HAAS Problems

[jspangler]

Hi

Thanks for the info on the fadals, I guess that was a fair price then. As for HAAS bashing, sorry this has turned into a flame fest, that's not what it was meant to be. I wanted to get the opinions of people with more experience on these machines than myself, and what better place to go than here. As for the Haas we have, it IS a great machine, but the situation I'm in with this warranty repair is definitely not where I want to be. I am on the hook for 4 more years of payments for this thing, and now who do I call if there's a problem? definitley not the factory outlet where I bought it from, which sucks because that, again, is why I paid the extra $$$ for a new machine.

 

Well, enough of this for now.

 

Thanks for listening.

[David S]

quote:

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Every manufacturer puts out a problem product occassionally (lemons) but I know this is not a significant portion of the Haas machines. Also, some dealers can do things that are (or seem) unfair, and that's unfortunate.

 

But please, enough Haas bashing: these are great machines, great values, and Made in the USA.

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Well put!

 

I hope there is a HAAS forum for you AND your local HAAS dealer. So you people can go on and on...till?

 

Good luck!

[biss03]

i agree with charles. We have 20 Haas verticals ranging from a vf-1 bought in the 80's to a brand new vf-4. we have had problems recently with the older machines (understandable), and with the newer machines (which i think is a result of haas trying to build machines faster than they are capable of doing without sacrificing quality).For the most part, the machines we purchased during the 90's have been very dependable.

I guess the point of many posts in this thread is that a majority of companies at some point will make a less than perfect product that will cause them to lose customers, but the good companies are the ones who not only solve the problems but make the product better at the same time. for example, just last night on the history channel they profiled the rise and fall and rise again of the Harley-Davidson company.I'm too young to ever remember buying a Harley as a risky investment. As far as i've known, if you buy one, it will run forever and always hold its value. I couldn't imagine them ever being in danger of having to close there doors.

So my point is don't let one bad experience ruin it for you. Fortunately the factory outlet dept. here in Michigan has been really good to us. So i guess that needs to be factored in for your particular instance.

 

anyways, that was my .02 on the subject.

thanks for listening.

[ERIC14779]

Hi all

 

I have noticed a big sales push with Haas. I thought that it was because the machinery market had slowed down, and they were trying harder to get the few sales that there was.

 

But if they are getting more sales then they can handle and machines are getting out with out oil in the trans. then they better get with the instal guys and have them check each machine they start up very very good.

 

Nothing makes me sick more than a good piece of machinery getting mesed up because of something stupid like no oil.

 

Oh and that thing that it wont run without oil because there is a oil level switch....

 

Have you heard of this guy named MURPHY ????

 

He has these LAWS that prove IT WILL RUN !!!

 

In closing I think that the problem is with the people(who build it) and sales load not with the design or actual machine.

 

[ 08-03-2002, 03:15 PM: Message edited by: ERIC14779 ]

[mold100]

biss03,

want to know harleys well kept secret?Made in CHINA.assembled in us,sorry bikers we lose on the average 2 Molds a month for Harley, and 3-5 for Buell to our wonderful over seas counterparts.

[biss03]

harley's are not completely made in china. a company in byron center, michigan supplies the rear fork weldments and we machine them.

so we still have a piece of the icon in the USA.

[mold100]

biss,

I am not saying too much bad about harley,Theyre still a good quality peice of equip,And they good thing(maybe) is that they are the Only U.S. built company in every corner of any industry,Transportation,

Food and Beverage,Clothing,General Merchandise,Leather(I cant imagine the numbers of cattle that gets branded with Harley on it.Any Thing other than a good C.N.C. mill you can buy with Harley on it.And the fact that they do send work overseas is unfortuneatly(sp?) the reason they are once again on the rise.

[CEMENTHEAD]

quote:

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and now who do I call if there's a problem?

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HAAS machines are put together so simply anyone can fix the most major problems. Haas wanted to charge us $600 for replacing a monocrome monitor which i grabbed for $5 at a local computer store. It fit perfect and pluged right in. hate to see what they would have charged to install it again with the same machine (VF1 1992) the micro switches which tell it turret out or in became sticky and eventually stuck, Causing the spindle to start engaged in carosell Sparks Flew! Z goes down and BooM carosell drops into the bottom of the machine. Sounds bad? cost $25 for a new dual "v" bearing, helicoil the casting, $120 for 2 new switches, 2 days downtime. and 2 big guys to lift carosell back into place. Adjust a quick parameter for Z alinment. Could have cost a hell of alot more than $150 if HAAS did it. You guys have to realise you dont need to call Haas to repair or replace s#!t.

 

[mold100]

I will have to try that,buy a machine I expect to work,Usually so I can do something else while it runs.

And when it goes down I will go to the computer store,hardware store,and buy what i think Ill need to

fix it ,and Take away the hours of the down machine and the hours away from whatever I should be doing while that machine should be running,and never call the service dept.Gotta be nutz.Understandable to an extent but the orginal machine in this post isnt 10 years old.Besides I pay a guy to run the machine and do daily maitenence not rip a toolchanger apart or repair boards.I'm sure he wont mind sometimes but it will get old fast.

[biss03]

mold100,

you don't have a maintence dept.? Our maintence guys love to tear into a machine. and a lot of times they could have it fixed and back up and running before service can even get here. the problem with this is that any machine under warranty MUST be serviced by a Haas certified technician. So we end up waiting twice as long for something simple to get fixed.

[mold100]

Nope no mait.dept.I must be missing out on something good,WE need one if for anything daily and preventitve mait.

[Rekd™]

I have to agree with Charles as well....

 

We've got 29 vmc's and well over half are HAAS. I can INTERPOLATE holes concentric, round, and to a tolerance of as little as +.0002-.0000 on a .095 dia hole with a .0938 E.M. ALL DAY LONG. That's a move of barely .001 in a circle. This on machines as old as 2 to 6 years... And I have yet to see any real preventitive maint. done to them. We run 'em 'til we break 'em. And they don't break too often unless we do something stupid.

 

Think of all the parts that go into your HAAS. Can you get it exactally right every time? Hell no. Have you ever scrapped a part? Hell yes. Well, so has HAAS. It's just more devestating when they do it, because it directly affects YOUR bottom dollar.

 

If there's a problem with the new machine you just bought, it's your fault if you don't get it taken care of RIGHT AWAY!. Don't wait 'til "It breaks and we'll come and fix it." Demand that they fix it now, or else don't cry when it's out of warrenty and you could've, should've and wouldn've, but didn't get it taken care of while under still warranty.

 

I've dealt with HAAS and MTS for many years now and have had very few problems with them.

 

Remember, if there's a problem with the NEW machine you just bought, and they can't figure it out.. you can demand a replacement.

 

I would think that with enough preasure, HAAS will do what's right, but YOU should have NEVER let it get this far...

 

Just my (somewhat informed) 2 cents.

 

~Rekd

 

[ 08-10-2002, 12:43 AM: Message edited by: Rekd ]

[herbert west]

Assuming that you (jspangler), are using "Mastercam" to program this mill and thus the reason for posting on the "Mastercam" board is so, I'll put in my 2 bits.

With Haas you get what you pay for and after spec'ing out a fully loaded VF-6 and being dissapointed at the machines inherent lack of stability and 4 service calls in the first month of use, I got a check for $10 and a t-shirt from Gene. I'll admit their Yasnac/Fanuc clone control is really good though. The service personel that come from the factory directly used to know what they were doing but the people who come from their new "factory service centers" are in sore need of additional experience and are very often thrust into the feild while still taking classes. Aparently they don't stock those funky 40 volt beacon lamps in ther vans either. Have you ever been to the factory? ever notice that the Haas product is made on Hitachi-Seiki cells?. Makes one wonder. Notice also Haas's mind numbing aray of new machines to have surfaced within the last 6 months, maybe a little too much expansion and not enough focus on being a service oriented company? I saw this happen with Mitutoyo back in the day. I'm sorry you got burned though and I hope the factory takes care of you. If it were my machine company that made the thing you'd have another one shipped to your door free of charge. I have found the Haas machines to be good "entry level" machines but when a bit more muscle is needed they fall short.

We have a 17 yr old Mori-Seiki MV45/40 (my favorite) with less then half the power, a feeble control, and a not very rapid, rapid feed rate, that is pretty much unstoppable. We take ground shaking cuts with this thing that make our Haas's skip across the floor, granted this mill has 7 boxed ways on it and is nearly double the weight of our VF-4 and doesn't have a sand filled head casting like our VF-6 does..

[jspangler]

Hi

Just posting to give a little closure to this thread.

HAA$ hq in Oxnard still says the machine was crashed, but will honor the service managers WRITTEN agreement, and verbal contract of fixing the machine under warranty, and will knock 100% of the replacement part cost from the bill as long as I pay for thelabor it cost them to re-install the trans, as well as the gasket they ruined, etc. Saves me about 3 Grand, but still costs me $1500.

 

Needless to say I will NOT be looking at any NEW HAA$ machines any time soon. For my money i will buy 2 or more well maintained used machines, or a good Morei.

 

O'yeah, one of my RS232 ports just died so now i'm back to transferring files via FLOPPY, or paying about $1000 to get it fixed.

 

Hmmm.... this just gets more fun.

 

Anyways, that's it for this post, and HAA$. Thanks for all the help and suggestions.

 

John