Haas DT Tool changer speed

Hi All,

Has anyone noticed that the old DT machines had a MUCH faster tool change arm? I was wondering if anyone knew why the slowed it down. Its still quite fast but the old version was barely visible with how fast it was.

I believe the solenoid venting time is to blame. The old DT's and superspeed mills had toolchange solenoids located up in the spindle itself, whereas the newer ones use that consolidated maintenance cabinet (as of about 2012). The cabinet is convenient for repairs but unfortunately it requires pressurizing about 10 feet of air hose between the solenoid and the tool change hardware.

Hypothetically if you relocated the solenoids or added a quick exhaust valve, you might be able to squeeze out some quicker timings. However, you would only be able to make those adjustments on a Coldfire controller, because the NGC doesn't give access to parameters, because we're children who should call a $150/hour repair when there's a problem