The H-Factor

Reducing Entropy

Recent Posts

Unblocking a Group of Files

After downloading a file, it is often Blocked. You must right-click on it, pick Properties and then check the Unblock item: But doing a dozen or more files gets old, real fast. I just learned a way to Unblock a batch of files at once. It involves using PowerShell, a Microsoft tool that is a…

Adding Hanger Types to HydraLIST

If you want to use a new type of hanger, or are a fab shop that gets a job from a contractor that uses a hanger type that you do not have, it is easy to add that new hanger type to your own machine. A hanger is an assembly, and an assembly is just…

Welcome

Recently our previous blog service (Typepad) ended their business – so, we have a new home. It will take a bit to get images back and displaying properly, but we are working on it! Final pageview count of original Typepad blog: 387,232

October 2026
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Author: art

  • After downloading a file, it is often Blocked. You must right-click on it, pick Properties and then check the Unblock item: But doing a dozen or more files gets old, real fast. I just learned a way to Unblock a batch of files at once. It involves using PowerShell, a Microsoft tool that is a…

  • If you want to use a new type of hanger, or are a fab shop that gets a job from a contractor that uses a hanger type that you do not have, it is easy to add that new hanger type to your own machine. A hanger is an assembly, and an assembly is just…

  • Recently our previous blog service (Typepad) ended their business – so, we have a new home. It will take a bit to get images back and displaying properly, but we are working on it! Final pageview count of original Typepad blog: 387,232

  • A customer called today asking how to enter a 1″ black plastic underground pipe for the calc. This particular situation sounded unique enough that I did not tell him to add that pipe type to our database, as I would have if he expected to see this pipe type used repeatedly. I told him to…

  • Hydratec uses ShareFile to distribute our software installs and updates. New customers, or those without access, must request access to be able to get at these downloads. Access is only available to customers with a Hydratec subscription or those on an update plan. You can access the download area and request access by picking the…

  • So, you have a situation where you have a particular block in your drawing, and you want to change the block and have your drawing updated with that new block. If you don’t have that block already defined in your drawing, or you can purge it out of the drawing, then you don’t need to…

  • From a customer: Does Hydra Cad produce a printable fire pump curve graph?  I have some fire pump results and they are wanting a graph. This question probably arises because the HydraCALC standard Water Supply Graph does not show solely the Pump curve when there is a City and Pump inputted, for clarity sake. It…

  • From a customer: “Now that I freelance for several different clients, I run into some issues with AutoList. I have to change a couple of the Top Five FIGs each time I bounce between clients projects, as I only stocklist as they request piping to allow for any building or coordination changes. This causes issues…

  • If you want to have only one branch line ID for an entire branch line, but are worried that AutoList will absorb other fittings into that branch line, or will miss certain sprinkler heads because of the default way it does things, then this is how to set things up properly. The part I mention…

  • With HydraCAD for AutoCAD, you can draw a ‘regular’ HydraCAD system, and then create the Revit model for coordination with the BIM team on a project. This requires a few things: You must have Revit on the computer using the HydraCAD for AutoCAD in order to make the conversion You must know the version of…