Smoke detector layouts

Smoke Detector layouts

The first thing you notice about layout drawings for smoke detectors is that the detectors are very small, a problem made even worse if the drawings are going to printed NTS at A3.

To overcome this issue we can modify the family to create a suitable view at course detail level but that will of course affect everything else on the drawing.

As a work around I looked at editing the family to create a parameter allowing me to turn on a larger version of the detector, in the type properties, independent of the detail level and suitable to display on drawings printed at A3

This led onto developing the approach to also displaying the smoke detectors range which would help in planning layout strategies.

Edit the smoke detector family and use symbolic lines to create a circle that will represent the range of the smoke detector.

Dimension the radius of the circle, select the dimension, add parameter from the label drop down and complete the dialogue box as shown below.

Close dialogue box

We can now look at changing the appearance of the range circle so it is easily identified on the drawing.

From the manage tab in the family editor select Object Styles and create a new subcategory “sd range” under Fire Alarm Devices.

Set the properties for the new subcategory then close the dialogue box

Select the range circle you have drawn and from the properties set the Subcategory to sd range.

This will change the display of the range circle you have drawn.

Next we will add a parameter to control the visibility of the SD Range circle. Selecting the range circle you have drawn, pick the button in the properties palette to add a visibility parameter.

Add parameter

Complete the dialogue box as shown

Close all dialogue boxes and the properties for the range circle should appear as shown below.

Load the family into the project and overwrite the existing version. Look at the type properties of updated Smoke detector and you should have the option to change both the size and the visibility of the circle representing the range.

Use this approach to create enlarged version of things such as smoke detectors etc that are too small to effectively display at usual print scales or that will be printed NTS at A3 format.