topic Re: Terminal Blocks change wire number in AutoCAD Electrical Forum

Terminal Blocks change wire number

pat.mckinley — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 19:35:49 GMT

Hello,

I am having a problem where when I add a terminal block to a wire, it changes the number of the wire after it passes through the block. I am using the standard terminal block components in the NFPA library, not anything I made. This is happening on the terminals that are not the ones designed to change the wire number. Below is a screenshot of what I am talking about. When I inserted this block, it changed the wire name from L1 to 104. You can see from the properties that the naming of the actual block is correct to pass the number through. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks,

-Pat M

Re: Terminal Blocks change wire number

dougmcalexander — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 20:15:42 GMT

Be sure that you selected a terminal symbol that doesn't force a wire number change. If you clicked a terminal symbol icon that shows 99 and 100 next to the icon image, that type of terminal symbol forces a wire number change. (see attached image)

Hint: You can use the Swap Block utility to change out the existing terminals so you don;t have to delete and replace them one at a time. Choose the Project-wide option and select new from the Icon Menu. Clock one of the incorrect blocks and the software will automatically swap to the replacement block you selected.

Re: Terminal Blocks change wire number

TRLitsey — Fri, 01 Jul 2016 20:26:38 GMT

Hi there,

In the Schematic Menu there are several flavors of square terminal blocks. Check the description for the one you are using. I see Square (no features or changes), Square with Wire Number, Square with Terminal, Square with wire number change which is the one I think you are using. If you do not want the wire number to change use the Square with Wire Number in my menu it is HT0W01.

By the way if you have not already run into it, the pin connectors also come in flavors of Change Wire Number and No Wire Number Change, pick your poison.

Please mark as a solution if this works for you, kudos are always welcome - Thank you

Good luck

Re: Terminal Blocks change wire number

Icemanau — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 00:11:28 GMT

A real quick question first off which will allow us to help you better...

What release of ACADE are you using?

Including this information in your questions will lead to quicker answers as each release of ACADE has some major differences from the prior releases.

To track down a problem or to answer a How-To question requires us to know which release we should be looking at and as much other information as possible (workflow which causes the problem as an example).

First of all, check that the wire actually has the 'L1' number associated with it. If the number is not associated with the wire, run the Drawing Audit (found under the reports tab) to make sure that any problems are fixed.

Next, check that the correct block has been called by the component menu.

The block name for a square terminal showing a terminal number with no wire number change is HT0001.

Hovering over the icon in the component menu should show that file name as well.

The block name for the terminal showing the wire number should be HT0W01.

For the block that changes the wire number, it should be HT1001.

If these are wrong, you will need to edit the Component menu to correct it.

Another problem that showed up in some of the older releases was that some of the terminal blocks did not have the correct attribute names on the wire connections.

It's hard to see the fine detail like the attribute names in your screen shot but all the X#TERM$$ numbers SHOULD have the same number on the end.

In other words, they should all be X#TERM01. If the block name is indeed correct (either HT0W01 or HT0001) then you may have a bad block.

This is easy to fix by opening the block as a dwg and changing the incorrect attribute names so they all match.

If it is the correct block, and the attribute names are also correct, double check your wires and make sure they are all connected properly and there are no spurious connections to another wire that uses the 104 label.

If all else fails, try deleting the three wires and re-inserting them while making sure to add the terminal before adding the Tee.

Regards Brad

Re: Terminal Blocks change wire number

pat.mckinley — Tue, 05 Jul 2016 15:46:24 GMT

Thanks for the replies everyone. After some more playing around, I believe the problem was in my project settings. In Project Properties > Wire Numbers, under "Wire Number Options" I had "On per Wire Basis" checked. When I deselect that option all of my blocks seem to be working as expected. If I find that this isn't the case I will update this post.

Thanks,

Re: Terminal Blocks change wire number

dougmcalexander — Wed, 06 Jul 2016 14:37:06 GMT

That happens to lots of new users. It isn't checked by default but new users think they must. It means that you want every wire, even when within the same node, to get a unique number. The default is unchecked, which means wire number per node, but be aware that the help system in AutoCAD Electrical refers to a node as a network.

Hint: For the North American market, the defaults in the WDDEMO project are usual and customary.

Re: Terminal Blocks change wire number

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 03:55:45 GMT

Hi, Its an old post I know but what is it in the terminal block that forces the wire change. I had to create some blocks and I cant find the trigger to stop the change from happening?

Paul

Re: Terminal Blocks change wire number

dougmcalexander — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 04:44:52 GMT

The trigger is the 1 in the block name. HT1001 forces a wire number change while HT0001 keeps the wire number the same.

Re: Terminal Blocks change wire number

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Jul 2017 04:46:55 GMT

thanks for that.

Re: Terminal Blocks change wire number

Anonymous — Fri, 27 Jul 2018 17:52:35 GMT

I am so glad I found this. THANKS! It was driving me crazy and took me most of the day to find this but it was worth it.

Re: Terminal Blocks change wire number

enes.yigitXD2A8 — Fri, 15 Feb 2019 06:28:31 GMT

This is for other blocks. Example HXF0-002 / HXF1-002

Re: Terminal Blocks change wire number

bbowman8E7LC — Thu, 03 Jul 2025 14:45:53 GMT

This was my problem too