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Save on the products you need with the AEC Collection and discover the toolkit that expands your skill set.
Save on the products you need with the PDM Collection and discover the toolkit that expands your skill set.
PDM Collection includes:
Save on the products you need with the ME Collection and discover the toolkit that expands your skill set.
Transcript
00:01
In this video, we will cover placing MEP connectors and adjusting connector properties.
00:09
In this project several components have been placed.
00:14
When you select a component, you can see various options on the contextual ribbon in the create systems panel.
00:22
These options are indicative of the connectors that have been placed on the component.
00:28
The connectors control the system that the component can be added to.
00:34
For example, when I select this duplex receptacle, you can see that there is a power option in the create systems panel.
00:43
Let's take a closer look at connectors.
00:47
I'll click Edit Family to open the family in the family editor.
00:53
To begin, the tools to place connectors are located on the create ribbon in the connectors panel.
01:00
This controls the discipline of the connector, along with the systems that it can be added to.
01:07
For example, I'll click electrical connector.
01:12
When placing a connector there are two placement options.
01:16
Place on face and place on work plane.
01:21
Typically place on face will work and give you plenty of control over the connector.
01:27
Place on work plane can also be used in certain situations.
01:33
I'll click Modify to end the command and then I'll select the connector that has already been placed.
01:41
When I look at the system type, you can see that it is set to power-unbalanced.
01:46
And since it's a power type I could have added it to a power system back in Revit.
01:53
In other words, I could added it to a circuit, when I expand this drop down you can see several other options.
02:01
You see power balanced and power-unbalanced along with several low voltage systems for the power unbalanced connectors.
02:13
You can also control the number of poles and then you can control the power factor state which can be lagging or leading.
02:23
The load classification is also important as that controls the load classification in Revit,
02:30
and in this case you can see that this parameter is greyed out and that there is an equal sign in the associate family parameter button.
02:38
That's because this parameter has been associated to a family parameter.
02:43
And so it's always good to create family parameters and then associate parameters from the connectors to those family parameters.
02:52
That will give you a little more control over your connectors when they're on a component that's been loaded into a project,
02:60
you'll also see that the voltage and the Apparent Load Phase 1 have associated parameters.
03:07
In this case the voltage of the connector is associated to the switch voltage parameter.
03:16
I'll click OK to close that dialog.
03:18
And then lastly you can see that you can control the power factor.
03:23
I'll deselect this and then switch back to the project and I'll select the receptacle again.
03:31
When I click Edit Type you can see the switch voltage parameter along with the load classification.
03:39
So now I can control the voltage and the load classification of that connector for the family right here in the project.
03:49
So just to summarize, it's good practice to create family parameters and then associate the connector parameters to those family parameters.
03:60
Next I'll select this security device and then click edit family in the contextual ribbon.
04:07
When I select this connector, you can see that the system type is security and there's really not many parameters for security connectors.
04:18
I can I can specify connector description which will help when I'm adding this component to a system.
04:25
But other than that there's really not much there.
04:28
Same thing for the other low voltage systems here.
04:32
Surely not many parameters that you have to deal with.
04:35
But if I were to select power-balanced or power-unbalanced, then you could see there are several other parameters.
04:45
I'll close this and not make any changes.
04:49
And then lastly, let's select a cable tray fitting and then click edit family.
04:57
And when I look at cable tray or conduit fittings, you'll notice that the connectors will be a little bit different.
05:03
First off they are cable tray or conduit connectors,
05:07
and then there are different options that they have as far as different parameters, mainly the size.
05:15
The size of the connector is important when you're dealing with conduit and cable tray,
05:19
but once again, you will want to associate those two parameters that control the geometry of the fitting.
05:28
So in this, in this case we have a tray height parameter that's being used to control the height of our cable tray connector.
05:38
If you notice these dashed lines in the drawing area, they simply indicate that the connectors have been linked.
05:48
So you can see here there's a remove link option in the contextual ribbon, as well as a link connectors option.
05:54
And when you see this dash line, it means that they've been linked together.
05:59
So electrical connectors, those are going to control the circuits that they've been at, that they can be added to,
06:06
and then cable tray and conduit that's going to control your cable tray and conduit connections in the project.
06:13
And the important thing there is really the size.
Video transcript
00:01
In this video, we will cover placing MEP connectors and adjusting connector properties.
00:09
In this project several components have been placed.
00:14
When you select a component, you can see various options on the contextual ribbon in the create systems panel.
00:22
These options are indicative of the connectors that have been placed on the component.
00:28
The connectors control the system that the component can be added to.
00:34
For example, when I select this duplex receptacle, you can see that there is a power option in the create systems panel.
00:43
Let's take a closer look at connectors.
00:47
I'll click Edit Family to open the family in the family editor.
00:53
To begin, the tools to place connectors are located on the create ribbon in the connectors panel.
01:00
This controls the discipline of the connector, along with the systems that it can be added to.
01:07
For example, I'll click electrical connector.
01:12
When placing a connector there are two placement options.
01:16
Place on face and place on work plane.
01:21
Typically place on face will work and give you plenty of control over the connector.
01:27
Place on work plane can also be used in certain situations.
01:33
I'll click Modify to end the command and then I'll select the connector that has already been placed.
01:41
When I look at the system type, you can see that it is set to power-unbalanced.
01:46
And since it's a power type I could have added it to a power system back in Revit.
01:53
In other words, I could added it to a circuit, when I expand this drop down you can see several other options.
02:01
You see power balanced and power-unbalanced along with several low voltage systems for the power unbalanced connectors.
02:13
You can also control the number of poles and then you can control the power factor state which can be lagging or leading.
02:23
The load classification is also important as that controls the load classification in Revit,
02:30
and in this case you can see that this parameter is greyed out and that there is an equal sign in the associate family parameter button.
02:38
That's because this parameter has been associated to a family parameter.
02:43
And so it's always good to create family parameters and then associate parameters from the connectors to those family parameters.
02:52
That will give you a little more control over your connectors when they're on a component that's been loaded into a project,
02:60
you'll also see that the voltage and the Apparent Load Phase 1 have associated parameters.
03:07
In this case the voltage of the connector is associated to the switch voltage parameter.
03:16
I'll click OK to close that dialog.
03:18
And then lastly you can see that you can control the power factor.
03:23
I'll deselect this and then switch back to the project and I'll select the receptacle again.
03:31
When I click Edit Type you can see the switch voltage parameter along with the load classification.
03:39
So now I can control the voltage and the load classification of that connector for the family right here in the project.
03:49
So just to summarize, it's good practice to create family parameters and then associate the connector parameters to those family parameters.
03:60
Next I'll select this security device and then click edit family in the contextual ribbon.
04:07
When I select this connector, you can see that the system type is security and there's really not many parameters for security connectors.
04:18
I can I can specify connector description which will help when I'm adding this component to a system.
04:25
But other than that there's really not much there.
04:28
Same thing for the other low voltage systems here.
04:32
Surely not many parameters that you have to deal with.
04:35
But if I were to select power-balanced or power-unbalanced, then you could see there are several other parameters.
04:45
I'll close this and not make any changes.
04:49
And then lastly, let's select a cable tray fitting and then click edit family.
04:57
And when I look at cable tray or conduit fittings, you'll notice that the connectors will be a little bit different.
05:03
First off they are cable tray or conduit connectors,
05:07
and then there are different options that they have as far as different parameters, mainly the size.
05:15
The size of the connector is important when you're dealing with conduit and cable tray,
05:19
but once again, you will want to associate those two parameters that control the geometry of the fitting.
05:28
So in this, in this case we have a tray height parameter that's being used to control the height of our cable tray connector.
05:38
If you notice these dashed lines in the drawing area, they simply indicate that the connectors have been linked.
05:48
So you can see here there's a remove link option in the contextual ribbon, as well as a link connectors option.
05:54
And when you see this dash line, it means that they've been linked together.
05:59
So electrical connectors, those are going to control the circuits that they've been at, that they can be added to,
06:06
and then cable tray and conduit that's going to control your cable tray and conduit connections in the project.
06:13
And the important thing there is really the size.
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