One-line drawing issues

[vasiqshair]

I started drawing a one-line drawing for a switchgear project I am working on but ran in to a few problems: 

1. I tried using the circuit builder tool to build a "one line power feed" but when I hit "insert", nothing happens. No circuit, no components, no wires...nothing! So I decided to abandon the circuit builder and deploy the symbols manually using the icon menu, but I got a "file not found" error. Screenshot attached. I restarted my PC thinking it might be because my RAM is cluttered, but still nothing. All this reeks of a bad installation to me and I'm thinking of uninstalling and re-installing ACADE. My only concern is that I have a bunch of custom-made symbols that I built using the symbol builder. Is there any way I can retain them so I don't have to build them all over again once I re-install ACADE? 

2. I also made a 3 phase drawing that was supposed to accompany the one-line drawing (had ACADE actually let me make a one-line drawing). I was surprised to find that the ACADE symbol library doesn't offer a 3 phase transformer. So I made one using a rectangle and terminals for the primary and secondary connections (delta-wye). Needless to say, it doesn't look professional, so I'll make one using the symbol builder. Might have to build a symbol for a panelboard too. What are your thoughts on this? A 3ph transformer and a panelboard are two of the most common components in electrical installations, and I'm sure you might have come across drawing them at some point. 

3. This is slightly off-topic, but every ACADE drawing I make, I see myself adjusting the attribute size of the components so they are actually visible to the reader; the default size is too small. I know you can set the attribute size in "Utilities" in the project tab, but you wouldn't size a contact pin number and a component tag the same. Do you keep a "sizing chart" that you refer to when you make drawings?  Something like a table that tells you what to size the different attributes (like the tag, pin numbers, location, rating, etc) of a component. 

[jseefdrumr · Accepted solution]

1. The error message in your screenshot indicates some pathing problems; it's telling you that it can't find the blocks it needs. You should verify your project properties, versus the location of your libraries

2. I personally have never had to draw a 3 phase transformer, we never go beyond 480 V AC here. But there are blocks for this in the IEC library. One of them (not the specific one you need though) is called 'HXF1T29', you can find it in the IEC-60617 folder if it's installed on your machine. All the others are similarly named and so one of them is probably suitable for you to use, or to modify for your use. As for the panelboard, I've never had to deal with one of those either. But, I would absolutely build a block for it if you'll be using it a lot. I have product-specific symbols for servo drives, VFDs, motor brakes, all sorts of other stuff. It's part of using this software, really. Symbol Builder is your friend.

3. There are several options for addressing this. All depend on your final plotting output and whether or not it will change. Where I work, we only ever plot to 11x17. So, I only ever really need things to be one size (or one set of sizes, because as you noted pin numbers and tags are often different heights). So in my case, I used the Modify Symbol Library tool to force all of the attributes in my library to be certain sizes: device tags are 0.75, descriptions are .0625, and pin numbers and other info are .05. If you are plotting a different size on some projects, then your best bet may be to address it on a project-by-project basis.

Hope this helps,

[Icemanau]

Did you select (or otherwise indicate) the insertion point for the circuit to be generated from?

Are the Circuit Builder base dwgs in your current library? Look for the ace_CB?_****** style dwgs in the library to confirm this.

Did you try to configure the circuit your were inserting?

If there is no configuration given, then that component will by default not be included. If no components are configured, it's likely that the entire circuit may not be drawn at all.

Regards Brad

[vasiqshair]

I went ahead and created a new project at the default location set by ACADE and it worked. I normally set the project path to a flash drive so I can switch between my laptop and PC. I was able to deploy the default (or un-configured) one-line drawing. However, when I did configure and put in the data for the load, disconnecting means, terminal strips, etc. and clicked "done", I got a warning message. I didn't think much of it and clicked "ok", and all the circuit builder did was put in a small section of wire in the drawing...with no components. I did it all over again with the same result: just a piece of wire with no components on it. That's what the two blank wires you see in my drawing are. Not sure what happened there. 

[Icemanau]

Once you configure the various options, you need to click on one of the four buttons under the list to actually insert the component. Hover over the buttons to get a short description of what they do.

The warning message was saying that there were components that had NOT been inserted in that manner which would be lost if you proceed.

If ACADE can't find data to annotate to the components being inserted, then those components are removed from the circuit being generated. Whether you are configuring the components directly, using Presets or from an existing circuit, ACADE requires the information to do the insertion.

Regards Brad

[vasiqshair]

10-4.