Best reason to buy imo. Happy to see something on the expo.

You can't change coils until the new code is released, since you would not have sufficient range in coil settings. You will be able to tell based on which coils settings have both a red and yellow default vs green for coils that are always the same.

I believe we will offer a kit with all of the coils for someone want to do full swap. Big advantage to our coils is they are lugless with the molex connector, so no soldering. Our red coils are basically equivalent to 23-800 and the yellow are comparable to 26-1200

The new code is currently in beta, I did see a couple of things last night that I want to look at, but I would expect it to be released in the next couple of weeks.

thx for update. On the hunt for a local houdini... looking for a good video tutorial

Pretty cool there’s still new updates! I still adore this game

Are there other bug fixes or changes included in the beta, or is it mostly the co-op feature ?

a few bug fixes, some sound and scoring tweaks, a couple of new magic hat joke items

Will you offer this update with the previous stage eject update? My stage eject never worked before your last alternative update...ive really enjoyed having it work...and would like to keep it working...but also look forward to the new updates...

Also...if anyone can de code the Morris code flashing on the start button, I would love to know what it says. I know the message has changed since game launch. Ive tried to decode it....but I obviously cant. Lol...

Enjoyed the stream the other night. Looking forward to the update. Hope to get it prior to our Pin-a-Go-Go show in October. Would be fun to have cooperative play during the show. Thanks again for all your support.

*Morse code

Yes the stage eject changes will be in the release

I would expect it to be released later this month, so you should be good

I just sent Josh my logs. Although I know he is great at responding, I want to see if anyone else has this problem. I think I have asked before but I'll post again.

Every time a second ball gets locked at the top left, the game stops and goes into ball search. I have previously checked the switches and they register correctly.

After a few ball searches, I grabbed the keys and opened the game and went into switch test mode. The switches show lock 1 and 2 at the top left registering and the 4 balls in the trough.

Basically, at this point, I have the game dialed in and working nicely. I have a sub woofer on the game and just may need to play with some of the dials in the back to get rid of the echo (which I caused when working on the game a year or so ago to find out I needed a better cable and a new line filter).

Also, how does everyone get the back glass off without sticking in a screw driver or such to lift it around the speakers at the bottom? I don't want to mess up the game.

I have the latest published code. If this is something that can be fixed for the next release that would be great (if it is a software issue).

ADDITIONAL INFO: After I wrote this, I played another game. 2 balls are still locked in the top left. I got into seance multi ball. I got a ball up the narrow loop to the ball lock and it did release a ball. When I lost all balls in seance multi ball, I noticed that I was down to one ball in the top left lock.

Thanks
Michael
2C1F4FCC-8C4D-489A-A789-11F6F9DE53F3_1_105_c (resized).jpeg

Sounds like something going on with the lock switches, but I could be wrong.

I had to adjust mine slightly lower towards the ball when it was new, very slightly like 1/16".

What a royal pain in the ass..... And I've completely restored many, many games from the ground up, lol.

But after a couple years they have been rock solid.

Firmly whack it while lifting with the palm of your hand.

That's what I think. The 1st and 2nd switches don't always get good contact from the balls because the ball guides sometimes don't perfectly align the top of the ball with the switch, so it doesn't get good contact. It's not that the switch doesn't work, it's that the ball is physically drifted to the side and it isn't contacting the switch well enough. You can just bend the ball guides inward a little bit to push the ball in a better position to contact the switch lever

Thanks. I’ll try to adjust guides so balls are lined up better.

But usually I stop the game immediately and go to switch edges. As shown above, the game registers the correct switches on test mode. Would that assume that the switches were registered a few seconds earlier in game play?

That logic seems sound, but clearly something is going on here - you are running the same code as the rest of us, who are not having this issue. This overwhelmingly implies a mechanical issue (or maybe you have a flaky switch/connection?)

Your description sounds exactly like the issue I had when the balls weren’t making good contact with the switch lever on my game - now it may not be the exact same issue, but starting with the easiest approach and check it off the list will make it easier to troubleshoot if it’s NOT that issue

That happened to me. I replaced the switch and it was fine.

Awesome video!

Very professionally done!

Picture in picture was amazing!

Thanks! I get a little better each time.

Always open to suggestions for future videos too. I have a list going

Thanks for the video. I checked the switches. They line up nicely. The switches have always registered correctly.

I sent a video showing the switches working even if the balls are moved left and right and a little back and forth.

As suggested, I’ll reinstall the latest software tonight. (Over the latest software.)

I did play a 45 minute test game with the glass off. The balls were always registering in the locks.

So my three potential solutions are
1. Reinstall current software over current software
2. Always play with the glass off.
3. Maybe there was a specific combination of events that occurred (and hopefully in the logs) that cause the lock to be ignored under specific circumstances

Or maybe I did something that fixed it while testing.

I’ll keep playing and test it.

Thanks

Have you checked for magnetized balls? I've had issues in the past where the balls were"locking" together in the outhole trough and not registering the switches correctly.

thanks. When I took the balls out and laid them on the inside of the lock bar, they rolled apart and did not stick together.. So I think they were not magnetized. But I will check them again. I am about to install the newest released code over the newest code already on there. Hopefully this will help.

Found this on thingiverse. Hadn't used my 3d printer in over 6 months since before we moved. Figured I'd test it and my memory today. It's ok but needs more detail.
Watched the Tony Curtis/Janet Leigh Houdini movie today to get some alternate mod ideas. If I ever make anything decent I'll always post the stl files up on this thread and the 3d thread.

20210909_220407 (resized).jpg

Just picked up a Houdini. What is the story with the left scoop? I cant seem to get enough power to clear the scoop, the game is almost unplayable since the scoop is unable to eject the ball. Am I missing something here?

Also, any advice on the trunk shot? Mine seems to miss more than landing clean in. It looks like the ball might be hitting the ramp on the way and deflecting to the left missing the trunk.

***Right scoop***

A lot has been written about the scoop and trunk. They can be made to be perfect.

First before any adjustments:

Do you have the current power supply or the older upgraded one? Both are sufficient, but a non upgraded one would need to be addressed.

Do you have the capacitor upgrade? This is a really good thing to have.

This information is important.

I have no idea lol. It is a new build though, from the very last batch they made at the end of September. So I would think it has any necessary upgrades?

There are large capacitors on the underside but I couldnt say how many. Just noticed in passing while going over some things.

I would think so. The new games are pretty complete.

I know adjustments for both have been talked about but I have only been loosely following Houdini. I did look for key posts and didnt see any. I am not sure I have it in me to search the entire thread..its pretty big.

I think maybe someone mentioned bending the scoop up? I am trying to see what the ball is doing. It looks like it doesnt have the power to clear but maybe thats not the problem.

Edit: I ended up bending the scoop up and I think that took care of that issue. The catapult to trunk is a little more reliable after playing with the coil settings but it does still miss once in a while.

Josh,

You don't how much your responsviness on pinside means to me. As both a collector and operator, it is great to see a company presence on forums such as this. I really appreciated meeting you and you being at the Denver show a number of year ago. That is what lead me to purchasing Houdini. Reading this forum makes me want to download the new code and fine tune my game. The flippers have always been a little suspect (including at that show), but your willingness to discuss the theme, future themes, and responsiveness made me a customer. I hope game number 4 and 5 are hits for you guys! With Stern's recent price increases, you guys may be to fill the value gap. Best of luck!

Can you make some Pictures to See how many capacitors are installed ?

What scoop is on the left??? There is one scoop in the game and it's on the right and yes, sometimes you may have to slightly bend the top part up. If the catapult throw is hitting the ramp it usually means the power is too high so try turning it down one notch at a time. If you didn't notice in the setup instructions Houdini has a bit of an automated mode for adjusting the the vuk that kicks the ball up and over to the lower (trunk shot) catapult, the lower catapult and the upper catapult. Just put the game in coil test mode, close the coin door or pull the interlock switch then send a ball up the right inner loop, it will go through the whole sequence and you can adjust each of those three coils as you go through it. Rinse and repeat until you get them dialed in.

I think he’s referring to the catapult

Another simple thing to check is the game’s incline or steepness. Houdini is supposed to be set at 6.0 and I’ve noticed over the last few years with the game that folks who aggressively make the game too steep ultimately have issues with a number of features. The game plays perfectly at the suggested level (or there abouts). Just something else to check.

Hey all have the new power supply however the flippers still have that issue where they lose power for a split second!

Was wondering what is the best set up for the following

Left flipper power
Right flipper power
Left sling shot
Right sling shot
Trunk shot
Seance kick out

Cheers in advance

Do you have the capacitor add-on board? If not I'd suggest you try to get one or fashion a similar DIY fix, it definitely helps. I don't know that it makes a lot of sense to compare coil settings especially since I think you have 220V power and all of us in the states are on 110. The trunk one especially has to be dialed in for each machine and the seance or scoop kick out will greatly depend on how steep or flat you have the game.

The Powerchange for a slipt Second is still there with the Update Kit but much better the before. It would be cool to have more Control for hold.power and stuff.

The Game Plays with all the Upgrade much better the before. That's clear

Never knew there was a add on board? In Australia we are 240v was just hoping someone had specific settings then I could go from there to dial it in.

Sorry yes I meant the scoop on the right, I was tired last night. Anyways thanks guys I got the scoop sorted out. I am surprised though that you cant crank that coil to fire that ball out. I dont seem to have an option other than the ball dribbling out unless I need to do more adjusting.

I never go over 6.5 but I try and get close to that on all my games. The average taken around the playfield will be up and down but never exceeding 6.5 in any one place.

That's very weird, it should have more than enough power to get it out of there even at the middle settings. You may need to have a look at the mech under the PF and make sure something didn't come loose.

I did look the scope weldment over but didnt see anything out of place. I’ll have to take another look. I’d like at least the option of having the ball fire out with a bit of authority.

If it won't fire it out of there with a higher coil setting make sure the plunger assembly isn't loose on the bracket. I think I have mine set pretty low and it never fails to eject it on the first try. Also sometimes having it set too high willl make it rattle around and not come out cleanly or even fall back in.

Ok this makes more sense

Try pushing the scoop hood DOWN a little more. I mean a tiny bit more. What can happen with this scoop is the ball will get too high of an arc and will hit the scoop hood but then drop back straight down. You need to slightly nudge it forward so it grabs onto the playfield.

Re the scoop, did you see:
http://s4.american-pinball.com/img/support/2018-6/SCOOP-ADJUSTMENT.pdf
Apologies if I’m repeating what has already been posted.
I did this and worked out the scoop issues I had: boinging around and when it did come out it flew right between the flippers. This fixed it right up.

I did not see that, thank you. I think one of the screws was a little loose on the scoop. I am just giving it a good waxing now so I am looking over some things in the meantime.

I got the trunk catapult all sorted out, it seems to be working good. For the scoop I ended up bending it forward and opening up the curve in it. Captured in slow motion you can see the ball come straight up, slam into the top of the scoop then coming almost straight down onto the playfield at the edge of the scoop hole killing all forward momentum. Lowering the coil strength also helped, I am at 18. It works better but there is still something a little quirky about it. It is certainly not a very smooth exit. The ball will ride the right guide after ejecting then land on the very top of the right sling.

Anyways the game is really hard, I like it. Still being very new I seem to get lost in what modes I have running, there is a lot going on.

Mightygrave, I took some pictures for you, I will try and get them up tomorrow.

The nominal voltage for Australian households is 230 volts @ 50Hz, but because voltage fluctuates all the time, electricity should be delivered within an allowable range of between 216 and 253 volts.