Older Haas’ with vfd spindle drives any good

[M K]

I have a year 2000 vf0e with brushless servos and the 15/20hp closed loop vector drive

I’m on the look out for another machine and have come across a 1996 vf2 that has the same brushless servos but the spindle is controlled by a Yaskawa vfd

What’s the pro’s or con’s to this set up as I have no idea ?

Also what other differences will there be between the machines that I should be aware of? If the drives are the same would the x y z servo motors be the same as mine or not etc

Thanks
Marc

 

[MaxPrairie]

I thought they were still using brushed servos in 96 even into the 2000's. Cons, sometimes you have to pull and clean the brushes. Maybe that was an upgrade back then to go with brushless servos??

 

[m_holcross]

Marc,

I would think the 96 VF2 would be an ok machine.

Does your 2000 have gold colored servo drives or the silver smart servo drives, Think the motors are the same with either drive. I have both drives in my 96 VF-0E I dragged home from the UK. Working on getting it running again.

Mine has AC drives and the yaskawa VFD. All the reading on these machines seem positive.

The main difference between the 2 is the gearbox on the VF-2 for more torque.

A lot of good posts on fixing these old machines look for posts by mango_grail & Countryguy have good information.

Here is a manual for the VFD:

Technical Manual for GPD503 Drive - Yaskawa

regards,

Mark

 

[friesen]

Chip to chip as about twice as fast with the vector drive vs VFD, and rigid tap depth is more accurate too I believe.

 

[machineit2]

No on the brush servos. I have a 95 and a 96, both are brush-less, no maintenance required.

 

[machineit2]

I have to say that overall I am tired of those who constantly put down the older machines. They have to have the new shiny ones and the high payments that come with them. I have had new machines before, but now I have two older ones that are making parts everyday and have been paid for many years.

With a little bit of basic knowledge and a perusal of these forums and the help of outside vendors who can repair derives and such, it is not that hard to maintain these old machines. I have not seen a Haas tech since 1999. I do all of my own repairs, and there are very few of them overall.

Vector drives can be repaired and so can the circuit boards. My oldest Haas is 25 years old and my newest is 24 and both work well, even when I have to turn out parts in stainless that require + - .0005"

If you find a decent machine that is of the 90's vintage, with brush-less servos(generally 95 and up) and in good serviceable shape, I would not be afraid to get to start your own business. Those lightning fast tool changes don't really save you all that much in the long run it you are running small batch parts. You get a contract to turn out 100,000 parts, then maybe get a new machine. But, I lived in California for years and you look online you will see lots of newer machines (many brand new) that a guy or company bought for a juicy contract, only to have it pulled and him to go bankrupt.

Get what you can afford and have it checked out and start making parts. After all, most of what you are going to spend money one is tooling and such. That $8,000 old Haas is going to need $20,000 in tooling to make life comfortable.

Rant over----

 

[friesen]

@machinit2 I'm not putting down old machines, I own a 95 haas I converted from vfd to vector drive, it was worth it to me. If I was buying another, I'd want vector + brushless. The main thing is to know what you are getting into to make an informed choice.

 

[friesen]

The thing about the brushless systems, pretty much the core electrical parts are compatible all the way through until they started making ngc(or past, I don't know), so Haas is going to tend to stock more parts for the brushless systems.

 

[machineit2]

Oh, you definitely want to stay brush-less unless you are just a hobbies and want to play.

 

[countryguy]

Pffft. I had to login to like Machineit2s rant. it's spot on. Been there.. still there :-)

 

[M K]

Thanks for the reply’s

I’m going to wait till another closed loop vector drive machine comes up at auction,

I agree the older machines are great and are very capable still for the budget,
Yes they are old and will need money spending eventually but that’s an old machine for you

I have had my vector drive repaired twice
Have had the video board repaired once
Replaced all ballscrew bearing packs and support bearings with new from Haas
Replaced the X & Z axis ballscrews with new ones from Haas
Replaced the umbrella bearing guide rollers

But even with all that done the machine owes me under £13k which is very cheap and that’s what I need as a 1 man start up shop

Haas may not support the boards and electronics but 99% of the time they can be repaired by 3rd party companies so they are still great machines

Thanks
Marc