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How to Make Dashed Conduits and Cable Trays

You can make conduits and cable trays that are dashed in Design Master Electrical using the steps outlined below.

warning

There are some limitations to using dashed conduits and cable trays. See the Limitations section.

1. Set the Layer System Options Correctly​

  1. Run the Layers command.
  2. Select the layer system that you want to be dashed in the Layer System ☰ list.
  3. Press the button.
  4. Uncheck the ☐ Conduits and Cable Trays are solid box.
  5. Press the button to save your changes and return to the Layers dialog box.

2. Set the Main Conduits/Cable Trays to Not Plot​

The layers used for the main conduits and cable trays need to be set to not plot. With the same Layer System ☰ active, select the following layer keys in the Layer Key ☰ list in the top right.

  • CABLE TRAY-GENERAL-2D
  • CABLE TRAY-GENERAL-HANGER
  • CONDUIT-GENERAL-2D
  • CONDUIT-GENERAL-HANGER

For each layer key, uncheck the ☐ Plot box in the list at the bottom of the dialog box.

3. Set the Linetype of the Hidden Conduit and Cable Tray Layers​

The layers used for the hidden conduits and cable trays need to be set to the dashed linetype you want to use. With the same Layer System ☰ active, select the following layer keys in the Layer Key ☰ list in the top right.

  • CABLE TRAY-GENERAL-2D-HIDDEN
  • CABLE TRAY-GENERAL-HANGER-HIDDEN
  • CONDUIT-GENERAL-2D-HIDDEN
  • CONDUIT-GENERAL-HANGER-HIDDEN

For each layer key, set the Linetype column in the list at the bottom of the dialog box to DM_DM-DASHED.

Limitations​

The first limitation is that the lines will appear continuous while you are working on the drawing in both model space and paper space. It is important for the double-line redraw function that you do not freeze the non-plotting layers.

The second limitation is that dashed conduit and cable tray systems will no longer generate hidden lines automatically. You will need to draw those in yourself.

The limitations are an unfortunate result of how AutoCAD generates hidden lines and not something that Design Master Electrical can work around.

Updating Existing Drawings​

If you make these changes in a project where you already have conduits and/or cable trays drawn, run the Update Drawing Layers to Match Project List command to update the layers in your drawing to match the changes you made in the Layers command.

Redraw the double-line on the conduits and/or cable trays using the Draw 2D Conduit or Cable Tray command.

How it Works​

Normally, the main conduit and cable tray lines are drawn at the proper elevation for the conduits and cable trays using faces. Hidden conduit and cable tray lines are drawn at a very high elevation.

When running the AutoCAD HIDE command, the faces properly obscure other faces below them. The dashed hidden lines always appear.

Unfortunately, the face entities used for the main conduits and cable trays always appear as a CONTINUOUS linetype, no matter what setting you choose for it.

When you uncheck the ☐ Conduits and Cable Trays are solid box, the hidden lines are drawn at the same elevation as the faces.

Setting the faces to not plot turns them off so they do not appear on your final drawing and all you see are the dashed hidden lines. The hidden lines can display your dashed linetype.

Even though the faces do not plot, they still hide items, giving you some of the benefits of automatically hidden lines.