Has anyone here done the 'Maincon' upgrade yet?

Turbo442 · Jun 24, 2017

Just wondering if anyone here has done the 'maincon' upgrade as HAAS calls it? I have a 2004 VF2 with the smaller color LCD, Vector drive. I have been looking into it and so far I am liking what I see. HAAS will come in, replace the original motion control, video and processor boards with the newer Coldfire II setup. My software will go from 13.07F to 17.xxx. The entire console is replaced obviously with the new LCD and I get the new style remote jog handle. HAAS is saying they can get it done in one day. If I wanted I can even go with the wireless tool setter but that would require a newer IO board. I am fine with the wired one, I just had Renishaw replace the conduit / cable on it. My VF2 is running fine, I would like some of the features the newer software offers. I will get full USB functionality as well as the option to upgrade to E-net if I want. I am being told all my current software options will carry over without additional charges which is pretty cool. (hsm, macro, rot&sc, rigid tap,4th axis, m19) Price is coming in under 7k with labor after the core returns . Anyone who has pulled the trigger have any pro or cons to mention after the upgrade?

Johnny SolidWorks · Jun 24, 2017

Ha!

Read through these 12 pages of hatred and Haas bashing because they're trying to force people into the upgrage you're willingly contemplating. There's probably a couple of other threads about it too.

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/haas/obsolete-processor-board-325993/

Turbo442 · Jun 24, 2017

I have read that thread. I have been working in the robotics industry for 20 years. We charge at minimum 10X for upgrades like this. $7k for an upgrade like this is cheap! What I am looking for is for feed back from people that have completed the upgrade.

eaglemike · Jun 25, 2017

I am contemplating the same upgrade, for an older VF-2 (1998). I was quoted $5995 for parts (plus tax), and up to 20 hours labor (at $135 IIRC). The $7k you were quoted might be a little optimistic. Still not a horrible deal. The coldfire II I have on other machines works very well.
I would like to hear from others also about how the replacement/upgrade went.

ewlsey · Jun 25, 2017

That seems extremely inexpensive. If that was a Fanuc, you could easily add a zero to that price.

It would sure be nice if other manufacturers would offer the same thing. I've got a 1994 Tree VMC1260 that's in kick ass condition with 1200 hours on it. But, the Yasnac control is a PITA and high speed machining is pretty tough for it to handle. I'd pay $7k in a heartbeat to upgrade it to a newer control and keep all the features it has now.

Speedie · Jun 25, 2017

Turbo442 said:
I have read that thread. I have been working in the robotics industry for 20 years. We charge at minimum 10X for upgrades like this. $7k for an upgrade like this is cheap! What I am looking for is for feed back from people that have completed the upgrade.

Absolutely true that $7K is noteworthy but very inexpensive for a year 2017-2018 update. 1 day turn around is good too! I wonder who has done this and if they experienced any down time or glitches

Turbo442 · Jun 25, 2017

Speedie said:
Absolutely true that $7K is noteworthy but very inexpensive for a year 2017-2018 update. 1 day turn around is good too! I wonder who has done this and if they experienced any down time or glitches

From what I understand, the 'Maincon' upgrade will update the software to the latest rev before the NextGen control. So it would bring it up to 2015-2016 specs.

wheelieking71 · Jun 26, 2017

I too was quoted $6k for parts, but $4k for labor :nutter:

The labor is an HFO thing. I dont think HAAS is dictating to the HFO's what they can charge for labor.

Johnny SolidWorks · Jun 26, 2017

Turbo442 said:
I have read that thread. I have been working in the robotics industry for 20 years. We charge at minimum 10X for upgrades like this. $7k for an upgrade like this is cheap! What I am looking for is for feed back from people that have completed the upgrade.

It probably came across like I was complaining about it, but I'm kind of on the fence about it really. I wish they would offer the parts to fix the older controllers for folks who don't want to do the upgrade, but I also understand why they don't.

And I'm with you on the price - I'm an automation guy, and not much costs less than $10k in our world.

friesen · Jun 26, 2017

I just did this with my old 96. It took him about 8 hours, and except for a vector drive glitch of some sort where the DC bus shows zero, everything looks great. I'd say he would have had it done in about 6 hours otherwise.

All my option codes transferred without a glitch.

When I first started looking at machines, I got a phone quote for a nexgen control on a fadal, it was around $15k.

The way I look at it, its cheaper to cash out a new control than put a newer machine on a payment plan.

Turbo442 · Jun 26, 2017

friesen said:
I just did this with my old 96. It took him about 8 hours, and except for a vector drive glitch of some sort where the DC bus shows zero, everything looks great. I'd say he would have had it done in about 6 hours otherwise.

All my option codes transferred without a glitch.

When I first started looking at machines, I got a phone quote for a nexgen control on a fadal, it was around $15k.

The way I look at it, its cheaper to cash out a new control than put a newer machine on a payment plan.

What version of software did you end up with? Anything act wonky after the upgrade?

friesen · Jun 26, 2017

It is 17.28

Nothing so far seems wonky, other than learning the navigation, which is a bit different. I have an original IO board, and everything works without a hitch as near as I can tell so far(except the vector drive issue, which could be the drive)

BTW, you don't have to upgrade your IO board to add WIPS if you can handle some wiring.

eaglemike · Jun 27, 2017

Just got an updated quote from the local HFO. Looks close to $10K. Parts still about $6K after core. Software upgrade $1200 or so. Labor quoted as 20 hours (max) at $145.

Turbo442 · Jul 15, 2017

Ok,
I just got an updated quote from my HFO. Seems like they finally got it figured out now. It's $5995 after core charges plus 6 hrs labor and 2 hrs travel time.

I pulled the trigger on my running 2004 VF2.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

friesen · Jul 15, 2017

Mine ended up right at $7800 total. Overall I am rather pleased with the improvement.

Things I like:
Keypad is huge improvement
USB + FNC option
Color screen with more info, some little improvements I'd wanted are implemented.
Probing routines auto fill MDI and start with cycle start.
Control more responsive and accurate.
Overall usability better

Things I don't like
ATC FWD and REV only happen with the door closed, or 25% rapid if door override.
Control seems a bit more jerky, it took fiddling with some stuff to get it where it was before. While I know turning on HSM would fix this, I think it should work as smoothly as the old. I can't tell this affects the finished product at this point.

Turbo442 · Jul 16, 2017

friesen said:
Mine ended up right at $7800 total. Overall I am rather pleased with the improvement.

Things I like:
Keypad is huge improvement
USB + FNC option
Color screen with more info, some little improvements I'd wanted are implemented.
Probing routines auto fill MDI and start with cycle start.
Control more responsive and accurate.
Overall usability better

Things I don't like
ATC FWD and REV only happen with the door closed, or 25% rapid if door override.
Control seems a bit more jerky, it took fiddling with some stuff to get it where it was before. While I know turning on HSM would fix this, I think it should work as smoothly as the old. I can't tell this affects the finished product at this point.

Friesen,

Thanks for the mini review! So from what I understand, with FNC I can run programs directly from the thumb drive and not worry about internal memory size of the Haas main board? This is not a paid option correct? If that's true, that's pretty cool. I am using an aftermarket floppy USB adapter and while it's better than a floppy it still leaves much to be desired. Especially the file transfer interface on 13.xxx software. Will FNC work with the wireless networkable thumb drives out there?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

friesen · Jul 16, 2017

Fnc is included.

I did try out the ethernet option, but I couldn't get my win7 pc to see it. It could however see and Fnc from a linux network system I have.

16mb memory was 1095 so I pulled the trigger in that extra.

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