Hello all.  I have been using Mach 3 for a few years, and thankfully had very few problems.  Pretty much all of the programs I wrote for machining and engraving I have been running for 2 years.  Recently, I started a new part and am having a problem. 

When I create an engraving code using the write wizard, it generates fine.   I run a test run and everything works.  However, after I save the code, close Mach 3, and restart it, I get problems when I try to run the same code.  The engraving starts out fine, but then starts going in big circles. 

Today, I created code for 1 word as a test.  Everything was fine.  Ran the code, worked fine. Saved the file.   Printed a copy of it.  Closed mach 3, then restarted.  Opened the same file and got the first few letters before it started going in big circles.  I printed a copy of this code. I closed that code, and created a new file using the wizard.  It ran fine.  I then compared the new file to the 2 printed copies and all 3 were exactly the same.

Any ideas?  I have a licensed copy if that makes a difference.

That does sound weird.
Do the big circles show up in the Toolpath view ?
Can you post that one word test file ?
I'd like to try it.

Strange indeed.

Russ

Well, I didn't find the problem, but I did find a solution.   The circles do show in the tool path view, and it appears that the G02 lines were the ones that caused the circles.

When I reopen mach 3, if I go to the write wizard and just create a file of a few letters, click write so the code generates and takes me back to the program run screen.  Then close code, and open my saved engraving file, it works fine. 

So apparently the write wizard changes some default setting I have in mach3. 

You may be altering the IJ mode upon Initialization.

Should be set to Incremental.
Absolute will produce circles.

It turns out I was using a different font for the new engraving (helvetica).  It uses G02 and G03 where the font I was using before (monotxt) doesn't.   I added a G90.1 line to the the code generated by the write wizard, and it seems to have solved the problem.  I can now open mach and load the saved code (after adding the G90.1) and it runs properly.

What setting was the write wizard changing in mach so that it could leave the G90.1 out of the code? 

I doubt that the wizard was changing anything. 
You probably have Mach configured to default as Absolute for the arcs.
You can change it on the gen config screen.

Thats it.  I just opened mach, checked and it was set to Inc by default.  

After I create a file with the write wizard, I checked and it had changed to absolute.  

But that seems opposite of what you wrote above.  I get circles when the IJ mode is set to Inc.  Absolute works like it should.  I even changed the IJ setting back and forth a few times with the same code loaded to verify.

Thanks! Everything is working like it should now.  

Learn somethin every day ....

I never saved a Helvetica file then reopened it before.
It does the same here as yours.

The IJ mode is changed in that font macro. I'll edit it out and see what happens. (not sure which is 0 and 1, but assume 0 is abs and 1 is inc)

Thanks for the lesson,   
Russ

There is another place in the macro where the IJ mode is manipulated, but I can't make sense of it.

Always worked fine in Inc. mode when it writes directly to Mach. But it seems to save the file as Abs.

Sort of a weird one, but it,s not lonely. 

You know what's happenin now anyway.

Cheers,
and HNY