The H-Factor

From a customer, answered by my co-worker John:

Q: I want HydraCAD to fab a consistent 0-2” nipple for all of my Riser Nipples. I know the cut length will vary depending on the pipe it is attaching to and I am having to insert Riser nipples on grid lines, armovers, and mains and guess at the different C-C lengths as I insert them.

A: AutoList looks at the fittings at both ends of each pipe and applies the appropriate takeouts based on the Fitting Instruction Groups (FIGs) used. One way around this is to insert ARMOVER overrides at the top of the riser nipples by using the Override (OV) command from the Listing toolbar. The ARMOVER override is found in the Elbow category.

This will separate the riser nipples out of the branch lines and into the ARM1 Section ID in HydraLIST. In HydraLIST change the quantity of the 0’2 pieces to the total number in the quantity column of the ID and delete the other entries.

If the text of the riser nipple is visible on the drawing and you would like it to reflect the cut length you chose, then use the Manual Cut Lengths (MCL) command on the Size Pipe flyout of the Piping toolbar.

The previous post discussed how to alter the outlet on a riser nipple by double-clicking on it. Here I will go over some other situations (including the original situation):

In all situations, double-click on the riser nipple, then click a third time. This will bring up the Riser Nipple toolbox. Pick Apply when done to leave the riser nipple tool.

In all situations, you may use the Select VP button to Apply your changes to the previously selected riser nipple and select the next riser nipple to work on

Some Common Situations

P1 – The outlet is point the wrong way

should be:

A1 – Use the Spin arrows

…

P2 – In addition to the wrong fitting/rotation angle; the wrong number of outlets are being counted

should be:

A2 – Set the No. of Openings to 2, then use the Spin arrows

…

P3 – The riser nipple is computer generated, but should be user supplied – or vice versa

A3 – The magenta circle indicates that the lengths of this riser nipple is currently computer generated. Use the Length Determination radio buttons to change that. If you have a large number to change, then pick the Edit Riser Nipples (ERN) button on the Riser Nipple flyout. This will display the following dialog box:

Picking the first button will alllow you to change a group of riser nipple to computer generated or back. If you select the second button, the result will be the same as if you double-clicked ont he riser nipple in the first place.

Q4 – The riser nipple is listing as a part of the line, but should be part of a main

A4 – Change the This Pipe is a drop down field

…

Q5 – It's something else

A5 – Notice that the Diameter, Length and Type of Riser Nipple may also be changed here

Say you have a standard return bend. A 1" 0-4 (CC) feeding an armover that feeds a head. It looks something like this:

Now say you need to offset that head to the next tile up, but want to keep the same connection point to the branch line. In short, you want it to look like this:

Here is how you do it:

1. Using grips, select the head and pipe and drag them to the new location

2. Pick the pipe and the unmoved pipe dimension. Select the middle grip of the pipe dimension, thereby making it the 'hot' grip (this is the insertion point of the dim) and put it near the moved pipe. Do NOT put it exactly at the midpoint of the pipe

Result:

3. Pick Update Pipe Lengths (UP) from the Size Pipe flyout to recalculate and reconnect the pipe size:

4. Now, double-click on the riser nipple. This will tell you to select a vertical pipe. Pick the riser nipple. Pick one of the SPIN buttons repeatedly until the outlet aligns with the pipe, then pick APPLY:

Note that you can change the type of riser nipple as well, from an RN to a Dn to drop down to a head, for example.

You are now done. The next release of HydraCAD (V51.11, V50.11) will have the added feature whereby the Update Pipe Lengths command will also rotate the pipe dimension to match the angle of the armover.

These steps can even be done if your armover pipe size has been shrunken (Scale Pipe Sizes Down command on the Pipe Size flyout [SCLSIZE] or through AutoLine) or hidden (Hide Attributes command [HAT] or through AutoLine)

I stumbled across this AutoCAD command today while looking for a solution to another problem:

"ATTSYNC – Updates block references with new and changed attributes from a specified block definition.

Use this command to update all instances of a block containing attributes that was redefined using the BLOCK or BEDIT commands. ATTSYNC does not change any values assigned to attributes in existing blocks."

I am sure many of have run across this problem: The background has blocks with attributes and you want to get rid of one, or add one. You could use ATTSYNC to update each block with the added attribute or have it remove the extra one. The change can be made by creating a new block (BLOCK command) or by editing the existing one (BEDIT command).

The BEDIT editor is pretty cool. Say, the background drawing has a light fixture, door or window with pieces in seven layers. You can use BEDIT to change all items to one layer. Upon closing the editor, all blocks on the drawing will be updated with the changes. You should check it out.

In V50/V51 we consolidated all the hanger details (and fittings, riser details, etc) into group drawings. To create your own hanger detail it is probably best to modify one we already have. From the CLEANUP toolbar, select the second button (which is a flyout) and select Hanger Details. This will open a drawing containing all the details we have.

Lets say you want to use a Hilti HDI-P fasteners. Since HydraCAD does not have a hanger with that fastener, find one that is close. The fifth hanger uses a Hilti Shield. This looks close enough, so it will be easy to modify it. Change the text to say Hilti HDI-P (you may need to explode the hanger block, first). Then SAVE this drawing. It is a good idea to make a backup of this drawing as well, in case we update it. Next time you pick the Hanger Details command, your version will come up. Add your hanger number in between the 'Typical' and 'Hanger' words.

Note – To insert these hanger details into your drawing, select what you want, pick the Edit->Copy with Basepoint command and select the base point you want. In your target drawing, pick the Edit->Paste command.

In my opinion, probably the best new feature in AutoCAD 2012 is the Viewport Label Menu. This is in the upper left of the drawing area:

Especially when it comes to 3D fittings. Lets say you created a 3D riser and you want to display the SW Isometric View and have the Visual Style of Conceptual applied to it. Just pick the [TOP] part of the menu and select SW Isometric.

Then pick the [2D Wireframe] part of the menu and select Conceptual.

Nice and easy.

We all have drawings that go bad. Over time, the minor errors build up and overwhelm the ability of AutoCAD to cope. How do we attempt to fix them? This is our usual plan of attack, in order:

1. Run RECOVER

2. Run Super Purge (PURG)

3. Start a new drawing and insert bad drawing into it

4. Start a new drawing and copy and paste objects from bad drawing to new drawing