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Obsolete processor board?

wheelieking71

Diamond
Joined
Jan 2, 2013
Location
Gilbert, AZ
Anybody fall in to this worm-hole yet?
I am being told the processors in the CRT equipped machines are obsolete.
And the only fix is to update the machine to the next (coldfire) processor.
Which ends up costing well over $10k.
Anybody had to deal with this yet? Or maybe, found a way around it?
 
Anybody fall in to this worm-hole yet?
I am being told the processors in the CRT equipped machines are obsolete.
And the only fix is to update the machine to the next (coldfire) processor.
Which ends up costing well over $10k.
Anybody had to deal with this yet? Or maybe, found a way around it?

I wish I had known that 7 days ago. Well, I see two options. Purchase used replacements, or convert to LinuxCNC. That really blows. Any chance the bulk of the price is for the tech to install it? :rolleyes5: :rolleyes5: :rolleyes5:
 
I went through this a couple of years ago on my TM2. Coldfire board cost $7K they refunded me $3.5K for my old board. What frosted me the most. The new board had a USB port on it, that I'm pretty sure ( but not positive ) Haas tech used to load software. When he left the USB port was disabled.
 
for that kind of money you could have a line of componet-level techs at your door ready to go through the board and replace the bits.

For much less, you could just mail it.

Good to know the issues with replacement, As i have the same era mill.

Edit: Guess the era of awesome Haas support is over.
Must be new ones arent selling like they want, so they need to put some pressure on customers.
Would be pretty epic if someone came up with a Linux kit you could slap on it.... and enough money to fight off their lawyers.
 
Ebay search "Haas processor". I see several, I don't know which one you need. Good luck

Already did. Came up dry. Don't remember the number off the top of my head. And, the board left with my buddy last night.
He seems to think he knows a place that can fix it. (he should, he deals with this kind of stuff daily)
The problem will be getting HAAS to reload the software if needed.
He already talked to the place (FOSS in CO) and they said if the software is intact, they may be able to save it.

There is an old-ass bubble HAAS on ebay right now with a control conversion. Just saw it, didn't look at details though.
 
Edit: Guess the era of awesome Haas support is over.
Must be new ones arent selling like they want, so they need to put some pressure on customers.
Would be pretty epic if someone came up with a Linux kit you could slap on it.... and enough money to fight off their lawyers.

The era of affordable awesome HAAS support is definitely over!
So is the era of my local HFO sending competent techs.
 
I usually buy Milltronics machines with control issues and install a Centroid control. I normally have a total of $5000 in a machine including purchase price and it costs next to nothing to repair. Unlimited file size is nice and all my machines have the same control. I recently bought a Milltronics Partner 1J (which is the same as a VM16 24x16x20 travels) without a control for $500. They started a retrofit but were scared off trying to make the toolchanger work.


for that kind of money you could have a line of componet-level techs at your door ready to go through the board and replace the bits.

For much less, you could just mail it.

Good to know the issues with replacement, As i have the same era mill.

Edit: Guess the era of awesome Haas support is over.
Must be new ones arent selling like they want, so they need to put some pressure on customers.
Would be pretty epic if someone came up with a Linux kit you could slap on it.... and enough money to fight off their lawyers.
 
I usually buy Milltronics machines with control issues and install a Centroid control. I normally have a total of $5000 in a machine including purchase price and it costs next to nothing to repair. Unlimited file size is nice and all my machines have the same control. I recently bought a Milltronics Partner 1J (which is the same as a VM16 24x16x20 travels) without a control for $500. They started a retrofit but were scared off trying to make the toolchanger work.

around 2001 i ran a converted VTL with a centroid MILL control on it.
Machine was a POS with ROLLED ball screws and no counterbalance for the ram.
I was able to figure it out with no help, so they must be good controls. Took a little thought on programming a mill to think it is a lathe.
Cool refurb of Disney's train Wheels. fun little project.
 
A long long time ago I had to run an Atrump with a Centroid. I never could get accustomed to that control.
But I don't think the guy teaching me really knew what he was doing all that well either.
He sure knew that Okuma OSP though!
 
Called my local HFO this afternoon. Confirmation that the main board is no longer available. Upgrade 10K, maybe more. Just general discussion, I did not give him serial numbers. There is some variance (according to the tech), depending on if brushless or brush servo's, and whether vector drive or spindle drive.
Ouch......
I too have experienced the rapidly rising cost of the service calls, and service quality variance. Some guys are closer to top of the game than others. Some seem to be less than interested in being the best......... General societal condition reflected here. Efficiency and perfection doesn't seem a priority.

There are enough of these around. It would be very cool if someone brighter than I at this stuff developed a P-n-P kit.
 
Called my local HFO this afternoon. Confirmation that the main board is no longer available. Upgrade 10K, maybe more.

I am not one to say I told you so, so how about "you have been warned"?

I too have experienced the rapidly rising cost of the service calls, and service quality variance. Some guys are closer to top of the game than others. Some seem to be less than interested in being the best.........

The problem with our local HFO isn't whether or not they are on their game. It is that they are green and should not be in a damn van by themselves yet.
It's like the guy who changed his own oil, and put new windshield wiper blades on, and now he is a mechanic. They are severely under-trained/qualified.
There are a few good techs local to me as well (Allan, Travis, Rob) but they never get sent here. I am too small-time.
They send me the damn moron who spends more time talking to Allan, Travis, or Rob on his phone trying to figure out what is wrong, than he does actually working on my machine. Because he is under-qualified.
There are also hacks here. When I had the gear-box replaced a while back, I came in to a mill-table covered in oil. Hmmmm? Ended up being a loose hose clamp.
Guy who fixed it found kinked lube line, 3 loose clamps, and a few pinched wires. NICE!
And he was a greenie! Although, his attention to detail, and mechanical ability were very on-point. If he sticks with it, he will be a great tech.
I have stories! Ohh, do I have some stories!
 
The problem with our local HFO isn't whether or not they are on their game. It is that they are green and should not be in a damn van by themselves yet.
It's like the guy who changed his own oil, and put new windshield wiper blades on, and now he is a mechanic. They are severely under-trained/qualified.
There are a few good techs local to me as well (Allan, Travis, Rob) but they never get sent here. I am too small-time.
They send me the damn moron who spends more time talking to Allan, Travis, or Rob on his phone trying to figure out what is wrong, than he does actually working on my machine. Because he is under-qualified.
There are also hacks here. When I had the gear-box replaced a while back, I came in to a mill-table covered in oil. Hmmmm? Ended up being a loose hose clamp.
Guy who fixed it found kinked lube line, 3 loose clamps, and a few pinched wires. NICE!
I have stories! Ohh, do I have some stories!

You are not exactly giving me The Warm Fuzzies, here. :rolleyes5::rolleyes5::(
 
The problem with our local HFO isn't whether or not they are on their game. It is that they are green and should not be in a damn van by themselves yet.
It's like the guy who changed his own oil, and put new windshield wiper blades on, and now he is a mechanic. They are severely under-trained/qualified.

Pretty standard practice unfortunately. Mazak comes to mind in this area. There's at least one, maybe two Mazak guys at Cat every day. But the smaller shops in the area can't get help.

Generally the new guys get some once over training on brand new equipment. When they get out in the field and run into a 10 or 20 year old machine they don't have any idea where to start.

Service calls are expensive. Give the HFO some feedback. They know who can do what. Some guys never get above a certain level. They end up doing preventative maintenance and helping the better guys with large jobs. There is room for all skill levels in field service, but you should get what you pay for.
 
You are not exactly giving me The Warm Fuzzies, here. :rolleyes5::rolleyes5::(

I've worked on just about every brand of machine tool. Haas machines are dead simple. You could build a Haas from the ground with not much more than a set of inch hex keys and a hammer and punch.

Wheelie is just busy and repair is easy to outsource. No technical reason he could not do any repairs himself.


Although this processor board thing seems like cooked up BS to sell new and expensive parts. I'm sure someone knows how to fix it, but I don't know who (or how, or I'd set up shop to do it).
 
The tech support guy explained it as "the technology on the old boards isn't even produced any more. Just too expensive to support, like trying to support 8 track players....." Makes sense.

When I tried to give feedback (in a decent and professional way) I was met with defensive attitude........ Some of it is particular to the person I spoke with. I suspect there is a strong reluctance to admit there is a problem at times with the service performance.

I'm not an electronics guy. I can tell if the wire is connected (maybe), and even occasionally use a meter. That's about it.

Tech support has always been pretty strong from the local HFO. Once their phones were down, and I got great tech support from the factory. Alarms are easy to troubleshoot (usually), and all the relays etc are labeled in the cabinet. Sometimes the error showing on the screen even tells one which relay is hiccuping. A good electronics/robotics guy could probably make a decent living taking care of these.
 








 
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