Thanks to Dave at AP for solving my scoop problem. He had me bend the scoop to fit around a 3" diameter tube. The ball comes out first time with single or multiple balls.

Continued outstanding service from American Pinball.

NICE!!! Way to go Dave and AP. And Mike

Curious as to how you did it? Take it off the pin and then????

You do not want to bent the scoop in the pin. I removed the metal scoop hood and set it on the flat part of my vise with the curve facing up. I hit the center of the curve with a plastic mallet till it was the correct shape. It took a few good taps. You do not want to hit it too forcefully.

I actually matched the curve with a plastic cup that is 3" in diameter at the top.

Dave sent a short email video of the fix.

Violent, but sensible. I never liked the idea of bending it in place. Seemed like a good way to rip it out. Easy to replace a scoop, but a big setback if you damage the PF. Thanks for the info.

Just picked up my first AP pin!

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Somethimes i forget how beautiful this game is ! Great shot and have a good flip

Finally joined the club, just finished up setting my NIB. This game is really impressive & fun.

My only complains would be that there was some minor damages due to (transport?/manufacturing?). One chip in the coin door powder coat, one rip scratch on the apron decal, one deep scratches spot in the plastic ramp, and a scrath in the powder coat on the lockbar....... Annoying to see this on a NIB...

Now on the game side. I got an issue with the seance scoop, the ball don't eject on the first time, sometimes it take 2 or 3 shots before it get out. It's like it's missing a tiny bit of power, the ball get up on the corner of the PF and then fall down.

Also, is that normal for the start button to never be lit? I changed the setting to FreePlay and noticed it never lit up. When I use the start button test, I see it flash for half a sec and then nothing.

Does it have all the upgrades to help with power management? What is the build date? If it was NOS sitting in a box in a warehouse, you may have to do some upgrades on it to get the coil performance acceptable.

You need to reach out AP. I bet they make it good. You could have purchased a used one with none of that cheaper. The scoop adjustment is pretty typical. Look at a discussion re that in the last couple of days on this thread. I bet they walk you through that too. For now turn down the setting a few notches and see if that works. With the scoop, less is often better. Also, make sure you have the latest software installed.
Ultimately, I hope they make good on it for you. Their reputation and practice has been to bend over backwards for their customers.

Sorry to hear you're having issues but welcome to the owner's club! The start button should flash a Morse code message over and over when in free play, check the connection to the bulb on the backside of the start button in the cabinet.

For the scoop try decreasing or increasing the coil power for it in the system settings. If that doesn't work you may have to bend it a bit as others have described in this thread.

It's a sept 2021 built. Should have every upgrade now.

I've read through the posts but my issue seems diffrerent. (Maybe not?). I don't see mine hitting on the scoop, it just does'nt seems to have enough strength to climb up to the PF. (I'll need to play more to see if it really hit the scoop.)

What's the best way to reach out to them? I took pictures of everything damaged.

https://www.google.com/search?q=best+way+to+contact+ameriacan+pinball&rlz=1C1GCEB_enAU950AU950&oq=best+way+to+contact+ameriacan+pinball+&aqs=chrome..69i57j33i10i160.10696j1j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Ok, mine does not do anything. I'm not the most advanced tech out there, what should I look for on the connection? What's weird is that it flashes half a sec in test mode, that does not feel normal too. I'll try playing with the coil setting and report back.

Is the bulb tight in it's holder ?

LTG : )

The short flash in test mode is normal.

Do you have the game set for free play?

Try the scoop setting at 12. The curve of the metal scoop should match the curve of a 3" diameter circle.

Take the scoop out to bend it.

Yes exactly. Someone previously said it should pulse a morse code or something.

Looks like LTG was right, unpluggin / repluggin the start button bulb seems to have fixed it. It now pulse a morse code.

So far I got no succes with the scoop. The default setting was at 20, I played a couple of games decreasing the value to 18-15-12-10-8 but it seems it got worse each time. I'll try going up tomorow...

And yeah, by looking at it closely, I saw that it hit the top of the scoop and go back in the hole instead of following the curve.

I like your pipe method. Makes it much faster. Here’s the video

I like the the giant hammer. Just call Thor.

Glorious! Are the new games coming with this adjusted scoop?

For the less inclined that have no hammer, with they be for sale?

Inquiring minds want to know!

I’d buy one. Probably

-do you mean LOV? Because it’s a different pinball life scoop, but same arch.

- working with the supplier to get the increased curve parts made for Houdini

I really liked the action of the altered scoop.

Way smoother and perfected! It also might solve the way the ball brutally bounces off the front edge of the opening.

Its an easy fix, but Ill buy one if you get them made for sure!

So after a few adjustments(scoop,trunk catapult)I think I have everything working smooth and fast. My trunk catapult is now at a 100% success rate(was hitting to the left 100% of the time)and my scoop(after bending it to a larger radius)is now shooting out a lot faster and less clunky. After making those adjustments this pin is a real joy to play. I can’t believe I second guessed myself about owning a Houdini for so long and I’m very glad to have Houdini in my lineup. With all that said I have a few questions for the Houdini pro’s…can I add a subwoofer to the sound system? My pin is on the current code and I was watching a Jack Danger stream that added CoOp play and was wondering if that is available as of today? I’m going to start digging in and try to get to some of the cool wizard modes and blow the score up! Awesome pin AP…and congrats on a solid pinball company!

I'll have to try the modification for mine as well. The scoop ejects alright for the most part but often times it takes several attempts to get the ball out and even when it does it's a bit clunky. I would also buy a new, API modified one if you make them.

The code with Team play is still in Beta and hopefully I'm not violating anything by saying it just keeps getting better and better, Josh is killing it and y'all are going to be very happy once it's ready for release.

I have lots of external subwoofers I use for my modern games (Polk PSW10). I like them because they're less invasive to install vs cabinet speakers and I can hook 2 pins to one sub. Plus easy enough to move to another game if needed.

For houdini (built before 2021), you just need to connect the speaker wire to the amp in the backbox.

Hoping that is released in full soon!

After seeing the video, I am realizing that my exit to the scoop is as violent as the one in the video. I do not want my playfield to start wearing like that so I am going to work on it today. Thanks for everyone who has worked on this problem for a solution.

Hello all. I just turned on my machine, and the screen does not come on, but it sounds like the machine is resetting (from the speakers) every five seconds or so. The back box light also flashes at the same time. It sounds like it is turning off an on, but the game is not booting.

Does anyone have any suggestions? Does this sound like a power supply issue?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions you have.

It looks and sounds like the 12V power supply is cycling on and off. I would suggest you contact Dave brenna98 at AP to arrange a replacement.

Thank you.

PM sent with suggestions.

Thanks, Dave. I appreciate both of you guys helping within a Pinside thread. Nobody beats AP’s service

My scoop always ejects but tends to go any which way. I might try this adjustment.

A little birdy just tipped me off about something being available: https://drive.google.com/file/d/13-fUJHnmS8LUMhx79pwrdueplQhHzla2/view?usp=sharing

Or if you prefer: https://www.american-pinball.com/support/updates/

Nice!

Thats the update i was waiting for!

Thanks for the tip….

Download new code,all went fine until I rebooted the game after install,game just said no signal with blue screen.

Went back to last code and all good!

Wooo!!! Can’t wait to try this

Sounds like you just had a bad code load, try downloading it again and if you still have problems try connecting the USB stick to the halfway point under the playfield. My extension cable has gone bad and I started having issues like this with it when loading some of the versions we were testing, I put a new extension cable in and it's been perfect since. There are a lot of great things in this new code that aren't really reflected well in the release notes.

I was excited for the new code, because I thought I heard that the stage eject was corrected. I have had it attempt 4 or 5 times with no success. Is there something else I need to adjust on the stage?

That has never worked for me and I've tested it on the latest code too, I think it may have a lot to do with how steep you have your game and I leave mine steeper than recommended. I don't really care much because I have had it disabled as long as I've owned the game so there's nothing there for me to miss. The best addition to me, I guess because I've been asking for it for a long time, is that you can now see what film is ready so you can decide if you want to start it or not based on where you are in the game, what you strategy / goals are for that game, etc. There are a lot of other really nice additions too includeing one magic shop joke that about made me spit out my beer the first time I saw it so I definitely encourage everyone to update and enjoy it!

edit: no it didn’t! Never mind

When does the stage eject supposed to happen? When ever I shoot in the stage it seems to always go to the subway system and shoots out of the scoop.

Its random I believe. But yours might be turned off.