Revit MEP Circuiting

I created a short video that describes the basic interaction between electrical devices and creating a circuit. It's really meant to help explain what happens when a device is already assigned to a circuit and we select it along with other elements that aren't circuited. The ribbon changes based on our selection and a circuited devices impairs our ability to create a circuit for the other devices that are eligible to create one.

• A device that is not part of a circuit, when selected by itself, will cause the Power button to appear
• A device that is part of a circuit, when selected by itself, will display the additional Electrical Circuit tab
• Multiple devices that are both part of a circuit and not part of circuit will only display the context ribbon relevant for the devices, no circuit tab or power button
• Selecting multiple devices that are assigned different electrical requirements will disable the Power button

When we select devices we need to be sure to glance at the ribbon for clues. Here's a video (no audio, turn on Captions).

I also wrote an earlier post about circuits if you're interested.

Who's Your Daddy - Revit MEP Relationships

Revit MEP elements like electrical panels and receptacles or HVAC equipment and diffusers have a Parent - Child relationship. The other day we were chatting about this in class and I blurted out "You know, like whose your Daddy?" I was kidding but one of the guys said that it actually helps remember to start with the "child" part of the relationship. For example, you start with a receptacle and create a power circuit, then choose the "Daddy", the electrical panel it gets power from. This relationship continues up through the grandparents, great grandparents etc. When everything is assigned correctly you can "see" this "family tree" in the System Browser.

So if it helps, when you are creating relationships between elements with Revit MEP, just remember "Whose your Daddy"! Start with the child and then assign the Daddy...