Name: AutoCAD MEP 2012 Tutorial - Adding Electrical Equipment and Panels
Uploaded: 2015-04-01T05:54:10.000Z
Duration: 8 min 31 s
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When creating electrical and lighting plans in  AutoCAD MEP, you begin by adding electrical  equipment. This is equipment made up of items

Basic passive voice

referred to as targets and sources – items that  distribute and receive power in a model.  Electrical equipment is defined as a multi-view  part that

includes items such as switchboards and motor  control centers. These parts include  connections for adding conduit. Panels are  another form of

electrical equipment, but these items can also  have circuits and electrical loads assigned to  them, and may also be assigned to other  panels, so their load

is transferred to the upper panels. Lights and  power devices are connected to panels, and the  load assigned to these devices is passed up to  the

panel, so it’s best to locate your panels early in  the job. Let’s see how this works. Make sure  you have the Livgren project for chapter 4 open.  From the

constructs tab, open the Electrical Base – 1st  floor.  When using Project Navigator, all physical  objects are created in a construct, so this is the  right file to

be working in. The architectural plan is already  loaded into this construct. We want to add a  transformer and panels to the plan, and a  generator

to the outside of the building. To place electrical  equipment, make sure you have the Electrical  workspace set current. Once the workspace is

current, you have two places to locate  equipment commands. The first is the HOME  tab and the Build Panel. The equipment tool is a  flyout, which

includes common components, such as a  generator, junction box, motor control center and  switchboard. The other location is the tool  palette –

make sure you can see the palette, and then go  to the Equipment tab. Select the Emergency  Power Generator - Gas tool to place a generator.  The

MVPART palette will appear – this is a floating  palette, and can be pinned into place, or set to  autohide. Leave it pinned. The tool from the  palette

is set to jump directly to the category for  generators. Select the Emergency Power  Generator – gas. This is important – check the

elevation – this is the only thing you really need  to know about working in 3D – this sets the  height or Z elevation of the part, based on the  insertion point

of the part. Set this to 0", so it is placed on the  ground. For the part size name, select the 25kw  Gas Emergency Power Generator. If the dialog  is

pinned, left click once in the model space area  to place the part. Select a point on the east side  of the building, outside of the storage room. The  MEP

compass will appear, showing the increment  angles that can be used to place the part. Pick  a point as shown, and then set the rotation to  180

degrees. While the dialog is still open, make  sure the Part tab is selected. Scroll down in the  list until you find the Power Transformers. Select  the Dry

Type 225-300kVA dry type – pick the 225kVa  part size, and check the elevation – it should  still be set to 0 from the generator. Select a  point in the

electrical room, and then rotate the unit 270  degrees. The next item we want to place is a  panel – this serves as a power source to other  power and

lighting devices. In order to set information for  the panel, the properties palette cannot be  hidden – so select it if auto hide is turned on for  the palette.

Pick the panel tool. Immediately go to  Properties – check the style. When the style is  picked, you open a master drawing – this  contains panel styles,

which set the block image and behavior of a  panel. Pick the surface category, and then pick  the SURFACE SOLID – 42 slots. Select OK to

continue. Panels can be placed and rotated just  like an MVPART – but since we’re using  AutoCAD Architecture backgrounds, you can  also use the

ALIGN TO OBJECT option. On the properties  palette, change Align to Objects to YES. Notice  how the panel aligns to the wall – now we can  turn

snaps off – do this on the system tray at the  bottom of the screen. Next, go to the elevation  option on properties – set this to 5’ – this places  the center of

the panel at 5’ above the finished floor. Skip over  the circuit section for now – go the design data  area of the properties dialog. Set the name to  LP1.

Set the Rating to 150. Make sure the voltage  phase to neutral is set to 120, and the voltage  phase to phase is set to 208 – you can adjust

these to 277 and 480 if you want to use a higher  voltage, as an example. This forces the panel to  only allow objects that have the same voltage

phase to neutral settings to be connected to this  panel. Set the phases to 3 and the wires to 4,  so the panel can include single, double and  three pole

circuits. Leave the Main type to Main Lugs Only  – another option is Main Circuit Breaker. We’ll  save this for the higher panel. Leave the  remaining

options unchanged. Next, pick Yes to create  circuits, and then choose Circuit Settings.  Circuit settings control the behavior of the panel.  From

here you can set the system type, the number  of slots – set this to 42 for now. And then set the  number of circuits to 2 – we can always come  back

and add more later. Leave the circuit  descriptions to spare and space for circuits that  are with or without breakers. Select OK, and  then place the

panel on the wall. Press enter to complete the  command. You can continue to add parts and  panels using the equipment or panel dialog, or  you

can use the AutoCAD Copy command. Watch  as I select the parts – then I right click, choose  Basic Modify tools, and then choose Copy. I’ll  pick a

starting point – and copy what I need to another  area of the room. Once these are placed, you’re  ready to start adding target devices such as  lights

and receptacles. The panels are a necessary  first step in order to create power circuits and  track loads associated with power devices.