Das Boot! RC1

[mjdanowski]

I have heard a lot of people request this, and have been in the process of upgrading my old rigged up version of it into something a lot more usable. Therefore, I have decided to release the "boot" takeoff that I have made for rectangular ducts.

Some key features:

- Ability to change angle of sloped "boot"
- Ability to change the protruding length of the takeoff (whilst keeping the boot angle specified)
- Ability to "switch" boot facing without having to deal with the mirror command (because that generally screws something up)
- Insulation and lining support
- Festive family name

Please post here or send me a PM if you experience any errors/problems.

[kyle.bernhardt]

In the spirit of one-upping Matt :p, I saw this one and I figured I'd post a version of this takeoff that I helped build when I was in support.

This one has all sorts of bells and whistles, as I got engrossed with fixing it one afternoon, and my trig hand was strong that day.

It adheres to SMACNA standards OOTB (Takeoff Length = 0.25 * Duct Width, 4" Minimum), but allows you to override both the length and the angle if desired, so this is really all that you need. To accomplish this, there are a bunch of nested IF statements that drive the dimensions, have fun going through it if you'd like.

I actually forgot about this family until I saw this thread, now it's time to get it into the product.

Cheers,
Kyle B

P.S. As this is not an officially released piece of content, it has not been through our QA process. Therefore I cannot gaurantee its behavior on all cases.

[dmb.100468]

These are great, thanks guys. I'm having trouble getting them to work on vertical duct. I can rotate the fitting so that it works, as long as the duct is square. But if the duct is rectangular, the dimensions of the fitting do not change when it is rotated so it looks mismatched.

Also, any modification to the vertical duct being tapped into reverts the fitting back to its default orientation.

Just some input, I'm not complaining......really, these are great to have, thanks again!

[mjdanowski]

These are great, thanks guys. I'm having trouble getting them to work on vertical duct. I can rotate the fitting so that it works, as long as the duct is square. But if the duct is rectangular, the dimensions of the fitting do not change when it is rotated so it looks mismatched.

Also, any modification to the vertical duct being tapped into reverts the fitting back to its default orientation.

Just some input, I'm not complaining......really, these are great to have, thanks again!

Whose version do you get that error with?

[dmb.100468]

Sorry, I should have specified.

I get the condition with both families.

[Michael.c]

WOW! Christmas has come early!
Thanks Kyle / MJ. Looks like just what we need.
Interesting post from DMB re not working with vertical ducts. I've not had a chance to experiment myself yet (only just seen the posts) but I would hope that if there is a problem here, a solution wouldn't be hard to find. They are a "must use" fitting in risers in a multi-storey building.

Thanks guys,

Michael

[Michael.c]

Only problem is....it's imperial. I need a metric version.
Any suggestions?

[mjdanowski]

Only problem is....it's imperial. I need a metric version.
Any suggestions?

I am a little dumb with metric in Revit as I have never used it before, but can't you change your project units to metric and it will just scale accordingly? There aren't any parameters that I know of that is based upon dimensions, it is all ratios and additions.

[kyle.bernhardt]

I am a little dumb with metric in Revit as I have never used it before, but can't you change your project units to metric and it will just scale accordingly? There aren't any parameters that I know of that is based upon dimensions, it is all ratios and additions.

You're correct Matt. You can also change your Project Units in the Family Definition so any dimensions can be entered in Metric units.

For my version of the Family, I set the length of the Boot to be 1/4 * W of the takeoff down to 16" width, after which point I lock the length to 4". I would suspect that a Metric version would have a different length minimum that 4". That would be all you need to change in my case.


Kyle B

[Michael.c]

Well, a few weeks later and we have had a degree of success with this fitting. (see attached)
It looks fine, but there is still one problem, it doesn't actually "connect" to the main duct. It 'snaps' to it, but it doesn't actually become part of the system.

Any suggestions

Thanks,



Michael

[mjdanowski]

Well, a few weeks later and we have had a degree of success with this fitting. (see attached)
It looks fine, but there is still one problem, it doesn't actually "connect" to the main duct. It 'snaps' to it, but it doesn't actually become part of the system.

Any suggestions

Thanks,



Michael


How do regular takeoffs function (stock ones), also can you make a section single line with it and post a screen shot?

Thanks

[Michael.c]

How do regular takeoffs function (stock ones), also can you make a section single line with it and post a screen shot?

Thanks

When you say "regular take-offs (stock ones) " I assume you're referring to the ones that come with the software? If you are, then I guess they 'work' ok in that they maintain connectivity in the system, but they are not what we want. What we require is simply this 'shoe' (or 'boot' - or whatever type of footware it looks like!)....this is what we would be drawing in AutoCAD so this is what we want to see in Revit. Not wishing to put to fine a point on it, but it is simply not acceptable to allow the limitations of Revit to influence our documentation....

Re the screen shot, see attached.
The view on the right is the 'course' view, the single line section...and the view on the left is the 'Fine' view. (Although in this view there appears to be a small gap between boot and vertical duct, they do actually touch. It's a graphic thing I think)
I hope this is what you were after.

Thanks, Matt


Michael

[mjdanowski]

When you say "regular take-offs (stock ones) " I assume you're referring to the ones that come with the software? If you are, then I guess they 'work' ok in that they maintain connectivity in the system, but they are not what we want. What we require is simply this 'shoe' (or 'boot' - or whatever type of footware it looks like!)....this is what we would be drawing in AutoCAD so this is what we want to see in Revit. Not wishing to put to fine a point on it, but it is simply not acceptable to allow the limitations of Revit to influence our documentation....

Re the screen shot, see attached.
The view on the right is the 'course' view, the single line section...and the view on the left is the 'Fine' view. (Although in this view there appears to be a small gap between boot and vertical duct, they do actually touch. It's a graphic thing I think)
I hope this is what you were after.

Thanks, Matt


Michael

Is this connection centered or offset on the big duct (on the right).

[Michael.c]

Is this connection centered or offset on the big duct (on the right).


It must be able to be connected at any point specified, so no, not necessarily centred, though often it might be.

[Michael.c]

Any answer on this one yet, or will we need to live with the ducts not being connected....?

[mjdanowski]

I actually have no idea why it is doing that. The "connection" to the duct is actually through the duct being taken off, not so much through the boot itself. It might be something to do with vertical ducts in general.

[Michael.c]

I guess it is not likely to work if there is not 'connector' in the main duct, and I would imagine that the orientation of the main duct, being either vertical or horizontal, would make little difference. It seems that this problem has arrisen because there is no specific connection in the main duct, such as a 'T' or a 'Y' piece, which seems to be required to maintain the connectivity.

This type of fitting is designed purely to tap into the side of another duct without the other duct necessarily changing size, and in cases where it does change, the main duct transition is downstream (or upstream depending on the airflow direction) of the take-off anyway.

Is this 'Das Boot' fitting is a very commonly used item in the US? It certainly is in Australia (and the UK from memory).

Maybe there needs to be some way of placing a 'connector' at any specified point on the side of the duct.

[trythefly]

Well, a few weeks later and we have had a degree of success with this fitting. (see attached)
It looks fine, but there is still one problem, it doesn't actually "connect" to the main duct. It 'snaps' to it, but it doesn't actually become part of the system.

Any suggestions

Thanks,



Michael

How did you get the part to work correctly on vertical ducts? I am building a similar fitting and need to make it rotate to a vertical duct.

[Michael.c]

How did you get the part to work correctly on vertical ducts? I am building a similar fitting and need to make it rotate to a vertical duct.

We built one from scratch, John, and appart from the connectivity issue, it seems to work fine. It can be rotated anyway you wish.

Cheers,

Michael

[trythefly]

Thanks for sharing. I'm trying to make mine work since I already have the geometry the way I like.
===================================
What would cause a takeoff to default vertical when connecting to a horizontal duct? The fitting I made is acting differently all of a sudden.

Is there a way to toggle the placement before you click on a duct? I have tried spacebar, no luck.

[Michael.c]

What would cause a takeoff to default vertical when connecting to a horizontal duct?

Is there a way to toggle the placement before you click on a duct?

No idea to both of these I'm afraid, John. I hope someone else might be able to offer something....??

[shd.haynes]

Thanks for sharing all you effort!! I really appreciate it, you just saved me a ton of time.

[shd.haynes]

Has anyone found a similar duct take off for 'high efficiency' rect to round takeoffs?

Thanks

[wea]

I spent a few hours on trying to create a boot tap. Finally i gave up and found this forum. I appreciate the uploaded family type guys!

I do have a question about the file though. Why am I not able to enter most of the dimension values that I need in the element properties? Am I using the file wrong?

I am new to Revit by the way, I would appreciate any help you guys could give me on this questions.

Thank you,

wea

[Beancud]

This post is fantastic. I'm now very happy with the shoe from Kyle!

Now if only we can apply a similar method to a round duct shoe take offs.... if the same method could be applied. 0_0

[Liamnacuac]

I know I design with Boot-tees on retagular duct. Are there flat oval Boot-tees, or beveled fittings available? I honestly haven't looked.....

Is this 'Das Boot' fitting is a very commonly used item in the US? It certainly is in Australia (and the UK from memory).

Maybe there needs to be some way of placing a 'connector' at any specified point on the side of the duct.[/QUOTE]

[Michael.c]

I know I design with Boot-tees on retagular duct. Are there flat oval Boot-tees, or beveled fittings available? I honestly haven't looked...

"flat oval Boot-tees"?
Still no flat oval anything yet....as far as I am aware

[Michael.c]

Is this 'Das Boot' fitting is a very commonly used item in the US? It certainly is in Australia (and the UK from memory).

Maybe there needs to be some way of placing a 'connector' at any specified point on the side of the duct.

!!?? Wasn't that something I said in post number 17, this thread??

[ran.154477]

I also need to tap into the side of a duct. If it doesn't retain connectivity, what's the point of using Revit? I need to use a tap like this on the side of a round spiral duct, then right out to a side-wall diffuser. Go down to your local bar, sit down, and look up. This type of duct system is valid and very common.

Is the solution, to make a custom type of Tee (that includes this boot)? I think you could snap the "Tee" to the end of a duct, then out of the boot end, snap a diffuser (or another duct). The other end of the "Tee', could go on with more duct, and end-cap, or what ever.

The contractor really wouldn't build a real Tee, he would just cut a hole in the side of the trunk duct. I think there is a way hide the "Tee" with (transparent?) model lines, to hide this workaround.

[Liamnacuac]

!!?? Wasn't that something I said in post number 17, this thread??

Yes you did! I don't know why it did come across as a quote. I pushed the quote button and got that!

I beleive there are a lot of companies preferring to use flat oval because you get the performance and ease of installation of both retangular duct and spiral duct from it (please correct me if I'm wrong, guys). Yes i know a flat oval Boot fitting can be created. even flat oval Y fittings.

I also agree that if we can't get a simple fitting such as a boot duct fiitng to work, then we have issues...

[kirby-h]

Thanks for the great info.
Has anyone found a "boot takeoff" for round duct?

[rk31]

Can anyone tell me how to create a transition using this family? I saved both families as transitions, but the results from both don't work. I basically need to have a bigger duct turning into a smaller one along the same line, with such a connection in between.

[kyle.bernhardt]

I'm not sure I understand the type of fitting you want, care to post a screen grab of what you're seeking?

Cheers,
Kyle B

[rk31]

Kyle,

Thanks for your help. The fitting I am trying to draw is from Duct A to Duct B in the attached sketch. I could draw from A to C using your family. I'm sure the solution is quite simple, but I just can't figure out yet. Thanks again.

[kyle.bernhardt]

You don't need a custom fitting for this, we ship content in the default catalog that will do that, you just need to use the Justify tool.

I'm sure if you search these forums ofr Google you'll be able to find out details on this. I'm short on time today otherwise I'd go into more detail.

If you still have questions after you've looked around, let me know.

Cheers,
Kyle B

[rk31]

Kyle,

It worked for me. I knew it was something simple that I just hadn't thought of. Thanks again for your help!

[kevinaldo]

do we still have connectivity issue? I can't get it to work

[cokerm948452]

is there anyway to add a manual volume damper into a bootee take off or regular spin in take off for ductwork?

[Liamnacuac]

If you create a new family


is there anyway to add a manual volume damper into a bootee take off or regular spin in take off for ductwork?

[ali.fikry24692977]

THANK YOU VERY MATCH IT'S VERY USEFUL AND I SEARCHED FOR THIS FITTING TOO MATCH YOU ARE A PRO THANKS

[bbp660684]

hi, kindly help to use bevel tap fittings to connect branch duct line to main duct line. i failed to do that.even i am unable to change beveled tap's default dimensions.