The H-Factor

Reducing Entropy

Recent Posts

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…

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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

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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…

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September 2026
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  • Speak To Me – or – Checkups Congratulations Message

    Many years ago, customers asked us to give them an 'atta boy' for getting no errors when running Checkups. That evolved from just the Congratulations dialog box to the dialog plus the Congratulations spoken message.

    The voice being used depends on the version of Windows you have. On Windows XP, the voice is officially known as Microsoft Bob. Windows Vista is Microsoft Mary. Windows 7 is Microsoft Anna. You can download additional voices if you want and you can change the speed and other options as well. To do this:

    1.       Open control panel, click on speech recognition.

    2.       In advanced speech option, click on text to speech tab.

    3.       Select the voice from the drop down of Voice select.

    If you are tired of The Voice, don't despair. The next release (50.10/51.10) of HydraCAD will give an option to turn off the voice, period

    Oh – and one other thing. There has been a hidden command in HydraCAD for a few years now. Type in SPEAK at the command line and enter a message. It will be spoken back to you. Amuse your friends!

  • AutoCalc – Assigning Fittings to Use for Elbows and Tees

    One of the longstanding requests from customers has been to be able to use other than E and T for their Elbows and Tees when they AutoCalc. They may be calcing a CPVC job, so they want to use other fittings that are assigned to CPVC specific products, for example. Or they may use FireLock fittings, and want to use them. Well, V50.08 and V51.08 made that possible!

    When setting up your pipe schedule (the Sizing button in the AutoCalc dialog box), notice the columns on the right pertaining to various fittings and a new Alter Ftn Definitions button. It is here that you can now specify the fittings that should be used with each pipe type.

    PS1

    Over in HydraCALC, the fitting selection box (activated by right-clicking in the Fitting column) shows which fittings are currently available for a given pipe diameter. Notice the letters O through R are preset to reference CPVC fittings (below).

    PS2

    Now pick the Alter Ftn Definitions button. Then select the CPVC pipe type from the Pipe Type list. Int he Default row, type in the letters you want to reference for each fitting type (below).

    PS3

    Pick Ok on this dialog box. Then, pick Ok on the Pipe Schedule dialog box and reopen it by pick the Sizing button, as you did to start. If you select CPVC as the pipe type to use for any of the components found in the Sizing screen (Straight Feed Line Pipe, Grid Main Pipe, UG, etc), the corresponding assigned letters will display it the comlumns at right. These fitting letters will be assigned when you AutoCalc the next time.

  • Using FIELDs in AutoCAD

    A customer needed to draw a polyline around a floor section of a building and wanted the area of the floor section (square feet) to be attached to it. This can be done with fields, and can many cool things. In fact, this exact feature is how we are creating remote areas with the square foot/meterage area attached to it.

    1. Draw the polyline and make sure it is 'closed'

    2. Type in FIELD

    3. Pick Field category and select 'Objects'. This will add options to the Field names: field

    4. Pick 'Object' in the Field names: field

    5. Pick the Select Object button (next to Object type:) and select the polyline. This will display the properties that can be derived from the polyline.

    6. Select Architectural from the Format: field. This will give you square feet

    7. Pick OK and select where you want the text to be displayed

    Ar

    The Additional Format… button will let you further refine your answer.

    This feature has enormous potential. If you'd liek to see us use it in other of our commands, let us know.

  • Using Your Own Tool Palettes

    Each time HydraCAD is updated, we replace our tool palettes. This is because we have been adding things to them since they were first created. This causes a problem with those who make their own palettes. There are two options here:

    If you wish to use your own palettes and our palettes:

    Create your palettes. Then, right-click on the title bar of the palettes. Pick the Customize tool. Then, right click on your tool palette and pick Export. This will create a permanent copy of your palette. Then, open up the HydraCAD tool palette, repreat the above steps, picking Import this time. The Import step will need to be done after each update of HydraCAD

    If you wish to use your own palettes but not our palettes:

    Go into AutoCAD OPTIONS and pick the files tab. Then, pick Tool Palette File Locations and set that to your own palette folder.

  • How to Remove all Autodesk Products to Ensure a Clean Install

    This happens once in a while: You try to install an autodesk product and it says you must rmeove all software first. Add/Remove Programs doesn't seme to do it. What's next?

    Autodesk has produced a white paper on the subject here:

    Removing Autodesk Products

    If that does not work, and it appears that there might be remnants left on your computer, try this next:

    you can use the Microsoft install cleanup fix-it tool to clean it out of the registry. Follow the below steps. 

    Load the Microsoft install cleanup fix-it tool to clean unwanted programs out of the registry:

    http://support.microsoft.com/mats/Program_Install_and_Uninstall

    1.) Click the "Run now" Button in the Fix-it box
    2.) Accept the License Agreement
    3.) Choose the option "Detect Problems and let me select fixes to apply"
    4.) Select "Uninstalling"
    5.) When the list of installed programs populates, select the one from the list you are unable to uninstall and then click next and yes
    6.) When the tool completes There may be remnants left so please delete the directory where the product was installed if it exists. 

    Once this completes try to install your Autdesk products again.

  • Can’t See a Dialog Box? How to Bring it Back Onscreen (Updated)

    Occasionally, you may start a command, but nothing seems to happen. Often it is  because you cannot see a dialog box that is opening, and it is off screen waiting for your input. This can happen from reducing resolution or going from two screens to one, or from bringing a laptop and hooking it up to different display devices.

    There are two way to address this:

    Option 1 – Move just one suspected 'lost' dialog box:

    1. Start the command in question
    2. Hold down the ALT key and press the Spacebar
    3. Let go and press the M button
    4. You can now use the arrow keys on the keyboard to move the dialog (wherever it may be)

    Once you use at least one arrow key to move it, you can then use the mouse to continue moving it.


    Option 2 – Resetting all dialogs to display

    In HydraCAD, use the Restore Default Dialog Locations tool in the HydraTools->Options menu. This will reset all of them at once!

    Aa1

  • Fine Tuning Your 3D Performance in AutoCAD

    Thanks to a long time customer, I now know about the AutoCAD command for tuning up your 3D performance. It is 3DCONFIG.

    This brings up the 'Advanced Degradation and Performance Tuning' tool (sounds futuristic, eh?). From here you can tweak this or that to speed up 3D, but some of the highlights are as follows:

    1. Check for Updates: This will check for updates to your display driver

    2. View Tune Log: This will tell you if your card is certified by Autodesk. It will also list which features are available or not available for your card and will tell you what driver version you are currently using.

    3. Manual Tune: This feature lets you turn on features that are not turned on by default for your particular situation, such as Hardware Acceleration. This is one I am going to turn on myself, to see what happens. If I don't ever post again, my machine crashed an I lost access to this blog and you will never hear from me again.

    Autodesk has published a white paper on this topic, and it includes a number of handy tips. View it HERE.

  • Creating Pressure Loss Curves in HydraCALC

    Say you want to add a loss curve for a new device. Here's what you do:

    1. Open HydraCALC
    2. Pick the Utility pulldown menu and then pick Alter Pipe/Fittings
    3. Go to the bottom of the table and you will see other curves here (all are defined as a Z fitting)
    4. In the first open line, pick Z from the first column, then pick Curve from the second
    5. In the third column put in a three letter short name. The first needs to be upper case and the next two lower case
    6. In the fourth column type in a description of this device (make, model)

    LossCurve1

    7. On the right half of the table you will see columns with diameters from 1/2" to 24". Locate the one corresponding to the size you need and click in it

    LossCurve1

    8. You can now 'draw' the curve by either picking and dragging the six points on the existing straight line or you can type in six values for Pressure (P1, etc) and Flow (Q1, etc). You can also adjust the scale of the curve by changing the flow and pressure increments. Notice the default is in PSI, click this to change it to bar or kPa. Pick the Save button.

    This will place an X in the diameter column you were in. Continue for any other sizes you might need. To remove a curve, arrow over to the X you no longer want and pick the Delete button at the top of the screen.

  • Speeding up Large 3D Jobs

    Are your drawing getting really, really big and slowing down the raising up of your drawing and the AutoCalc and AutoList processes? Are you carrying around huge background drawings?

    XREFing in the background drawings doesn't help. But there is something that does:

    Plot the background drawings to a DWF and then XREF the DWF in. This can reduce the elevation time up to 80%. In fact, you can plot each series of layers to a DWF (ie Steel layers, Wall layers, etc) to individual XREFS and then use the XREF Manager to Unload and Reload as you want to see or not see certain things.

    Another thing – If you have many floors in a single drawing, you should be using System Boundaries to isolate those parts of the building you are currently calcing or listing. If the drawing is still slow, consider reducing the number of floors per sheet. It may seem easy to keep everything on one drawing but every time you do anything – even a move or copy – you are paying a price.

  • Navis Manage vs. Navis Simulate – What are the Differences?

    Considering that Manage costs so much more than Simluate. why get it? This comparison matrix helps you figure it out. While you can buy Simulate and upgrade to Manage,you won't get full trade-in value. And what abot Freedom?

    Navis Product Matrix

    On another note, if you press Ctrl+Z to undo something, you can also type Ctrl+Y to redo it.As I fortuitously remembered while typing this post and almost wiping it out.