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Recent Posts
Using a Non-Standard Pipe Type in HydraCALC
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…
Using the Hydratec Software Download Area
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…
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Category: HydraCAD
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To be able to use HydraCAD with a background drawing, you need to do these simple steps: Step 1 – Start a new drawing using one of the HydraCAD templates. Answer the scale question if asked. This is non-negotiable! Step 2 – Insert the background drawing into the new HydraCAD drawing, exploded. Meaning, checking the…
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If the background drawing has existing piping, you may be able to use that piping for HydraCAD. The ‘may’ all hinges on how the original author drew the piping. Is it from center of head to center of head (or fitting)? Is it from edge of head to edge or head (or fitting). Is it…
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Say you have a background drawing that has sprinkler heads already laid out, but they aren’t HydraCAD sprinkler heads. What to do? Zeroth – Do what you should always do with a background drawing. That is, start a New drawing using one of the HydraCAD templates, and then insert your drawing into it, exploded. First –…
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There are two overhauled commands in AutoCAD 2020 that are used pretty often; and that have changed considerably. One is the PURGE command, which I covered in an earlier post. The other is INSERT, which I will cover here. Insert has changed considerably, in that it is considerably more complicated. Typing it in yields an…
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Want to keep riser nipples from showing both center and cut length when plotting? Tried to freeze or turn off layers? AutoCAD has a newish feature that will help you do just this. Its call VP Freeze for Viewport Freeze. Open the Layer palette. Find the HPipesCGen layer. Click the Square Sun icon in the…
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Many of us use Copy and Paste in AutoCAD. Often when using Paste, we try to eyeball and line up the block we are pasting, or use OSNAPS. But there are better ways! The Edit drop down menu in AutoCAD has more than one command to copy and paste: Cut is cut -but- Copy is…
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In even a regular-sized drawing it can be hard to determine what is a main, what is a wall, what is a partition, etc. Some people use the Pretty Pipes command to help with this, but that has a few drawbacks, especially when it makes it hard to select objects. Lineweights can make that easier,…
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HydraCAD and AutoCAD both have methods of creating typing shortcuts/aliases to commands. HydraCAD does not deliberately use the same key sequences as AutoCAD. I say usually, because sometimes AutoCAD adds new shortcuts which share our Aliases. We don’t change ours to stay out of their way. HydraCAD aliases take precedence because of the way each program…
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A Customer asked me the following question (paraphrased): Q: I am currently designing an apartment bldg using sidewall sprinklers for the top level. And this is also a BIM project so our piping is imported into Navis Works. If you look at the attached sidewall 2D photo. You will see that I have the sidewall…
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There are two overhauled commands in AutoCAD 2020 that are used pretty often. One of the is the PURGE command. The other is INSERT, which I will mention in a future post. A customer had trouble getting the rings and other elements of hangers to show up properly when they ran 3D Hangers. I am…
The H-Factor 