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Feeder Cable issues & improvements


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Hi all, 

I'm taking some time to re-setup my site and event planing and use some of the tools like feeder cables and power cables to help create kit list ets.

 

Finding it very useful but in order to spit the information straight out to a form for installing i need to update a few things that seem to be broken.

 

1. I keep getting this message "The "Wire Gauge" parameter is not in the accepted range.  The "Wire Gauge" parameter has been set to "#12"" when i assign a cable to be 240mm power lock M/F.  This is not an error i in deed want the cable gauge to be this size.  I've found the setting in plug in so i can add my own cable gauges but so far i can't see why i should get his error.

I'm not selecting this incorectly so why the error?

2. Max amps is limited by Wire Gauge in a feeder cable but where are those settings as some of them are a little hinky.....Some are limited incorrectly set.

3. i'd love to put the cable weights into the system instead of having to manually add them.  As i know the weight/m for each of my standard gauges this should be easy, however i can't see how.

4. Cable Types, Like above i'd love this tool to be more intuitive.  For example cable type should be its standard e.g. armoured to bs..... or H07RFN or Twin and Earth to BS...... I could then use this tool in some of the installations i design.  and do 90% of the calculations in VW.  the type of cable and CSA or wire gauge links directly to its current carrying capacity and Voltage drop.

 

Also has anyone had any luck working with Conecctcad and the cable tools? and Linking data?

 

m

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  • Vectorworks, Inc Employee

Hi Mike

 

1. This looks like a bug, from what I can see the tool is not able to work with cable cross section area values(mm²), which in the wire gauge drop-down start at the 1mm value

I will open a bug report

2. Can you detail which ones are a 'little hinky'? I will then open a bug report for them

 

We are in the process of planning an update to the cable tools. One of the features we want to impliment for cables is 'styles' so that a user only has to set up a particular cable type once, save it as a style and then be able to recall that cable style for any future use. This should address points 3 and 4

 

Regarding linking the cable tools with ConnectCAD, I know this is getting discussed by the dev team, but have no other info.

 

 

 

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Thankyou very much Jesse.

 

Hinkey would be the current limits applied onto the cable size for example. 120mm can take 302a (its currently set to 200a in vw)according to its tabulated value in BS 7671 ( Assuming a fixable cable to 4F1A).  Given that to calculate the current carrying capacity is also not quite as simple as that reference(there other other factors such a grouping protection, and other factors), some of the limits seem odd, i would prefer that that was a manual field entered by the user.

Or it should be a simple txt filed (user field) called - Designed Max Load

With a calculated un editable field like Voltage drop called - Provisional Max Load.

As the limits you've put on there are not editable and arn't always technically accurate then they are a negative effect on the cable tool and could be used incorrectly.

 

 

however if your looking at creating cable styles then this would also address this point in the future.

 

Its good news your talking about integrating the connectCad tools to the other tools that are already in VW.  During the next two weeks i'm planning on creating a template file that merges data between a system drawn in ConCad and one Drawn on a plan, so the two can interface to my suite of spreadsheets that create onsite paperwork.  I'm hopeing that i can use VW can help stream line the paperwork process for me but thats a way off.  It would be excellent if system and plan paperwork could be linked.

 

m

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  • 3 weeks later...

"Wire Gauge" parameter has been set to "#12""

 

Yep this has just been driving me crazy for the last hour or so; as I've not used cable tools on VW before. I guess it has a major knock on to all paperwork that gets generated.

Pretty much echo the requests suggested above, but most expediently: manually entered cable csa; and the existing VW current carrying capacity limits.

 

 

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