Running Programs from USB thumb drive

[HelicopterJohn]

The HAAS TM-1P comes with 1 meg memory. They offer a 16 meg memory upgrade.

USB thumb drives are now available up to at least 16MEG.

I attended the HAAS Days Demo this week and talked to an HAAS Engineer.

I am new to this so I may have not understood him correctly.

I think he said that you can run a program directly from the USB thumb drive and not have the program loaded into the controls memory.

I also think he said the only down side is that if the program stops for some reason you would have to go back to the last tool change to restart it as the control will not know where it is. If the program is loaded into the memory then the machine remembers where the tool was when it stopped and can be restarted from that point.

Does this sound correct?

The 16 MEG memory upgrade from HAAS is approximately $995.00. USB 16 MEG thumb drives range from $125.00 plus.

If so, is not the 16 MEG USB thumb drive a reasonable option.

Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks,

John

[Vern Smith]

John,

I checked the manual that came with my USB equipped TM-1P and there was no mention of the capability that you are referring to. Tomorrow I'll try to make it work although I don't see how this could be done without incorporating the drip feed program. Rather then drip feeding from another computer maybe one can drip feed from the USB port. There are a couple of guys on this forum who I think will have the answer.

[HelicopterJohn]

Hi Vern,

Thanks for your valued input. I also looked though the manual I downloaded from the HAAS web site and didn't see it. That is the reason for the question.

I am going to send you a copy of the Techniks tool offer to see what you think.

John

[cnc_ken]

Don't know much about Hass Controls but if you can use a thumb drive why not a USB hard drive. Same principal but more gigabytes per dollar.

[HelicopterJohn]

cnc_ken,

I am new to all this USB stuff and may have the incorrect name "usb thumb drive". The HAAS control has a USB port on the side of the Control. The item I was referring to is about the size of your thumb and fits easily in your pocket. Is the hard drive somewhat larger? I guess you could cable it to the control to upload programs. I will look into that as an option.

Thanks for your input. I am getting ready to order this machine, if we can come to terms, and just wanted to make sure that I got all the "necessary" options installed at the factory so that I don't have to pay a service technician to install them. Certain things are easy to turn on wth a code. Others require a field trip.

John

[Vern Smith]

Has anyone noticed that all the capitalization in this thread has been stripped out? I went to edit mine and it came up capitalized in the edit box but when re-posted the capitalization disapeared.

This is a capitalization test - ABCD abcd

[HelicopterJohn]

Hi Vern,

Yes, mine did the same thing. I went back to fix it but it didn't correct the capitalization.

John

[Matt@RFR]

I have a VF-2ss with the HSM option, stock memory and I've run programs with 80,000 lines of code directly from the USB. This was engraving at 45ipm. All you do is hit 'list program', select the USB field, select your program, hit the memory key, graph it if you want then run it. It never goes to memory and it has worked just fine for me. It runs as smooth as if running from memory.

[HelicopterJohn]

Hi Matt@RFR,

Thanks for the verification. That is basically what the HAAS Engineer said.

So, why would you want to buy the 16 meg memory option? Just purchase 16 meg USB thumb drives. Correct?

John

[chad123]

I think you are confusing MEG with GIG. You can get a 2GIG thumb drive for about $20. That is about 125 times more storage than the 16 MEG upgrade from haas.

I also went to the Haas demo day (we are getting ready for a vf3 did you get a little Haas machinist vice?) and the rep told me the same thing..

Chad

[HelicopterJohn]

Hi chad123,

You are absolutely correct. I must have been having a senior moment with the MEG / GIG thing. Correction: The 16 (GIG) thumb drive I saw on the internet was about $125.00.

I didn't see any little haas machinist vises. Is that something they were passing out to potential customers?

I need to talk to my account rep and see if I missed out. How about posting a little picture if you have a camera?

Thanks,

John

[chad123]

The vices were being made on the demo machines at the hfo. An sl30 was making the screw, a vf2 was making the jaw, and a vf3 was making the body.

It was just a little thing they were giving away.

I love Haas pricing. 2Gig thumb drive ~$20 online. 2Gig memory upgrade at Haas price of 16 Meg upgrade $124,375. lol, I wish I could markup like that, My hourly rate is $26,286.07 per hour (two hour minimum).


chad