Inventor 2019 Tube and Pipe - Cannot choose

[Anonymous]

Hello, world. I was hoping someone has run into this issue or one similar and has since figured out what the issue was. A quick run down of the issue is as follows: In tube and pipe while routing, when i select "Select Other Direction.." the box that used to appear to do so, is now non existent. It makes Inventor freeze and leaves me with the included resulting red line when it unfreezes. I am using Inventor Professional 2019, updated to 2019.3. This is a reoccurring issue and has been occurring since updating from 2018 to 2019

[Mark.Lancaster]

@Anonymous

It almost sounds like you have a dialog off the screen but I'm not 100% sure what point you're at since I don't remember seeing a box with select other direction.  Can you clarify where you're at.

@cbenner do you know what the OP is talking about?

[Anonymous]

Any way for me to recenter it? Right now its not visible at all. I remember it being a small rectangular box with a square in the middle and arrows on each side.

[cbenner]

@Mark.Lancaster @Anonymous

I am not familiar with that either.  I do not see that option while routing, or placing fittings.  Can you give us more detail of what you are doing?

[Anonymous]

I use custom hose styles to represent hydraulic hose paths. I place hose ends as shown as standard parts and then route between the two. I was previously able to hit "select other direction" to route the hose in the correct direction but now when i select it, Inventor freezes. Thoughts?

[cbenner]

@Anonymous Well, that explains why I've never seen it... I don't do hoses!  LOL  But I do know a good hoser....

@blair?  Any ideas?

[Mark.Lancaster]

@Anonymous

While waiting for Blair's reply..  When Inventor freezes follow these steps..

ALT+Spacebar

M key

Left or Right mouse key.

Move mouse, is there a dialog box trapped to it?

[blair]

Odd that it freezes. It looks like your one hose run has the termination going the wrong direction for your hose into your fitting. This is just a selection error with the termination direction.

This should just still create a hose but looped the wrong way. Even wrong fittings will still create a tube run. Are there no other errors as to possibly to small of a radius or segment length as defined in your Styles.

You could have a corrupt file. Can you go up to the very top of your T & P assembly and create a new run or go back into your model and start a whole new  T & P run.

You most likely will have to follow Marks post on when it's frozen.

[Anonymous]

Hmmm no luck with the Alt+Spacebar... solution. However, i did find a workaround as follows: Complete hose run with "incorrect" directions as shown. Then, manually change the dimension value to the inverse. So my dimension was ~-0.004 in first photo and is now ~0.004 in the second (that is a line in front of the value not a negative). Thanks for the suggestions to all who commented. Hopefully this odd issue is resolved at some point in the future.

[fatherof3]

What would cause the "Select other direction" option not to appear in the dialog box?

I'm new to Tube and Pipe, trying to learn it on my own, and I don't get this option, and neither does the hitting the spacebar work. Using the "hydraulic hose - no fitting style".

I'm using Parker fittings that I downloaded and authored myself. I know the correction directions are correct, because when I choose the start fitting, the hose runs the correct direction. It's only when I come to the end connection that I just can't get it to go the right way, it wants to loop around and enter from the wrong end. No Direction Home

[cbenner]

@fatherof3 

Attach your fitting here, and I'll take a look at it.

[fatherof3]

Chris, this is my third attempt at posting with the fittings attachment. We'll see what happens this time. There's two different fittings involved, I've attached both. If there's anything wrong with one of them, chances are it's wrong on both of them. Thank you.

Well, apparently, for whatever reason, maybe security on this end, can't send files this way.

[Mark.Lancaster]

@fatherof3 

Have you zipped them up and attached the zipped file?

[fatherof3]

Here's a zip file...maybe

[cbenner]

@fatherof3 

Please send me the hose you are using also, I am unable to generate a T&P style with what I have in my CC right now.

[fatherof3]

I'm just using the generic one that came with Inventor, 3/8". The only thing I've changed is the minimum bend radius, which is set at 65mm.

I hope this is what you meant by "send me the hose".

[cbenner]

@fatherof3 

Is this the T&P Style that you are using?  The highlighted style is the no fitting style, this might be part of your problem.

[fatherof3]

Ahhhh, so maybe I mis-interpreted the use of this style. I thought it was a style intended to not add fittings to the route, but to use fittings that were already in place. 

[Mark.Lancaster]

When it comes to flexible tubing or hose styles..   There are 3 types of styles related to it.

1.  Define start and end connector.    When you do this, you pick the start and end connection point and it will place the connector at those point.  For there it will auto-route in-between them.   But you can still route between the start and end.

2.  Define only the starting connector.   You pick the starting point and it will place the connector and then you manually route to the end.

3.  Define only the end connector   You pick the starting point and manually route to the end and it will place the connector at the end.

Update:  @fatherof3 you may want to review this AU2019 handout/page 40 https://www.autodesk.com/autodesk-university/class/Little-less-Talk-Inventor-Professional-Tube-Pipe-... where I go into flexible runs.   Actually this handout has a lot of great content presented by @cbenner  and myself just about 2 weeks ago.

[fatherof3]

Well s***, probably explains why I've been having so much trouble with this. So what you're saying is, the way I'm doing it, by manually placing both the beginning and ending connectors, there is no hose style in Inventor that is going to function with that work flow.

So my only recourse is to add all the fittings I need, since they aren't part of the built-in styles, to the content center, and create a style to use them. Or go into the content center and change the data in the parts so they appear on the BOMs as the correct Parker fitting part number/description.

Inventor is evil.

Big thanks for the help. Appreciate it. Seriously.