Inserting 3 pole circuit breakers into a 3 wire multiple bus

[Arlene_Brown]

Hi there,

When I try inserting a 3 pole circuit breaker into 3 wire multiple bus and click 'down' to insert the other poles of the breaker it doesn't insert the other poles into the other wires. It inserts the other poles into the drawing below the first 1 pole but not into the other wires. It seems as if it not recognising the gap between the wires. Can someone please advise how I can overcome this problem.

Thanks in advance.

[jseefdrumr]

First thing I'd check is, are there any differences between the drawing properties and the project properties? The last tab of that dialog has the part for wire spacing. If they're different, make them the same and try again.

Second thing, make sure that your feature scale multiplier isn't a factor. Its default is '1'. This affects the gap distance, which in turn *could* affect the placement of 3-phase symbols.

If none of this gets you together, can you post a screencast?

[Arlene_Brown]

Thanks for your reply.

I have noticed that the 3 poles are inserted into the multiple wires when the wire spacing is less than 7. Can you advise why this might be the case. Is there a setting in the project properties that determines this?

[Arlene_Brown]

See attachment. Does the multi-wire spacing determine the spacing at which the 3 pole components are inserted. This was set to 0.25. I increased this value closer to the wire spacing of the multiple bus which was set to 7. and it seemed to correct the situation.

I don't use the grid & snap on functionality. However I'm wondering if you guys would recommend using it in AutoCAD Electrical.

Thanks

[jseefdrumr]

The drawing properties win, unless the command encounters a wire on the way.

If you have drawing=0.25" and project=7.25", and draw wires that are 7.25" apart, the components will not land on the wires. They will be spaced according to the drawing settings of 0.25".

If you have drawing=7.25" and project=0.25", and draw wires that are 0.25" apart, the components will land on the wires as they should. This is because the command encounters wires before it finds the ones that are 7.25" apart.

As for grid & snap, I use them as needed depending on the situation. I do leave my grid snaps on (but not visible) almost all the time when drawing schematics. I also keep my crosshairs at 100% (full-screen) because this allows me to align things as I work, without having to ever use the ALIGN command.

[TRLitsey]

Hi there,

Yes, the settings are going to tell ACE how you want it to work.  It does not know what spacing you want unless you tell it what that is.  ACE can be easily confused.  The Grid is a nice thing to use for a visual aide but for me, in the long run, using Snap is a MUST.  Down the road when you or someone else has to edit the work, if things were just floated in rather than using Snap settings, you will hear the cursing in the next county.  I do not say that for drama, they are words of experience from inside my office.  So, check your Project Properties settings, turn on Snap and make sure it is in the ratio of your project settings.  Which is to say that if your project spacing is set to 1.0 then a snap setting of 0.25 will fit perfectly.  If your project setting is set for a space to 0.7 and your snap is set for 0.3 you are in for a whole lot of grief.  The screen shots of of my typical settings for schematics.  The schematic title block is formatted for 11 inch X 17 inch paper using the NFPA symbol library.  That is how it is printed but in the ACE drawing it thinks it is working on a C size drawing (21 inch X 33 inch).  I'm just kinda old school I guess.

By the way, If you do turn the grid on but it is not very visible, type LAYER on the command line and check the color of the grid layer.  Make sure that layer is set to white if you are using the typical ACE black background.

Good luck

 

[Icemanau]

The colour setting for the Grid are not set in the Layers, they are set in the ACAD options.

Hold the Right Click on a blank section of your Dwg.

Select Options from the menu when it comes up.

Alternatively, Click the little down arrow next to the big red A in the Top Left corner and select options from down the bottom.

Select the Display tab and then on Colours in the Windows Elements section.

Make sure the 2D model space context is selected and then adjust the colours for your background, all the Grid lines and any other colour changes you may want.

Click Apply and Close to close the Colours dialog.

The Display tab is also where the setting for the crosshair size is located. Set that to what you are comfortable with and then OK to close the main Options window.

Personally, I prefer the a black background for my drawing space with white dots for the Grid and white crosshairs.

I also prefer the crosshairs at 100% due to the ease of lining things up.

Regards Brad