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…

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…

This from a customer in Sweden (paraphrased). This in metric, but the math is the same in US units: On the Fittings Used Summary, it says that a 65mm Tee has the equivalent pipe length 3.8m but in the calculation says 7.497m. And it´s the same for a 65mm 90 degree screwed elbow…the equivalent pipe…

Occasionally users may get a 'Job has gone 200 or more passes without balancing." error message. This means, usually, that there are disconnected pipes in the job (pipes that may have flow in them, but do not connect to the piping between the Remote Point). You can try picking Yes to have it continue to…

We regularly update the HydraCALC database to add and make changes to fittings, pipe types, valves, backflow preventors and technical data sheets in PDF format for all of these. We make this database available for download in the Customer Support area of our website, which can be found at www.HydraCAD.com. Enter the Customer Support area…

Most users do not realize that HydraCALC has long had the ability for users to look at the tech data sheets for pipe, fittings and curves. These are accessed through the Alter Pipe and Fittings command in the Utilities drop down menu.   To view the tech data sheets: Pick the Utilities drop down menu…

Tutorial #5 in the HydraCALC manual explains how to use HydraCALC-Sizer to automatically build a grid based on some simple inputs. The grid it builds is ready to be AutoPeaked. Aside from that, how does AutoPeaking work in HydraCALC? And what is AutoPeaking? NFPA-13 Section 22.4.4.4 addresses gridded systems. It states that the designer must…

HydraCALC is set up to use either a city supply or a pump. There is currently no provision to choose use a tank or cistern, but there is a way to do it. From a Customer: I have a 42 foot tall water tank. How do I use this supply in HydraCALC Answer: You must…

In order to calculate certain foam systems, a Darcy-Weisbach calculation must be done, as opposed to a Hazen-William one. This was touched on in this older blog post: Darcy-Weisbach Who? The following are numbers found in the technical data sheets of a particular brand of foam concentrate. Notes are added to illustrate which numbers go where.…