topic Re: 'Circuit Builder' tool in ACADE 2018 is faulty in AutoCAD Electrical Forum

'Circuit Builder' tool in ACADE 2018 is faulty

vasiqshair — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 13:23:00 GMT

This is my second post on the 'Circuit Builder' tool and I am starting to think it is faulty because it never actually builds a normal circuit. I've tried a few things like changing the 'component scale' and the 'circuit scale' in the tool that seems to produce close to a normal looking circuit, but not completely. For instance, the overheat element and the disconnect on one of the phases are not placed on the actual phase wire, but on the wire that's part of the control circuit (on the secondary of the transformer). See picture 'circuit builder 5'.

If I keep the default values of 1 for the 'component scale' and 'circuit scale', everything goes haywire and I get a circuit as shown in 'circuit builder 3'. Spending time fixing a circuit that the tool built defeats the purpose of having a circuit building tool in the first place. Please advise.

Re: 'Circuit Builder' tool in ACADE 2018 is faulty

dougmcalexander — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 16:57:17 GMT

I find that it is faster to save a circuit to the icon menu. This preserves the part number assignments, ratings, descriptions, etc. When you insert from the saved circuits menu the circuit adapts tags to match the line references where you inserted the circuit. If part numbers must change in order to handle a higher or lower load, simply edit the affected parts and, if you wish, save this circuit to the menu as the same circuit with a different volt and/or amp rating.

Re: 'Circuit Builder' tool in ACADE 2018 is faulty

vasiqshair — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 11:40:12 GMT

I agree. but I still think the 'Circuit Builder' should do its job. It's a great tool theoretically. For a plant engineer like myself, it could save a bunch of time drawing power/motor feeder circuits. Hopefully ACADE fixes this in their next revision of the software.

Re: 'Circuit Builder' tool in ACADE 2018 is faulty

rhesusminus — Fri, 22 Jun 2018 19:14:33 GMT

And, you are 100% sure that your symbols/templates are 100% correct? And you xls-file is also properly set up?

It's hard to help without actually seeing the files you're working with.

Re: 'Circuit Builder' tool in ACADE 2018 is faulty

vasiqshair — Sat, 23 Jun 2018 21:56:09 GMT

Please see the attached file "Drawing 2". All I did was click on the 'Circuit Builder' and add a motor feeder circuit for test purposes.

Also, just a heads up, if you zoom out you will find another circuit to the right that I have been building; the feeder in this circuit was also built using the Circuit Builder but I had to adjust it a lot to make it look like an actual feeder.

Thanks

Re: 'Circuit Builder' tool in ACADE 2018 is faulty

ccad2509 — Thu, 28 Jun 2018 07:19:43 GMT

circiut builder is a pathetic copy of macro variation and eeone in eplan

the diffferance between the two systems

1 has based thier functionality on plain english and spreadsheets and just works

the other is based on a deep knowledge of a programming launguage which imediatley makes it an feature that is not viable for 99%of acade users

now if they made it so you did not need to understand and programme in lisp then it would be a uselful application but as it sits its is about as useful as a three legged race horse

and since its been released and nobody uses it then if thier is bugs they wont fix them just add it to the list of ACADE broken promises

Re: 'Circuit Builder' tool in ACADE 2018 is faulty

rhesusminus — Thu, 28 Jun 2018 15:38:04 GMT

To me, this looks like a giant mixup of drawings/symbols in both inches and metric units.
I don't think the Circuit Builder is to blame here.

Re: 'Circuit Builder' tool in ACADE 2018 is faulty

vasiqshair — Mon, 02 Jul 2018 00:51:20 GMT

I disagree. Not sure why one would need to know LISP to use the Circuit Builder tool but my problem, as @rhesusminus pointed out, is with scaling, drawing units, etc. It would be helpful if the tool had some "error reporting" that could help users identify the problem or at least point in the right direction. I labeled the tool 'faulty' because it was throwing components all over the place when I would add the feeder circuit to the drawing; scaling and drawing units would not have been my first guess.

ACADE is a great software that provides engineers with the tools they need for their drawings, it's just that there aren't many resources in terms of "how to tutorials" that could help beginners like myself get better at it.

Re: 'Circuit Builder' tool in ACADE 2018 is faulty

Icemanau — Tue, 03 Jul 2018 01:17:13 GMT

I have used the circuit builder in past versions to do single line diagrams.

It is set up using specific types of drawings and an excel file. Nothing I could see had anything to do with LISP or any other programming language.

The blocks used in the setup dwgs are just markers that are used to place blocks/circuits according to the choices you make in the circuit builder dialog.

Yes it is a bit finicky to set up a dwg and associated excel data but it's possible to do so by trial and error (my method) if you have the time.

Regards Brad