Bundled Wire Concepts - D-Tools Forum

fryeguy · 01-10-2008, 07:47 PM

I have an idea I am testing for bundled wires and would like feedback from anyone considering similar ideas.

When I create wire rough-in plans I like to show bundled wires to keep the plans clean and easy to follow. However, we typically do not actually pull bundled wire.

You might think, "Who cares? There are many ways to work around this."

Follow me. There is more.

An example would be a video jack containing 2x HDMI, 2x CAT5e, & RGBHV. This is five wires but I might call it "AV-VID-HD2". My team knows from the wire legend that this has the listed wires.

On the rough-in plan, the jack only shows: AV-VID-HD2.

On the schematic page I need to see:

HDMI connected to AVR/TV
HDMI connected to Blu-Ray/TV
CAT5e connected to Crestron/TV
The other wires might be CYA.

At this point I have 3 wires to show in the schematic. These three wires are real items with real costs and need to show up on a PO and a work order.

My idea is to create a wire bundle item with the individual wires as accessories. On a schematic the individual wires can connect point to point. I am working on a block in AutoCAD that will let me show the wires are part of a bundle. Then on my rough-in plan you only see a single wire bundle.

This would work in a similar fashion for any type of wire bundle where this requirement exists.

curt.hayes · 01-15-2008, 06:07 PM

I've used bundled wire packages for years, and they work great for me. Mine are prewire packages similar to what you describe, including other necessary materials such as mudrings, connectors, etc. The challenge is getting the correct labor, since pulling a bundle takes less time than multiple individual runs. To compensate, I have the first wire in the package @ standard labor (.005). I then created new wire SKU's for additional runs (i.e. "CAT5e - ADD") with less labor (.001). A little extra work to create and maintain, but it provides the solution I'm looking for and makes specifying the prewire a breeze.

Jack Frost · 01-16-2008, 03:31 AM

Fryeguy, I think what you're describing is very similar to a topic Blake covered in a video (see here: http://d-tools.us/showthread.php?t=9...+bundled+cable)
The video was done for SI 4.6 but I expect the same holds true for SI 5.

Curt, I just want to clarify because it might just be semantics: You say you've been using bundle wire packages for years. Did you in fact mean packages or actually an Item w/ accessories (as Blake demos in the video, and, I'm assuming, Fryeguy was talking about)?
Also, if you indeed meant Packages, would you mind describing how you build these packages and how they behave when dropped on a page?

Thanks!
J.

curt.hayes · 01-18-2008, 07:30 PM

In my case, they are packages. I originally set them up this way because I didn't want to lose the ability to include accessorized equipment as part of the package (accessories to accessorized equipment are lost). In retrospect, for the rough-in wire packages this hasn't been that big of a deal. That said, because my packages cross multiple phases, I don't want everything to drop on a page regardless. In practice, I just open the package, highlight the items I want and then drag them over to the drawing page. The only drawback (and it's minor in my opinion) is that you can't include an image for the package on the client reports...but I haven't found any clients who care about seeing a wallplate next to "PW-Spkr/Control-v1.5-16-4(1)/Cat5(1)/16-2(2)"!

aantrim · 11-18-2008, 09:30 PM

Fryeguy,

I have been working on the exact same idea you had with your wire bundles. I do not like having 6+ rough-in wire shapes all throughout my drawing. Have you had any luck with AutoCAD blocks? I was able to change the shape data codig for my wire ends and colors so that they correspond with my color schemas. I think I might do a little of both types of package/bundles. Then I can have only one shape for the bundle but all wires for my pick list and reports. Any thoughts?