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Hi friends, this is my first post here . I am relatively new to Autocad MEP . I recently got a job as Mechanical Engineer in an HVAC design and installation firm in a junior level, and I need to practice before joining. I tried learning the software by my own through youtube and several of my doubts have cleared through google. But some things cannot be solved by google search and hence I have arrived here. I have taken the autocad 2d plan of my own house from my Dad , and started practicing drawing and sizing the ducts . I have attached the dwg file here : Final file - https://www.dropbox.com/s/84lqro3b701m6lk/mukatra.dwg?dl=0 Used for Xref ground floor plan- https://www.dropbox.com/s/x8e241aat9pukye/Mukkatra%20mep%20ground.dwg?dl=0 Used for Xref first floor plan- https://www.dropbox.com/s/rqfe5xoyxwhe8r2/Mukkatra%20mep%20first.dwg?dl=0 These are my doubts: 1) I wish to know my duct modelling method is correct or not . I roughly estimated the flowrate required for each room , divided it by the number of diffusers that I wish to place , got the flow rate for each diffuser and assigned it to each diffuser after placing them in a room.I followed this step for all rooms . Then I started the duct drawing . I chose 2 line duct method and started from the major trunk , selected all diffusers of the same floor , got total flow rate and and duct size was obtained (medium pressure lane - velocity around 5m/s). Is this the right method ? 2) I roughly placed the diffusers just to practice drafting. In the professional way, how to place them at particular distance from walls? I know the array function only . May be this question is dump ,but trust me I am new to Autocad thts why. 3) I have assigned different layers for each floor , ie blue for ground floor ducts and red for 1st floor ducts. This was done hoping that I can hide them when needed to take print out . Sorry for my stupid idea , plz tell me which is the real method to take prints in 2d for each floor separately . 4) While taking the 2d view after hiding all other floors , some of my ducts and connectors are partially visible . Its like if some portion got erased with an eraser partially. How to fix this ? 5) This one might be the stupidest of all. Does layer color come in printout ? If I choose light green , Its barely visible ? like that? or all comes in black ? 6) In the schedule table , which I plan to create consisting of duct length and duct size , I wish to give them a series-name or tag . And I need these tags to appear in the drawing on each ducts or very near it. I have no idea how to create tags for ducts. I can only see tags for air terminals and some other stuffs. I need tags for all the things in my drawing. My wish is to make the drawing easy to understand. A simple numbering over the ducts or equipment will be enough . I will sort and group them in scheduling table. 7) Some say , autocad 2d is used for hvac drafting in most companies . Why dont they use Autocad MEP ? The standard library of autocad mep doesnt match with SMACNA standards? Or is it the difficulty to create custom equipment in the library ? Or is it the fact that even if we make in 3d , the printout will be always in 2d ? All the features in autocad 2d can be done in 3d anyway right? Is it possible to change the diameter of an air terminal like diffuser in our list of diffusers ? I know they have different diameters or l x b , but I wish to knw the method for modifying it. When I googled , I saw a big tough method to import a library list or something like this and copy the default list etc etc . I just need to create a new diffuser with a custom diameter with the existing design, possible ? 9) Usually , is schedule table printed along with the plan ? or is it just exported to excel and taken print ? Can the method of scheduling used to create bill of materials in excel ? Is this feature available in autocad 2d? This is a great advantage over autocad 2d? 10) The formula used in duct sizer is the same as the one in autocad mep right? duct sizer uses the simple formula - q= vA and darcy weibash equation right? the same with autocad right? 11) After I drafted , I didnt right click on my duct and choose - 'calculate duct sizes'. Since I had already sized the duct accordingly when drafting by the method described in point -1 . In the analysis tab - view by friction option was there. I was curious and tried it . But the all ducts were green in color despite I saw the duct friction loss higher than 0.7pa/m . Green was supposed to be Out of these questions , I wish to know about the right method to take print (mentioned in doubt 3) for duct plan in each floor separately and doubt 6 is very urgent and consumed my entire day. Please understand that I have been learning this for a week now by my own and many of my questions might be silly for you. The tutorials available in youtube is very less compared to some other software such as solidworks , catia , ansys or abaqus etc . So , each doubt takes a lot of time searching !! Please help guyz , Ill be really grateful . When I become expert in autocad , i will also be helping the new people , but I should master it first

Posted this at the Swamp too, hopefully something comes up. I'm having a bit of an issue trying to dig through the Display Manager to get the proper visual outcome for my Plan View mechanical piping. I simply started a QNEW drawing template defaulted from ACAD MEP. Using the MEP Design Display Configuration, any pipe that is 10" and larger shows up double line. When pipe is crossing over other pipe, it shows the hidden lines like you would expect, gives proper visual look of flanges, valves, etcetera. But in this Display Configuration any pipe 8" and smaller it shows single line, it has a symbolic "X" for flanges, etcetera. The only way to get everything to have a proper visual look of any size pipe, MvPart, or connection fitting is to change the Display Configuration to MEP Basic 2-line. In doing this, I lose the hidden line feature, so it looks very wireframe and can get messy in certain drawing situations. I have been digging and trying countless combinations in the Display Manager and I cannot figure out for the life of me what setting I need to adjust so that I can get (1) all sizes to show double line, (2) all MvParts and connection fittings to show properly, and (3) still have the hidden line feature functioning properly to provide accurate plan view visual information for the drawing. Any ideas? Thanks in advance. :wink: PS: Using AutoCAD MEP 2011.

First I'll say that currently this is stemming from an HVAC drafter/ designer that just wants to put out some quality drawings in an efficient amount of time with not a lot of hassle - kind of like in AutoCAD. This is also coming from 20+ years CAD experience here so I am not talking out of my arse. From AutoLISP programming to Revit I am a drafter/ designer. Thus far my findings are that Revit is a horrible drafting tool (or plotting tool) IMO. From poor representation of symbology to the far too involved annotation tools it is not worth a penny in the long run. It may have some nice features but if our clients didn't require a RVT model we'd NEVER use it. After using Revit for several years now it still does not impress me. The many steps required to accomplish a simple task (especially regarding display) are simply not worth the time spent especially given the final result. Not too long ago there was an article/ blog about how the production side of generating a 3D model for use in Revit is far more desirable a task to complete inside of AutoCAD MEP so drafting issues/ headaches are minimized & workflow is maximized. The article focused on keeping your efforts outside of the Revit platform for production & ONLY using a RVT file for submittal of your required 3D model at time of turn in. Hopefully there are others doing this already that could assist in reviewing the process here so that others, like myself, can start to be more productive in this unfortunate software program that is currently being shoved down the throat of the industry that we work in. Thanks in advance... I hope. Note: Currently using Revit MEP 14 & 15 as well as AutoCAD MEP 14. Learned CAD on v12 DOS a looooong time ago (ITT Tech) & self taught Revit over the past 5 years.

hello everybody, im making this question because in my company we are thinking about really step forward from regular Autocad to MEP, until now we have been only creating some 3d models of some specific parts of some projects to explain better how the installation should be done. However now, my boss is pretty excited with MEP and he things that we should start a project on MEP and design everything on it, even the duct size should be calculated on MEP and the Air flow should be taken from the spaces requirements available when we import from GBXML files. My question is, is it anyone really using the program this way? Is it everything working properly, which problems have you faced when you start your first project with MEP? Thank you very much for you help, Best regards, Rui Silva

G'day Everyone, I'm trying to roll a 45 degree circular elbow to pick up a 45 degree takeoff from a main vertical duct so as to save on using an extra bend and cannot work out how to do this. I have noticed when you select an elbow in your drawing there are grips which you can select to rotate it. I've tried clicking these then selecting the centreline, an edge, etc but cannot seem to line up the two objects. This is probably a simple thing to achieve however I cannot seem to get my head around it, any help would be greatly appreciated. The image below shows both plan view and front view, apologies for the different hatching, this seems to have come in as the default and being a newbie I'm not sure yet where to change it. Many thanks in advance. Have a great day! ROLL ELBOW.dwg

..How can I put dimension in a 3D drawing specially the height...and regarding the pipe support, I think only a channel hanger is existing in MEP 2011.How about support for the PPR and BS pipe?

Hi all. My company is fairly large for an electrical contractor, and we're all over the board in CAD experience. We have people that started as hand drafters back before computers (and STILL prefer hand Drafting over CAD or 3D CAD or even BIM), and we also have a couple proficient in BIM, and everyone else in between. We have been using AMEP for about 4 years now, but I can say that the only functions we've used on a regular basis were Conduit & Cable Tray, and NOTHING else. We've coordinated with other trades using Navisworks Manage for Collision Detection Analysis, but that's about as far as we've gone. For the past few weeks I've been exploring AutoCAD MEP and all of the other features it has to offer, and I must say I love it. Plus, it seems pretty powerful and flexible, and a great migration step to working in Revit MEP. However, not many of our jobs that are coming in use or require AMEP, let alone Revit. So my question to you all is, which software or Suite is best. Keep in mind we typically receive files from an Architect or Engineer in 2D format, receptacles are blocks (not Devices), etc. I would like to try to find some justification for moving MEP, but at the same time the more I think about it, the more I come to realize that as a contractor, it might not be worth it where 80% of the jobs we do are post-Engineer-Design. Of course on jobs that we're the Engineer, that's totally different, I would definitely try to use AMEP where applicable. Or even if the Arch/Eng firms provide us with all files necessary (APJ files, EPD files, etc), we could use that. Are there any Electrical Contractors out there on the same boat that could share their experience with the capabilities of AMEP or even Revit MEP.

I am running AutoCAD MEP 2012. Does anyone have a basic routine for a conduit leader?

I guess my question is clear, can I use revit parts made by manufacturers in AutoCAD MEP? example, grilles and diffuses (revit format) supplied by Titus: http://www.titus-hvac.com/software/Revit.asp Thank you very much!

Couldn't find a solution to this anywhere so hoping you guys can help... We are working with a client who is drawing there files in Autocad MEP. The issue is when XREF these drawing into ours they either show up like line diagrams (see image below) or not at all. We solved the not at all portion of the problem by starting with clean Autocad drawings and then xrefing other files after we reference in the MEP file. But I still can't find a way to get the pipe to show up correctly. On a side not if we open the piping file itself, we can see the pipes just fine. It just doesn't show up as an xref. I have tried not saving down to 2007 but to no avail. Also there don't appear to be any object enabler for Autocad MEP as there was for 2011. (The 2011 doesn't work for 2012.) Looking for some advice. Thanks!

How do i run Vanilla AutoCAD from AutoCAD MEP 2011? The "Right click on the AutoCAD MEP shortcut icon on your desktop and look for the 'Open File Location" does not work Thanks

Haven't used MEP since the 09 version, looking at the 2011 now. What I want to do is simply to pass a pipe with another pipe so that the bottom of one passes the top of the other. The closest I get is aligning the center of one with the bottom of the other. Anyone?