Barry,

Ah, you must be the Barry on the receiving end of the support number. Glad to meet you and happy to see you're here.

I will adjust the screws as you suggest. Now that's the kind of fix a newbie like me can manage.

Best regards,
Josh

Hi Josh,

Semi pro mage here as well (I occasionally do a paid mentalist gig). I stuck on a couple small felt sticky things like you place on the bottom of the chair legs. The lockdown bar does rub a bit and was scratching the power coat off the side rails. I would recommend doing this to yours.

Tim

I made mylar squares like JJP and CGC use on the underside of their lockdown bars.

Might be cool to add some sexy female quotes to the game from those (2) hottie Houdini girls on the slingshot plastics.

It might be a relief to hear "Oh, come on, you can do better that that!" in a sexy female voice once in a while instead of the phrase
"Oh, you really stink!" that I've heard 1,383 times and is locked in my cerebellum for life! LOL

Maybe get Bess to speak up too! It would add a lot IMHO...

CuJo has spoken...

Or maybe have the dude taunting you, but the chicks praising you when you do well. There definitely needs to be at least SOME praise in the game.

Hiya, Konjurer, nice to meet you. I was full-time back in the early/mid '80s, these days I mostly perform for friends and family, and teach magic extracurriculars in local schools for pocket money.

I have added some foam pieces along the inner sides of the plate -- it's still not snug, but at least I know it's protecting the finish on the sides. I may add some more to make it snugger. I also haven't finished adjusting the screws yet, I think they still need a few more turns.

Loving this pin!

Josh

Okay, it's been fewer than 24 hours and already I need some technical help. Understand that I'm a real newbie (or is it "noobie") when it comes to pinball machines, and I'm a magician, not a technician, so please be patient, or just direct me to a more appropriate place on the forum if need be.

Yesterday, all was in the green. Today, when I powered on the machine and accessed the menu, I saw "Switch error -> go to Tests -> Switch. Going to the Switch Test screen revealed four switches in red: Left Lock 1, Left Lock 2, Left Lock 3, and Tilt.

At this point, I'm a little lost. Do I pull the playfield up and try to find what I'm looking for to make sure nothing got unplugged? (This would be a new experience for me.) Do I call a technician?

What's the procedure?

Thank you in advance for any guidance.

Josh

Okay, never mind. I figured out how to test and clear these errors.

Just preordered my game hopefully won’t be too long getting over to Australia now

From the sounds of things you haven’t hit those switches in a while. But I’m just guessing from what you’ve said in this post. Maybe pull the glass off and hit those switches.

Took me awhile to figure it out, but I did. Thank you so much!

Josh

Call Tech Support. Barry has always been available to assist me when I've called.

I'm guessing that Left Locks 1,2 and 3 are the switches in the lane behind the Alley Shot. If the "Lock is Not Lit" the ball loops around and doesn't go to the catapult trunk shot...instead it goes past the VUK (vertical up kicker) to a lane behind the Alley. It releases those stored balls from a white, sharp-looking pin. There are 3 switches hiding there that keep track of the number of balls in that lane (see the ace and 7 of clubs). You can test the switch with your finger. It may be that there are 3 balls in that lane.

Indeed. Pull glass and touch them by hand.
Your game is new! Yes, we all want these perfect out of box but life doesn't work that way.
Just set up a Dialed In recently out of box and it had a few bugs to. These are large mechanical devices sent upright on trucks.

My point above; I had those 3 switches a little loose out of box, but my #2(center) was way to tight, so tight it wasn't activating the micro switch inside.
Big heads up here on this pin. VERY tight playfield when pulling table out and lifting playfield. Try and keep it to a minimum. On the right side is the 3 opto subway midfield underneath. Those can get bumped off when lifting table if not careful.

If you keep getting the lock errors, it means that one or more of those overhead switches aren't being activated by the ball (or you're never hitting that lane). Also, if you have the art blades installed (do you?) be VERY CAREFUL lifting and lowering the playfield. The clearance is tight and you can snag or tear them if you're careless.

On the tilt error, is your tilt bob installed correctly?

THANK YOU, everyone, for the advice and knowledge. Having only owned one other pin in my life -- a Simpsons Pinball Party, which we had a very short time and never needed any adjustment -- it was unclear to me how much upkeep and technical know-how might be necessary. For instance, I was unaware that simply not using a switch (like the tilt or various locks) for a period could result in a failed test.

I'm printing out and storing all this good advice for later reference. For the moment, everything's working fine. I found the Left Lock switches and simply rolling the ball down that lane cleared the errors, as did moving the plumb bob so that it touched the ring. (I almost never nudge in pinball.)

I'll keep the lifting of the playfield to a minimum. I do have the art blades -- which are wonderful! -- and I wouldn't want anything to happen to them, or to any of the other components under there.

That's the greatest thing about pinside!

I'm surprised you never had a Pinball Magic or Theatre of Magic. Prior to Houdini, those were the best Magic-Themed pins out there. Pinball Magic, especially, had some neat illusions.

Absolutely - I got a chance to play PBM at Allentown, and MAN that is a cool game! Blew ToM out of the water IMO.

I agree. ToM is more polished, but Pinball Magic is like a scrappy contender upstaging much better-known talent.

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/ferret-joins-american-pinball#post-4438590

Is Houdini still at Padavan's? Heading out there tomorrow night.

I just got back to my hotel room after set up at the Northwest Pinball & Arcade Show. Looks like we have 5 Houdinis on the show floor on freeplay! 3 in the Nitro booth, 1 on the main floor, and the $20 raffle game at the front merch and raffle desk. Joe Balcer and Jim Thorton will be talking about Houdini and American Pinball from 5-6pm Friday, it should be live streaming at:
http://www.nwpinballshow.com/live-stream

Thanks for setting up live streams of the seminars / lectures.

Something I feel all of the larger shows should be doing.

Houdini's in stock BEST shipping prices.
Have a great week end

Pincades
JT

So it turned out thats exactly what it was, the connector under that shrink wrap. although now I kinda like the shadows cast by the wireform by only having the spotlight on the trunk lol.

Nice , you found the problem!
Those tiny pins at the end of LED strips are tricky. When I build projects with them I always hot glue gun the connectors together.
I recommend this when you fix it.

Joe Balcer streaming live at the Northwest Pinball & Arcade Show right now!
http://www.nwpinballshow.com/live-stream

Nice stream. Thank you for doing this Northwest Pinball!

Few tidbits from Joe Balcer's talk, on the stream:

.

- Now at a pace of 35 machines finished per week.

- Out of space at their current facility, but trying to do make do, until ....

- A new facility of 3 times the size is being worked on now to get it ready for production before the end of the year.

- They still intend to unveil #2 at Chicago Expo in October.

- They also intend to have the machine available to buy (and take home) within a month of the announcement.

- Know where #3 is going - i.e. presumably title / theme decided.

- Will be sending machines overseas now that they have CE certification.

- Still looking for more distributors, and want it in stock everywhere it's offered.

- Both the animator and art guy for Houdini are full time employees now rather than part time contractors.

- Amongst other accessories, will likely release one or two different toppers, plus a knocker kit for Houdini.

- Likes art blades done by the original artist, and intends to put them into the next game as standard, BoM allowing.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/271015231

Great tidbits !

LTG : )

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The Mod Couple

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I’ve been having a weird tilt bob issue — it works just fine then, in play and test, it goes completely dead. And then, after a reset, works again for a bit. I’m mystified. Any ideas?

Any chance the plumb bob or ring need a good cleaning ?

LTG : )

Is the wire going to it screwed in tight? Intermittent connection can do that.

Cliffys installed!

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Wires are all good.

Going to try cleaning with alcohol. Thanks!

How much for the pair?

That scoop protector looks good, does it glue on or is it held down by the two scoop screws on the top?

I finally have my pop bumpers as sensitive as I want them. I had adjusted the switches multiple times but the right one would still not activate unless it was really hit hard. I tested the switch with a meter and saw that even when the contacts were obviously touching it still didn't close the circuit unless you really pushed them together. I used a rough business card to clean the contacts and now it's firing like it should, must have been some kind of coating or something (the card showed no dirt or other matter on it) from the factory because now they are nice and responsive. I get a lot more hits to the stage door, key target and Magic Shop hole now.

$45ish

2 top screws and front clip and pressure from left and right rails. Great design

Always clean the contacts before you adjust them. Only takes a second.

LTG : )

My game keeps resetting.
I checked all connectors,all seems to be good.
Last two times it happened one was on the start of the game.
Ball kicked into shooter lane and reset.
Next time it was during a multi ball.

I don't know what to look for now,I'm at a loss here.

Sounds like possibly one of two things:

You may have a short - go to the system menu, coil tests. Pull out the white post inside the coin door left edge then cycle through the coils, manually firing each one. See if any coil firing resets the machine.

If not, it's likely your power supply isn't outputting enough power and when it drops low it resets. Check the power coming out of your power supply.

Check the power cord going into the game. There is no bracket to keep it from pulling out so it may be a little loose.

Always glad to meet our customers, especially the ones I have talked to!

LMK if I can help
833-API-HELP

Barry

It is a code problem. To be addressed soon.

There are some tweaks to tilt processing, but mor sure that this is related.

If you are in this situation then try to force
Tilt bob hits then send me the logs .

Woo! Had 3 in a row just completely awful games yesterday and turned the game off. Today, first game blew away the high score! (I do have the game set on 60 second modes and I had 3 extra balls)

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Would someone be able to explain to me the functioning of the magnets?

I understand that the magnets beneath Houdini's hands activate briefly when the "magic" switches are hit, but isn't there a third magnet? If so, where is it and what activates it?

Thanks,
Josh

It is in his chin,and I have noticed it in the seance mode

Also during “return from beyond”