SolidWorks Routing – Got any advice?

Ok, as most of you know, I’m self-employed now. A job opportunity fell into my lap so I started my own company, JRM Consulting & Design, Inc. Not a super catchy name like Matt’s (Dezign Stuff), but it’ll do for now. I’m still not used to referring to myself as "President", but that’s a personal issue.

Anyway, the project I’m working on is going to require routing in the not too distant future. I’ve done a bit of routing in the past, but nothing like what I’m going to be doing. It’s going to be a huge undertaking on a pretty massive scale. I already know that some of what I’ll need to route (HVAC) probably won’t be doable with Routing, but I figured I’d solicit some advice from the community.

While I can’t be overly specific, I’m working on a large building. Part of the job entails routing all the piping, HVAC, power, plumbing, etc. Have any of you done anything on a scale such as this? Cable runs of 2000′+? 10" drain pipes? How about a 110V circuit? I know there are users out there who have a lot more experience with routing and I’d love to hear from you guys. I’d hate to think of the amount of 3D sketching I’ll have to do if I can’t use routing for most of it…thank God it’s an hourly contract!

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July 17, 2008 · Posted in SolidWorks Community

Comments

Tony Cantrell

Solid Professor has a really good training package for this.
matt

Mr. President,
Routing is about 2 things (to me anyway): a good library and 3D sketching. You can do ducting, even rectangular ducting if you're a little inventive. I haven't used a lot of routing since it was just the piping package, so I don't know the wiring stuff very well or at all, but I know the piping a bit still. Setting up library components is the part that you need to make use of. If you have a catalog of the pipe that they will use, just make design tables for everything.
Best of luck. I'm not sure how well SW Routing will work on a project like this. I recommend LOTs of subassemblies and SpeedPaks.
*Matt,
First, it is 'Mr. President, Sir'. Second, thanks for the input. I'd already planned on numerous subassemblies, but I hadn't thought about the design tables or SpeedPaks.*

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