During the catapult lock sequence, my truck spotlight doesn't light anymore. Light works on coil test. Do I need to wiggle something?

The little display on the API Grand is just showing a white screen. How do I begin to try and fix it? Am I unscrewing that big plastic piece behind it?

I followed the wires from the api stage display and they go to a connector with a label wca 0020-60 and the white connector and area near the connector on the board look brown. I'm assuming this ain't good. It's also kind of a hell of a 4 day weekend to be stuck with a broken machine when I wanted to play the hell out of it. Well, maybe not broken, I can still play it but there's a white screen killing my general demeanor. Then I also have this thing in the back of my head that this problem will spread across the board. There's also the prospect of phone calls and me possibly killing this gigantic seven thousand dollar toy trying to fix it myself.

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I like walk through walls because it's a good neutral mode where you don't have to blow a seance multiball if you have one ready. Use the second shot for milkcan combo attempts.

When I figured out you can just zap the ball up through the key lane entrance from the left flipper, Chinese water torture became a good one.

Hate king of cards because I still haven't memorized how to consistently hit the extra ball.

Milkcan is great because they give you plenty of time and the return is usually safe to take the next shot.

Elephant I hate because as soon as I'm in it I can never hit the damn ramp more than once. I try to go for the multiplier combo if I'm on right flipper.

Handcuff gave me my highest score (1.4 million) with 2x stage and multiball.

Needles never seems to get above 100k for a really good run.

Bullet catch I always blow it if I do get into the add a ball part.

Metamorphosis doesn't have a unique identity amongst the modes.

Straitjacket is a good gimme mode but I wouldn't pick it until I've gotten through a couple of my favorites. Plus, ye gotta go reverse/inverted every damn time right?

My main opener is to always get the damn scoop asap so I don't hit the first secret combo without opening it up. Then, milkcan into 1st combo attempts so I can get an easy 100k. Backhanding the scoop and milkcan are must-know tricks. Scoop is nearer to the inlane and milkcan is nearer to the tip. Backhanding inner loop is there but I don't have it dialed in. It's more near the middle. I'm also one of those dudes that goes for the 2x stage scoring every time I've got stage open from right flipper trap. Remembering to relight the lock and not just letting it sit is important. I'll hit it from left flipper straight up. You just have to get through to relight.

I wish there was a more pronounce ice clinking sound when you hit the stage at the beginning of man from beyond.

Is the scorewheel scrolling animation new or did I just not notice it before. Seems smoother. Love the stage spotlight for mode starts. New magic shop easter eggs as well. With all the new speed up features I'll be over a thousand games before the new year. Also had an amazing slapshot save off of the "A" spot target right into the open stage clean. It flew off the playfield like the catapult right in there. I was hootin' and a hollerin'. Didn't even do the Larry Bird circle the hoop thing where yer sphincter tightens up.

Sunday December 16 had my best game of Houdini yet. 3 trunk multiballs and 3 extra balls. Was at almost 1.5 million then got into movie binge mode and somehow hit all the shots. Thought the game froze when it went into that search engine thing at the start of binge. Got hairy (Harry?) with only 2 ramps to go when I drained two balls but it didn't end then had an agonizing wait for the ball search and got those last two ramps. Bonus on ball 4 was 159K with an 8x multiplier. last two balls weren't instant drainos but nothing exceptional happened. final score was 3.5 million. 32 minute game. 1.345 million on binge. It was also one of those "OK this is the last game and then I'm going to have dinner" type deals where the food was getting cold. Ridiculous game. The night before I was thinking of a 2 million point game as my next goal.

Yeah you need a straight ass old time 2.0 usb for reliable code updates. Nothin' fancy.

Finally figuring out the right flipper backhand to the inner loop. From a dead trap it's just a microsecond after a post pass. Doesn't leave you too screwed if you beef it either. Also finding myself loving bullet catch after I read that advice to go for key lane as your jackpot shot.

I swear there was a manual stage calibration where you could set the curtain with the flippers in the service menu but I can't find it anymore. Also what exactly is front eject from stage? Will it shoot the ball out when you start a mode? Is it just for certain modes?

Had all the escapes completed but died in a movie before I could see what happens. Do I have to spell escape again or just get in the magic shop one more time to begin the mode?

I waxed my shooter rod (heh). Before, it was kind of creaky. The "C" target for my game is a guaranteed 95% power plunge. Can't reliably hit the E/S targets. Maybe E is a little easier. I only take C when I really want that reward (5X bonus, milkcan multiplier, extra ball). Otherwise I go for the super skill shot. Hitting it off the plunge is very tricky 'cause often you just don't get enough power to activate the target even when yer on th' money. When it's super close I nudge the target into the ball. Otherwise I try for a soft plunge and hope I can trap it clean on the right flipper without accidentally hitting an inlane or something.
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I've found that the default flipper strength just seemed to be getting more powerful than it used to be. I had to crank it down 2 notches 'cause I was getting tons of airballs. The plastic with the stage and keylane stuff was taking a real beating. Had a ball stuck on top of the left pop near the wireform. Scoop has way less rejects now too. I have the power supply upgrade but still am intimidated by the installation and don't really wanna mess with my game when it doesn't really seem like I have major issues. Don't want to let any of that magic smoke out. Like, I've never had flipper weakness during multiballs. I've had my left flipper get knocked down by super fast bricks off the seance targets. That has to do with the EOS switch stuff right? I have that upgrade as well but really don't know what the hell I'm doing regarding that area. My major problems are things coming loose (trunk spotlight, ribbon cable on mini monitor). When I first got it I needed to bend that little switch in the catapult by a c-hair. Could someone do a video on the power supply upgrade?

This is what happened to my mini monitor, the ribbon cable came loose. It's not like it's just visually hanging out, it still looks plugged in. I had to reseat it a couple of times and eventually used a tiny piece of gorilla tape on it. Be careful with the tiny black clamp thing. I broke mine off. I think it's like a zero insertion force deal. Make sure to remember how you took the thing apart. You have to take the whole thing out to get at it. It can be as subtle as just barely pushing it in. The left most screw on the shroud is a real bastard to get back in.

Yeah, if mine messes up again I'm just going to go for a replacement.

Had a weird one tonight. During trunk multiball got into the inner loop and when it shot into the trunk, a ball dropped into the cabinet. I heard the thunk so I knew something was wrong. No idea if it went under the upper catapult or where the hell it can sneak through.

On man from beyond I just go straight for that left magic target from the catapult feed to skip the stage bashing.

I'm getting ball search after catapult into trunk when I have lock and movie lit. It's like nine out of ten times it'll give me the lock then hang in the trunk 'til ball search. Then it'll shoot me out the upper catapult with the movie still lit. Sometimes double flipping will shoot it out of the upper catapult. If lock is not lit it goes straight into the movie. Is there something that needs wiggling? Where is the movie shot qualified at? No idea if it's code related but I'm still on that release from Saturday didn't know there was another update 'til right now.

I love when I trust the center post and don't panic. I hate when I trust the center post and it drools into th' toilet.

"A throbbing photo love drama"

Pull the plunger back and rub a little bit of wax on it.

On those catapult switches, when they don't register 100%, slightly bend them up.

Was it already a known thing that if you hit the ramp again after the milkcan multiplier combo it will increase to the next level without hitting the milkcan loop again? I just noticed that while playing today. I'm going to add it to my strategy.

Also, dudes mentioned using zip ties to prevent airballs from getting stuck behind the seance planchette and the milkcan. Any tips on placement?

I'm thinking my new strategy is playing Elephant mode like it's the second level of Milkcan mode.

I have a tiny piece of gorilla tape holding my ribbon cable in place. Somehow, that Red Green solution actually worked. It was finicky during the winter but I haven't had an outage since March. I don't know if it'll start acting up again when the temperature starts goin' back down. It used to start off with a pure white screen then take a couple hard shots to the stage to "tune in". Now it just works by the grace of the pinball gods.

An issue I'm starting to notice is my stage alley is getting real rattly if you ain't clean. The ball jumped up in that area right underneath the ramp. I've had to tighten down that entire plastic on the alley/key lane. It had gotten super loose.

In better news, I figured out if I hit a super fast and clean left orbit and let the ball bounce off the neutral right flipper It'll sometimes float nice and easy through the milkcan loop. If it doesn't, the ball isn't crazy wild and you can safely regain control (most times). I'm finding loop passes to be a major move for a lot of shots like the combos and Q film mode. The right orbit feeds SDTM if you do nothing with the left flipper.

I've hit a couple cool milestones. I got the seance super jackpot legit. I didn't realize I was about to get it until the last shot and had a ball trapped on each flipper. I've gotten the trunk super twice in one multiball. I thought it was going to be a double super but it was still awesome. There should be something where you load the trunk three times in a row like Terminator 2. Had a kick ass 2x bullet catch where I got the jackpot up to 90k, so with the doubler it was 180k for every hit up in the key lane. That was a 2 million point mode just with the standard two ball deal in less that 2 minutes.

My new GC. I've been making sure to play at least a half hour a day after work for about three weeks. This game went from 200k to 3.9 million from an incredible 2x bullet catch with trunk multiball then extending it with seance. My new goal is beating all modes in one game. I've gotten to the last mode once but died ignominiously. I'm finding the best way to hit the right flipper is on the edge of the button nearest to the backbox. Somehow that slips it into the sweet spot. I also love the key target shot to open the stage in one shot. Love it. It's kinda like that grill bonus shot on Diner.

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I want a "Who says you can't take it with you" type meltdown when you get over 100k bonus. Even just reusing the "HOLY S#1T" callout would work. I know this ain't a heavily weighted bonus game but still. Yer in that post-mortem afterglow taking a sip knowing it's probably a huge bonus. Just a little extra tweak on the nipple. I used to think 20k was a big bonus.

Right now I'm in that area where I just waxed the playfield and the game is kicking my ass all over again. I had a movie binge where I completely beefed everything and died with no points. That was on a 2.5 million game. If I could've done anything I'd probably've busted that brand new GC by about a million. Thankfully I'm in my own house so nobody saw or heard me bein' all pissy and incredulous. Beer helped. Y'know how you start monologuin' when a game starts looking hopeful.

My favorite part of freshly waxing the pf is how many more ramps I hit as opposed to it rollin' halfway up and coming back to the left flipper. Shit's screamin' like a damn Steve Ritchie game. I'm also reiteratin' how useful the left orbit to neutral right flipper into the milkcan loop is. It ain't guaranteed but when you trust it and it melts into the loop settin' you up for an easy inlane into the ramp pf multiplier. BEAUTY

Is there a secret mission mini wizard mode if you complete all the combos? I've only done the first three missions. I like how if you complete on a magic target you have to requalify the scoop. Keeps me from cheesing it. Left target is definitely easiest.

I've got my extra balls set on 2 combos, 4 escapes and default everything else. I have had nine ball games. The King of Cards EB is damn near a gimme now. I've also finally hit the back ring after the EB. You have to throw the opposite hand to where it's coming from to even have a chance. I kinda wish there was a multiball cancel option from magic shop locks. Sometimes you just don't want to pop it yet.

Loving this game.

How about if in waterwheel if you hit the milkcan loop and rip the spinner it counts for double spins? I'm thinking of a bunch of different contextual milkcan combos. Like milkcan into seance gives you 2x seance jackpots. Maybe even milkcan clean into stage could be 3x mode? Milkcan into ball 3 lock could increase base jackpot.

My stage spotlight flasher bulb is dead. Is that a generic bulb I can get on a pinball website or something specialized?

Got movie binge (didn't complete. Still needed 3 ramps.), stage bonus (3 million-ish, I had played milkcan mode last and had 4x playfield but I don't think it applied to the stage bonus), played master magician. Got to the "you have sixty seconds to prove you're a master magician" part with normal flippers and failed. Beefed it on orbits. Played bullet catch twice. Multiballs out th' ass. Returned from the dead. Still didn't see the jail escape mini-mode. Final bonus multiplier was 10x for 523k bonus. Some serious shit was goin' down. I didn't even swear at the game (much). Y'know what else was cool? On the stage shot for master magician it just sucks the ball down instantly with the curtain open. Rule list seemed a little intimidating. I thought it was the credits at first.

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I'm looking at pinball life and do I want wedge or bayonet style flasher lamps? When I do change my light bulb is it just pulling it out and sticking a new one in or am I unscrewing stuff? I'm completely inexperienced on this.

Oh dude, is that legit? Stage alley doubles the payout on the finale? Bee-yewtiful. Now I gotta go for a 20 million score or something ridiculous.

One of my flipper bat toppers flew off during play. It's not broken though. It has a little bit of adhesive left but what is the smartest way to re-adhere the topper? Like a medium strength spray adhesive?