LuaCAD Help

Quick start: the first drainage network

This page shows the shortest way from a bathroom – shower, toilet, lavatory and service sink – to a finished pipe in 3D and the two most frequent changes afterwards. Every step has a picture; the details are in the linked tasks.

1. Open the palette, choose level and system

Ribbon › LuaCAD tab › Drainage 3D. The palette opens at the edge of the drawing on the General routing page.

The General routing page: level (1) and system (2) at the top, the tile Stack down (3), the tile Fixture (4), Insert line (5), Generate 3D (6)
The General routing page: level (1) and system (2) at the top, the tile Stack down (3), the tile Fixture (4), Insert line (5), Generate 3D (6)
  1. Level: the level you are drawing in. In a project drawing the level of the drawing is shown here and the list is locked.
  2. System: for example "wastewater" – it sets layer and color. Lines of different systems or levels never connect.
  3. Leave everything else as it is for a start: slope 2 %, standard DIN EN 12056-2 / DIN 1986-100 as default (for Switzerland choose SN 592 000 under gear › Options › Sizing).

2. Insert the stack and fixtures

In plan: the fixtures from the Block Library with their drainage connectors – shower (2), toilet (3), lavatory (4), service sink (5) – and on the right the stack down (1), still without lines
In plan: the fixtures from the Block Library with their drainage connectors – shower (2), toilet (3), lavatory (4), service sink (5) – and on the right the stack down (1), still without lines
  1. Insert the fixtures from the Block Library (ribbon › LuaCAD tab › Block Library, folder Fixtures) – in the example a shower tray, a floor-standing toilet, a lavatory and a service sink. Each brings its drainage connector (2–5) with the drainage fixture unit DU of the fixture (toilet 2.0, lavatory 0.5, shower 0.6, service sink 2.5).
  2. Click the Stack down tile and click the stack at its place (1). This is where the water leaves – the drainage network starts here. Enter ends.

3. Sketch the pipe

Plan view before "Generate 3D": the stack (1), the horizontal branch from the shower around the fixtures to the stack (2, 4) and the lines from toilet, lavatory and service sink meeting it (3)
Plan view before "Generate 3D": the stack (1), the horizontal branch from the shower around the fixtures to the stack (2, 4) and the lines from toilet, lavatory and service sink meeting it (3)
  1. Click Insert line (step 2).
  2. Start at the connector of the shower (4) – the line snaps to its connector.
  3. Click the corners and end at the stack (1) – a click on a connector ends the line there.
  4. Draw one line each from the toilet, the lavatory and the service sink onto the first line (3). Where lines cross or touch, Generate 3D creates a branch.

The line is only a sketch in plan – it is horizontal; the slope is a property and only takes effect in the next step. More under Inserting a plumbing line.

4. Generate 3D

The bathroom after "Generate 3D" in an isometric view, here with a push-fit system: pipes with slope (1), a 45° wye with elbow at each junction (2), in front of the stack a double 45° bend instead of a 90° elbow (3), the stack runs down one level (4)
The bathroom after "Generate 3D" in an isometric view, here with a push-fit system: pipes with slope (1), a 45° wye with elbow at each junction (2), in front of the stack a double 45° bend instead of a 90° elbow (3), the stack runs down one level (4)
  1. Click Generate 3D (step 3 or at the bottom in the footer).
  2. Click the stack – or Enter for all drainage networks of the drawing.
  3. LuaCAD sizes the pipes to the standard, builds up the slope from the stack and places pipes, elbows, wyes and reducers from the catalog – in the product line of the stack (welded PE or a push-fit system, see Fittings).

The plumbing lines and connectors then lie hidden under the 3D. More under Generate 3D.

5. Read the result

The window "Generate 3D - Result" without errors: the header (1), "Calculated to" with the standard DIN (2), the figures per drainage network (3), the collapsed notes and the sizing per section (4)
The window "Generate 3D - Result" without errors: the header (1), "Calculated to" with the standard DIN (2), the figures per drainage network (3), the collapsed notes and the sizing per section (4)

If there is something to say, the result opens afterwards: errors (red, also as a marker in the drawing) and notes (orange). Show shows the place. If LuaCAD suggests a different slope, Apply sets it on the line and generates the 3D of this network again. "Sizing per section" says where each diameter comes from. More under The result.

6. Change: drag a line with its grip

After "Delete 3D": the plumbing lines are visible again; the line from the lavatory is selected and shows its grips at the start (1), in the middle (2) and at the end (3)
After "Delete 3D": the plumbing lines are visible again; the line from the lavatory is selected and shows its grips at the start (1), in the middle (2) and at the end (3)
  1. Click Delete 3D (footer) and click the network: pipes and fittings are removed, plumbing lines and connectors are visible again.
  2. Click a line – it shows grips at start, middle and end like a CAD line.
  3. Click a grip, drag it to the new place, click. Connected lines follow.

The CAD commands MOVE, ROTATE and COPY work the same way. More under CAD commands.

7. Change: the slope of a line

Picture coming soonThe Plumbing line dialog box: length and elevations (1), level and system (2), slope with unit (3), diameter "calculate", drain type and "Carries" (4)
  1. Click Query and edit properties (general) in the footer and click the line; Enter.
  2. In the dialog box change the slope, for example to 3 %, and click OK.
  3. Generate 3D – the network is created with the new slope.

More under Editing a plumbing line.

What next?

Video coming soon: Quick start Drainage 3D