Author Topic: VAV and Mechanical Equipment in Fabrication Parts  (Read 1713 times)

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Offline kitsuTopic starter

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VAV and Mechanical Equipment in Fabrication Parts
« on: Feb 14, 2023, 18:50:52 PM »
Hi there. We use fabrication parts for our ductwork modeling, but I was hoping to see what else we should be using it for. Is there a best practice for using ITMs over RFAs? Or maybe even a pros vs cons list of which to use for mechanical equipment, such as VAVs and FCUs. Most mechanical equipment suppliers provide RFAs, which can make for some easy and accurate modeling. But I've also read not to use these, because they can bog your model down. Would converting these to ITMs benefit the model outside of fabrication reporting? We've started using ITMs for fire dampers, and so far it has been nice for modeling. When trying to use an ITM for a diffuser, Revit said it was not supported. So I don't want to waste time trying to create more ITMs if they aren't going to be supported.

TL:DR What should be ITM vs what should be RFA?

Offline ayakus

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Re: VAV and Mechanical Equipment in Fabrication Parts
« Reply #1 on: Feb 14, 2023, 19:47:19 PM »
We always use families for equipment and diffusers even is they aren't provided by the supplier.  If using equipment families from a supplier always double check them closely.  Johnson Controls fan coils are gave been terrible for us.

Offline cadbyken

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Re: VAV and Mechanical Equipment in Fabrication Parts
« Reply #2 on: Feb 15, 2023, 04:18:39 AM »
Some of the main patterns used for air devices and equipment are not compatible with Revit.  You can check the compatibility list on the main page, lower right corner.  There are ways of making them compatible though. David Ronson posted a video long time ago regarding that but I haven't explored it yet. There are pluses and minuses with RFAs (-weight in the program, they schedule differently than ITMs) (+readily available from vendors, look like the real thing)
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Offline Admin

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Re: VAV and Mechanical Equipment in Fabrication Parts
« Reply #3 on: Feb 15, 2023, 12:07:20 PM »
You can check the compatibility list on the main page, lower right corner.

http://www.xtracad.com/forum/index.php/page,CIDs1.html
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Offline kitsuTopic starter

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Re: VAV and Mechanical Equipment in Fabrication Parts
« Reply #4 on: Feb 15, 2023, 12:52:36 PM »
So I was looking at CID 521 for the VAV box. Thanks to your list, it looks like it is not supported in Revit. Luckily, I didn't waste too much time on it. The RFAs provided by the manufacturer has all the options readily available, so it kind of makes more sense to use the. If I need a coil to be flipped, it's a click of a check box. But then again, when you can some of these giant air handlers, there are so many parameters, it really slows the model down. Maybe an alternate option would be to put those into their own workset, and turn it off when not working on them directly.

Offline Axl

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Re: VAV and Mechanical Equipment in Fabrication Parts
« Reply #5 on: Feb 15, 2023, 13:55:28 PM »
You can do almost anything with pattern 1110, if you really need to have Fabrication parameters, connectors and other information.
The only issue is that it takes some time to learn how to use it, but I really like all the possibilities with this one.

See the example attached,
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Offline 1ito

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Re: VAV and Mechanical Equipment in Fabrication Parts
« Reply #6 on: Feb 15, 2023, 21:01:25 PM »
the way I look at it... If it is getting fabricated, an ITM, everything else RFAs.

It is easier and and more efficient to create a VAV family than to deal with the headache of creating in FAB and then reload configurations and all of that.

also, you have more control of what you get to schedule with a RFA than an ITM. IMO.
« Last Edit: Feb 15, 2023, 21:07:01 PM by 1ito »

Offline kitsuTopic starter

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Re: VAV and Mechanical Equipment in Fabrication Parts
« Reply #7 on: Feb 23, 2023, 15:15:07 PM »
Yeah I kind of agree with you thought process. So are all your accessories like dampers and access doors RFAs then? Fabrication parts are easier to draw with imo, but are a headache to setup.

Offline 1ito

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Re: VAV and Mechanical Equipment in Fabrication Parts
« Reply #8 on: Feb 24, 2023, 01:21:22 AM »
VD and Multiblade I usually use the ITMs.

FDs, FSDs as RFAs.

Also, Have my onw family for those, we have no use for the extra detail and hundreds of parameters that come with the manufacture's RFA...

Offline jasin333

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Re: VAV and Mechanical Equipment in Fabrication Parts
« Reply #9 on: Apr 04, 2023, 12:44:51 PM »
VD and Multiblade I usually use the ITMs.

FDs, FSDs as RFAs.

Also, Have my onw family for those, we have no use for the extra detail and hundreds of parameters that come with the manufacture's RFA...

I've yet to find a RFA from a manufacture that I didn't need to edit to make it work in my application. I honestly waste more time fiddling with RFAs then actual detailing.

It's interesting to note that RFAs fatigue the model, I'd be interested in knowing best use practice here to limit the issue associated with them. 

Offline jasin333

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Re: VAV and Mechanical Equipment in Fabrication Parts
« Reply #10 on: Apr 04, 2023, 12:57:40 PM »
You can do almost anything with pattern 1110, if you really need to have Fabrication parameters, connectors and other information.
The only issue is that it takes some time to learn how to use it, but I really like all the possibilities with this one.

See the example attached,

How do you add connectors to the 1110 ITM?

Offline Axl

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Re: VAV and Mechanical Equipment in Fabrication Parts
« Reply #11 on: Apr 04, 2023, 13:10:09 PM »
Connectors are automatically added according to what you add, by default it comes with one for the initial block, but if you add a round section, it will add a round connector at the end, that connector can then be changed to a pipe connector, a flange, a socket, whatever you need.
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