Any plumbing "planning" software exist?

[DarkSoul]

I'm currently working on some plumbing with my filters, and doing it all with 1/2" PVC.

Since i'm not much of an artist, and make a change every 5 secs, drawing up my plans doesn't work out so well for me.

Is there any form of software that exists to plan out plumbing, and contains an extensive library of parts that I could drag and drop to draw it all out?

what other ways could i plan out my plumbing, keeping dimensions in tact so i know whats going to fit where (if I draw it by hand, proportions get all out of whack.... fits on paper, doesn't fit IRL)

[mellowvision]

I think autocad has parts libraries you could probably use, but I am not so familiar with the libraries. I don't know if there is software specifically for plumbing aquariums, but I am sure there must be general plumbing libraries. a lot of companies make drawings of all their hardware available in the correct formats... have you searched versiontracker?

[Nolapete]

Visio could do the flowcharts for you. It wouldn't have plumbing pieces, but it does have arrows, angles, and labeling.

[DarkSoul]

autocad is like $20,000 ..... its just slightly out of my price range :)

I could see visio could work, but the problem is, I cant make up any part that I need.... weather or not it actually exists is another story. Also, the actual sizes of of the parts, and space restrictions i'm working with, means that I would need accuratly scaled parts to work with, so i could figure the exact dimensions.

I do agree that autocad would work probably perfectly... its just not quite so affordable.

[mellowvision]

bit-torrent!

[rwilliams254]

Check Filehippo.com for any freeware. There may be something there you can use.

[DarkSoul]

bit-torrent!

LOL @ bittorrent

[reybie]

I was looking for something like this before but no luck. I tried my hand at Google Sketchup but I needed parts sooner than I can get proficient at using the program :)

[mellowvision]

have you ever used illustrator? it might take you an hour to draw a few simple parts, but once you had a pallete of parts, it would be super simple to create plumbing diagrams. illustrator is probably my favorite application of all time... so I am biased... but it has very accurate measuring tools, and it's all vector, so things are easy to manipulate.

[legendaryfrog]

autocad is like $20,000 ..... its just slightly out of my price range :)

I could see visio could work, but the problem is, I cant make up any part that I need.... weather or not it actually exists is another story. Also, the actual sizes of of the parts, and space restrictions i'm working with, means that I would need accuratly scaled parts to work with, so i could figure the exact dimensions.

I do agree that autocad would work probably perfectly... its just not quite so affordable.

I own a copy of mastercam x2, a program VERY similar to auto-cad, and believe me, its not exactly easy to learn. There seems to be an infinite amount of commands!

Sorry, but I dont know of many alternatives that are cheap.

[jm1212]

Google sketchup has worked well for me. i have a whole tank design that is based of of my 20 gallon saved on it, and it looks alot like my tank.

[mellowvision]

I've heard good things about google sketchup.

[DarkSoul]

what would happen, with me being the way I am, I would start learning sketchup, and spend alot of time doing it... then forget about my aquarium and move my "hobby" over to 3D art :)

happens all the time with me.... i have too many skills/hobbies, and one is enough to pull me away sometimes.


but its just too much to learn a new program, make the parts (which is MOST time consuming) when all I really need to do, failing the plumbing software, is just buy parts, and fit them.... if i get the wrong ones, oh well.... buy more.

I was hoping for something I could literally just drag/drop into place.

sort of like LDraw or LeoCAD, programs for Lego :D .... Programs that do EXACTLY for Lego, what I want to do with PVC :D