BASIC TRAINING

WORKBOOK

Module 2
Start System Design

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THE SPRINKLER SYSTEM:

SYSTEM CONFIGURATION & LOCATIONS FOR CROSS MAINS:

A Grid system will be used for the largest area (East of Column G)

Primary Main Location: 3” to the left of the 2nd bar-joist left of Col A.
Secondary Main Location: 3” to the left of the 2nd bar-joist right of Col G.

A Tree system will be used for the smaller area (West of Column G)

Cross Main Location: 3” to the right of the 1st bar-joist right of Col H
(will be connected to secondary main of grid system)

Elevation for all Mains is 13’-0”

LOCATE THE SPRINKLER RISER (Water Supply):

1. SETTINGS \DEFAULT PROPERTIES \SUPPLY, On the ‘General’ tab, create a new

default layer called “Supply” and click OK.

Create New Layer

2. Zoom In (Middle Button Mouse Gesture) to the upper-right corner of

building (the Riser Room is in this corner – WALLS layer must be ON):

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Next, we’ll use a “snap offset” to place the supply in the drawing a specific distance from a snap
point. The key is to hover over a snap point without clicking on it, and typing in the distance to
offset on each axis, then pressing [ENTER].

3. TOOLS \SUPPLY, Position the cursor over the upper right inside face of
wall intersection, don’t click – just hover.

4. Type the desired offset from the

snap point: s-5,-1,6”, then press
[ENTER]. Right-click to end the
supply command.

The supply will be inserted at a point 5 feet west of

(negative X), 1 foot south of (negative Y), and 6” higher (positive Z) than the intersection snap
point. The point you’re referencing is at zero elevation.

5. Double-Click the supply

element to view its
properties. Leave the
default values and click
OK.

6. Lock the Supply Layer

Check the ‘Status Line’. Click on the supply and note

that the Supply elevation is 0’-6 above Finish Floor.

Zoom All

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PLACE DIMENSIONS ON BAR JOISTS:

7. Click on the ‘Alter Benchmark Elevation/Rotation’ button, or Right-Click on

the Benchmark and choose the ‘ALTER BENCHMARK ELEVATION/ROTATION’
from the context sensitive menu. Verify: Elev = 0’-0” and Rotation = 0. If
not at zero, click either / both of the ‘Zero’ buttons.

Alter Benchmark
Elevation/Rotation

8. Set ‘Endpoint’ snap to OFF.

Use ‘Running Dimensions’ to find distances between Bar-Joists. Locate dimensions below the
building.

9. Click on the ‘Running Dimensions’ button.

Start in the lower left hand corner of the
building, click the inside face of the wall
intersection, then snap the end of the first Running Dimensions
st
dimension at the intersection of the 1 joist
and the inside face of wall (Zoom In with the mouse wheel if needed).

1st Click 2nd Click (Int 2D

or Perp 2D)

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 rd
10. The 3 click sets the location of the dimension. After the 3rd click, note
that the running dimension command is still active. Each additional click
will create the next dimension in-line with the 1st dimension. Continue
dimensioning the trusses across the building.

Tip: If you accidentally come off of the snap point as you’re clicking to create a dimension,
continue to the next joist and finish the dimensions. You can come back and replace the bad
dimensions when you’re done, rather than interrupt the continuous command. As with any
command, Right-Click to exit the command.

Create a layer for Dimensions:

11. SELECT \EVERY \DIMENSION

12. Within the ‘LAYERS’ manager, with no layers selected, Right-Click in “white-
space” below the layers and choose: ‘CREATE LAYER’, type: Dim for a layer
name, click OK.
Click Deselect All Layers
if necessary

13. Select the new ‘Dim’ layer, Right-Click on the layer name, then choose
‘CREATE LAYER’, give the new layer the name ‘Dim2’.

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 14. Right-Click on the new ‘Dim2’ layer name, and choose ‘SET LAYER OF
SELECTED ELEMENTS’.

15. Snaps: turn Endpoint back ON and clear any selection (click on white
space).

‘One-Dimensional Vector’ numeric values can be input from the keyboard and the keyboard
[Arrow] keys can be used to simply point the desired direction (vector) in lieu of using the
standard coordinate system (i.e.: X,Y,Z):. Click on the arrow Icon next to the input box to see:

North / / 90°

Northwest / + / 135° Northeast / + / 45°

West / / 180° East / / 0°

Southwest / + / 225° Southeast / + / 315°

South / / 270°

To apply a different vector angle, simply click on the Direction arrow, type the desired value in the
Direction box and press [ENTER].

16. Settings\Drawing\View

Change ‘Size of Grips on Selected

Elements’ to 6 Pixels and Color of Grips
On Selected Elements to Bright Green

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 A.K.A. your new best friend
COVERAGE CELL Command:
17. TOOLS \COVERAGE CELL

18. Zoom In to column 2A and

Click where Col. 2 intersects the
inside face of the East wall.

Zoom All

19. Zoom In to column G1 and Click the inside corner of the North and
West walls.

A rectangle will be displayed between the

first corner point and the cursor until you
place this 2nd corner point. The program will
automatically fill in the area with sprinkler
system components. Right-Click to end the
command.

20. Zoom Previous (x 2)

(or until you’re back to Col. 2A) and Double-Click one of the pipes (view
the properties of the Coverage Cell).

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The two tabs we’re interested in are Coverage
Cell and Sprinkler Spacing. All aspects of the
design of the Coverage Cell can be adjusted,
and any changes will be reflected after clicking
OK. For this exercise, we will not change
anything. All components will remain grouped
into this Coverage Cell until split – but don’t split
yet…man!

21. Click OK.

22. Press [F2] and place benchmark at the inside corner of the North and East
walls.

23. Select the Coverage Cell (single click on a pipe or sprinkler head in the
Cell) and press [CTRL] + C (copy).

24. Press [F2] and place benchmark at the intersection of Col. 2 and the East
wall and press [CTRL] + V (paste).

*Toggle ‘Ortho Snap’ to off position prior to next step.

25. Click and drag the ‘Windows Vertical View Slider’ at the far right of your
screen and slide the view down to Col. 3.

26. Hover the cursor over the lower right corner of

the copied Cell and Zoom In with the Middle-Mouse Wheel (the cursor acts
as the center of Zoom – In or Out - when using the Middle Mouse Wheel).
Try it!

This copied coverage cell is not big enough

to fit the bay!

27. Click the edge of the

coverage cell (outline
shown dashed but may
be solid in your
drawing), then click and
drag the lower right
grip, and snap it to the
intersection shown.

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The coverage cell will automatically adjust head spacing, line spacing, and dimensions to fit the
new dimensions of the cell.

28. The next bay is the same size, so (with the Coverage Cell still selected)
type 45, press the DOWN arrow on your keyboard, then press [CTRL] +
[ENTER] (copy a certain distance and direction).

29. The next bay is almost the same size, so press [CTRL] + [ENTER] again.

30. Repeat Step 26 to adjust the cell to fit the last bay.

Be sure to use a combination of the mouse gestures, middle mouse wheel, and view sliders to
bring the lower right corner of the building into view. Don’t worry - speed will come with practice!

We now need to finish up the smaller area of the building.

Zoom All , then zoom to the upper left corner of the small area (Col. J3). Clear any selection.

31. Double-click in White Space to resume the previous command or TOOLS

\COVERAGE CELL

32. Zoom In to column J3 and Click the inside corner of the North and
West walls.

33. Bring your view to near Col. G4 and Click the intersection of G4 to create
the coverage cell.

34. Select the coverage cell and Copy it 45’8.5 South (as in Step 27).

Clear any selection. You’ve just laid out all sprinkler heads and piping for the upright area, but
everything is currently grouped - and on the floor (elevation 0’-0”). Time to split! But don’t go just
yet…

35. Right-click any pipe or head and click ‘Select All Like Selected’. This will
select all of the Coverage Cells.

36. ACTIONS \ SPLIT \ ALL SELECTED ELEMENTS – or press [CTRL] + [F10].

The coverage cells have been split into individual pipes and sprinkler heads, but are still on the
floor at zero elevation.

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Elevate Sprinkler System Components to Roof Planes:

37. Select any 1 sprinkler, press & hold the [CTRL] key, Right-Click on any
piece of pipe and choose ‘SELECT ALL LIKE SELECTED’ to select all of the
current sprinkler system components.

38. ROOF PLANES \ELEVATE ELEMENTS TO ROOF PLANES, Apply a 1’-0” offset
‘below the roof plane’.

This must always be a positive number; otherwise the command

will have the opposite effect! Also note that an object must be
below a plane in order to be elevated to it. If you need to elevate
an object that is above a plane, simply lower the object(s) then
elevate with this tool.

If Sprigs were desired, the heads would be elevated first, then the pipes with a different offset.
The uprights would then be connected with the ‘Connect Sprinklers To Pipes’ tool described in the
next Module.

3D Tip: To elevate or lower an object, select it

and type: ,,-10 for example (no need to type the
zeros), then press [ENTER]. This will lower the
object 10 feet in the negative Z direction.

39. Click OK, then clear the selection.

40. SETTINGS \FORMAT: On the

‘LENGTHS’ tab: Change the
Display Units of Fractional
Values to ½

41. Click OK.

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Draw Cross Mains Using ELEVATION LOCK:
The Elevation Lock tool allows the user to draw elements at a fixed elevation. With the Elevation
Lock turned on, the user can draw elements at a specified elevation while snapping to elements at
any elevation.

Elevation Lock

42. Click on the ‘Elevation Lock’ button and set to

13ft:

43. Click OK.

System Cross Mains will be drawn with a 3” offset to the left of the bar-joists and 6” beyond the
last branch lines to the north and south. ‘Elevation Lock’ will maintain a constant elevation of
13’-0”.

Tree System Main:

Zoom All and Zoom In to the small West area of the building.
Tip: Ortho Lock can be toggled on as needed
44. Snaps: Turn ‘ORTHO’ on by holding the [SHIFT] key.

The tree system cross main will be drawn 3” to the left of the 1st Joist right of Col H:

Column “H”

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 45. Click and hold the flyout for ‘Pipe Group’ and set to ‘W’ for Welded.
Change to W
46. Click the ‘Continuous Pipe’ button and select 3” pipe.

Continuous Pipe

47. Using a ‘Snap Offset’ to start the Tree system main, touch-
snap (hover – don’t click) the intersection of the branch line just below Col
3 and the 1st joist right of Col H.

48. Type: s-3”,6” and press [ENTER]. -3” = negative 3” X-Axis, 6” = positive 6” Y-Axis.

49. To end the main, touch-snap to a point perpendicular to the last branch
line to the south (just above Col 5) and type: s6”, press the [Down Arrow]
key, then [ENTER].

50. Right-Click to exit the command.

Pro & Ultimate Level Time-saving alternative: Route Pipe

Command – Part of the Advanced Training Modules

Grid System Mains:

Primary Main (Right side of Grid):

51. Zoom All and Zoom In to upper right corner of building, near
columns A-1.

52. Double Left-Click on white space, to restart the ‘Continuous Pipe’

command. To start the Grid system primary main near the upper-right
corner of the main building, touch-snap (hover over) the intersection of the
branch line just below Col. 1 and the 2nd joist left of Col A. Type: s-3”,6”
and press [ENTER].

53. Use middle mouse gestures, or the mouse scroll wheel to zoom out and
then back in near the bottom right hand corner of the building.

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 54. To end the main, touch-snap to a point perpendicular to the last branch
line to the south (just above Col 5) and type: s6”, then [ENTER]. (Note that
the Down Arrow was already selected from the previous command)

55. Right-Click to exit the command.

Secondary Main (Left side of Grid):

2nd Joist
Zoom All and Zoom In to upper left corner of Grid,
near Col. F1.

56. Repeat the commands above to draw a

2-1/2” secondary main located 3” to the
left of the 2nd joist right of Col G.

57. Snaps: Turn ‘ORTHO’ off!

Connect Branch Lines to Mains with AUTO RISER NIPPLE:

Available in the ‘Pro’ and
58. SELECT \EVERY \ALL SPRINKLER SYSTEM COMPONENTS ‘Ultimate’ Levels

59. AUTO DRAW \RISER NIPPLES

60. Verify ‘Schedule 40’ and ‘2’, Click OK, then clear
the selection.

Note that “Auto Riser Nipple” can be accessed from the toolbars as well. The “Auto Riser Nipple”
toolbar button is located in the fly-out under “Connect Sprinklers to Pipes”

Connect Sprinklers to
Pipes Auto Riser Nipple

Riser nipples will appear, the branchlines will ‘break’ at the

riser nipple, and welded outlets will appear on the main.

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Auto-Size Dead-End (Tailback / Kickback) Branch Line Pipes:
The Grid branch lines will remain 2”.

61. Zoom All , then Window Select the entire West tree system, making
sure to include the main (don’t worry if you select non-sprinkler system
elements).

62. FINISH \ LABELS \ ‘PIPE’ TAB: Click

‘Remove All Labels’, then click the
Diameter checkbox. Click ‘Apply
Update To Selected Labels’.

63. AUTO DRAW \ SIZE SELECTED BRANCHLINES AND OUTRIGGERS

64. We’re going with the defaults, so just

Click OK. You should see the Message
below – Click OK again.

65. Window Select the West main of the grid system, including all pipes West
of this main. AUTO SIZE the pipes as in the two previous steps.

66. Window Select the East main of the grid system, including all pipes East of
this main. AUTO SIZE the pipes.

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Connect the Tree System to the Secondary (West) Grid Main:
Draw the system tie-in main connecting the Tree cross main with the Grid secondary main.
Locate the main 3ft north of Column Line 4:

Zoom All and Zoom In to Column Line 4 – you will need to see a portion of the Tree
cross main and the Grid secondary main.

67. Right-Click on the Tree system cross main and choose ‘GET DEFAULTS
FROM SELECTION’. (This will set the program defaults to draw 3” pipe and start
the ‘Continuous Pipe’ tool.)

68. Using a ‘Snap Offset’ to locate the tie-in main, touch-snap the intersection
of the Tree cross main and Column
Line 4.

69. Type: s3, press the [DOWN ARROW]

key, and press [ENTER].

70. Snap to a point perpendicular to the Grid secondary main and Left-Click.
Right-Click to quit the drawing command.

71. Select both cross mains (the Tree main and the Grid secondary main) and
‘Cleanup Intersections’ to break the cross mains at the new tie-in main.

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 72. Verify that the cross mains are broken as expected: Clear your selection
and click on the Tree cross main (only a portion should select). Repeat for
the Grid secondary main.

Place the System Riser:

ISO View Zoom All Then Zoom In to the upper-right corner of the building.

73. Change to the ‘DETAILS’ pane in the ‘PARTS TREE’:

‘Details’ tab

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74. Expand the tree by clicking on the ‘plus’ symbol to the left of the
‘AutoSPRINK’ folder, and then the ‘Riser Details’ folder.

Click

Click

75. Left-Click & Drag the detail and drop into the
drawing near (but not too close to) the Supply.

76. At a point near the bottom of the

riser, Left-Click & Drag the detail,
snapping to the Supply.

1. Click here and

hold

2. Drag cursor to Supply,

and release

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Rotate the Riser:
The riser orientation is wrong for this location. To change its orientation, we will rotate the riser
detail about a focal point, the benchmark location.

77. Press [F2] and snap the Benchmark to the top of the riser (this will be the
focal point of the ‘Rotate’ command).

The riser detail should still be selected. If it isn’t, select it now.

78. To rotate the detail 180 degrees, Click twice on either the clockwise or
counter clockwise button in the ‘Selection Rotator’ toolbar.

Counter Clockwise

(By default, the rotator is set to 90 degrees, therefore, each click

results in a rotation of 90 degrees. Alternatively, type “180” in the
Rotator text box and rotate 180 degrees with a single click.

Place Benchmark
Here

Tip: to rotate and copy an object,

hold down [CTRL] and click a
rotation arrow.

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Split the Riser:
The detail must be ‘Split’ before it can be modified.

79. Right-Click on the Riser Detail, and then ‘SPLIT ALL SELECTED ELEMENTS’

Connect the Riser to the Primary Main:

Top (Plan) View Zoom In to the upper-right corner of the building

80. Select the primary cross main. Place the cursor on the “Grip” at the end
of the main:

(The cursor will change to a “hand” when the grip is located.)

81. Left-Click & Drag the grip north.

82. As you drag the end of the pipe, hold

the [SHIFT] key to temporarily lock
‘Ortho’ ON.

83. Continue to hold the [SHIFT] key, move the cursor to the riser, and snap to
the centerline of the vertical riser. Left-Click first, then release the [SHIFT]
key.

Change back to ISO View

84. Click on the ‘Continuous Pipe’ button and

select 4” pipe. Snap and Left-Click to the end of
the cross main. Snap to the top of the riser and
Left-Click.

85. Right-Click to quit command.

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Because ‘Lock Elevation’ is still set to draw at 13’-0”, the pipe will be drawn flat at 13ft. If the
elevation lock were not on, the same result could be achieved by starting to draw the pipe from
the end of the cross main as described above, and holding the [SHIFT] key (temp ortho lock) as
you snap the second end of the pipe to the centerline of the riser.

86. Select the 4” pipe at the top of the riser. Left-Click & Drag the top grip,
snapping to the newly drawn horizontal 4” pipe.

87. Click on the ‘Elevation Lock’ button to turn this OFF.

Elevation Lock

Double Left-Click the 4” horizontal pipe to bring up the

‘Properties’ (or click ). Notice the pipe Type: Cross
Main

Click the ‘Cleanup Intersections’ button. Click

again. Notice that the pipe has automatically changed to:
Feed Main

Owing to the internal intelligence built into all system components, one of the many
unique features of the ‘SIMPLE INTERFACE’ is that the program dynamically generates all
system piping designations internally by recognizing the size, configuration and
orientation of the pipes. Had another piece of feed main been drawn, continuing from
the 1st piece, both pipes would have automatically been recognized as “Feed Main” type
pipe.

With a simple click on the ‘Cleanup Intersections’ button – any revision to the system
piping, no matter how extensive, automatically updates all selected system pipe types
to ensure complete system integrity.

Click the ‘Save’ button .

End of Module 2

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