Steel Pipe Elbows

**choffman933493** · 2011-04-04, 09:58 PM

I am having the hardest time making new pipe types. I want to make a carbon steel pipe type using butt welded fittings. Revit doesn’t have the butt-welded option so I am trying to use the Elbow – Generic Standard from the library. I start with the Standard Pipe Type, then I edit the type and give it a different name “Steel”. I change the Material to Carbon Steel and the connection type to Welded and leave the class at Schedule 40. All of my fittings are still Generic – Standard. Back in the model I draw my pipe, making sure I have the new “Steel” style selected, but my the outside diameter of my elbows is not the same outside diameter of my pipe. I have tried editing the elbow family. I found that it was linked to CSV file. I edited the file and saved it as something else. In the family I made sure I was pointing to the new CSV file, but it still isn’t fixing my problem. I have run out of fixes to think of. Please help

Carrie

**RevitNinja** · 2011-04-05, 12:05 PM

A couple things come to mind right away:

If the elbow is not the same diameter as your pipe, it is not a problem with the .csv. It is a problem with the path to the .csv files. Go to Revit's program folder on your hard drive and open the Revit.ini file. Make sure that the path found for "LookUpTable Location" is pointing to the right place. These tables are normally stored on a server if the program was installed via network deployment. I have never seen these files stored on every user's individual machine in an office setting.

Also, the default elbow that Revit uses for a pipe type is dictated by the properties of that type. In the Project Browser under Pipes-->Pipe Types, right click on the desired pipe type and select "Type Properties" from the shortcut menu. It will open a dialog box where you can specify a different elbow for that pipe type. If you want a different elbow than the generic one (most of us do), then specify it right there.

Be aware that changing connection type, material, etc. has no effect on what fittings Revit places for a specific pipe. Those parameters primarily drive pipe diameters, quantities, and data that appears in schedules.

Note: After fixing the path to the lookups in the Revit.ini, you'll need to restart the program. HTH.

**choffman933493** · 2011-04-05, 02:55 PM

Ok the path to the csv is still the same because I saved it in the same folder as the original csv. I have done what you said and made sure the new elbow is the default elbow for my steel pipe. For the 5" and 6" pipe the elbow is almost fine, but the 4" is way off. The OD of my 4" pipe is 4.5" so that is what I made the OD for the elbow in the csv file. In my eblow family, for the Fitting Outside Diameter parameter there is a formula.
text_file_lookup(Lookup Table Name, "FOD", Nominal Diameter + 0' 0 1/2", Nominal Diameter).
I am thinking that this is wrong because I don't want the nominal diameter to add anything, I want it to be exactly what the size is in that csv file. I don't have alot of experience with the formulas. I have uploaded a picture of the parameters and the Xcel File I am using for my csv file. Maybe you can help me make sense of this