Autodesk 235B1-05A761-1301 - AutoCAD MEP 2010 User Manual Download

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You can also create circuits in a drawing, add devices to the same drawing, and assign the devices to those
circuits as you add or modify the devices. In that situation, you do not use an electrical project database,
and you cannot share that circuit information with other drawings.

In a typical workflow, you identify the location of panels before you create circuits—generally, during the
schematic design phase. However, you can create circuits at the following points in the electrical system
design process:

■

Before you add panels, and before you draw any electrical systems (using the Circuit Manager)

■

When you add panels (using the Properties palette)

■

After you add devices and panels (using the Circuit Manager)

You can create one circuit or multiple circuits at the same time. To graphically represent the circuit in the
drawing, you can also

add wires

to the drawing.

System Types of Circuits

When you create a circuit, you specify its system type, such as Power and Lighting. The system type determines
which components you can connect to a circuit.

Circuits are available in 3 system types:

■

Power and Lighting: Devices whose connectors are configured for this system type can only connect to
circuits of the same type. By default, devices that are configured for Power and Lighting include receptacles,
small appliances, and light fixtures.

■

General: Devices whose connectors are configured for this system type can connect with all system types
for special use cases. For example, by default, switches and junction boxes are configured for the General
system type and can be assigned to either General, Power and Lighting, or Other circuits.

■

Other: Devices whose connectors are configured for this system type can only connect with circuits of
the same type. These devices typically include communication and fire safety components.

Generally, when you select a device, the system type property of the connector is already assigned. You can
change properties of connectors using device style connectors. For more information, see

Configuring the

Electrical Connectors of a Device

on page 395.

If you are using the Power and Lighting or Other system type, the connectors of the devices must use the
same system type in order to be placed on the same circuit. To connect a device of any system type to a
circuit, use the General system type.

TIP

Before creating circuits, create electrical system and load category definitions, and configure electrical

preferences. Then, you can take better advantage of the circuit feature, reducing the number of details you must
specify when adding circuits. For more information, see

Creating Electrical System Definitions

on page 363 and

Control the Appearance and Behavior of Electrical System Designs

on page 363.

Creating Circuits Using the Circuit Manager

If you did not create circuits when

adding a panel

, you can use the Circuit Manager to create one or more

circuits. You typically create panels and circuits in a drawing and add them to an electrical project database.
Other drawings can then reference these panels and circuits. You can link any drawing to an electrical project
database and then use its panels and circuits in multiple drawings.

You can create circuits at any point in the design process. You can create circuits as you add panels, or at
any point after you add panels. You can also create circuits before adding any panels, and assign those
circuits after you add panels. You can add one circuit or multiple circuits at once.

Autodesk 235B1-05A761-1301 - AutoCAD MEP 2010, User Manual

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