Need help with piping & plumbing

[SHANE_6575]

I just installed MEP and never used it before. I am currently working a project that needs to be in 3D (no more 2D plumbing drawings) I have tried the tutorials and they really didn't show me too much. I ran my supply lines and they all look good, but now I am trying to run all my drain lines and really can't figure out why they are not coming out right. I guess my question is, where do I begin, I tried starting off in plumbing, but can't get the pipes to look 3D, so I went to PIPING, am I starting off in the right direction?

Thanks,

[Steve_Bennett]

Please note I have moved this to the ABS General forum.

[Steve_Bennett]

Welcome to the community!

Please indicate which release of software (ie type & year) so others can better guide you in your quest of under taking this new platform.

[SHANE_6575]

I am using AutoCAD MEP 2008

[Stadtler]

I am working with Release 2007 but unless things have changed, use PIPING for 3D (double line pipe) That is where the 3D fittings are also.

[SHANE_6575]

If I need to design a plumbing layout in 3D with elevations, do I use the plumbing or piping part of MEP? Is there a book or something out there that would teach me a step by step process of this program for plumbing and piping?

[Steve_Bennett]

I will leave that up to one of our resident MEP experts to guide you on. MEP not so much my specialty...

[SHANE_6575]

ok....thanks for your help

[stelthorst]

Hi SHANE_6575, (Sorry I don't know your name)

DISCLAIMER: I am an electrical designer so bear with me if I don't use the right terminology.

As Stadtler said you will need to use piping for 3D.

You may want to change your display representation to "MEP Basic 2-Line" as this will show your pipework as two-lines or 3d in iso veiws instead of just a single line.

If you haven't done so yet you may want to change your workspace to Piping as this will open all of the Piping palettes.

Once your piping palette is open go to the Pipe palette and select the system type or routing preference you want. After you do this the "Add Pipe" dialog should be visible. In this dialog you can select the pipe type, size, elevation, slope and where pipes are measured from (ie center, bottom, top).

The basic idea is to select your elevation and run your pipe. If you need to change elevation just change it in the Add Pipe dialog and the appropriate fitting should automatically be added.

Personally I use plan view 95% of the time I run conduit (I'm electrical) but some of my designers prefer to be in an iso view and others like to have multiple viewports open with plan and iso. You'll have to decide what views work best for you

I know this isn't much information, but hopefully it will get you started. Play with it for a while and I'm sure you'll start getting the hang of it.

If you have any more questions or need further clarification don't hesitate to post back.

Hope this helps,

[Misteracad]

If I need to design a plumbing layout in 3D with elevations, do I use the plumbing or piping part of MEP? Is there a book or something out there that would teach me a step by step process of this program for plumbing and piping?

Please don't take this the wrong way SHANE_6575, but if you are trying to learn how to use AutoCAD MEP 2008 "on the fly" good luck! You are going to have a LONG and HARD battle. I've been a self-taught AutoCAD user since R9, drafting and designing process piping systems for 20 years, but no version of ABS or MEP is easy to learn w/o some form of organized TRAINING. I've also been on the other side of the fence, and even w/ all the assistance of other experienced trainers AND Autodesk, learning this product is no easy task. In addition, there are NO books that I am aware of that one can read and teach themselves...believe me, I've looked. If you have a means of accessing the Autodesk Online Store, you can try buying copies of the Autodesk Official Training Courseware (AOTC), but in my experience, these documents are typically riddled w/ ommissions, mistakes, etc., and most AE's dislike them and formulate their own training guide/outline. Other resources I've personally utilized have been a CBT (Computer-Based Training) course CD from http://www.4dtechnologies.net/ to learn ABS 2004, but I don't believe they have anything current as of yet. Sorry if I am taking the wind out of your sails, but I don't think you want to learn the hard way...you'll be much more efficient if you invest the time and money into training from the proper resources.

In closing, the answer to your original question is that the Plumbing module of MEP is strictly 2D and diagramatic. If you can settle for isometrics, this may work for you. However, if you want to design anything in "real" 3D using either double-line or single-line pipe, you need to use the Piping module, but it will most certainly NOT contain the systems that you typically use for Plumbing systems.

Power to you...