Who can tell me about the TRM's?

[widgits]

They won't let me knock out the back wall of the shop and tap 60 amps for a bigger machine
Have a guy here locally that has a 2006 TRM and a bunch of tooling
and prewire w/MPG for 4th for $15K
looks like 422K memory, would like more, any cheap alternatives?
Bout 200 hrs on the clock timer
Looks like it just came from the factory, still has cosmoline in the Tee slots
Dont really need a toolchanger as most jobs only have a couple tools anyway
and I only make 2 protypes at a time
But I wonder about the Mp32? controller
Have used the CNC88HS for years
Any ideas on spindle speed increasers (multiplyers) as I usually need much higher RPM's for the few times I drill micro holes and she only goes to 4K
Anyone out there with one of these and comments before I cut the check?
At least I won't have lease payments
But what about repair bills?

Thanks in advance

Widgits

[fourperf]

I had a trm. I thought at the time (since I only make one or two parts at a time) that I didnt need a toolchanger or the hassle of coolant. That was a mistake. I have since sold it (after a year) with 76 cut hrs and bought another brand machine (fully enclosed and a toolchanger). At the time I bought my trm I wanted only a fadal because the cnc 88 was the only control I had ever used (I am self taught) and didnt want to relearn on another control. Now that I have learned a different control I realize how slow the fadal control is. I am not bashing, these are just my observations. If you have more questions please feel free to pm me.

Mark

[widgits]

Fourperf
Thats all good
And I totally understand why you upgraded to a newer machine with all the goodies.
My situation is a bit different
The medical design company that hired me as the sole machinist already had
equipment in place.
They were a bit foolish and chose the machinist before me with little
experience.
And of course he had a friend that was selling a cnc milling machine
As it turns out they were robbed out of $12K for a 1984 Bridgeport
Dynapath 10 with a bit of tooling.
The kid still never made any parts on it after 2 months and it was decided
that he should leave.
The shop space that I have is very small, actually my 2 car garage is
almost twice the floor space.
We sublease this section of a building, thats all I get.
If I were to get a larger machine it would eat half of the floorspace.
Even a Haas mini mill would be too large.
I physically checked the sizes of an older VMC 15 and EMC series Fadal
and the Haas mini and found that the Haas had just as large of
footprint as the Fadals, it may be narrower but it has a greater depth.
By the time you consider getting the electronic cabinets open and being
able to walk around the machine it is a wash between the makers.
Also It would mean stripping any of these machines down by removing
the enclosure, control, Z axis servo and spindle drive motor to get it
in the room I still don't have the space once I reassemble it
In the end this kinda dictates a mini tool room mill.
And I would like to upgrade the old Bridgeport Dynapath by pushing
it out the back door with a forklift.
It's good old American Iron but the control is just about useless and
antiquated. but good for something like a Centroid retrofit.

As such I do have some questions about the Fadal TRM.
and the newer Mp32 controller.
I talked to one guy who owns one of these machines , and he has had to
replace the hard drive, apparently this must be for storage and
file management. Yes?

But this cost him $1500 to fix, seems kinda outrageous for a hard drive.
Is it a standard drive?, can I get a ghost copy of it just in case.
Is it proprietary? What about the Floppy drive thats in the controller
panel? Does the hard drive have some kind of operating system on it?
Any good ideas on how to cover my butt in case something like
this happens?
What about backing up my parameters and other machine settings
just in case?
Any ways to cheaply upgrade the memory? or did Fadal screw us out of this
option also with other proprietary hardware on this control?
See what I mean?

Me thinks that either one of these machine makers has their own set of problems, I have run Haas mills before and was the unfortunate operator
of a machine that decided to break the center bolt out of the tool
carousel and drop it into the chip pan, and have also had a Haas SL2
lathe just start smoking out it's $3500 power supply.
Don't get me wrong here, I love the Haas control, very user friendly
but one gets gun shy after a couple major incidents.

Any ideas from you guys that you may have learned about these MP 32controls would be helpful and greatly appreciated
before I cut the check

Thanks in advance
Widgits

[fourperf]

I had a floppy drive go out and the main board right off the bat. The machine rpm wandered all over the place. I think that the memory is proprietary. I personally would be very careful about the trm as they only made it for a couple of years and from what I have heard and seen fadal is not in good shape. They had a bunch of layoffs and I believe sold their main building and are setting up in their reman building. If you look at the fadal forum there are nothing but problems. I know they had problems with the z motor brake and upgraded that. The first reman trm I got the z had a mind of its own if you know what I mean. They ended up replacing the machine because they could not find the problem. The problem with the trm in my opinion is parts might become a problem as they are in such limited numbers. I was definitely a fadal guy until I had my trm and then switched over to haas. Try calling fadal now and its hard to even get a live person.

Like I said in my post, I dont mean to bash them but thats my experience.

Mak

[ltmquik]

Originally Posted by fourperf I had a floppy drive go out and the main board right off the bat. The machine rpm wandered all over the place. I think that the memory is proprietary. I personally would be very careful about the trm as they only made it for a couple of years and from what I have heard and seen fadal is not in good shape. They had a bunch of layoffs and I believe sold their main building and are setting up in their reman building. If you look at the fadal forum there are nothing but problems. I know they had problems with the z motor brake and upgraded that. The first reman trm I got the z had a mind of its own if you know what I mean. They ended up replacing the machine because they could not find the problem. The problem with the trm in my opinion is parts might become a problem as they are in such limited numbers. I was definitely a fadal guy until I had my trm and then switched over to haas. Try calling fadal now and its hard to even get a live person. Like I said in my post, I dont mean to bash them but thats my experience. Mak

Mark,
What is this about layoffs and selling the main building and moving into the reman building. Are you sure. I have been in both buildings and find it hard to imagine that Fadal could fit in the reman building. Unless of course they are getting all of the parts made elsewhere (NOT CHINA I HOPE) and just assembling in the reman building.

[Neal]

Itmquik--
The rumor mill rides again! Yes there were a few small lay offs due to closing down the Remanufacturing operation. Fadal has NOT sold the "main" building and continues to do business as usual. (I expect some comments on that last statement.... Go for for it!)

Neal

[fourperf]

Sorry if I gave erroneous information. That was not my intension it was information I was given from a very reliable source. I have to admit that I found it hard to believe as I have been to both buildings also.

Anyway I apologize if that information was incorrect.

Mark

[ltmquik]

Thank you for the clarification Neal. Yeah you may have opened up for some "discussion" on that last statement. LOL

[ltmquik]

Neal,
What IS the story on the Remans then. Still offering? Still maintaining? etc.

[widgits]

From what I heard from the Local fadal rep was that they were ending the remanufactured machine end of things
And it isn't shut down just yet as I got a quote on a 2006 30x16 machine
to be done in the next month or two
As long as parts are still available and the service remains good should we really *****?
Where I live The Haas rep is Selway machine tools
From what I understand the HFO service guys are known to not have the right parts for the repair, install something not needed tell you they need to return and bill you on all the parts and both service calls
Apparently this has pissed off many Haas boys in the Selway area
Being a Fadal guy for 25+ years I have never experienced anything like this before
To me it sounds almost like they sent the Haas repair guys out with an understocked service vehicle with the intentions of the most overpriced
installed parts with an added travel expense is good marketing to earn customer loyalty
Or pissed off customers

But I must say that I miss the old day's of Francis and the boys
Customer service and loyalty to the buyer is where it's at

And when I call a company thats worth hundreds of millions of dollars
I expect someone to answer the phone

The word of one customer for exceptional service spreads fast among the masses
And one "Oh ****" spreads even faster and degrades 100 "Atta Boys"

Am I wrong?

By the way I just cut the check today for the Fadal TRM

Now can anyone answer some of the previous questions I posted in this thread about ghost copying the hard drive, etc?

Thanks in advance

Widgits