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Are there things that a Switchboard schedule enables you to do that you can't already accomplish in a Panelschedule? In other words, if you use the Part Type = Panelboard for these elements, do you lose any required functionality?
Yes, there are. For a switchboard, we typically number the breakers with a single number. Usually it's down the line. This is how it's always numbered in the field. The same is true for certain distribution-type panelboards. If we use a panel schedule, a multi-pole circuit will always have multiple numbers, even if it occupies the same line. For example, a 3-pole circuit will be numbered "1,3,5" instead of just "1".
Another, more significant, problem is that we need to be able to select the phases for a single-phase load, regardless of the circuit position. If we use a panel schedule, we cannot select phases without leaving blank spaces. I have a particular example I can show you if you want to do a screenshare sometime where we have all single-phase loads connected to a three-phase piece of equipment where the phase rotation was very important. I set up the equipment as a single-column panelboard. I didn't like the numbering and didn't really need it for the application, so I deleted the circuit number column in the schedule template. And I couldn't select the phases I wanted (Revit always puts the first on A,B, the second on A,C, the third on B,C. This didn't wouldn't have calculated correctly, so I used blank spaces in order to get the phases I needed. But then each piece of equipment had to have a different "Max # 1-pole breakers" to get it to work right, even though they were all technically the same piece of equipment. If we had true phase-selectable switchboards, I could have both had my numbering the way we prefer and been able to select the phases for each load without having to resort to blank spaces.
Lots of equipment has phase-selectable loads and we can specify to the contractor the phases to which equipment is connected when it's important. Even some two-column equipment can do this. Square-D's I-Line panelboards have phase-selectable breakers, regardless of the position of the breaker in the panel. So you can have a 1-pole breaker in the #1 slot, but it can be connected to phase A, B, or C, depending on what you need. Revit can't do this, currently.
If the way circuits were numbered were configurable on Panelboards (e.g., the Circuit Numbering instance parameter), so you could have circuits numbered consecutively independent of the number of poles (as it is done on Switchboards), is there anything else that Switchboards provide that you can't accomplish w/ a Panelboard part type?
Is phase selection something you'd only use on Electrical Equipment w Part Type = Switchboard? Or would it be applicable on Panelboards as well?
Yes, I think having an instance parameter for circuit numbering would solve that problem. I'd have to try it out and think on it some more. But I think that would work.
Yes, you can have phase-selectable panelboards in real-life, and they are used often. Honestly, I don't know what Revit thinks is the difference between a switchboard and a panelboard other than a panelboard has the ability to have schedules with two columns. I don't see why there need to be different designations/requirements within Revit, unless there's something I'm missing. So, really what I'm saying by saying you can have phase-selectable panelboards is that you can both have two columns and have the need to phase-select.
A two-column phase-selectable panelboard is typically scheduled such that each circuit (regardless of number of poles) occupies only one row (i.e. Check the "Show circuit number on one row for multi-phase circuits" box in the schedule template), and then the loads are placed on the phase we want. That's how we'd do it in Excel, at least. Typically, then, we wouldn't want a three-pole circuit to be numbered 1,3,5, but rather just 1. Then some people number down and some people number across.
The lack of a two-column phase-selectable panelboard hasn't been a huge issue in Revit because in practice we usually use them very similar to regular panelboards, especially for new construction, which is usually all we use Revit for since Revit can't handle phasing of electrical circuits.
(Edit: regarding differences between panelboards and switchboards: there are differences in how panelboards and switchboards should be calculated, but Revit can't handle all the nuances of switchboards. Switchboards can have different ratings for horizontal and vertical busses, each section can be configured differently, etc. Revit can't handle all the nuances of switchboards, so if we have anything particularly complicated, we have a 'dummy switchboard' that contains just the geometry for modeling purposes, then we have 'phantom equipment' that we host to the switchboard to which we actually circuit and schedule from. This equipment is basically just an invisible void form. I wouldn't expect Revit to be able to handle all the nuances and permutations of switchboards - the options are just too numerous. But we really do need to be able to select what phases circuits are connected to.)
Hi Folks-- We've marked this as Accepted as we've made some progress on this in our preview release. We would very much appreciate it if you could register with our preview site to validate that things are on the right track. Please reach out to us at revit.preview.access at autodesk.com if you accept the challenge!
Hi Folks-- We've marked this as Accepted as we've made some progress on this in our preview release. We would very much appreciate it if you could register with our preview site to validate that things are on the right track. Please reach out to us at revit.preview.access at autodesk.com if you accept the challenge!
