1990 VF1

[ranchak]

There is a 1990 VF1 for sale on the local CL. It has an intermittent spindle driver error. Some days it will run, some days it won't. The seller had a Hass repair man out and he said it probably has a bad I/O board. I know that nobody can say for sure what the problem is, but I am a bit leary buying a machine that doesn't run. The price seems fair, $5000. But by the time I pay to have it hauled and get a board installed I probably have another $1000. I honestly don't know anything about Haas machines, I am pretty mechanically inclined, but I really don't need a problem machine. The seller stated that the original owner cut aluminum with it, it has the 5K spindle. There where a number of the original boards replaced and there are new brushes for the drive motors (not installed). I guess I'm just looking for someone to enter their $.02. I don't know if this is a good deal or a deal I should stay clear of. I cut about 90% aluminum and plastic. What I want to do with this machine is make aluminum connecting rods and other aluminum parts. I currently have a BP Series 1 CNC, but I would like to have a machine that has flood coolant, an enclosure, more rigidity and an ATC. Thanks in advance.

[behindpropeller]

21 year old machine.

If something breaks can you get parts for it?

[lkenney]

I run a 92 VF-0, and so far have not had a problem with parts but found out with the last servo motor replacement the the encoder on my servos was being phased out. There are other servo motors that will work but it did give me a kneejerk. I would offer $2500 and hope to get the machine for 3K. How many others ore interested in the machine.

Just recently I saw a post in this forum that told how to check for spindle bearing wear. I would spend a little time with a magnetic base and a 0.0001 indicator and check out the slop movement of all the axises.

Good luck

Lowell

[Wizzard of H]

For a 1990 VF-2, the spindle drive was a standard off-the-shelf purchased "variahle frequency drive" from any of three sources. They are available from Haas or the original suppiler and they used a standard interface. The IO board is rarely the cause of a "spindle drive fault". All of these drives have a front panel on drive that indicates a fault if you want to verify it.

On a 1992 VF-0 with brush motors (that age it must be), the motors and the encoders are available still from Haas or from several vendors. One of the encoder suppliers may have stopped making that part but it is still a common part built by others.