Learn how to effectively navigate the Revit Mechanical system, focusing on how to avoid clashes within the system and how to adjust and align the ductwork. The article also provides a comprehensive step-by-step guide on how to accurately use the return system, while making sure that all the components are within the confines of the building.
Key Insights
- The article discusses how to work on the return system in the Revit Mechanical system, providing a detailed walkthrough on how to layout the supply system and avoid any clashes within the system.
- It provides a step-by-step methodology on how to adjust the elevation and alignment of the ductwork, avoiding any clashes with the roof or other components, and ensuring that all components are within the building's scope.
- The article also offers tips on how to troubleshoot potential issues such as system clashes or incorrectly sized ductwork, emphasizing the importance of regular saves and double-checking work to ensure accuracy.
This lesson is a preview from our Revit MEP Certification Course Online (includes software & exam). Enroll in this course for detailed lessons, live instructor support, and project-based training.
Welcome back to the VDCI video course content for Revit Mechanical. In the previous video, we got the supply system laid out here. Let's go ahead and get the return system and just double-check and make sure everything is running smoothly.
So for this return, if I look in 3D, you can kind of see that when we cross over here, we want to make sure that we're not going to create a clash with our own system. That's one thing you don't want to do. So what I'm going to go ahead and do is I can see that they're at the same elevation, but when they turn, this one drops.
So I want to get over this guy and then drop this guy down because I don't need it to run that high. So I'm going to come into my ceiling here, draw duct, come over. I do kind of want to run this all the way down.
We'll tap out to the other returns and I want to drag over. And there we go. So you can see, now that I have this guy in 3D coming over this, I'm going to pull it back a little bit.
It's a lot of duct. Let's shorten that up a little bit. Now what I want to go ahead and do, there's a soffit here that we want to pay attention to.
Learn Revit MEP
- Nationally accredited
- Create your own portfolio
- Free student software
- Learn at your convenience
- Authorized Autodesk training center
So let's see what's happening here in section. Well, we're outside the scope of the building, so that's going to be a problem, right? So actually we're going to pull this way back because we want to make sure that we stay within the confines of our building. There we go.
Let's take a peek in section. Okay. We can make this work.
We're going to make some adjustments, but we'll make it work. I'm going to go back here, go to my section, rotate it 90 degrees, not 900, just 90. It seems like we need to come down just a little bit more, but we will go ahead and draw duct.
Go ahead and save if you haven't recently. There we go. I'm going to come down.
I'm going to kind of get close to that alignment there and drag over. I dragged it at an angle by accident. I didn't snap, but I can just adjust it.
I don't need to redraw the entire duct. I'm going to go ahead and have that at the same elevation there. So let's go back.
We're kind of creating a clash here, which is not what we want to do. So I'm going to go ahead and slide this guy over. Let's take a peek in section.
We're kind of getting into the roof. We might just decide to move this guy back. Now I can grab this.
There we go. And let's see what's happening. We have a little clash, but we'll go ahead and clean that up.
Not a big deal. When I go over here, I'm actually going to take this guy and do something a little different. I'm going to come down this way like that.
Now that I've already dropped, right, I can get underneath. I've come over and I've dropped down so I can get around this. I'm going to go to my ceiling plan.
We'll go draw duct. And I'm just going to do my run all the way down to my last return here. Maybe we can fit up into that soffit.
Let's take a peek. I'm going to switch to hidden line view for a second. It gives us a clearer view of what's happening.
Yeah, I can definitely run right over where that soffit is. So I'm going to use that to my advantage. And there we go.
So from here, I'm going to go ahead and I can use the same eight-inch tap. But when I create it off of this system, it wants to go to supply. That's the one thing you have to be wary of.
I can always change it here to return air. And there it goes. So even if I do between different systems, if I hit CS for my system, and I create there, it's now mixing the systems, which is not really what I want. But I can always select it and change it here to my return air.
And then it's going to move that to that new system. I'm going to go ahead and just draw flex duct. You'll notice that my diffuser now turns pink because it's actually ducted in.
Now that I have one completed, I can just take this, go down, come over here, come over here. That's why I'm actually going to turn in like that. Revit didn't like that.
The duct is too big. So what I'm going to do is I'm just going to draw it really long, and we'll fix the sizing here in a second. Same thing here.
Let's go ahead and draw our flex duct and get these in. Now sometimes clashes occur with flex. So I have like this little system right here.
Now I might be able to adjust the location of this air terminal. I can probably just slide this entire line up just a little bit, you know, to kind of get it out of the way. And I can also adjust the diffuser location.
That cleared up the clash. If I go back to my 3D, let me show you. You'll notice that I probably have a little bit of a clash right there. Now that's flex duct.
So you can say, "Hey, in the field, they're going to work that out, " but we're here; we're able to change it and fix it. So let's make a little bit of a better system. When I move my return air around here, I'm going to slide this guy up just a little bit, make some minor adjustments.
I'm going to align this to where it needs to go. Perfect. The last one we need to go ahead and get is this guy in here.
So I'm actually going to take this back a little bit. And what we can go ahead and do is I'm just going to create a tap right off of here. This is a return air system.
So it doesn't have to be as precise. Now you may notice that it put in a vertical when I did that. And we'll take a look at that in 3D.
So let's look at it in 3D. It automatically put a vertical in for that duct because I said I want this duct to be at this elevation. So it said, "Well, I'm connecting to this, so I need to drop a vertical in."
That's one way to do it, and it can work. Let's go ahead and double-check our system, make sure everything's looking good.
Oh, we need to connect this last guy down here. Drag that back, draw flex duct. Boom.
In this instance, I'm going to go ahead and reduce this a little bit. So after this last one, I really only need the eight-inch duct. So I'm going to select this.
I can actually do the MA for match properties. There we go, and adjust that.
We're going to go ahead and adjust this guy down. I'm going to split it about right here. I do not need this to be 24 × 24.
We've already reduced our airflow significantly. So I'm going to take it down to like a 12 × 12.
And that helps out a lot. And there we go. We've completed that system.
We're going to go ahead and end this video here. We're going to start putting some sheets together, and we'll see you in the next video.
