2.4.4. Opening a schematic view sheet of the system<br>

### 2.4.4. Opening a schematic view sheet of the system

To create a new sheet select “Worksheets” in the “File” menu and click on the “New” button, select sheet type (“Schematic view” in this case) and click “OK” and then “Close”. The new sheet becomes the current sheet. Select the “Construction” tab in the lower set of tabs – project layers. To create a cross section of the floors select “Floor elevation label” from the upper toolbar in the “Components” tab, move to the drawing area and insert the object against the background of which the schematic view will be drawn. To modify this object, for instance, make it longer, click on the floor arrangement area – an olive green frame appears. Move the mouse pointer above the right-hand edge of the frame where there is a small square of the same colour as the frame – the mouse pointer takes on the shape of an arrow. Press and hold the left mouse button and drag the frame to the right and, if necessary, up. Upon releasing the mouse button the floor arrangement is extended.

To add another cross section of the floors in another arrangement (shifted by 1/2 of a storey height – in case of mezzanine radiators), select the “Floor elevation label” again and place it beside an existing component, then in the data table of that component enter elevation of the first storey other than in the neighbouring floor arrangement.

Go to the “Installation” tab and plan the relative arrangement of risers and the main supply point – the source. The order in which components are drawn is not important. However, bear in mind that:

- pipe-runs must be connected to other components (sources, terminal units, manifolds), not vice versa; it is therefore better to draw pipe-runs at the end, when all other components are arranged,

- fitting components are always placed on basic components, usually on pipe-runs (they cannot stand alone, the only exception are three- and four-way valves),

- connection is formed immediately after a pipe-run is drawn or modified – this is indicated by filling in with colour the small square at the end of the pipe-run (similar squares at terminal units and sources are the points where connections are made with pipe-runs). It is good to check visually connections while they are made.

Components not connected Components connected

A layout can be formed of:

- single components available on the “Components” tab: terminal units, pipe-runs, etc.,

- modules available in the program,

- expanding groups available in the program,

- fragments copied to clipboard and pasted elsewhere in the drawing,

- user-specified modules and expanding groups.

All components available in the graphical editor are described in the following section of the manual.

Inserting a pipe-run consists in:

- clicking on the pipe-run button in the “Components” toolbar,

- clicking on the point within the drawing area where the pipe-run is to have its starting point,

- moving the mouse pointer to the point where the pipe-run is to terminate. If at that point there is no connection point, for instance, to a terminal unit (the pipe-run is to have a free end), press the left mouse button and then the right mouse button. Otherwise just press the left mouse button – the pipe-run will be connected.

Pipe-run turns (points of direction change) are made during drawing by clicking the left mouse button. Pipe-runs are numbered automatically: numbers of supply and return pipe-runs are identical. The system is numbered from the source to terminal units. When a pipe-run consists of several segments, then all fragments have the same number followed by subsequent letters: _a, _b, _c, etc. The numbering process is revoked when connections are checked.

Inserting a component other than a pipe-run consists in clicking on the button representing the component and then clicking at the point where we want to place the component. This also applies to modules and expanding groups. Some components (manifold with main, boiler, floor elevation label, all groups and expanding groups) can be expanded (spread) or contracted in one or two dimensions.

Fitting components are inserted in similar manner, and the second click indicates the pipe-run or radiator onto which the fitting is placed. Most of the fitting components can only be placed on pipe-runs, some can only be placed on radiators, some (e.g. bleeders) can be placed on a wider range of basic components. To place the same fitting component, e.g. a valve, on a number of pipe-runs, mark all these pipe-runs (e.g. by holding the Shift key and clicking on each pipe-run or by using the “Select all components of type...” function) and then double click the valve symbol in the “Fittings” tab – the valves will be inserted at the point of each pipe-run selected by the program. Some points may require some modification, however, it still is faster than placing valves on each individual pipe-run.

To repeat insertion of the same component press the F3 function key.

In practice it is best to arrange first most of typical risers, taking advantage of their repeatability and then to insert the source and connect it to the risers by means of a distribution network. There is a button in the toolbar that enables drawing two pipe-runs simultaneously, which facilitates creation of a schematic view of a distribution network. Then radiators placed in unusual points, connected directly to the distribution network, for instance, can be inserted. The ORTO mode (activated by clicking ORTO in the lower right corner of the screen) facilitates creation of a 2D schematic view in most cases.

After having drawn the entire schematic view it is a good idea to make a fast check of connections by pressing the Shift+F2 key combination. If erroneous or missing connections occur then a list of unconnected components, components forming a loop and components with undefined direction of flow is displayed.