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Repairing Haas Electrical components

C

CPilz

Plastic
Joined
Nov 12, 2013
Location
Akron, Ohio
I have an amp card on our Haas that has gone down. They want $1000. to swap it out with one that is working. Does anyone know of someone that can diagnose and repair these for a decent price?
 
I know of one company that does it but they charge about as much as a haas replacement just because I think they know that's the only option (at least it seems that way).
 
Haas has their own control. its not fanuc. but the control is not the issue its the amp for the servo motors.
 
CPilz said:
Haas has their own control. its not fanuc. but the control is not the issue its the amp for the servo motors.
Click to expand...

Just for gits and shiggles, I asked PLC Center for a quote to repair a Haas brushless amp the last time I had to buy one. ( knowing that I could purchase one from Haas for something like ~ $700.00 ) They told me $800.00.

:confused::skep::rolleyes5:

When I politely pointed out that everyone can purchase them new from Haas for less than that, and asked if it was possible that the number was an error, they could not care less.

:scratchchin: :nutter:

I have an EE friend that has saved my buttocks a few times in the past. I only call upon him when I absolutely must. But every single time he has repaired a servo amp for me ( which is 7 times now ) it has always been some ridiculously inexpensive part. Most often it is an optocoupler. Second most often is a tie between voltage regulator and power transistor. He tells me that this is not unusual.

I have a board from another machine out right now. Replacement cost is $1800.00. No repair option. Core exchange only. I know damn well that it is going to be the same scenario, so I simply ordered up replacements for the voltage regulator and power transistors blindly and will replace them myself. For the $10 expended, it is worth the gamble.

I am really surprised that no one knowledgeable has started doing this for Haas amps. Seems like they could make an easy mint doing so. But then... what do I know? I'm busting my hump in a shop... :rolleyes5:
 
Servo amps are real pain sometimes, you can get away with just changing one capacitor or fuse, but other times you need to change just about all main amps.
I have fixed some, and it's really not that hard, you just need some measuring skills and basic electronic skills.
Many times its voltage spikes killing the logic feed circuits, rectifier bridges go and then the regulators giveup.
And with a little luck rest of the amp is ok.

If its lights out, check the fuses if the amp has any, and if they are ok, then follow the circuit measuring where you do get current, and you'll eventually endup with the broken part if its not other ways visible as in toast.

Logic side feed is usually cheap (ish) to fix, but the main amp components start to cost money, and then you really need to know what you are doing.

Look for loose caps, and burnt ic:s measure any ceramic resistors, replace and cross your fingers that nothing goes boom on power up.

You can find online most of the datasheets and that tells you plenty what part it was that is burned and the specs what input it wants and what comes out.

Marko
 
Last edited:
It seems like no electtonic houses want to just repair what is broken. I have asked for that. They want to do a "rebuild" where they change out all capacitors and IGBT modules and any other active components. The problem is the parts and labor to do that are usually at least half the cost of a new drive. In the case of Haas, it seems to be equal to the cost.
 
Zahnrad Kopf said:
I am really surprised that no one knowledgeable has started doing this for Haas amps. Seems like they could make an easy mint doing so.
Click to expand...

I think we touched on this in the other major "Haas is price-gouging on their crappy electronics" thread - Haas will sue the snot out of anyone and anything that attempts to undercut their effort to force customers into buying new machines. They would much rather piss off their existing customers in the hope that they will either:

1. Drop thousands to tens of thousands of dollars to repair an old machine that isn't that great anyway. (Who knows what the margin is on the new machines? This might be a good business for them.)

OR

2. Replace their old Haas with a new one.

Unfortantly for Haas, I think many formerly loyal Haas customers are instead going to:

3. Buy a Doosan
 
No LED's come on when powered up. I checked for fuses (couldn't find any). I didn't see anything burnt up and the traces looked ok (without magnification). Beyond that I do not work on electronics, and hope someone out there that works with circuit boards will do the rest at a fair cost. Still looking for that someone as are several others.
 
Johnny SolidWorks said:
Haas will sue the snot out of anyone and anything that attempts to undercut their effort to force customers into buying new machines.
Click to expand...

I don't see how they could sue. I don't see this being any different than hiring a machine repair guy to fix a machine that's down. his service is the replacement of a broken part. not selling a part he made that is exactly like the oem part.
 
I use ERD LTD, (1-336-992-3611) In North Carolina, for my Okuma board repairs. Not "Cheap" but so far they have diagnosed and repaired everything I have sent. They list some Board numbers for Haas, see if yours is on the list. I suggest calling them even if it is NOT on the list of boards they repair. They have been reasonable with turn times, and with my older Okuma, a life saver. Best of luck

Chris
 
CPilz said:
I don't see how they could sue. I don't see this being any different than hiring a machine repair guy to fix a machine that's down. his service is the replacement of a broken part. not selling a part he made that is exactly like the oem part.
Click to expand...

Any body can sue anyone for anything, and we're about the most litigious society on the planet. Whether or not they could win the lawsuit is a completely different discussion, but Haas can absolutely scare the pants off anyone with the threat of a huge lawsuit, or drive them out of business with big legal bills.

I can't remember if it was brought up in the other discussion or not, or if we only discussed those diabolical fiends who had the audacity to make replacement parts (to get sued out of existence by Haas) but I've heard a couple of times that Haas will send 'cease and desist' letters to anyone servicing/repairing/replacing anything on their machines they consider to be proprietary, if it isn't done with the express consent from Haas.
 
Hey CPilz,
I'll give it a go. I would need some information regarding the failure and any recent changes that could have caused the failure. I don't have a machine to test it on but I wouldn't charge anything until you have a working unit. If I can't find the issue then I would send it back free of charge. Let me know.

Thanks,
Skyler
 
BugRobotics said:
Hey CPilz,
I'll give it a go. I would need some information regarding the failure and any recent changes that could have caused the failure. I don't have a machine to test it on but I wouldn't charge anything until you have a working unit. If I can't find the issue then I would send it back free of charge. Let me know.

Thanks,
Skyler
Click to expand...

Well cut my legs off and call me "Shorty"! Sunnuvab|tch... Ya think I might log in and see this before sending you the other box...? I swear, can't win for losing...

Boys - Skyler is a good egg. You can certainly feel at ease sending your boards to him. He is knowledgeable and incredibly helpful, to the point of shortchanging himself. And he is on my short "call list" when the proverbial hits the spinning...
 
ewlsey said:
It seems like no electtonic houses want to just repair what is broken. I have asked for that. They want to do a "rebuild" where they change out all capacitors and IGBT modules and any other active components. The problem is the parts and labor to do that are usually at least half the cost of a new drive. In the case of Haas, it seems to be equal to the cost.
Click to expand...

Is there historical data that show replacing all these parts will increase the MTBF of the rebuilt board as apposed to replacing only the defect components? My experience along these lines is that completely rebuilt board will be less reliable than a simply repaired one.

As far as repairing a board, the most challenging job I have had in electronics repair is where to look, what part values are specified and then be able to cycle the board through a "test pack" that will test each circuit at the extremes of operation. Where do these repair shops get this information. With radios and televisions, it was Sam's Photofacts. However, I doubt the manufacturers publish this type of information.

Tom
 
I don't think they do nearly as much testing as everyone thinks. If the thing powers on and can run a motor or whatever for a few hours, they rubber stamp it. I've had "rebuilt" drive smoke in just a few hours. They just swap it out again and move on.

From my experience, the most common failures with electronics are in the power supply section, or the high current IGBT modules. At least with drives, they rarely fail on the control side, which is the really complicated part.

I think one of the places I send drives is run by a guy who was a factory engineer for Yaskawa. He knew all the test specs for the drives and boards. It's surly illegal, but hard to police.
 
A couple resources mentioned in this thread:
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...shop-326982/?highlight=component+level+repair

and here:

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...shop-326982/?highlight=component+level+repair

I recall a company in maybe the Atlanta area offering component repair services a while ago. Couldn't find the exact post, though...

I think they're mentioned here. Not in relation to Haas, though...
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/v...ron-296291/?highlight=board+electronic+repair

Chip
 
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