Fadal control upgrade feedback, 527f, nexgen, etc

SShep71 · Oct 7, 2021

I was hoping to get some feedback on the control upgrades for my 3016 Fadal, I have heard and read all the "jibba-jabba" about how great one is over the other over the stock 88HS. I was hoping to get some real world feedback on the control upgrade, performance, match to claims, etc. I have been keeping an eye out for details but I never hear of anything. Is there anyone on here that can vouch either way for/against the upgrades. I know that there are a lot of people on here going to give me crap about "shining a turd" or "just buy a HAAS", but I don't owe dollar one on this machine and I have done several things to improve it's usefulness for what I use it for. I wouldn't mind a new control for some of the 3D surfacing that I want to venture into with 4th axis and all. My machine is a 94' box way, 88HS, with 4th axis (VH65 on hand). I just considered the cost of a -5 upgrade, plus the board to restore the rigid tapping back (previous owner swapped out the board to an older non rigid version), by the time I do the upgrade I am half the cost of a 527f for a controller that is still rather old and taxing on things like program loading and mem capacity. Thanks for the feedback, I know there are a lot of people on here that still run Fadal and as soon as I get the time I am going to post a list of the upgrades I have done.

kazlx · Oct 7, 2021

SShep71 said:
I was hoping to get some feedback on the control upgrades for my 3016 Fadal, I have heard and read all the "jibba-jabba" about how great one is over the other over the stock 88HS. I was hoping to get some real world feedback on the control upgrade, performance, match to claims, etc. I have been keeping an eye out for details but I never hear of anything. Is there anyone on here that can vouch either way for/against the upgrades. I know that there are a lot of people on here going to give me crap about "shining a turd" or "just buy a HAAS", but I don't owe dollar one on this machine and I have done several things to improve it's usefulness for what I use it for. I wouldn't mind a new control for some of the 3D surfacing that I want to venture into with 4th axis and all. My machine is a 94' box way, 88HS, with 4th axis (VH65 on hand). I just considered the cost of a -5 upgrade, plus the board to restore the rigid tapping back (previous owner swapped out the board to an older non rigid version), by the time I do the upgrade I am half the cost of a 527f for a controller that is still rather old and taxing on things like program loading and mem capacity. Thanks for the feedback, I know there are a lot of people on here that still run Fadal and as soon as I get the time I am going to post a list of the upgrades I have done.

Take this with a grain of salt, as it's not me, but a friend of mine. He has a 6030 at the shop he works at. They do a lot of large pieces, surfacing, etc. He installed the Nexgen control and said it was night and day. Did the install himself and said it was all relatively easy. He has sent me videos of surfacing at 2-300 inches a minute on long parts. He has been really happy with it. There's also a Fadal group on FB (if you're into that) with several people that have one or the other. I think for the money, it's probably one of the best bang for the buck upgrades you can do to a Fadal if everything else is solid. From what I have seen, the hardware is a lot more capable than even the 88HS control.

I have a 3016 and have looked into it.

mmurray70 · Oct 9, 2021

My Fadal 4020 had Dynomotion Kflop control and I love it. Lot of work to set it up though, will take a lot of time and little knowledge or at least interest in electronics will help.

mb77 · Mar 17, 2022

can you share the videos?

kazlx said:
Take this with a grain of salt, as it's not me, but a friend of mine. He has a 6030 at the shop he works at. They do a lot of large pieces, surfacing, etc. He installed the Nexgen control and said it was night and day. Did the install himself and said it was all relatively easy. He has sent me videos of surfacing at 2-300 inches a minute on long parts. He has been really happy with it. There's also a Fadal group on FB (if you're into that) with several people that have one or the other. I think for the money, it's probably one of the best bang for the buck upgrades you can do to a Fadal if everything else is solid. From what I have seen, the hardware is a lot more capable than even the 88HS control.

I have a 3016 and have looked into it.

Im seriously considering pulling the trigger on the nxgen system, is the report still favorable and would it be possible to share some video here? Or possibly DM me your friends info if he is willing to give some feedback on the phone?

Thankyou!

triumph406 · Mar 17, 2022

If you add a 4th axis to the Nexgen control then it will require an extra card, so check what that additional card is going to cost.

I've never seen a machine with a Nexgen control running, but all I read is positive. Compared to the money that can be made with a 3016, i think the Nexgen (or one of the others) is a good investment.

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Fadal control upgrade feedback, 527f, nexgen, etc

SShep71

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kazlx

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mmurray70

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mb77

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triumph406

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