Can't explode linked cad file

[gnarkill283]

I know you shouldn't explode cad files in Revit but we have to for a particular situation. We have linked in cad files which we would like to explode but the explode button is greyed out. How can we explode them or embed them some how in the model?

[ToanDN · Accepted solution]

Import the link via Manage Links then you can Explode it.

[shabik]

Quite strange but I do not see the cad there. I added it via there but now I cant even click on the explode button. Why? So just to be clear, I have only imported a cad file with like 100 lines maximum and when I click explode it says "cannot explode more than 10 000 lines, the cad have 70 0xx lines" but it cannot be. It is very very basic.

[ankurkumar6849]

Linked CAD file can't be exploded, you need to import CAD.

[jbrr27]

I just encountered this yesterday, so for anyone stuck on this, here's one way around that:  Try a partial explode first, sometimes that will work when a full explode doesn't.  Of course, then you have to explode the different parts, but it at least allows you to get where you want eventually.  CAD files can have lines on top of lines on top of lines, dots, points, etc. even if they look simple.  It's not uncommon for it to look like just a handful of lines, but when you explode there are thousands of objects.

[ankurkumar6849]

Linked files cannot be exploded, we will have to import the cad files##-
Please type your reply above this line -##

[jbrr27]

Yes and no.  While it is true that a linked file can't be exploded, as Toan explained above, you can go to the Manage Links dialogue and convert them to imported files.  So you can, you just have to convert them first.  It's not as simple as saying you can't do it. 

The reason I've done this, as well as probably the reason OP was looking for a way to do it, is for a file that was linked it but needs to be modified.  In my case, there were about 50 of them in my file, so it's not practical to go back and import all of them.  This was is much easier.

[ahmedsaadi.hamza]

Hi;
So just in case it helps anyone new here, I had the same problem with an architectural model, I solved my issue by grouping all material I needed separatly then grouping the whole architecture and this in AutoCAD and then import the CAD as @ToanDN showed above that will allow you to explode it (in 3D view), and you will get all the groupe you need separately that will simplify the modeling at least.
Nb: you will lose no element.

HAMZA AHMED SAADI
ELECTRICAL ENGINEER