1997-2008 HAAS CNC CHC control conversion VMC Lathe brushless upgrade MAINCON

Description: Upgrade your 1997-2008 (brushless) Haas CNC machine to the most current software and hardware available in classic haas control CHC. I spent many hours researching, piecing together, and converting my 2000 model VF3 from the 3 board setup to the newer maincon it really transforms an older machine and makes it more efficient and easier to work with. I loved the upgrade so much I gathered the components for a second conversion for my next Haas machine, but my machine requirements have changed so I am now looking to go Okuma on the lathe side and am going to pass on this retrofit package to someone else. Haas made only minor machine changes on their VF VMC line between 1997 and 2012 outside of the control (higher resolution encoders on the servos is pretty much it aside from better support on the I/O board (which can also be upgraded)). The conversion process is relatively straight forward, some minor machining is required to mount the included pendant to your host machine (~2in hole saw for the wire run and tap 3 holes for the mount ring). What do you gain with an upgrade? Significantly faster processing speeds, more standard memory, increased storage support, larger flash drive support, enough memory and processing for complex tool paths trichoidal etc., better 4th/5th axis support, better probing support, superior translational programming, MQL / MOM, Air Blast, superior HSM, program / software loading / backup / maintenance procedures all are simplified and improved. Modern interfacing; USB, Native Ethernet & network file management and file loading, supports the newer / full featured color remote jog pendant Hardware Reliability - Your obsolete and failure prone MOCON + VIDEO + PROCESSOR triple board set is now handled by the one maincon board, (selling your spare parts can cover much of the cost of your retrofit). No single soldered battery to worry about dying and losing your parameters, the maincon has an external jumper for the Haas dual cmos battery board upgrade. If you update the I/O board (on 2002 and older), you get a Haas / Renishaw connector for plug and play probing (probing can still be added to your older machine with this jumper, I can provide wiring instructions). 15" color LCD Screen, makes the machine much easier to see and provides useful heads up information over the dim vintage single color 8" display I am selling this as a package with the various new / required Haas Maincon to pendant cables. It is recommended you have your Haas HFO to complete the software portion of the install; update your maincon firmware and load the appropriate milling or lathe software and load in your machine parameters and data (unless you are familiar with reloading your own machine, have the firmware / software files and can DIY, which is not difficult if you can follow the Haas instructions and have the firmware and software files). As this is a big leap forward from the older software some (not many) of the parameters are labeled slightly differently, an HFO tech that is experienced is doing this retrofit would be helpful, I wouldn't pay a green field tech to come out and try to make this their first conversion job at the HFO labor rate. You should be able to complete most of the job yourself and have the HFO spend a few hours to dial it in and run your software update (provided you have a backup copy of your machine data or your red book). When I did this conversion on my 2000 VF3, I was charged $1000 for the software update (and to get new option activation codes generated), and another $400 to have everything configured and dialed in (spindle orientation, tool changer, etc.) If you are very resourceful and can get the firmware and software to load, and are familiar with HAAS reload / initialization procedures, you can potentially install and configure this completely yourself. There are some parameters that have changed from earlier software versions, I can include copies of my VF3 parameters before/after conversion for reference. Another reason you would want an HFO would be that your original option codes will no longer work on the updated software, the HFO will have to unlock new ones that accompany the newer software, however- there are ways around the unlock codes if you are dead set on DIY or live too far for an HFO to service. With this newly initialized control you will be able to demo 200 hours (of cut time) in trial mode for all options (HSM, 4th axis, rotation scaling, rigid tap, macros, etc) The wiring and hardware portions of the conversion can easily be performed in a half day by someone handy and experienced with swapping out circuit boards and unplugging and reconnecting wiring, the Haas wiring is all nicely labeled, taking lots of photos before disassembly is helpful. Haas was offering this retrofit for around $8000 back around 2008 with exchange of your boards, lots of shops were ordering the upgrade and then Haas realized shops could make their machine mostly current without buying a new machine. I think Gene's F1 budget didn't like that idea so after a short period Haas decided to increase by more than double the price of the retrofit to $17,000+ (without labor, and this price was quoted 4 years ago, they probably don't offer it at all now, or knowing HAAS its $25k). Your triple board stack and pendent are worth thousands of dollars which you can sell to offset or completely absorb the retrofit cost. I am including (NO CORE CHARGES OR CORES REQUIRED): Pendant with bezel, mill lathe keyboard, jog wheel, power / cycle / e stop switches, skbif cabling, monitor mounting brackets, low voltage power supply, Maincon Board, 15 LCD Monitor, SKBIF usb cable skbif to pendent usb cable 15ft to processor from skbif RS-232 cable 25ft LVDS Video maincon to pendent LCD LVPS cable maincon to pendent rj12 remote jog pendant cable rj12 panel mount coupling I am not affiliated with Haas, Haas is a registered trademark and has only been used to identify the manufacturer of the used replacement parts I am selling. All ebay auctions shipping freight, or are listed at over $1500 require payment via bank wire transfer, no returns on electrical components. I am happy to provide video of the items in operation and serial numbers if necessary. I have one more conversion outside of this auction that I may end up installing in my 99 VF4 APC, if I do install it I will record video to show how it is done.

Price: 6000 USD

Location: Roanoke, Indiana

End Time: 2024-08-27T18:14:51.000Z

Shipping Cost: N/A USD