WPC coils" we can Buy to replace the Stock ones.
Would Like to Change them If it helps 
Quoted from Vegas9:As rosh mentioned, Houdini is on our production line now. While this run is mostly sold out on paper, I'm fairly certain some dealers are stocking inventory. So feel free to call around, or PM me if you need any help securing a game through a dealer.
So yes, we are still building new Houdini in addition to new Oktoberfest and Hot Wheels to keep up with the demand. Our production lines continue to be very busy. I can share on behalf of all of us at AP, that we are extremely grateful that more and more folks are discovering our games.
Michael
Thank you for taking the time to respond.
r/
Mike
Quoted from chewiec:Also, I have a random pulsing coil on the bottom right pop bumper. It goes away when the game starts but fires in 2 second intervals when in attract mode.
I might be misremembering things, but could this be caused by missing termination on the driver bus?
Quoted from Ferret:I might be misremembering things, but could this be caused by missing termination on the driver bus?
Missing termination can cause some oddness, but not sure it would clear up in game play, but something we can check.
chewiec with the game in attract, let it pop that pop a few times, and then pull the logs and send to me, this may shed some light if it is a switch causing it or something else.
We can then look to check termination. I'll need to go look I think the DIP switch settings are listed in the manual for each board. The last board in the chain is the one that would have the termination switch set to on.
Quoted from MightyGrave:It would be awesome If you can provide us early adaptors (First run) a list which coils will be changend and what "WPC coils" we can Buy to replace the Stock ones.
The next code release will have support for the alternate coils, as they need higher settings than what is currently available in coil settings. We will also share at that time which coils are being swapped out. The coils are basically being changed to match what we have used in Oktoberfest and Hot wheels for the same mechs. I believe we will offer a 'kit' of the coils for those who want to change them and you can then use the coils you remove as spares for the coils remaining as they are.
Quoted from pinballinreno:Now you need to offer a cabinet subwoofer kit to retrofit earlier Houdini games !
We have talked about this. The problem is cutting the hole, which requires either an expensive hole saw or you need to rough cut it and then use a router and template to smooth it out. Also other things would need to move, so the general view is that this is probably not something that would be approachable for most people, so not sure we will be doing this.
Quoted from rosh:. I believe we will offer a 'kit' of the coils for those who want to change them
worth mentioning that since all of our coils are use connectors, no soldering required to swap them out.
Since these do require new code and these games are on the line, that means time for a Houdini Beta test. If you are interested in testing send me a PM, a few requirements to participate as a beta tester are . . .
1) you need to have owned your machine for at least 6 months and know the game/rules well
2) locations need not apply
3) you need to be able to keep confidential what is in the release
4) You need to have more then one pinball player in your household
5) You need to be able to give it a decent amount of playing time over the next week or so
6) You need to know how to pull logs, set your game clock correctly and be able to keep accurate notes on issues you may encounter.
If you are invested, send me a PM. Not that I typically get way more volunteers than needed, so not everyone who asks will be able to participate.
Quoted from rosh:The next code release will have support for the alternate coils, as they need higher settings than what is currently available in coil settings. We will also share at that time which coils are being swapped out. The coils are basically being changed to match what we have used in Oktoberfest and Hot wheels for the same mechs. I believe we will offer a 'kit' of the coils for those who want to change them and you can then use the coils you remove as spares for the coils remaining as they are.
We have talked about this. The problem is cutting the hole, which requires either an expensive hole saw or you need to rough cut it and then use a router and template to smooth it out. Also other things would need to move, so the general view is that this is probably not something that would be approachable for most people, so not sure we will be doing this.
A suitable hole saw is fairly inexpensive and could be added to the kit for $20 extra. Or just tell people what to get.
6.5" is enough.
Inside adapters are already available ftom most speaker guys, but not really needed.
7" rodent guards are commonly available from marco.
I have those in stock.
I have no problem cutting a hole.
I just want a factory location or template, a speaker and a harness.
Cutting the hole is a 10 min job with an average drill motor.
So, make me a kit to test with a wiring diagram !.
My cabinet is pretty empty, there is plenty of room to add a speaker.
Ill print up the detailed instruction sheet for you guys with photos.
https://www.amazon.com/LICTOP-Cutting-Cornhole-Plastic-Fiberboard/dp/B07KF4P33Q/ref=mp_s_a_1_4
Im ready for this!
Quoted from rosh:worth mentioning that since all of our coils are use connectors, no soldering required to swap them out.
Since these do require new code and these games are on the line, that means time for a Houdini Beta test. If you are interested in testing send me a PM, a few requirements to participate as a beta tester are . . .
1) you need to have owned your machine for at least 6 months and know the game/rules well
2) locations need not apply
3) you need to be able to keep confidential what is in the release
4) You need to have more then one pinball player in your household
5) You need to be able to give it a decent amount of playing time over the next week or so
6) You need to know how to pull logs, set your game clock correctly and be able to keep accurate notes on issues you may encounter.
If you are invested, send me a PM. Not that I typically get way more volunteers than needed, so not everyone who asks will be able to participate.
Just when I'm going to be away from my game too much the next two weeks, argh!
Quoted from rosh:Missing termination can cause some oddness, but not sure it would clear up in game play, but something we can check.
chewiec with the game in attract, let it pop that pop a few times, and then pull the logs and send to me, this may shed some light if it is a switch causing it or something else.
We can then look to check termination. I'll need to go look I think the DIP switch settings are listed in the manual for each board. The last board in the chain is the one that would have the termination switch set to on.
rosh i have emailed you the logs. Thanks!
Quoted from pinballinreno:Now you need to offer a cabinet subwoofer kit to retrofit earlier Houdini games !
I’ve thought about it, and its much easier and cheaper to just install an external subwoofer.
Cutting a hole for the internal speaker is the big obstacle. Think about it.. how much is a router, plus bits, plus a jig, plus the speaker and wire?
Even a hole saw that big isn’t cheap.
Its more than an external sub and easy to mess up your cabinet, hence why API should not give instructions to do this.
Woolgoolga
Quoted from tp:Any harm in turning the power way up on
Flippers
Pops
And slings?
As others have said, get the capacitor kit.
As for cranking up coil power, look at switch sensitivity first.
You will get a lot more action out of your pops and slings with a close/sensitive switch gap.
Turning up the coil power will make them hit harder, but they won’t be more sensitive without switch adjustment.
(I’ll make a video on this soon)
My dad is looking for a used Houdini within driving distance of east WI. Or I can pickup for him in SE WI, or northern IL
Quoted from brenna98:I’ve thought about it, and its much easier and cheaper to just install an external subwoofer.
Cutting a hole for the internal speaker is the big obstacle. Think about it.. how much is a router, plus bits, plus a jig, plus the speaker and wire?
Even a hole saw that big isn’t cheap.
Its more than an external sub and easy to mess up your cabinet, hence why API should not give instructions to do this.
I tend to agree with your logic.
Its not a simple plug and play scenario for average people.
But, I may not be average lol.
I think i have an idea how to proceed.
Ill post what i did incase anyone wants to follow.
Turned on Houdini last night...both flippers dead. Time to pull out the manual. Maybe a MOSFET went bad and caused a fuse to blow on the Driver board.
Long time ago, I had a MOSFET go bad and a coil got fried. I lowered the fuse rating by 1 amp (don't remember if it was the Bank A or Bank B fuse), hoping the fuse would blow sooner, protecting a coil from being damaged. Old saying: The part blew up to protect the fuse. 
. I was initially a little worried the fuse would blow during normal game play, but it was never an issue.
Quoted from mbwalker:Turned on Houdini last night...both flippers dead. Time to pull out the manual. Maybe a MOSFET went bad and caused a fuse to blow on the Driver board.
Long time ago, I had a MOSFET go bad and a coil got fried. I lowered the fuse rating by 1 amp (don't remember if it was the Bank A or Bank B fuse), hoping the fuse would blow sooner, protecting a coil from being damaged. Old saying: The part blew up to protect the fuse. . I was initially a little worried the fuse would blow during normal game play, but it was never an issue.
Sounds like a fuse.
Hopefully its that simple.
Quoted from pinballinreno:Sounds like a fuse.
Hopefully its that simple.
Yeah, not worried about. I have some spare MOSFETs already. Haven't even raised the PF, I'll do that Friday.
I did place the side art protectors on the glass so I wouldn't forget!!
Quoted from pinballinreno:Sounds like a fuse.
Hopefully its that simple.
Weird, it's working. Went to raise the PF to work on it in the AM and I figured I'd turn it on real quick and check the LEDs on the driver board and do a quick look-see in the service menu for anything before actually lifting the PF. Hit the start button...it was fine! I guess I'll just keep an eye on it for now.
I accidently set it to three player instead of two last night. Turned it off, waited a moment, then back on...maybe I should have waited a bit longer to make sure all the supplies were fully discharged, perhaps I caused a hiccup in the hardware...
Quoted from mbwalker:Weird, it's working. Went to raise the PF to work on it in the AM and I figured I'd turn it on real quick and check the LEDs on the driver board and do a quick look-see in the service menu for anything before actually lifting the PF. Hit the start button...it was fine! I guess I'll just keep an eye on it for now.
I accidently set it to three player instead of two last night. Turned it off, waited a moment, then back on...maybe I should have waited a bit longer to make sure all the supplies were fully discharged, perhaps I caused a hiccup in the hardware...
Might be loose 48v voltage line or ground in the wal-nuts.
I had similar issues until i replaced all the wal-nuts with lev-r-nuts.
With the wal-nuts, wires get loose and circuits fail. Just like unplugging them or blown fuse.
Just raising the playfield caused all sorts of problems.
Interestingly, most of the wires fell out of the wal-nuts when i gently lifted then to install the lev-r-nuts.
They were super loose and required no effort to move the wires over to the new connectors.
The are rock solid now and a firm tug will not dislodge the wires.
The game immediately played more vibrantly with a little more power.
The whole job took about 15 min.
There arent that many connectors.
Problem solved.
Quoted from pinballinreno:Might be loose 48v voltage line or ground in the wal-nuts.
I had similar issues until i replaced all the wal-nuts with lev-r-nuts.
With the wal-nuts, wires get loose and circuits fail. Just like unplugging them or blown fuse.
Just raising the playfield caused all sorts of problems.
Interestingly, most of the wires fell out of the wal-nuts when i gently lifted then to install the lev-r-nuts.
They were super loose and required no effort to move the wires over to the new connectors.
The are rock solid now and a firm tug will not dislodge the wires.
The game immediately played more vibrantly with a little more power.
Problem solved.
Glad you mentioned the 'wal-nuts', I was going to check those. I might even have some better ones laying around from HomeDepot
Quoted from mbwalker:Glad you mentioned the 'wal-nuts', I was going to check those. I might even have some better ones laying around from HomeDepot
One other thing to check maybe is the screws holding in the wires on the power supply itself.
Mine were tight from the factory.
Do not use screw on wire nuts.
They are not rated for stranded wire.
Lev-r-nuts are rated for stranded wire.
Quoted from mbwalker:Turned it off, waited a moment, then back on.
Power supplies have a safety and possible it got tripped by a quick power cycle, I’ve seen it before. They reset after a few minutes.
Quoted from rosh:Power supplies have a safety and possible it got tripped by a quick power cycle, I’ve seen it before. They reset after a few minutes.
Even the original Houdini power supplies or just the newer ones?
Quoted from CUJO:Even the original Houdini power supplies or just the newer ones?
The switching supplies have it, not the original toroid.
Quoted from pinballinreno:Interestingly, most of the wires fell out of the wal-nuts when i gently lifted then to install the lev-r-nuts.
They were super loose and required no effort to move the wires over to the new connectors.
The are rock solid now and a firm tug will not dislodge the wires.
When I installed my aux power supply I redid mine with molex connectors. I had the crimp pins and housings and I thought that would be more "pinball appropriate", simple since I had the parts. Disconnection and reconnecttion is easy with this method. I posted it here some time back if any body wants to see pics.
Wago "walnuts" suck, I have been finding them failed in the field, in house wiring. I have a collection of melted ones.
Quoted from Platypus:When I installed my aux power supply I redid mine with molex connectors. I had the crimp pins and housings and I thought that would be more "pinball appropriate", simple since I had the parts. Disconnection and reconnecttion is easy with this method. I posted it here some time back if any body wants to see pics.
Wago "walnuts" suck, I have been finding them failed in the field, in house wiring. I have a collection of melted ones.
Molex is an excellent choice!
It just a more involved repair.
Quoted from Vegas9:Our production lines continue to be very busy. I can share on behalf of all of us at AP, that we are extremely grateful that more and more folks are discovering American Pinball games.
Michael
Vegas9 - Michael - Help me discover game #4 !
Thanks
John
American Pinball gets my money for most likely the last pinball machine I'll ever buy. I have 3 and this will be my 4th and final.
I've been following this game since it first came out. The company as a whole appeals to me. Josh, Michael, Dave, Joe on this site along of course with Lloyd who's a legend in his own right are a massive factor in my decision as well.
Their willingness to assist no matter the question or abuse is beyond admirable.
So hey, shout out to all the American Pinball team and line technicians. Feel free to sign the rear of that backbox in silver sharpie on the future Houdini Deluxe Edition coming on down the line headed for Mike in Glenshaw PA. Just sent the check yesterday to the distro.
Keep on keepin' on!
r/
Mike
Quick heads up, on Thursday night I'll be with Jack Danger and others, streaming Houdini beta code, showing off a new feature.
Quoted from rosh:Quick heads up, on Thursday night I'll be with Jack Danger and others, streaming Houdini beta code, showing off a new feature.
How does one not too savvy with streaming view this? Sounds interesting.
Quoted from zahner:How does one not too savvy with streaming view this? Sounds interesting.
Quoted from rosh:Quick heads up, on Thursday night I'll be with Jack Danger and others, streaming Houdini beta code, showing off a new feature.
Sounds awesome. Hope for Release soon.
Btw: any News for the coil-Upgrade ?
Quoted from MightyGrave:Sounds awesome. Hope for Release soon.
Btw: any News for the coil-Upgrade ?
I really like the cap upgrade you did.
Quoted from rosh:Quick heads up, on Thursday night I'll be with Jack Danger and others, streaming Houdini beta code, showing off a new feature.
Josh,
Thank you so much for continuing to support this game, it really is fantastic what you are doing.
Quoted from MightyGrave:Btw: any News for the coil-Upgrade ?
Nice thing about a live stream, is you can ask questions in chat.
Quoted from rosh:Nice thing about a live stream, is you can ask questions in chat.
will try to join
Quoted from pinballinreno:I really like the cap upgrade you did.
The spooky board works pretty well, but it would be also good like josh mentioned to use other coils for some assemblys. So you can bring down the current A to save some juice at the psu.
✨Tonight!✨
Josh Kugler ( rosh ) and Michael Grant (
Vegas9 ) of American Pinball will be showcasing NEW Beta Code for Houdini on Dead Flip Pinball Streaming at 6:00pm Central!
This code introduces a new game feature which will also be coming to Oktoberfest and Hot Wheels.
Join us and see what the ‘team’ has up its sleeve!
240955300_149076360741456_1933949548131491910_n (resized).jpg
Konstanz
Co-op feature on all AP games ! ! !Damn i am happy to have two games sitting here, especially on houdini it's a great move.
This game got so much love from AP, i discovered just a bit and there's so much more to explore. Still updates coming !
Thanks AP
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