topic Re: Question about AutoCAD electrical. in AutoCAD Electrical Forum

Question about AutoCAD electrical.

nhkolev — Tue, 16 Jul 2013 07:17:54 GMT

I have a question about AutoCAD Electrical.

I work with AutoCAD LT, but i'm interesting about AutoCAD Electrical or AutoCAD MEP.

My question is: What the difference between AutoCAD Electrical and AutoCAD MEP?

I work with build drawings for internal electrical installations for houses - power wiring, lights, socket outlets, Distribution Panels, LAN wiring (sorry for my bad english).
Which version is more suitable for my work - AutoCAD Elecrical or AutoCAD MEP?

Thanks 🙂

Re: Question about AutoCAD electrical.

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Jul 2013 15:11:35 GMT

Hi Nhkolev,

AutoCAD Electrical Is setup for Industrial Wiring, and Panels.

AutoCAD MEP, is setup for the Mechanical ducts, Electrical, and Plumbing in a building.

Panel Drawings will be easier in ACADE, but layouts for lighting, power outlets, are easier to do in MEP.

Since the base of both is AutoCAD (and you can do either in regular AutoCAD), it would be a tossup between the two, based on what you do more, panels, or general wiring.

That said, I would recommend AutoCAD MEP for mapping electrical for homes.

I hope this helps,

James Alger

Re: Question about AutoCAD electrical.

CAD-ICE — Tue, 16 Jul 2013 16:43:41 GMT

Hi James,

one question to your responce. Is it possible to link together information between ACADE and MEP ?

Thank´s again, Gary

Re: Question about AutoCAD electrical.

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Jul 2013 16:53:28 GMT

Hi Gary,

I haven't tried to link data between them.

I imagine if you had the right Attributes for both programs it would "share" the data.

I know that the data for both could be captured in ACADE (they are attributes, so use the WDA file) , but I'm not sure if MEP would capture the ACADE Data.

As far as I know, there currently is no official linking method. (i.e. There isn't a suite / program workflow)

I hope that helps,

James Alger

Re: Question about AutoCAD electrical.

CAD-ICE — Tue, 16 Jul 2013 17:01:16 GMT

Thank´s James for the tip....everything helps

I have often wondered if there was a tool out there that can link together for instance outlets shown on for instance single line diagrams to the wiring layout for buildings. Maybe all this could be accomplished by using ACADE alone.

Just a thought....

Regards, Gary

Re: Question about AutoCAD electrical.

nhkolev — Tue, 16 Jul 2013 17:17:32 GMT

Thanks for the correct answers 🙂

Re: Question about AutoCAD electrical.

Anonymous — Tue, 16 Jul 2013 17:17:39 GMT

With a little customization you could do this in AutoCAD Electrical.

It all depends on what the end result needs to be. (Single line diagrams are easier to generate / link to in ACADE)

If Nhkolev needs to place the Electrical based on the Ducts, and plumbing, I would go with MEP. (in MEP you can assign a height to the outlets, lights etc)

If the electrical is free floating (no height required) and its the only thing that's important on the drawing, it could be done with either program.

Housing wiring is similar but different from Industrial wiring, but if you tweak the symbols to match the Housing industry, I think AutoCAD Electrical would work very efficiently.

I hope this helps (and hasn't confused anyone )

James Alger