Linked models and devices

[jakewebb]

My firm and I have an issue with linking models (may not be linking models...I dont know) into revit and when this is done seems like certain devices just go all over the model. And its not just one family its a few in one family and then a few more in another family. so I cant narrow it down to a certain family. Ive been using revit for 4 years now and have never seen anything like this. Other disciplines dont seem to have any issues with it. Its just certain electrical jobs.

[pteague]

We had that issue with a 2014 model. Updating the arch model would send random wall-hosted devices all over the place. I guessed at the time that it had something to do with the fact that architects never move walls; they just delete them and draw new ones (completely negating the point of having wall-hosted devices). We never located a specific pattern to which devices were doing it. I don't think we've had the issue with 2015 yet...

[jakewebb]

pteague,

    The project were working on is in 2015 and all the devices are face based. I didnt not create these families

they were already made before i got here.

  I dont know how to get the issue to quit. because full design it gets really bad around submittal time when they update the model right before. what did you do to prevent it?

[pteague]

We never found a way to stop it. We just had check our plans closely and fix it (great, a 110,000 sqft hospital to search over). Hopefully we can get one of the Autodesk folks to chime in because I'd like to know if there's a way to stop it as well.

[Alecb19 · Accepted solution]

The flow mismatch is actually a sign of the element moving, a linked file with different coordinates, pinned elements in the linked file, or improperly hosted elements can cause the movement behavior. Usually there will be signs in the error report under the manage inquiry tab (mismatched flows or elements not connected to host warnings). You can skim over it if you want, it is just one example.

If the project base point for a model is different than the linked file, or if you have pinned the host elements, or you have different constraints, then you can see this kind of behavior. The behavior therefore is a direct result of a misalignment between the LINKED file and the HOST file.

So here are some tips:

1. You can pin the elements - If you try this, what happens?
2. Make sure elements are hosted to face - If you try this, what happens?
3. Check project coordinates - Verify the link is coming into the correct location
4. Check constraints - What is the element referencing?
5. Or manually move the elements back into place - time consuming, a workaround of last resort.


About Dimensions and Constraints in Linked Models: