[300sniper]

This machine has been sitting for years. I finally got it into my new shop and powered back up. I ran a program yesterday without issue. Today I went to run the same program and on the first Z- move, it shook the machine really bad and there was a warning stating something along the lines of error too complex. Now when I hit page down, Z moves in +. I shut the machine off for a few minutes and tried again. It seemed as if it was good. Then I went to touch off tool by stepping toward a block. I noticed it started stepping away instead of toward the block.

Any ideas of where to look for the culprit?

[300sniper]

It also does the same in the program, not just when jogging it around.

[popspipes]

possibly a wiring problem, I would check all connections for loose wires if its been sitting that long.
Mach 3 here has done some strange things too in the past. Maybe a reinstall of Mach 3, or better still upgrade to pathpilot, I havent had a glitch of any kind with it.
I would reseat all connectors as well.

just a few things to try........

[Zetopan]

This machine has been sitting for years. I finally got it into my new shop and powered back up. I ran a program yesterday without issue. Today I went to run the same program and on the first Z- move, it shook the machine really bad and there was a warning stating something along the lines of error too complex. Now when I hit page down, Z moves in +. I shut the machine off for a few minutes and tried again. It seemed as if it was good. Then I went to touch off tool by stepping toward a block. I noticed it started stepping away instead of toward the block.

Any ideas of where to look for the culprit?

This one is quite easy to troubleshoot. The control lines going from the interface board and the stepper motor drivers (all inside the electrical cabinet) include a step and a direction line for each stepper driver. If the direction line is not making good electrical contact all steps will be in the same direction. Likewise, if there is a short on the direction line all steps will be in the same direction. Locate your Z axis stepper driver, then locate the direction line in the ribbon cable connecting to that driver. Inspect both ends of that wire in the ribbon cable and ensure that the electrical connections are both good.

Likewise it would be a good idea for you to examine the cable connection from the computer to the mill electrical cabinet at the latter end to ensure that it is attached correctly. Sometimes people fail to screw in the holding screws and the connector loosens up over time. You current problem is unlikely to be that connector though since a lot more would fail than just the Z axis direction.

[300sniper]

This one is quite easy to troubleshoot. The control lines going from the interface board and the stepper motor drivers (all inside the electrical cabinet) include a step and a direction line for each stepper driver. If the direction line is not making good electrical contact all steps will be in the same direction. Likewise, if there is a short on the direction line all steps will be in the same direction. Locate your Z axis stepper driver, then locate the direction line in the ribbon cable connecting to that driver. Inspect both ends of that wire in the ribbon cable and ensure that the electrical connections are both good.

Likewise it would be a good idea for you to examine the cable connection from the computer to the mill electrical cabinet at the latter end to ensure that it is attached correctly. Sometimes people fail to screw in the holding screws and the connector loosens up over time. You current problem is unlikely to be that connector though since a lot more would fail than just the Z axis direction.

I'll take a look at that.

I did just go back out after having the machine powered off for a while. It seemed to work fine. I ran my test program in the air and it seemed to work fine. Then I got all my offsets set and started running the program. The spindle didn't start (another ongoing problem that I am looking for a solution to) so I hit pause. I then hit stop and got the error "Cannot find Recovery points. Solution too complex." At this point, I started having the problem again. Looking back, this is probably the same routine I was in earlier when this happened. I paused plenty of programs in the past without this happening, so I am not sure why this would be going on now.

[300sniper]

This one is quite easy to troubleshoot. The control lines going from the interface board and the stepper motor drivers (all inside the electrical cabinet) include a step and a direction line for each stepper driver. If the direction line is not making good electrical contact all steps will be in the same direction. Likewise, if there is a short on the direction line all steps will be in the same direction. Locate your Z axis stepper driver, then locate the direction line in the ribbon cable connecting to that driver. Inspect both ends of that wire in the ribbon cable and ensure that the electrical connections are both good.

Likewise it would be a good idea for you to examine the cable connection from the computer to the mill electrical cabinet at the latter end to ensure that it is attached correctly. Sometimes people fail to screw in the holding screws and the connector loosens up over time. You current problem is unlikely to be that connector though since a lot more would fail than just the Z axis direction.

Ok, I wasn't sure which drive was the Z so I checked them all. The ribbon cable connector at one drive was extremely loose, like being held on by the cable tension. I unplugged it and it is the Z drive. I pushed in on hard and it seems to have good contact. I'm out of time to mess with it tonight but will see if my bug is gone tomorrow.